# Night time



## Pipp (Mar 12, 2015)

I am hoping for some advice; I have been able to find topics on here concerning younger puppies but none from older ones.

Our 14 month old cockapoo keeps waking us up at night, not just once but 4 or 5 times!!! every hour or two, she barks out several times.
We can not work out why! She is well exercised (believe me) and fed, we make sure she has been out for toilet etc just before bed at 10pm.

This is quite recent, it has been happening for a week or so and before now she would only wake up on occasion when ill. What worries me is that she seems to be more tired out in the day as a result and I wonder if its turning in to a vicious circle?
The first couple of nights she did it we took her out to see if she needed the toilet but she didn't, she just sniffed about! Since then we have tried to ignore her because I am worried if we keep getting up she will feel rewarded with attention and outside trips and keep doing it. If we leave her she will bark out a few times, settle down but then do it again the next couple of hours and so on.

Do you think we just need to continue to ignore it and expect it to pass as a phase? As she is now 14 months old wondering if its a teenage thing or if the birds are waking her up as Spring time is approaching...I am guessing as I really have no idea.

I have a 2 year old and am heavily pregnant (33 weeks) with my second baby and so this waking up all night phase from our cockapoo is very stressful as I am exhausted beyond belief and desperate to get some sleep in before the baby comes.

Does anyone have advice or experience from something similar?


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Congratulations on your imminent new addition.
Where is your dog sleeping? Could she being disturbed by night time critters, cats, foxes visiting the garden? Security lights coming on? Animals walking past windows or doors? May be moving her bed to a quieter area might help. My dog would bark at the cats coming in the garden all night, he sleeps under our bed but during the day he barks if a cat so much as thinks about entering the garden! There is normally a reason why they are barking, it's just finding what it is and it may not be easy for us to spot.


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## Pipp (Mar 12, 2015)

Hey wellerfeller,

Thanks so much for your reply. She sleeps in our dining room and the room is pitch black and we cover her crate with blankets, we have a two story flat and so she is not next to our garden as sleeps on the first floor rather than the ground floor.

What is odd is that usually she was fine before, would go down at 10pm and be up again at 7am. I think we might try and move her to another room and see if its any better. If we do move her she will be sleeping above our neighbours bedroom and so we would hope she didn't wake them up.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Poor you, at this point you need all the sleep you can possibly get. Could you leave a tv or radio on softly so she acclimatizes to background noises? She could be hearing a new sound in the neighbourhood, like a neighbour who has changed their routine, a delivery person, or street sweeper... she might also be overly sensitized to your condition and doing her very best to protect everybody all night. In any case definitely earplugs for you and/or a visit to a relative where you can get some good sleep before the big day. Exciting times ahead!


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## Pipp (Mar 12, 2015)

Thank you Fairlie. I will also try some quiet classic fm on the radio for her. Our dog trainer said just now she is most likely wanting attention so just to ignore her so we will try that tonight...ear plugs to the ready! like you say need sleep so much just now.


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## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

I'm wondering if maybe there is something wrong that should be vet checked? Randomly starting a new habit of barking and being excessively tired during the day both seem like they could maybe be signs of something wrong that you can't see. If it were me I might get them vet-checked if the above suggestions don't seem to work.

Hope the best for you, as for sure you should get as much sleep as possible before the new addition!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I suspect your dog is unsettled and picking up on your hormonal state and the new stuff moving into the house (nursery furniture/ infant car seat, buggy etc etc) also general stress levels of her people - all of these things will be making it more difficult for her to relax. I would be very matter of fact with her, up her training - just fun stuff - but expect her to be responsive and obedient to you - send to bed - would be a useful one to have down pat because there will be times it would be good for you to know that she will respond to it and for her to see it as a positive command rather than a punishment.
I would be playing your dog lots of recordings of babies crying and if you have friends with babies I would ask if you can have a used muslin square or babygro so that your dog can investigate these things.
If she is just barking out once or twice I would ignore, if she is barking for a sustained period of time I'd go down, ignore her make yourself a cup of tea, go back to bed yourself and repeat as necessary.
Be thankful to your dog - she is breaking you into the habit again of disturbed nights... this is a useful skill to develop and you will be amazed how you become able to get up do what needs doing and go back to bed and immediately to sleep.
Hopefully this is just a blip - you are feeling unsettled and no doubt have some anxiety about the forthcoming birth and how you will cope with a new baby and your other little one. Don't be surprised that your empathetic curly friend is also unsettled.
I really hope the next 7 weeks go fast - and you soon have your new baby to cuddle and life can settle back into a normal routine. Chin up - being a mum us hard work!


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## Pipp (Mar 12, 2015)

Hey,

Thank you for your responses. I did wonder about taking her to the vets, we had a better night last night with her so if it flares up again we might still need to take her, even just for a check up.

I was wondering if she was picking up on stress and upheaval at home. We have been doing a fair bit to the house in preparation for new bambino and also stress levels have been higher for sure! And since the night wake ups have started its probably got worse still. We have also noticed that since I have been pregnant she has been more frantic and unsettled in general.

Ha ha! Yes I should feel grateful she is training me for what's coming...I am a bit scared to see what she will be like once we bring new baby home!!! Hopefully she will adapt well, we got her when my daughter was 1 years old so she has grown up around babies and children and loves them.

((Getting a puppy with a 1 year old in toe= the craziest thing I have ever done )


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