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My GoldenDoodle "ZoeBear" is 5 months old and from the moment I brought her home from the breeders, she started barking at 5:30 am... and will not stop barking!  To the point that the neighbor is making snide comments over the fence!  I have tried everything...playing with her, feeding her, giving her more water, giving her toys...and I keep her up until 10 pm thinking she might sleep a little later in the morning!  HELP!

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Sadie started sleeping through the night at about 18-19 weeks, and it took 3 or 4 more weeks before she started sleeping past 6 (even now, at 6 months, she usually gets me up by 6:30 at the very latest). I can't get her to stay up past 10 -10:30.

What happens after you take her out? Is she wide awake and ready to go? Or could you try taking her out without making a big fuss over her (don't even talk to her except to tell her to go potty), bring her back in after she does her business, and try to go back to sleep for an hour or two? Is she crated?

 

 

Becca, did you get my email?  I am not sure that I am using this site correctly..can you see the post?
I think we need a little more information to respond to your question. Where does ZoeBear sleep? Is she in a crate? In the bedroom with you? Do you respond to her barking by letting her out of the crate? Please give us a few more details. Thanks.
thank you for your reply, are you able to see my post?  I am not sure that I am using this site correctly! :(
Yes, you are doing just fine. I think the problem is that you can't confine her so she is in control of when she gets up and about, not you. I wonder if you join the Puppy Madness group and post this question there. You may get more responses. My dogs have been always crated as puppies until they are old enough to have the system down at the house... like a year or so. If they were barking in their crate I know a few techniques to correct that but if she is loose in your room or in the house, then I don't know. I haven't had the problem you are describing exactly so not sure what to do. I know you will get helpful answers though. Welcome to Doodlekisses. You came to the right place to get help and have fun seeing all the doodles.
The breeder had her garage converted to a place where she set up a large pen for whelping and then keeping the puppies contained until they went to their new homes.  When I first brought ZoeBear home, at the breeders suggestion, I placed her in a crate next to my bed.  She hated it!  She screamed, and barked and would chew on the door (metal) until she was free again.  To this day, she will not go even close to the crate!  I set up a 6x6 pen in my house, and she will sleep in this area, but will cry and bark even in this space!  My sister and I are retired, and share living quarters, and she owns a doodle also. So in the wee hours of the morning, as soon as I open the door to let Zoe out, Lindy is also ready to play and they are off and I am thinking that sleeping in until even 6:30 is a thing of the past!  I put the coffee on and so the day begins!

I agree that this would be a good discussion for the puppy group. Sadie is only crated when I leave the house now, but she's never minded her crate very much--she'll go in there for a nap on her own sometimes (and she likes to escape in there when I'm vacuuming). You'll get lots of good suggestions from the other puppy owners. You may have to take a step back (in terms of crate training) to move forward.

Is there any way to keep Zoe and Lindy separate when Zoe wants out at 5:30?  It seems to me that their getting to play and rough house at that hour is just waking them up.  If you could keep them separate you could just take Zoe out (on leash) for a quick potty and then right back to bed.  Our normal up time through the week is 5:30, so on the week-ends our girls will usually bark to come out of their room by around that same time.  However, all they want is out of their room.  They go right into the living room and go back to sleep.  Another possibility is to just let her come to bed with you as soon as she potties for some snuggle time.

I will work harder on keeping them separate..and taking ZoeBear out on the leash is a great idea.  And I will work with her with the snuggle time...it is so hot right now in the house...she is restless..her coat is more of a wavy golden retriever..thick and wooly and wavy...I can't imagine having to wear her fur coat in the summer! :) She sleeps with her front paws in her water dish!

Thanks for the suggestions!

It sounds like she has learned that barking gets her what she wants. If all your dog's needs are met (potty, etc), I think it is best to completely ignore barking and not give in to it, but that can be difficult if your neighbors are close by and are being bothered also. I'm sure that there will be some great suggestions from others who have gone through this.
Totally!  She is a verbal girl and she has learned that she gets her way when she barks!  And yes, there is approx. 12 ft. space between where she sleeps and the neighbor's bedroom window!  (and they are not doodle fans...course if their boxer was barking at 5:30 am every day, I would be miffed too!)  After reading some of the posts in the puppy forum, sounds like 5:30 - 6:30 am wake up time is common!  Thanks for the suggestion of just letting her bark!  Maybe as she gets towards the 6 month mark, she will calm down a bit...am I just dreaming???

I agree with letting pups 'bark it out' till they learn nothing comes of it.  But there's a point where the barking feeds on itself and becomes self-reinforcing.  So you don't have to just 'live with it' you can correct it by giving a verbal correction or command (such as "QUIET!") immediately upon hearing the barking and then following it up with a little cratequake where you go up to the crate and bang on it or shake it a bit to create a little earthquake.  Repeat as many times as necessary in that 'session'.  At 5 months she's not a tiny puppy and can handle being told to stop along with a consequence.  The key is you MUST be consistent and not allow repeated barking like this or else the occasional corrections won't be fair and will seem senseless and random to her.

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