Middle of the night waking

[Rita and Fazzy]

Hi all...

Fazzy is goign to be 10 months old here in about a week or so.....we initially did some crate training when we first got him and he did just fine with that, but then he started barking in the middle of the night...several times.  Finally we moved him down to the kitchen area (it's a gated area) and he was happy as can be, never heard a peep out of him for a couple of months...then the barking started again.  Thinking that he was lonely, we brought him back upstairs, and since he potty trained really quick, we just kept him in an "x-pen" in the bedroom and all was good....but, lately, he's been waking up during the night wanting to go out to potty - which we do take him out.  Back to bed and back to sleep.  Last weekend we thought we'd remove the "x-pen" and see if he would just sleep in his area that he'd been sleeping in for the past few months.  First few nights went well.  Last couple of nights, middle of the night, he has stuck his nose in my face in the middle of the night - we go out to potty, etc.  Last night tho, we did that routine.  Brought him back up to the bedroom, back to bed...he was good for maybe 10 minutes, then he comes over to me wanting attention and when I ignored him, he barked.  Then, over to my DH's side, same thing, back and forth a couple of times.  Very strange.  I tried to take him out again, nope, that's not what he wanted.  Finally, Randy got up and sat on the floor with him and he laid down and went to sleep (ugh, not a good thing to start)..and we didn't hear another peep out of him.

Any thoughts on this middle of the night stuff?  I know that he can hold it all night, he's done it many times in the past.  We are usually in bed by 9 and DH is up at 4:30 to shower and then takes him out about 4:45 to potty, then back to bed until I get up.  Every now and again, he'll sleep all night for a few nights, then he'll do the middle of the night stuff for a few nights, then back to sleeping all night, etc.

 

Suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[Erin & Maizey]

Fazzy is super, super cute!   What does Fazzy do during the day?  Maizey used to do something similar and I finally realized it was because she wasn't tired enough.  She would spend the day sleeping and lounging (other than a mid day dog walk) while I was at work and then get lots and lots of walks, attention and play time until my bedtime (i.e. 11:30) but she just wanted to keep playing.  And would do a similar thing - sleep for a few hours, wake up, bark like she needed to go out (she didn't) and then want to play, then lay down and sleep for an hour and repeat.  Come morning, she'd be all lazy and not want to get up.  It was really frustrating and exhausting.  She now goes to daycare in order to give her more exercise and playtime during the day.  She sleeps through the night, other than an occasional stroll around the house to check things out and have some water but then lays back down in my room to sleep (she's 16 months old - where did the time go??)  Maybe Fazzy just needs more playtime and exercise to make him really tired and sleepy at night time?  I feel like these doodles would play 24 hours a day if they could!  Hope this helps.   

[Rita and Fazzy]

Awww thanks....we think that Fazzy is pretty cute too...  :-)

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I was wondering the same thing when I read your post.   Hurley is now 16 months old, and like when he was a younger puppy, he requires lots of exercise.  Since DH and I are both retired we are home frequently but in and out for varying lengths of time on a daily basis.  We have found that we have to make sure Hurley gets plenty of exercise every day for him to sleep through the night. That exercise might be walks or playing catch, or playing with him with his toys or going to one of the grandkid's ball games.  He is not kenneled at night (or doing the day when we are gone for that matter) and he doesn't ask to be let out during the night.  But if he doesn't get enough exercise he is restless durning the night, tossing and turning more than usual on the bed, moving from room to room instead of simply staying on our bed with us or sleeping on the tile in the bathroom.   Hurley is about 50+ lbs so you can imagine what it might be like with a tossing, restless doodle at the end of the bed.   We have Hurley trained that bed time is 8:45.  If he has not gotten enough exercise or play time, by his standards, during the day he goes berserk starting about 8 PM until he crashes at 8:45 wherever he happens to be at the moment.  I call his name and say 'bed' a couple of times and he gets up, goes into our bedroom, jumps on the bed and claims his spot.  

So there is a light at the end of the sleepless night tunnel and I suspect that sufficient exercise is the key.

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

After making sure Fazzy has had plenty of excercise and really doesn't need to go potty, then you may need to go back to the "tough love" approach and let him work it out where ever you expect him to sleep.  Does he have special bed in the room with a toy he likes or a piece of old clothing that smells like one of you to sleep with?  "Tough Love" was very hard for me because "My baby was crying so he must need me" - was my thought.  He learned pretty quick that crying got what he wanted - me.  It took me longer to figure out that I was giving him what he was demanding - me. So we had to start over agin with the crate like training, fortunately we both relearned the expectations faster the second time!!  Good luck and make sure there is nothing physically wrong such as s UTI that may cause frequent potty breaks.

[Rita and Fazzy]

I suspect that it might be an exercise thing....he does go to daycare 2 - 3 times a week, depending on what's going on.  He was there today, we'll see how tonite goes.  The daycare is on acreage and they are all out playing walking throughout the day....  I work from home full time, so days like yesterday, he was laying around all the time and then when I finally signed off, it was POURING...so, no outside for us.  With all the rain and cold that we have around here, we don't get outside as much as we should...until it finally starts to dry out - which, knowing the Pacific NW, should be around July 5th.  We'll start working on getting him out and about in the evenings more and for a longer period of time.  I wish that he was into fetching balls - that would be a great way to wear him out, but for the most part, he really doesn't care much about them.   He is probably one of the most laid back, calm puppies I have ever seen.....he's not all over the place, wanting to play - sometimes we have to work on getting him engaged!!

Thanks for all the thoughts and I suspect you are all "right on"....

Rita & The Fazzmeister  :-)

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Love Fazzy's face with his light colored mustache.