I'm giving him up for adoption if this doesn't stop...

[Dreeza]

Seriously...I will take any suggestions. I am hoping this is just a short phase.

Its been about 5 days in a row now where Oakley gets up at an ungodly early hour (k, like an hour before my alarm). Normally he does this...I let him off his leash, and we cuddle for another hour, nbd.

But no...now he has taken to hanging out by my bedroom door, whining and scratching at it. Neither of which are very fun at 6am.

And he doesn't stop. NOT scratching is something he has never really learned, and he WILL continue to do it. He even scratches at the glass door if I put him out back... It has just been something that happens so rarely, that it has been pretty much a non issue...so he usually has ended up getting what he wants by scratching just so he isn't destroying doors & stuff.

Anyways...obvs I figured he had to go pee...but no. First day, I let him outside & he just runs around chasing squirrels (and peed too). 2nd day, I made him go out back (which he hates, but WILL pee if he really has to...) and he just stood there, refusing to pee. Same thing on days 3 & 4.

I'm almost thinking he wants his food or something...

Whatever it is, it is driving me absolutely insane. I am short on sleep & do NOT want to encourage the behavior anymore than I already am. I have yet to feed him any earlier, just so he doesn't think this behavior will get him food.

what the heck?

 

[AGonzalez]

I don't keep up with your dog too much because seems like I miss your threads (sorry, really...) but what about crating him? How about crating him in your room, or tethering in your room?

I understand, both of mine whine, sniff, and scratch at the bedroom door if I close them out, so sometimes I have to boot them both out in the backyard if there's a reason they can't be in my room.
If I let them in, they run and jump and start wrestling on my bed...not so much fun at 5 AM.

But crating will keep him from destroying anything, and if he can't be crated like one of mine can't, then what my trainer suggested was getting a small chain or leash if he won't chew it and tethering to my bed frame. In there so they are secure feeling, but not able to run amok and tear the world up.

 

[2pups622]

Sounds like he's Not getting enough Exercise Walk him or exercise him before bed he should sleep later Or he's a wake early & bored.

 

[HayleyMarie]

How about just tie him or crate him. Casey does this to my parents at un-godly hours of the night if he is not tied up.

But there is no whinning or anything when he is tied up during the night.

Makes me thankful that I have a dog that loves to sleep in!

 

[Dreeza]

he is tied up at night...and he whines incessantly in the mornings. If I don't let him off his tie, then he just starts barking.

I can deal with this...I know you aren't supposed to give him what he wants for barking (and I never have...I always make him stop before letting him off)...but if I want to keep him on the tie to prevent him from scratching the doors, then he'll just keep whining and barking. He does. not. stop. When my roomie wasn't here, I let him do this for over 2 hours before giving up. I can't do that when she is here though, cause then he wakes her up.

A crate isn't an option anymore..he hates it. He'll just whine & bark to get out of it.

He USED to sleep in...for the past 4 years he has slept in with me with no problem!!!

 

[filarotten]

Maybe he is hungry. You said you needed to add some more food to his new diet. Have you tried giving him a little extra before bedtime?

 

[ihartgonzo]

I would crate train him. Like, properly dedicate the daily work and time to making him 100% crate trained, where he will eagerly go to his crate and will not bark in it.

I think the one thing my dogs know more than anything is that I WILL NOT be woken up in the night... LOL... unless they are going to be sick to their stomach, in which case they will whine and wake me up, they never even attempt to wake me. And both of them are happy to sleep in until noon. Take him on a nice, long, calm walk before bed; right before bed. Give him something to vigorously chew on in his crate; Zuke's bones, bully sticks, lamb ears, raw bones, etc will tire him out a bit. It's important not to give him what he wants (to get out) when he's digging and barking and being annoying. Honestly, I will tell my dogs to STFU, and they do it. I don't scream at them ever, but I sternly let them know that it's not cool at all. Don't reward bratty behaviors, even if it's annoying you, because reinforcing it will only make it worse.

 

[Doberluv]

I 2nd Gonzo's post. All that rotten behavior exists because it works for him. Make it not work and be sure his physical and mental needs are satisfied the rest of the time.

 

[Dreeza]

I am not crate training him...sorry, this is just completely not an option. He was crate trained for the first 3 years of his life...there is just NO point now.

I had his crate sitting in my room for 4 months. I never ONCE forced him to go in it. Ever. It had his bed & all his toys in it. He never entered it (minus the quick snag of a toy). So I saw no point & sold it. He is just as noisy in his crate as he is out. Plus, he paws at his crate, and has ripped off a claw doing so. He would get really tense & nervous when he was in it any time other than bedtime. For 3 years. Just not worth it.


How do I NOT reward him though...I mean, its not like I open the door as he is scratching it. I make him come to me, sit & do something else...plus wait a good minute or 2 before opening it. He isn't stupid though. He knows scratching at the door got him what he wanted. He knows sitting at the door quietly (or quietly sitting at the end of his leash when he is tied up) will not get him ANYTHING. Cause I am sleeping.


When he whines, I make him sit & stay for like 30 seconds - minute before he is allowed off leash.

What am I doing wrong?

No one elses' dog is as loud & obnoxious as mine when they want something.

I am just pretty convinced he is just too smart for his own good. He knows making noise gets my attention...which gets me to call him over, make him to a trick...and he gets a treat. Or gets to go outside. Or whatever.

I mean how ELSE am I supposed to know when he wants something?? The few times that he has woken me up at like 3-4am, is b/c he had diarrhea, and in those cases I am VERY glad he knows how to wake me up!! I just don't get how else he realistically is supposed to communicate with me...

He lays in my bed doing nothing for like 10 hours a day. He gets rewarded with treats occasionally; with praise & pets A LOT. So its not like I ignore his good behavior.

We go on a walk plus play fetch everyday. I am practically dragging him home when we are done. So its not like he isn't getting enough exercise.

I can try feeding him close to bedtime...thats really the only suggestion so far that seems legit.

I'm not discounting all your advice...cause it is good. I've just "been there, tried that" waaaay more than y'all know

 

[MPP]

Yes, I'd try feeding him later or giving him part of his dinner just before bedtime. I really feel for you. This does not sound like fun.

 

[filarotten]

Dreeza, I'm so proud of you. Instead of just ignoring Oakley and sticking him in a crate, you are actually trying to get to the root of the problem and fix it.

 

[*blackrose]

Yes, I'd try feeding him later or giving him part of his dinner just before bedtime. I really feel for you. This does not sound like fun.

Ooooor....what does he do with interactive toys? Such as food dispensing balls/kongs, chew bones, beef bones, rawhide, etc. I know the Lab we raised, Sadie, would wake up about five or six in the morning and she would occupy herself (in her crate) with her nylabone until someone got up. I know this because my parents frequently told me that they heard her downstairs chewing on it and banging it against the plastic base of the crate. So while he'll still wake up early, he'll just have something to do so he won't bug you.

ETA: Could you shorten his teather so he doesn't have access to your bedroom door? If he can't reach it, then that means he can't scratch it. Then he might start barking/whining, but at least he won't be tearing up your house.

When I taught Chloe to wait until I was awake, I'll be completely honest and say I wasn't nice about it. While she never really tried whining/barking, she would put her paws up on my bed or completely jump up. I would physically kick her off. Not hard, of course, but enough to send her sailing off the bed (my bed is a whole two feet off the floor so it wasn't like she was falling for ages) and make her think getting up there was a REALLY bad idea. If she'd start nosing at my face, I'd fling her away. (Have I mentioned I am NOT a morning person and I'd probably do the same to any human trying to wake me up?) When I was first trying to instill the "If I am sleeping, do NOT wake me up" rule in her after I would push her away and she would sit or down on her own for just a few seconds I would get up with her and take her out/play with her/whatever and just forgo my sleeping in time. That ment for a few weeks I was getting up at 7 am every single day when I would typically be sleeping in till about 10:00, but it paid off in the long run. I gradually increased the time I made her wait, and now I can sleep in until 11:00 and she still patiently waits on her bed for me to show signs of life before she brombards me. And even then, if I stop moving and hold still she'll leave me be.

I'm one that believes punishment can be used effectively in training...and I also believe that had I not startled her every time she tried to touch my bed or myself when I was sleeping, she wouldn't really give a hoot about waking me up.

 

[GoingNowhere]

There was an article about this in the 'Whole Dog Journal' recently so I can relay some of that advice to you. I haven't tried it out personally, but this journal has pretty much always given what I consider to be sound advice.


They list 5 things to do:

#1) make sure it isn't a medical issue (UTI, etc)

#2) exercise him hard the night before

#3) make the time between his last meal and his last trip outside longer (so feed him earlier and let him out later)

#4) eliminate stimuli in room (close curtains, turn off noises, etc)

#5) train him to wake up later (i'll explain)

Number five seemed like the option that you might want to try since it would seem that you've already looked into the first four. Essentially, figure out what time your dog generally wakes you up. For one week set your alarm ten minutes earlier than his wake up time. Let him out then. The next week extend this time by 5 minutes or so. If he cries earlier don't give in until the new wake-up time. Continue to extend the wake-up time by five minutes each week until he becomes accustomed to waking up at your wake up time. Of course, I don't know if you're wanting him to stay in bed for an extra 30 minute or an extra 3 hours - would certainly make a difference.

 

[Renee750il]

He lays in my bed doing nothing for like 10 hours a day. He gets rewarded with treats occasionally; with praise & pets A LOT. So its not like I ignore his good behavior.

We go on a walk plus play fetch everyday. I am practically dragging him home when we are done. So its not like he isn't getting enough exercise.

I can try feeding him close to bedtime...thats really the only suggestion so far that seems legit.

I'm not discounting all your advice...cause it is good. I've just "been there, tried that" waaaay more than y'all know

There's where you need to start . . . Find some sort of interactive toys to keep him busy during those hours. It takes more than physical activity to wear out a dog like Oakley.

Like you've remarked, he IS too smart for his own good sometimes. You need to get that brain working during the day

Feeding him part of his food a little later is a good idea, too, maybe get him something like turkey that will tend to make him sleep.

 

[rubysoho]

Hmmm, my thoughts would be to instill a really good "leave it" or "stop" command to address the scratching. A "quiet" command wouldn't help either. But, I would also immediately up the exercise/socialization aspect of your pup's life and then make sure I was maintaining a firm routine for mornings.

 

[Taqroy]

Can you distract him in the mornings with a chew toy or a kong or something? That would be super annoying. Tuk is a whiner too and it drives me up the freaking wall.

 

[release the hounds]

quit making excuses, whatever he is doing is caused by you. he's getting his way by acting like a ****. make him knock it off and he gets up when you get up, he pees when you tell him, he comes in when it's time, you play with him, make sure he's stimulated and all that other stuff a good owner does, but you gotta stop letting him train you.

He's hungry??? BFD, my dogs eat once a day, ONCE, sometimes not at all when it's a fasting day and they NEVER wake me up unless it's an emergency to go outside. They may sit and stare at me till I get up, but they don't wake me up.

This is one perfect instance where i believe it's perfectly acceptable and needed that a dog know that he is not making you happy and he needs to feel a bit of displeasure himself

 

[Xie]

My dogs started doing this after they had a bout of diarrhea for a couple of days and realized they could get me up in the night. I broke it by being very matter-of-fact with them. When they whined I got up, didn't look at them, didn't talk to them, certainly never gave them a treat or did anything interactive. I just let them outside, gave them a couple of minutes to potty, then brought them right back in and went to bed. When they came in it was the same deal, no talking, no petting, no interaction. Rinse and repeat each time they whined.

It didn't take long before they realized that they weren't going to get what they wanted by whining. I basically made it absolutely no fun at all to get me up before I was ready. I think having him do commands and then treating him for them is making waking you up fun and interactive. I would stop that right away and make him realize that all waking you up does is get him outside for a few minutes. My own girls now only wake me up when it's a potty emergency.

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

Dreeza--where did he stay when you were away on your trip? And has this behavior been since then? Is it possible that he learned this behavior while you were gone, or that his schedule has been altered as a result of you being gone for awhile? It's just a thought.
And I think working his mind as much as his body is a good plan--easy to do some later night mental stimulation to perhaps tire him a bit more.

 

[Dreeza]

Thanks for all the responses - I am reading them all!. I think the huge thing I need to work on is limiting his access to toys...and then giving them to him in the morning or whenever.

There's where you need to start . . . Find some sort of interactive toys to keep him busy during those hours. It takes more than physical activity to wear out a dog like Oakley.

Like you've remarked, he IS too smart for his own good sometimes. You need to get that brain working during the day

Feeding him part of his food a little later is a good idea, too, maybe get him something like turkey that will tend to make him sleep.

Hmm, you are probably right. I had this awesome toy that dispensed food when he played with it, but it seriously disappeared.

But this reminded me of his everlasting treat ball I bought him when he was in MI!!! that never made it out of storage...thanks!

Last night I was also experimenting with an empty jar of PB & some treats...that seemed to keep his interest for awhile. (there was a thunderstorm...so we were dealing with that too).


RTH...I'm basically ignoring your comment. Obviously you didn't read what I have posted so far. So there is just no sense in getting into it with you.

Xia - this is def good advice, that I actually have been doing for as long as I can remember with him

Baxter: ugh...he stayed with my family. This is def a possibility...I just did not correlate it b/c he has been fine btwn the beginning of June up until like a week ago. However, I have been struggling to undo the damage my sister did by giving him food whenever he barked at her. Let me tell you how awesome it is to have him sitting there barking in my face at every. single. meal. I have already b*tched her out for that once cause I SPECIFICALLY told her that if she wants to give him food from her plate, that is TOTALLY fine...but ONLY if he sits/does some other trick & is QUIET for it.

Its been soo frustrating b/c we've randomly had a lot of guests over for food/drinks...and I have to explain that this behavior is NOT his normal behavior & that it wasn't my fault.