[katethegreat]

Hey everyone,

This is my first post here, though I've read old threads for very helpful advice many times! I need some advice on how to deal with my puppy in the mornings.

Luna is a 10-week-old rescue mix (we think Pyrenees and Brittany). We've had her since she was 7 weeks. (A bit early, I know, but she was abandoned and so the option to remain with her mother/litter was not there.) We adore her, and for the majority of the day she's pretty well-behaved for a puppy. But the mornings are driving me insane.

Lu wakes up any time between 4 and 5 A.M. My wake-up time for work is 6:45. I get up and let her out when she has to go, which isn't a problem. The problem is what to do with her after the potty break. Typically there's a good 1.5-2 hours between her potty break and the time I'm supposed to get up for work, and I really need to get some sleep, but she thinks that mornings are the best playtime. If I put her back in her crate, I can eventually get her to stop barking/whining, but she sort of rolls around and makes a ton of noise so it's impossible to sleep anyway. Also, for some reason she is on her worst behavior in the mornings; she chews furniture/rugs/etc., and so I can't trust her out of the crate on her own while I go back to sleep.

I've tried distracting her with stuffed toys i.e. Kong, but they don't hold her attention long enough. Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do with her in the mornings? I love my puppy, but the prolonged sleep deprivation is really starting to affect my life!

 

[Tess]

My advice, having raised several puppies, is to tire her out more during the day so she wants to sleep longer in the morning. Each week as she grows up, you'll find her stamina increases, so what was a good routine last week, needs to change a bit this week.

Maybe she is ready for more prolonged play sessions in the yard? Try one early in the morning before work and one late in the evening when the weather cools down. She's too young now for a walk around the block, but off-leash time in a fenced area, playing with toys you toss and so forth will be good.

Also, you can start working her mind more too. Are you familiar with clicker training? You'd be surprised how much mind work can tire a puppy out. Do as many very, very short sessions per day as you can fit in. By short, I mean as short as 15 seconds, up to maybe 2 or 3 minutes, depending on her ability to focus. Work on simple things like "default leave it" and "sit" and "come" and so forth. Do it all in a happy tone (not a commanding tone) and make it fun for her. She is old enough to learn a lot and you'll find she enjoys it... if you keep it positive. Save out some of her daily kibble to be dispensed with clicker training. Once she learns a few things, you'll see her "offering behaviors" such as "sit" to see if she can get a response back from you. This is a good thing, and something to be rewarded and encouraged. Once she has a "polite sit" you can ask for a sit before going out the door, or getting her food and so forth. Never underestimate the value of these patterns you form early.

Yup, when my puppies were ready to get up really early, and would not go back to sleep, that meant the previous day had not been busy enough. Hope those thoughts give you some ideas for her.

Here is our hero Kikopups showing you the basics of clicker training. Its great fun for people and puppies alike!

 

[MuttMomStef]

Kikopup is awesome! I'm so excited for my clickers to come in the mail

And I agree with all above OP - what time does she conk out for bed?

 

[Kwenami]

I've found if I keep Koda up later at night or do more during the day, she's out like a light and will even let me sleep in sometimes Also try closing the curtains maybe? If she's waking up when the sun just STARTS to rise in your area that could be part of it too.

 

[katethegreat]

Hey everyone! Thanks for your suggestions! We are just starting clicker training and so far she's been really responsive to it. My husband was working with her yesterday and got her to the point that about 1/2 of the time, when he points to a toy and says "Get the toy!" she'll go and pick it up. Won't bring it to us, of course, but she seems smart so I think she'll get the hang of it eventually

Tess, unfortunately we don't have a fenced-in yard, as we live in an apartment. However, we do go for little walks just around our area of the complex, and we do lots of ball-throwing and that sort of thing in the house. Maybe we just need to do more of it.

Stef, typically she falls asleep shortly before we go to bed, around 11:30 or so. She does take a nap in the evening, usually while we're having dinner around 8:30 or 9--should I stop her from snoozing? I haven't been, mostly because it's just easier to eat while she's sleeping, haha!

Kwenami, I wish it was that, but I'm one of those people who likes to sleep in pitch darkness so the curtains are always closed at night, I'm afraid

She really is a good girl, and I know a lot of this is stuff she'll grow out of. Just hard to remind myself of that at 4 in the morning!

 

[rainypuppy]

I see what your problems are with her snoozing before bed...As far as stopping the snoozing goes, I wouldn't She's a puppy and they take logs of naps. If you could somehow control when she takes a nap that may work. Maybe tiring her out by playing with her earlier in the day and then (if she has a crate) calming her down and putting her in the crate for a nap. Then tire her out with lots of play right before bed. I remember the days of staying up with a puppy! Usually, I found that once my puppy got up in the morning she wouldn't go back to sleep because she had so much energy. The key is trying to control when she's using that energy and when she should be sleeping!

Make sure you're not feeding her right before she goes to bed...after you feed her it'll probably be around 15(?) minutes before she has to go potty again. Always take her potty right before she goes to bed. Also I usually sat with my puppy before bed to either have her fall asleep on me or at least calm down to the point where she is sleepy. Then I'd put her in her crate.

You're right, she'll grow out of it!

 

[katethegreat]

Thanks for the help, everybody! We did our best to wear her out yesterday and didn't let her eat right before bed. I also, on a tip from another site, pre-empted her by waking her up at 3:30 and taking her outside to potty. She was so tired she could barely open her eyes, but she went potty and I had her back in her crate before she really had time to wake up. She slept until 6:30! I could have cried, I was so happy. Here's hoping it wasn't a fluke!

 

[Adee]

Since She's a larger breed, have you considered using a long line/30' leash around the apartment? Plenty of run room without risk of running away or breaking community rules
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[Teadora]

Keep wearing her out in the evenings. Does she stay up late?

Try bully sticks, I get a good hour out of one of those with my girl and your pup at that age should get even more time out of one. Also, what are you stuffing the kongs with? Try some more advanced recipes with something that she goes crazy for at the bottom like cottage cheese or a small piece of hot dog to keep her interested to get to the bottom and freeze the kong overnight! In the past they did not keep my dogs attention longer than 15 min either but now I get the largest size kong (my girl is good size frame, about a year and is a shelter rescue, she needs to put on weight and this is one of her meals) stuff with about 90% of her regular food layered with awesome stuff like peanut butter, her favorite treat, a little scrambled eggs, beef, raw or steamed carrots, sweet potato, chicken breast, tripe etc...seal the tiny hole at the bottom with a baby carrot or piece of kibble and top off with a little low sodium broth or water to make it more solid and last longer if you use kibble, or you can use canned food. Before I give her the frozen kong I put a tiny bit of peanut butter, cheese or yogurt at the top to get her interested immediately. By the time shes done tasting the tempting topper she is hooked and in her VERY focused zone. Out of a large frozen kong I can get an hour and a half to 2 hours, from my dog, sometimes longer. All dogs are different but if you make the kong tempting enough it will distract your pup a good amount of time. Another idea is maybe get a kong one size larger then the size that makes sense for your pup and stuff it with 50% tripett (if you can handle the smell or her crate is far enough for you to not have to smell it) 50% regular food and freeze. Oh and if the tripe doesn't work or can't tolerate the smell, try Vital refrigerator rolls, they go nutzo over that stuff! The ingredients look good, and its kind of like a puppy hot dog, much better ingredients than a hot dog for sure!!
If it works out as planned then she has had her breakfast by the time you wake up! She's just a baby, keep up the good work, things will improve as she matures!!