My 7-month-old Labrador cross keeps waking me up early in the morning (around 7–7:15am seems to be her thing). Except when we're at my mum's, where she sleeps in until 9am!
At home, she sleeps in the living room in her crate.
At my mum's, she sleeps in the conservatory and also has a crate there. Even if someone gets up and makes noise in the kitchen, which opens onto the conservatory, she just has a look and goes back to sleep.
At home, she starts off by whimpering a bit, then crying, and then she scratches like mad! I've tried ignoring it, but the downstairs neighbours can't stand any noise, so I really can't afford to just leave her to it for an hour waiting for her to stop! (Things are already quite tense with them because of the noise and her early mornings...)
So I get up, and just hearing me calms her down, but as soon as it goes quiet again she starts whimpering once more. So I wait for her to settle before opening the crate.
I don't think it's about needing the toilet, given that she sleeps until 9am at my mum's. Her last toilet trip is around 11pm, and even if it's later she still wakes up early.
Even though 7am feels early — especially since I don't start work until the afternoon — I'm not asking to sleep until 11am! But 8–8:30am would make a massive difference!
I tried to recreate the same conditions as at my mum's, namely leaving a shutter open (so she gets some daylight, like with the conservatory), but this morning it was the same story again at 7:15am.
I also tried taking her out for the toilet and then putting her back in the crate afterwards — she just whimpers and cries, even though I crate-trained her for the night (I used to only take her out for toilet trips during the night when she whined, then put her straight back in, until she started sleeping through).
Has anyone got any advice? Bearing in mind the grumpy neighbours downstairs...
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I’m bumping this thread to see if anyone has any tips for us, as our lovely Bounty, who’s 8 months old, wakes us up every morning at 5:30 am... and if we’re too slow to let her out, we end up with a wee on the tiles.
Her last walk of the night is between 10 pm and 11 pm, but it doesn’t make any difference; no matter what time her last let out is, the next morning it’s 5:30 am at the latest.
Hi everyone,
My 5-month-old puppy is getting up at 6:00 or 6:30 every morning and I’m at my wits' end. He sleeps in the utility room.
I’m wondering if he’s cold or maybe hungry? I just don't know what to do anymore. He whines and scratches at the door, and because I’ve got neighbours who aren't very understanding, I'm forced to get up.
My boy is 6 years old and he’s never woken me up before, but for the last week, he’s been howling like a wolf in the morning to get me to come downstairs. I stay in bed and he eventually stops, but if he hears even the tiniest noise from upstairs, he goes absolutely mental lol. When I do go down and open the door for him, he doesn't even poke his nose outside or want to play; he just gives me a quick greeting, settles back down, and sleeps until 10.00 or 10.30. Grrr, it’s so frustrating!
The only thing I can think of—the simplest way, really, though I’m not sure if it’s entirely fair—would be to find ways to "burn off" more of his energy, basically to wear him out.
I mention this because my own, who's nearly six months old, sometimes—very rarely, mind you—wakes up early and kicks up a real fuss. It’s usually when the previous evening wasn't very active.
Anyway, if I were you, I wouldn’t hesitate to give it a go. If you aren’t the sporty type, since you’ve got a Lab, my strategy would be to teach him to play fetch with a ball. I’d tire him out completely one evening, just to see if it makes a difference to his pattern.
I’ve actually learned to avoid wearing mine out totally, but it still happens occasionally. When it does, she doesn’t really get going until 11 am the next morning! Normally, she’s up and about around 9:00 or 9:30 am. But if we’ve limited her activity the day before for some reason, she’s likely to start scratching and whining from about 6 am.
Oh tell me about it, it's a real struggle every morning... I’m only asking for one lie-in a week! lol
But what I don’t get is that at my mum’s, she happily sleeps until 8am or even later!
Personally, it doesn't really bother me that much, it’s mainly the downstairs neighbour who’s complaining about the noise. Because she's up and about so early, she starts playing and making a racket, and it just echoes downstairs...
Hi, I don’t want to dampen your spirits, but we’ve got a two-year-old Jack Russell and it’s 7:00 or 7:15 am at the latest every morning, seven days a week. He doesn’t know the difference between weekdays, weekends, and bank holidays. If we’re at all late taking him out, there’s bound to be an accident. It’s just his routine, not much you can do about it really. Best of luck!
Thanks for the reply!
No, at my mum’s we keep to the same routine with her for walks and playtime. The only difference is that the last walk is half an hour earlier, yet she wakes up later... It’s completely backwards lol!
What’s really bothering me is the downstairs neighbours! We live in the same house—them on the ground floor and me upstairs—but the two parts are completely separate. At the slightest noise she or I make, the neighbour loses her rag!
Hi!
My 7-month-old Labrador cross wakes me up early every morning (around 7:00–7:15 am is her usual time). Except when we’re staying at my mum’s place, where she stays asleep until about 9:00 am!
At home, she sleeps in her crate in the living room. At my mum’s, she sleeps in the conservatory, also in a crate. Even if someone gets up and makes noise in the kitchen, which opens onto the conservatory, she just has a look and goes back to sleep.
At my place, she starts by whining a bit, then crying, and finally she starts scratching like a maniac! I’ve tried ignoring her, but the neighbours downstairs can’t stand any noise, so I can’t exactly let her carry on for an hour until she stops! (Things are already quite tense with them because of the noise and her early wake-up calls...)
So I get up, and as soon as she hears me she calms down, but the second there’s silence again she starts whining... So I wait until she’s quiet before letting her out.
I don’t think she actually needs to go out, as she sleeps until 9:00 am at my mum’s. Her last toilet break is around 11:00 pm, and even if it’s later, she still wakes up early.
Even though 7:00 am seems early, especially when I’m only on the afternoon shift, I’m not asking for a lie-in until 11:00 am! But 8:00 am or 8:30 am would be amazing.
I’ve tried to recreate the same conditions as at my mum’s house, like leaving a shutter open (so she gets the daylight like in the conservatory), but this morning it was back to square one at 7:15 am.
I’ve also tried taking her out for a wee and putting her back in the crate afterwards, but she just whines and cries. This is even though I crate-trained her for the night (I used to only take her out for toilet breaks at night when she whined and then put her back in the crate once she'd done her business until she started sleeping through the night).
Any advice? Bearing in mind the grumpy neighbours on the ground floor...
Hi there,
I think it’s just her rhythm (we’re the same—by always getting up at the same time, we often wake up at that time even when we want a lie-in, unless we’re exhausted). My dog Mia, who’s nearly 5 months old, has her own routine too. My partner walks her at 6:30 am, and she goes straight back to bed, but when he leaves at 7:30 or 7:45 am, she wakes up and plays by herself or stands by my bed staring at me (proper creepy lol!!!!).
Maybe she gets more exercise or longer walks at your mum’s house, so she’s more tired than she is at your place? As for the scratching and whining, it’s just to get your attention or to show you she wants to go out..
