Eight month old pup, waking habits.

[Wheresmytrainers]

Hi all. I have an eight month old Lab pup who is friendly, sociable and in most ways an absolute pleasure. His night-time waking habits however, are not.

As a young pup, his sleep was as to be expected. Between the ages of twelve and twenty weeks, he did a wee or poo in his crate then woke up some time later, (3 or 4am, I would the take him out, change the bedding etc). This happened most nights. I then split the crate in half with a barrier and this literally stopped instantly. Since then he has been waking up initially around 5-5.15am. He wakes me with loud barking, not crying. I have been taking him out then dozing on the sofa until it is time to get up, (an hour later). He always does a wee and poo at this time. I have to put him on the lead and go out with him as we have a large garden and it is very dark at this time. This was bearable but his wake time is getting earlier and earlier. It is now around 4am so for the past two nights I have put him straight back in his crate. He will not settle and barks really loudly. I am now thinking I have been inadvertently rewarding him with my presence on the sofa. Any ideas on the best way of managing this please? I cannot get back to sleep very easily and last night rather than letting him in to the room with the sofa in, I perched near him and had to shush him loudly before he woke everyone up. I am exhausted.

To add to the issue, he chews every single bit of bedding that I put in his crate. last week, I bought him a lovely padded bed only for him to chew a hole in it the next day. He happily hops in the crate and I wouldn't dare leave him alone out of it as he chews anything he can find. Currently he has Vetbed in there which he hasn't destroyed as yet.

He has plenty of off lead exercise and a daily dip in a pond. He eats well and I take him out before bed about 10.30pm. I have two other labradors but they are not sleeping in the same room because of the disturbance to their sleep.

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

My dog is older, nearly 2, but he got into an awful habit of waking every night, he sleeps upstairs, he would come into me and whine, I would take him out for a wee then we would have a cuddle on the sofa, then back to bed. I had to break it and now when he comes in I'm telling him back as a cue word and he's cottoned on really quickly. I just had to think of it like controlled crying. It's harder when they bark though. I did think he was doing it to get the cuddle on the sofa and wasn't desperate for the toilet. He can hold it for ages.

Chewing, crying, pooing etc are all signs of anxiety. Could he sleep in his crate in your room or you sleep with him? He is still very young. All dogs are different. Our pup sleeps 8 hours through and has done since 11 weeks in a crate in our room.

I'd rather have a dog in the room with me than suffer lack of sleep again and again. You can move him out again when he's more settled.

Thanks both. Food for thought. He did sleep in the room with me on the bed as a new pup and unsurprisingly slept really well...

He hardly gets left alone during daylight hours either as I always make sure extended family can look after him when I am working. It could be habit or anxiety or maybe both, one feeding the other?

@Wheresmytrainers I hear you! My puppy is 12 weeks old. She goes into her crate (in the lounge) at bedtime around 10pm without a problem and wakes between 4.30am and 5am for the loo. We've been going out for the toilet and doing the same as you - coming in for a cuddle on the sofa where she'll fall asleep immediately and get a bit of a snooze. At the back of my mind I've known this is probably forming bad habits.
Last night, for whatever reason, she woke at 12.30am. I took her out for a wee and went to put her back in her crate. And then the barking started. I tried sitting by the crate for a bit but as soon as I moved away she started to bark. I decided at this point to tell her 'quiet', then held my nerve and let her bark for a bit (which sounds soooo loud in the middle of the night when children are sleeping upstairs). She did settle quite quickly. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about tonight but I'm planning to apply the same and hope she catches on quick. As @cheeseisthebest says, I think it's like sleep training a child. It's just hard when you're shattered not to just do the easiest (and snuggliest) thing! Good luck.

Although I could never sleep train my children I just went to them! Which is how my dog went from crate downstairs to sleeping on my sons bed!

It's the cuddling that does it. He also gets a handful of kibble when he goes in his bed so looking at it written down it looks like I am the architect of my own downfall. @EyeBetOnSky good luck tonight, I might possibly be up wandering around in the garden at the same time as you. @cheeseisthebest I couldn't sleep train my dc either so I will stuggle to do the same with my dog.@Newpeep, I will keep an eye on any anxiety symptoms. I hope it isn't that.

Does he sleep/rest with the other labs during the day? I'd be tempted to try them in the same room.

It sounds like anxiety to me too.

Think of it this way - you have two other dogs who he's separated from all night, and then on top of that, he's also separated from his humans too.

I would try him in his crate in the same room as the other dogs, or up in your room with you.

Hi all, last night pup slept upstairs and didn't wake up until after 7am. I am not sure which of the suggestions is the issue but obviously he likes company. Thanks for your help.