Hello, first of all I'm happy to have found this forum. I didn't know about it before and I'm sure I'll find plenty of good advice here. I'm writing this at my wit's end 😟
I have a little 2-year-old Fox Terrier. She used to be house-trained at night, only waking up when our alarm went off without any issues during the night. However, a year ago, following an allergic reaction to an insect bite, she was put on antibiotics which made her need a wee during the night... several times a night. According to the vet, it was a side effect of the treatment. Since then, she has never got back into a proper night-time routine.
She used to eat in the morning and then in the evening when we got home. During the day, she's with my sister's Labrador, so she isn't alone and gets plenty of exercise.
But now she wakes us up at night; half the time it's for a wee, and the other half she just makes us go downstairs for nothing.
When I hear her whining, I grumble at her to go back downstairs, but then I feel guilty in case she actually does need to go... but when you go down at 3 am to let her out and she won't even poke her nose outside, it's infuriating! Especially knowing she'd been for a wee only 4 hours earlier.
I know she can hold it because when it's raining she refuses to go out... or she'll wait until she's absolutely bursting... which is much longer than the time she goes at night! Typical Fox Terrier temperament...
So I thought maybe she was eating too late, and now I only give her food in the morning. But now she isn't eating her full portion. I get the impression she's begging for food in the evening, but then in the morning, she hardly touches it...
I don't know what to do anymore. For example, last night I let her out at 11 pm when going to bed. I heard her coming up the stairs several times; I let her out at 3 am and waited 5 minutes for her to do a wee. As soon as she'd finished, she bolted back to the door to get inside. She didn't stop moving all night, only for me to find she'd done a poo in the house this morning (even though her last meal was yesterday morning). I cleaned it up while she was outside. Accidents like that are rare, but it's mainly the fact she wakes us up several times a night, making us get up for nothing!
I'm lost, I don't know what to do. I'm reaching breaking point. If I got up and she actually did something, fine, but that's not always the case.
I can't stand getting up for nothing anymore...!
Thank you for your help. I've called several animal behaviourists in my area but no one has even bothered to get back to me!
