Early Morning Wake Up Call!

Ralph is just six months now.

He sleeps in a crate at the bottom of the stairs – and is happy to take himself in there when it’s bed time.
Over the last couple of weeks, he is waking up earlier and earlier. He howls to be let out.

My initial reaction is to let him out – I wonder if he needs to go to the toilet. I open the door into the garden and he won’t go so he’s not desperate for a wee or anything.

Then he looks at his food bowl. 6am is a bit early for breakfast is it not! I try and get him to settle again, but if I put him back in the crate he just howls again.

I try and leave it until 7am but he wants food.

So I feed him and then think if he’s hungry, after he’s fed and watered he’ll go back to bed right? No. He howls again.

Now, all of this is ok during the week as we’re up anyway, but I would like a bit of a nap the weekend!

I thought I’d try bringing him upstairs for a snuggle on the bed, but he won’t settle up there. He is running everywhere and keeps jumping off the bed. As he’s still into chewing everything I can’t leave him to his own devices as I won’t have any shoes left!

Anyway I can get a bit of a lie in one day a week! I just don’t want to ignore him howling in his bed. Any ideas? He used to sleep in until 7.30 so I don’t know what’s changed.

I'd leave him to howl - but then I'm nasty! Even if he's hungry, he can wait an hour for his food, he won't starve!

Once I get up I have to take Dempsey out cause he won't settle otherwise, so I make sure that I stay in bed until I'm ready to go.

I was just wondereing if the time the sun rises makes any difference. It gets light slightly later now though so not sure ???? Has he been going to bed any earlier ?

Sounds like a teenager pushing boundaries!

You're right Caryll - I should leave him! But his little howling from downstairs pulls on my heart strings and I can't go back to sleep anyway!!!

Kathy - I did think if it was the hot water coming on that woke him. That comes on about 6.40am - and it was pretty much around that time that he would wake, so I switched off the hot water but he was still like clockwork!

He's not really going to bed any earlier. His little routine is that he has a 30 minute walk before he's off to work with the OH. During the day, he's in and out the van with him, napping as they go from one job to the next. He has another 30 minutes walk at lunch time. I get home at 5.30 and we all go for a 45 minute walk together. He comes home, has his tea, has a mad half hour or so and then I guess we settle in front of the TV around 8 - 8.30. Ralph will snooze on our laps before he has a wee and goes to bed, between 10.30-11.00pm. His routine hasn't really changed much at all.

I wonder that it's because he's getting a bit older and doesn't need as much sleep? I've never had a pup before so I don't really have anything to compare it with.

Other than that, as Lynne says, he's pushing his luck!

So, advice for the weekend - leave him!?

I need

I think I would just leave him as well. Not alot of experience here though as mine have always slept on the bed and will stay there until we get up or a little longer sometimes.

oh god, i thought it got better. My little one is only 12 weeks and was sleeping till 6am which i thought was good, but suddenty 4am onwards seems ok to her. Im exhausted. Thought it wasnt for long lol. good luck, hope you sort it and if you do let me know how

Julia

we leave Tommy on the odd times he cries to be out and that's it, he soon knows we aren't going to come and settles back down for another snoooze

Personally, I'd just leave him. Loki has a bit of a cry, groan when he wants out of his cage, but just ignore him and he soon gives up (he'll even hang his head as if to say, "Oh, what's the point?" let out a sigh, and go to sleep lol). If you do that, I think Ralph will pick up on it quickly and just give up. He might well be hungry, but if he is, the sooner you make him weight a bit longer, the sooner his feeding pattern will get rid of the early morning hunger.

I let Loki out for the toilet at around 11pm-1am (I'm mean, I actually wake him up to go out ), he'll quickly do his thing and then get back to sleep and won't cry for the rest of the night.