Nag Nag Nag

[Stressmagnet]

Ernie has been holding himself through the night since 6 months old, no problem. He's a year old now. From 10pm to 6:30am, he's been sleeping through the night.

Lately he's taken to whining to be let out at 2 or 3am, then anywhere from 5-6am. As he sleeps right beside me, he wakes me up - which means I'm getting lousy sleep.

I'm wondering if:

A) there's a medical cause. I will point out, he bounds happily outside at such hours and he does pee - but then heads straight for the lounge room as if it's 'getting up time'. I have to insist on 'bed'. I do not play or interact with him at these times.

B) he's trained me to respond. I've noticed that if we are in the kitchen and he's in his lounge room bed, he will whine constantly for company. This is a new behaviour too.

Last night, he got fed at 6:30pm, had his last drink of water at 8pm, got let out for the last time at 10pm. 3am, he was creating by whining and fussing. So I figured for some reason, he needed to go back out. I let him out, he did his business (not anything special or long winded) , then attempted a lap of the front yard before I called him in -- whereupon he went straight to the lounge room and it took some very firm 'BED' commands to get him to go back into his bedroom crate. Then he was fussing and whining again at 5am.

He's always been so great overnight, so this is new.

Should I take him to the vet and check for a UTI?

Or am I being trained to let him out or entertain him through his fussing?

Edited May 17, 2015 by Stressmagnet

[Roova]

If you reeeeally think he's busting (which he probably isn't) can you take him out on lead so he has absolutely no opportunity to do anything but toilet then straight back to bed?

He's probably much like a child not wanting to sleep but 'needing a glass of water' lol.

If he's waking and bored is there anything he can chew for a while or would that be a bit noisy in a quiet room?

What happens if he whines through the night and you ignore him

[Stressmagnet]

If you reeeeally think he's busting (which he probably isn't) can you take him out on lead so he has absolutely no opportunity to do anything but toilet then straight back to bed?

He's probably much like a child not wanting to sleep but 'needing a glass of water' lol.

If he's waking and bored is there anything he can chew for a while or would that be a bit noisy in a quiet room?

What happens if he whines through the night and you ignore him

He's got a couple of toys plus some chew toys in his crate. He's got a pillow in case he's just cold.

If he whines and I ignore him, he keeps it up until I'm wide awake and there goes my sleep.

My gut instinct is telling me that he's wanting attention given the way he rushes to the lounge room once we're done.

But I'd hate to miss something medical; on the the other hand, I'm on a pension and if there's nothing wrong with him - I'll be mighty poor after a needless vet bill.

Should I just stick ear plugs in tonight?

Should I ignore his whining for attention or start teaching him that whining gets him nowhere? For example, I've been doing a 'UH UH!" when he fusses in the lounge room - but dear Maude my boy is persistent. Don't want to punish him for fussing if he really really needs to go out.

When I take him out at 2an, it's pretty businesslike, I guess I do praise him and give him a quick cuddle - a habit from housebreaking times. (Plus he's pretty loveable). Maybe put on my robot face for a couple of days and pretend no feelings at 3am?

I will point out - he's off to a mates while I have surgery and he'll be outside all night with his buddy dogs - so that might break him of this too. My friend is pretty matter of fact when it comes to her dogs - she's on a large property and they don't come inside. Might be a bit of a shock for my spoiled teenage boy.

Ack! I hate not knowing whether I should take him to the vet or whether he's playing me -- like Miss 15.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Sounds like he's got some Italian Greyhound in him .... they are the biggest whingers, they regularly wake me up very early or sometimes during the night if their blankets have come off etc.

Seriously though, have you changed his diet at all? Is he getting a lot of exercise? Does he have a coat on and/or a big blanket to snuggle in?

My friend always says to ignore them when they are in a crate and making a fuss but generally I have my dogs running free at night and they can come and go as they like. It's only the new fosters that get crated until they are housetrained and/or part of the pack. If they bark at night at all, they will also be crated.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Her Majesty Dogmad

[Animal House]

Maybe try feeding him earlier, like 3.30 - 4 o clock.

Reason being, I used to feed later, and my girl was drinking quite a lot, and then needing to pee at 3am, ugh.

So I started feeding twice a day ((same rations, just split into two) so now I feed first thing in the morning, and again at 3.30 - 4.It's much easier this way for us, I let them out about 10 for the last pee before bed and that's where the water bowl is.

Also, could he be cold, does he have a nice warm coat? I get a cold nose shoved in my face if one of mine happens to wake up during the night and manages to get on top of the blanket instead of under it, and they both sleep on my bed. Bloody sooks.

[brightstar123]

Without having looked at him, it doesn't sound like a UTI. You would expect to see him possibly going inside, going multiple times or trying to, straining to go, crying while peeing or licking himself a lot. Also UTIs are much less common in males. If he is bright, toileting normally at other times and eating/drinking normally, with no other symptoms, I wouldn't rush to the vet.

[aliwake]

Nix goes through phases where he does this and I'm sure he just feels like a wander around the yard and eating some possum poo while it's fresh... drives me nuts! Fortunately he's currently in a sleeping well phase - I think the cool weather helps him want to stay curled up in bed... I don't really have much to offer other than sympathy - I'm a massive sucker too :) And a very light sleeper!

[Stressmagnet]

I'll stick another big cuddle pillow in his bed tonight and try feeding him earlier.

He does get breakfast - I split his daily intake in two because otherwise he frantically gulps his dinner.

I love him to bits but I agree, I think I might be getting played. I removed his wander round the bedroom privileges when he was playing at 2am - so I'm thinking he's just having a wee bit of a tantie.

And the whining for company when he's on his bed and we are talking in the kitchen - that really has to stop.

I'm thinking they are both related.

Teenagers. Yuk. :D

[denali]

I think you may be getting played too.

You want to make it as little fun as possible.

Simply put him on a lead, take him outside to pee, then straight back in. Don't talk to him either. Just simple, silent, boring pee time.

He will realise theres no fun to be had at 3am pretty quickly

[Brookestar]

Put simply you have to keep ignoring him. If you give into him, which you are, regardless of how long it goes on for, he has learnt that the longer I keep this up, the sooner I get what I want. ANY response at all is what he wants, and even a negative response is a response If you want to rule out medical, then take him to the vet, which is not always a bad idea. if not, then you simply have to tough it out, even if it takes a few hours of whining. Reality is that getting out of bed is a privilege, so you cannot remove anything else from him. It is about being willing to be strict enough.

Everyone always says this type of behaviour gets worse if you ignore it and it will if you do not ignore it for long enough and sometimes it honestly can be hours. But reality is that if you consistently ignore it for long enough, they learn that whining does not get what I want and I may as well give up. The longer you have allowed it to go on and the longer you do allow it to go on the worse it will get and the longer it will take to get him out of the habit.

He does not need anymore toys of treats, he needs you to be a MASTER and set the rules, because at present he is doing all of it.

[jemappelle]

Two things that are certain to ensure that the dogs will wake me up in the night:

1 They are cold - wearing a coat or if not cold enough for that, giving them a big snuggly blanket stops that

2 Fed late so they drink a lot. I try to feed by 4.30 pm at the latest.

[VizslaMomma]

I'll stick another big cuddle pillow in his bed tonight and try feeding him earlier.

He does get breakfast - I split his daily intake in two because otherwise he frantically gulps his dinner.

I love him to bits but I agree, I think I might be getting played. I removed his wander round the bedroom privileges when he was playing at 2am - so I'm thinking he's just having a wee bit of a tantie.

And the whining for company when he's on his bed and we are talking in the kitchen - that really has to stop.

I'm thinking they are both related.

Teenagers. Yuk. :D

If he is perceving you are out of sorts after breaking your wrist, this may be his way of getting your atention to make sure you stil LURVE the sweet doofus.

I am basing that on what mah evil boys did when I had had the knee surgey.

Tings aint normal with Momma so we better make sure we iz looked after..... ( not that things are normal but you know what I mean.)

Adjusting the routinue & re-creating boundaries worked.

And dont ya HATE that demand for outside in the nish weather to toilet?

[HazyWal]

Put simply you have to keep ignoring him. If you give into him, which you are, regardless of how long it goes on for, he has learnt that the longer I keep this up, the sooner I get what I want. ANY response at all is what he wants, and even a negative response is a response If you want to rule out medical, then take him to the vet, which is not always a bad idea. if not, then you simply have to tough it out, even if it takes a few hours of whining. Reality is that getting out of bed is a privilege, so you cannot remove anything else from him. It is about being willing to be strict enough.

Everyone always says this type of behaviour gets worse if you ignore it and it will if you do not ignore it for long enough and sometimes it honestly can be hours. But reality is that if you consistently ignore it for long enough, they learn that whining does not get what I want and I may as well give up. The longer you have allowed it to go on and the longer you do allow it to go on the worse it will get and the longer it will take to get him out of the habit.

He does not need anymore toys of treats, he needs you to be a MASTER and set the rules, because at present he is doing all of it.

Well I've been ignoring Stan for years and he still whines...years! He's 7 now and doesn't look like giving up anytime soon.

[LisaCC]

Has he got a cover on his crate? If not try covering it, muffle any whining and keep in some heat. Or time for Ernie to be a big boy and move the crate outside your room to be completely ignored!

Be strong to Labrador puppy eyes!

Edited May 18, 2015 by LisaCC

[Steph M]

Gus does this too, not so much now. I actually had a thread on it not too long ago cause it was driving me cuckoo.

He's mostly stopped it now, the magic switch flipped at 2.

Its so hard to ignore, isn't it! JUST SLEEP, DAWG.

I pray for your sleep.

[The Spotted Devil]

Em is restless when she's too hot - she runs warm and will lie on the cool slate in the middle of Winter.

[Stressmagnet]

Ok.

Big snuggle pillow in his bed. Check.

Gonna feed him at 4:30-5pm. Check.

Gonna purposefully gather in the kitchen where he can see but is not allowed - for girls homework time and ignore his fuss. When we DO go into the lounge room we will NOT SMOTHER him with kisses (Miss 12) and I will NOT scratch behind his ears and rub his cheeks until he's been quiet.

Ease back on the treat rewards. One Dental Stix at his bedtime Nd nothing else.

Earplugs. I say again, earplugs.

For a dog that has been brilliant overnight to go to demanding this kind of attention ALL the time? It's either I'm being played or he's noticed and is worried by the cast on my wrist. Either way, giving in is playing to insecurity or manipulation.

I don't let my daughters get away with it, so why the dog?

And he was incredibly needy in our walk today - rarely left my side to go play zoomies (once the initial first 15 minutes of mania wore off). That's unlike him to stick like glue - he checks in but normally he wanders and sniffs.

I think it could also be about his age. He's grown a bit in the last month or so, he's barking at scary chairs in the oval and now this pitiful whining and sad eyes.

if he was a teenage girl, I'd say it was all behavioural.

[Little Gifts]

We have been dealing with a very similar problem with Tempeh and I have a solution for you to try. Tempeh often vomits up bile before breakfast and has been vet checked for this and just happens to be the kind of dog that can get over hungry. So we started giving her a treat around 10 at night to combat this problem and it has worked well. But then she started whining for treats earlier. Then she started wanting multiple treats throughout the night. It got so bad we were giving her treats (tiny ones) only two hours after her dinner time and every hour after that until we went to bed just to shut her up.

A while back we met the Dreadlocked Dog Whisperer and he gave us a technique to use on her. We look in her direction, give a huge yawn, stick our chins in the air and look away. This is simply mimicking something mother dogs do to settle naughty puppies. So we started using it again and within only two nights she was no longer even bothering us for treats and we were back to being the ones to instigate late night treat time. And the good thing for you is you can do this while lying in bed - I wouldn't even get up to let him out for a pee first, I'd just do the whole yawn thing and roll over and see what happens.

I actually told Martin about this on FB and he wrote the following back which you could also apply - "I'll be doing videos soon so you can really remember how much you can exaggerate that yawn and head tilt. Also act aloof and arrogant until everyone calms down - and sleepily close eyes and let all air out of your lungs like you're getting ready to sleep. Is real hunting weather at moment so all dogs getting restless and finding it hard to settle."

[Stressmagnet]

Awesome!! Why didn't I think of this?!?!

[Dame Aussie]

I do a big yawn at my dogs when I want them to relax and it works EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. They yawn back without fail and settle immediately.