how can i stop this night waking?

[Skipsurvey]

ddog who is 11, 12 in november
for some time she has been waking at 5, but i get up 5.40 so that's ok
last few weeks she hs been waking me at 3 or 4
i take her out
come back to bed, an hour later she wakes again
last night i was up 3 times
occasionally i will feed her at the second waking so i guess i should stop that
i do throw stones for her in the garden which she loves is obsessed with
perhaps i have answered my own question.
anyone had a dog that does this night waking?

my previous dog had a bad habit of barking at 6.30, must have been back in the day when 6.30 was an inconvenience, as that is a lie in for me currently

My old boy is nearly 12 and he started this a few months ago. I now just let him sleep on the bed with me because I was exhausted. Vet said she thought it could be separation anxiety as he's lost his hearing so things like leaving a radio on no longer worked.

He now sleeps until my alarm goes off, though it's less than ideal tbh. But I prioritise sleep more than clean bedding.

So basically you have trained ddog to wake up the?

she always has slept on my bed.
she thumps my head to wake me
i guess i should treat her like a baby, quiet, just a wee, no games

why i crate trained!

bit late to crate train i feel @nutrosti

you throw stones for her in the middle of the night or just during the day when playtime?

every morning @nutrosti
its our routine, pebbles, she is an excellent sniffer , bad for her teeth though, shame on us

but yes in the middle of the night,
i have no idea why
same with feeding her at 4 i guess

she thinks this is our routine now,

sometimes we are up so early i think perhaps we should go for a walk, but then of course she would get fixated on that happening every day!

Our dog occasionally has us up in the night and we realised the only thing that helps is to feed her a little bit. Although hers is wanting to go out to eat grass cos she feels sick. We started doing a little snack for her around 10pm and it has solved the problem. Maybe try a little snack before bed.

head. wall. hit.

You pilchard.
She's probably getting to the age where an early wee is desirable and you've managed to train her that a quick game, breakfast and maybe even a walk are available at silly o'clock.
Wee and then back to bed as boringly as possible.

i know, i just havent been thinking straight at 3 or 4 in the morning!

When we got dpuppy she slept downstairs.. Dh got up at 6 for work. Me at 8. No way was she going back to sleep down there so dh plonked her up with me. She knew and slept again til 8. Your ddog wants you op. Be flattered and accept it. More sleep surely?? If ddog - all 40 kg - gets upstairs she stretches out on the bed remembering those days!! Def isn't up there now.. Just no space..

we go back to bed, but by 6 am she is exausted and i have to get ready for work

She could be in the early stages of dementia 😔

she is a terrier so i assume too young for dementia ?

Your dog needs to see a vet.

At nearly 12, I would be concerned about dementia and some form of cognitive decline. And please stop throwing stones for her, it's incredibly bad for them and can cause all kinds of issues.

the stones are an amazing scent game for her
the vet knows about them
but i will stop, a ball later instead.

What do stones have to do with scent games? Just use treats or toys, not something that's going to ruin her teeth

She's got you well trained OP! 😉

I'd probably get her a check up, to rule out any issues. And if she's fine (I hope so) then have a bit of a reset to make mornings less fun.

I looked after a dog for a week that was night waking. I didn't take it out in the night as I wasn't getting up at 3 am - and the night waking stopped 2 days later. The owner was sure that it was waking because it needed a wee. It didn't. Yours might be different though as it's an older dog.

My boy has begun this waking early malarkey. He's 13 and a half and it's not every day (thankfully) but frequently enough to be a pain - once or twice a week. It began back in May when DH was away for 10 days and I put it down to his routine being out-of-sync.
He thumps on the bedroom door and sighs/harrumphs loudly, any time from 5.30 onwards. I let him out into the garden but I've watched and he isn't in any hurry to do a wee. He just patrols, checking for next-door's cat and any squirrels that are taking the piss. Then he will eventually do a wee and come back to sit at the door until I open it.
He stopped it once DH came home and when the kids came home for the weekend.
I suspect I'm stuck with it, to be honest, unless it eases up once it's darker in the mornings and he doesn't think it's time for getting up. No other old age issues though, -- for now, anyway.

After losing my old ddog a few years ago, today, I've picked up my new rescue who is 8. This afternoon, I'm going to show her how the dog flap works - I'm not getting up at 3am for anyone 😆

I would feed her later. Or give her a protein based snack at bedtime.