14 month old lab wakes me up at 2 am most nights!!!

[crazynell]

My 14 month old lab wakes me up at 2 am most nights. I don't seem able to stop it - he comes up to me and tries to wake me up and puts his teeth round my wrist until I get up and take him out into the garden. He comes back in has a few biscuits and settles down and sleeps. I've tried saying a firm no or turning away from him and ignoring him but he won't settle v until I take him out .

He has 2-3 walks up to an hour long per day. He gets taken out before bed up the road. He's not hungry and he gets a handful of biscuits before bed. He's not in pain or stressed. He either sleeps on dog beds in the hall downstairs or our bedroom so he's not lonely as he can get to us whenever he wants to. We don't have foxes near us and I'm not aware of any cats being around then

I think it's a habit he's got into but apart from shutting him out of the bedroom which I don't want to do, I don't know how to get him out of this.
Any ideas. anyone

Ps DH thinks I'm being too soft with DDog and should ignore him or shut him out but then he doesn't have to deal with it as he sleeps through it all anyway

Is it because he needs the loo?

Have you tried shutting him out of your room?

Oh OP - why are you giving him biscuits at 2am?! 😳

It sounds like he knows if he wakes you and goes out in the night, he'll get a reward (attention from you, plus snacks - bonus!). So, you need stop with the reward.

If he wakes you up, that's fine, but you need to make it really boring. So, straight downstairs, on the lead, out for a wee, back in and back to bed. He really doesn't need a snack at 2am, however much he might persuade you otherwise 😉

I would be ignoring or putting a stair gate at the door
if he does need the toilet you might need to adjust your routine to get up slightly earlier so he learns to hold on until morning but it sounds like this is what he thinks is his routine and you need to change that

@coffeecupsandfairylights I give him biscuits to get him back in and upstairs but I can see how he might view that as a treat or reward. @Applespearsandoranges I can see that he thinks this is his routine. We were away a few weeks ago staying in a B and B and he didn't once want out in the night

I give him biscuits to get him back in and upstairs but I can see how he might view that as a treat or reward

Yep, there's your problem. He's thinking "When I wake mum up at 2am, I get to play around in the garden and even better, she gives me biscuits too!"

So I would swap what you're doing - take him out, put a lead on him, let him go pee, then lead on until he's back upstairs and in bed. That way, he can't muck around and he comes in when he's told to.

My dog went through something similar as he realised if he woke my stepmum up she give him his breakfast and took him for his walk. Everyone told her she needed to ignore him but it came to a head when he was doing it at 3am, he had a walk at 11.30pm so not needing the toilet. He was shut in my room for 2 nights and it broke the habit he was only doing it because it worked, breakfast is still very important to him 6 years later. He's quarter lab, so maybe it's a breed trait.

I'm not sure where you live but i live rural. I had this issue with my dog and discovered it was the local wildlife waking him. It was always Summer.

It's basically my own fault isn't it. I did indulge him aster he had his neutering operation 3 weeks ago.

His last walk is at about 11 30 so he's got chance to empty his bladder and do a poo if he needs to, so it's not that

After not aster

Have yiu got a downstairs bathroom you can shut him in for a few nights to break the habit? Our lab used to sleep in the kitchen under the table in a huge comfy basket. We did have a dog flap though, so she could take herself out for an early morning wee/ gaze at local wildlife without waking us.

Our collie went through this stage. All she wanted to do was mess around in the garden. What broke her of it was taking her out on the lead, in case she needed the toilet, but it stopped her getting the reward of time to frolic at 2am. Now she only wakes us up if she genuinely needs to go out for the toilet.

It's an easy mistake to make.

Just take away the reward. If he asks to go out, put him on a lead so he can't play or be silly or pretend he doesn't want to come back to bed. Then don't remove the lead until he's back upstairs and in his bed.

My dog is very good at night but sometimes barks just after she goes to bed in the kitchen for the night. If she does this I take her outside on her lead for about a minute and then lead her back to bed. She only ever does one barking stint because she clearly realises how boring I am after bedtime!

Our collie went through this stage. All she wanted to do was mess around in the garden. What broke her of it was taking her out on the lead, in case she needed the toilet, but it stopped her getting the reward of time to frolic at 2am. Now she only wakes us up if she genuinely needs to go out for the toilet

I was just going to suggest taking him out on a lead and no biscuits on return

Update
I've done a week or more of taking him out on a lead and bringing him back in, no treat, no interaction - he goes straight back on his bed and goes to sleep. He's still waking me up!

I'm thinking when he tries waking me - ignoring him, telling him to go away. Or maybe taking him downstairs but not into the garden but straight back up the stairs again.

He loves the garden and is always wanting to be let out into it and I think this is what he's got into the habit of doing at 2 am as he just sniffs around and only does a wee when I tell him to do one.

It's my issue of my making and I know I've let it happen.

I think having cared for our last dog with neuropathy for 2-3 years before he sadly passed away I'm still grieving and it's made me very alert and sensitive to this one's needs and has probably affected my ability to be firm with him

Close your bedroom door. Anything else is just nonsense. What's the point of parading up and down the stairs without going out? Are you hoping that one night he'll say to himself, "Nah, I'll let Crazy Nell sleep." ?

It does sound like a habit he has formed rather than any sort of disturbance, stress, or physical need. If he genuinely doesn’t need to go out for a wee, I wouldn’t take him out. Does he know cues like “place” or “settle”? If not, I would teach him those things. You may have a few restless nights as he develops new habits, but he will hopefully learn the new routine fairly quickly.

Just ignore him completely?

I would turn over in bed and not interact with him at all.

Ah, OP, don't beat yourself up. We love them so much and have to guess what they want.

Does your lab like balls?

Ours will often happily take himself off again if we give him a ball to chew - maybe have one handy in the night to give him, but nothing further?

We've been in similar situations a few times with our dog, also a Lab.

Each time started when he had a squiffy tummy and woke us up barking in the middle of the night for an explosive poop. Because if he barks unexpectedly in the middle of the night, we're going to see what's up right?

The clever little shit then went through a period of a week or so each time where he'd bark because he knew we'd come down.

The only thing that stops him is just ignoring. The latest time has been the most difficult, as we have a baby now and his barking was disturbing the baby therefore we'd rush downstairs to shush him as quickly as poss!

They're clever little creatures of habit, and unfortunately it takes much longer to break the habit than it does for them to form them.

It'll take a few days, but just ignore ignore ignore.

Is he needing a wee or anything op?
if he does id be tempted to ignore but get up earlier than planned ie at 5 or something then gradually move back until it’s when you normally get up?