Ludo suddenly doesn't want to go to bed

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Ludo is 5 1/2 months old now and for the last few days, he doesn't want to go to bed.  He'll happily sleep in the family room, but when we move to the bedroom, he just isn't having it.  Up until now, he would start whining to go get in bed at about 6:30 each evening and he LOVES it in my room. Now, I'm forcing him to go to bed and he is protesting at around 9:30 or 10:00pm.

The obvious thought would be that he isn't getting enough exercise and has too much pent up energy.  However, he went to daycare all day today so I know he got TONS of playtime and exercise.  One thought is that he's teething and has had a tough few days with that.  Could that somehow impact his not wanting to go to bed?

I thought about maybe something scary or negative happening in my room, but once he decides that HE is ready for bed, he happily hops up on the bed, gets in his spot, lays down and sleeps all night.

He wasn't hungry, thirsty or needing to go outside.  He's just being obstinate! 

Has anyone else dealt with this? And what should I do-- let him stay up or stay firm on bedtime and let him whine and grumble about it in bed?

[andrea shayegani]

Maybe he doesn't need as much sleep as he used to? My guy suddenly "woke up" around that age. Goes to bed at night at 10:30 and gets up with us around 7. He knows you are up and about and probably wants to be with you!

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

That could definitely be it.  He sleeps in my bed so I always go with him and work until I am ready to sleep, but I DO think he's starting to think maybe he's missing out on something.

[Laura and Angus]

A couple thoughts. In our experience, 5 1/2 months is a very tough age. They are obstinate with high energy and often teething and it makes for a challenge. Some doodles are more challenging than others at this age *cough cough* my Angus *cough cough*. What worked for us at that age was lots of exercise during the day and keeping him from sleeping too much after daycare. I believe we also had to coerce Angus to get to bed at 10pm. Before bedtime, we often would have playtime with Angus and sometimes do activities that required mental energy (e.g. training or puzzles) to drain his energy before bed. However, he often had some excess energy no matter what and he just had to learn the routine. Using treats to have Ludo come to bed will help with "training" your routine, but you're likely just going to have to work with him to learn the schedule and settle in the evening. We eventually (later than 5 months) started to let Angus settle down on our bed and then put him in his own bed to sleep - this helped immensely in terms of the relaxing before bed factor. He really just learned the routine since we did the same things every night and went to bed around the same time every night. Took about a month of him jumping up on our bed and us putting him back down repeatedly before he learned that he's not allowed to sleep on the bed. 

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Thanks!! Ludo is definitely being obstinate and I'm glad to know I'm not alone in it!!  He's had a super rough time with teething so I'm hoping that's part of it and it goes away.  I, too, have learned that he absolutely must not nap after daycare... however, up until very very recently, I'd pick him up at about 4:00 and just have to keep him up till about 6:30 when he'd be out for the next 13 1/2 hours... The funny thing about Ludo is he's NOT high energy.  He wanders around, will occasionally want to fetch or play, but he's pretty happy to just lay around and chew on things and wander around the house so it's not like he wants to get up and run around and play, he just wants to go lay somewhere else BESIDES bed.  Silly pups.   I'll test out the treat idea, though!! Thanks!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

It sounds like just normal puppy stuff. They are like kids (and some adults- like me!) that don't want to go to bed even if they are tired. Winnie (who is almost 2 years) usually goes off to bed around 9pm if she is tried. If she's not in bed by the time I go to bed, she knows that she gets a little treat (a couple of sugar snap peas) if she follows me to bed. 

[Laura and Angus]

Ha! Angus recently started putting himself to bed too! Around 9 or 9:30 he'll dart up the stairs and we'll find him either asleep in his own bed or sprawled across our pillows. So funny!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Isn't that cute? Winnie sneaks off very quietly- quite often we will look around and realize that she's not on her favorite couch or favorite part of the linoleum. Sure enough, she's gone to bed! :-)  When she was younger, I'd worry that she hadn't gone out for her "nighty potty." But not anymore! Often times she will go out after supper and then she is good until morning. 

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Haha. I know THAT is true-- puppies are definitely like kids and I have never met a kid who liked going to bed!