Sleeping In.....

[Sue]

HI,

My Lexee will be 5 months on Sept.22....She has been sleeping her nights for a while now but she is constantly up at the crack of dawn.....As much as I enjoy seeing her in the morning.....I would just love to be able to sleep in......Any ideas as to how to get her to sleep in later......I think with fall and winter coming it will stay darker a little later but wondered if there were any good tips from you all....She sleeps in a crate from about 11:15 until morning anywhere from 6-:6:30am....would love to have her sleep later until about 7:15-:30.....also...when we bring her outside, she simply lays there but rarely rushes out to pee so I don't believe she is getting up to pee...

Thoughts??
thanks again

[Audrey and Colby]

Lexee is adorable! I have a couple questions for you: Do you put her in her crate for the night when you go to bed, or do you stay up for a while longer? Does she sleep in your bedroom? Do you have other dogs, and if so, where do they sleep? Is the place where she sleeps dark? Is there any covering over the top of her crate or is it all exposed?

[Sue]

We always take her out for a last pee right before we put her in the crate....She sleeps on the main level and we sleep upstairs. She did not like sleeping in our room when she was younger..maybe it was too hot or she did not like the crate in our room but she has done well downstairs since...The place she sleeps is dark but light does get in especially when it is really sunny out...Her crate is not covered as she pulled the covers off when she was younger....:)

[Audrey and Colby]

Since Colby (4 months old) sleeps in our bedroom our situations are a little different then, but we were going through the same thing. I moved her crate further away from our bed and right next to our other dog's bed, and darkened the room as much as I could so there weren't any bright spots, and ever since, she's been sleeping until after eight!! I also cover her crate on the top and down the sides a bit. It seems the biggest difference for us was just the change in location, though. Good luck!

[VScott & Lloyd]

I'm feeling sleepless with you and Lloyd is almost 6 months old. His crate is downstairs in the family room and the rest of us sleep upstairs. We've done this since day one and for the most part, he is fine with it. His last potty break is in the 10pm hour and then I put him in the crate for the night. If I try earlier in the 9pm hour, he'll start barking and then I have to sit with him until 10pm or later. He was doing good for a while, waking up between 6:30 and 7am, but now he wakes a bit too early for my liking, between 5:45 and 6. I know he's not in dire need to pee because he'll walk out of the crate and then lay down again on the floor, and not rushing to the door. At bedtime, his crate is covered with a light blanket and we leave the sound of the tv on. Not much light except for the staircase light which doesn't shine directly on him.

I tried uncrating him in the morning, taking him out to pee, and then bringing him into our bedroom but he's restless, walking around, sniffing things, even though I bring toys or things for him to chew on. I can't go back to sleep because I'm too nervous thinking that he would start tearing up the carpet or something. By then, I'm awake and I'm up!

Everyday I get up for Lloyd at the first sound of barking so my husband can sleep. He's gone for a business trip this week so I may just let Lloyd "cry it out" until 7. Luckily my kids can sleep through anything. I may try some earplugs.

[Sue]

We were going to try the cry it out thing to...but are worried that she might soil her crate and then it would be our fault....She is doing 7 hours which is great but I wish I could get a bit more sleep especially when everyone else is :)

Vscott, let me know how it goes this week and

Others pls give me any other tips, insight....

thanks

[VScott & Lloyd]

Ok so last night I did the exact opposite of what I said I was going to do. He was so mellow and sweet that I let him sleep in my room. Door was closed so he couldn't roam around the house and he laid right down on the carpeted floor on a pillow. Went to bed at around 10:30, then he started barking at 11:15, then again around 12:30, then again at 4:45. All for no apparent reason. It was dark and quiet. Although Lloyd was still sleeping/laying down, I had to get up at 6:30, so I wonder how late he would have slept.

So lost more sleep last night, it'll have to be the crate tonight...Really!

How did it go for you?

[Sue]

Same routine, late night pee and then crate...She slept until 6:30 but the minute she heard me get up she started whining....Tomorrow morning no one has to be up so we will try to push her to 6:45am.....Increasing the time hopefully will help or as she matures and I am sure she can hold it...

Thanks...keep me posted.....and I think puppies love their crate as it is their safe place....Sort of like us....we always sleep better in our own beds :)

[Emery & Watson]

Watson is 4 months old, just a couple weeks younger than Lexee and we don't have any problems with him through the night from 10 am to 7 am (sometimes even to 8!).  Does she wake you up because she is barking or whining?  

I'll usually know when Watson is up if i hear him rustling in his crate or once in awhile he will give out a couple of sad whimpers but not much more, but it usually stops pretty quickly since we've never given in to whining.  Even if he is up we still leave him in there until we're ready (usually at 7 am or so).

He is crated downstairs and we sleep upstairs.  We stopped putting things over his crate because he also would end up pulling them down or corners into his crate.  

Try letting her cry it out a little bit or just prolong letting her out by 10 minutes every few days.  I'm sure you can get there!  

[Emery & Watson]

I forgot to mention.. we also take his water up about 1 to 1.5 hrs before bedtime and we make sure he goes to the bathroom before crating for the night

[Audrey and Colby]

I forgot to mention that we have a lot of white noise that blocks out pretty much all other sounds...a fan and a window a/c unit going full blast. :-)

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Hi Sue - are you open to putting her crate in the room with you?  Sometimes these guys just want to be with their people, and it sounds like that might be the case here if she's not rushing out to potty.  She's probably thinking it's time for the rest of the world to be up with her since she's awake.  ;)  Perhaps if she's able to see you're still sleeping - and likely coupled with a few good "ssshhhh"s the first several days - she'll catch on that it's not time to get up yet. 

I had the crate for both my doodles in my room, and I made the shushing sound the instant the puppy whimpered (and I was certain there was no need to potty).  My older doodle caught on right away, and it took my younger doodle a bit longer - she's just a crier in general - but I never got them out of the crate until I was ready to get them up.  I am NOT a crack of dawn person. ;)  They both could easily go 8 hours from the start.  I noticed both would wake earlier than my wake-up time, but just laid quietly in the crate since I was still in bed.  Neither is in a crate now, but they both still wait for me to wake up before they start to rustle out of bed. (And when I open my eyes, Beasley is usually always laying there wide awake - waiting for me to say 'good morning' lol.)  Good luck.  Lexee is adorable!!

[Sue]

I really like all of your answers...thank you....do you think she is still too young to hold it that long.....I think that is the reason that I get up the minute I hear her whimper or cry....I always assume she has to go.....At what age did you start "making " your pups wait for you to get up.....she is just shy of 5 months......is t his too young?