# Am tired, when do they start sleeping later?



## cleo

Hi all

Well the lastest on Pixel is she is still wetting the bed alot but not every night now. I have tried everything but it just seems she cannot hold herself through the night. I cleaned the cage like suggested, she was dry the first night but then wet the next. 

I am feeling so tired and to be honest the novelty of having a puppy is wearing off now with the early morning. She is 21 weeks now and I have not had a lie in since getting her. My friends babies who are 5/6 months sleep longer than her! Don't get me wrong, I love her to death and would not swop her for the world, I absolutely love having a dog but I am so tired I just need her to start sleeping longer.

I feel that whatever I do does not work. She bangs on the cage we have and so it shakes so much it wakes me up when she wakes up. I am going to see what we can do about cushioning the cage to stop the noise. 

I have tried ignoring her until 7.00am but then the cage is wet. I tried setting my alarm and getting up at 6.30am, letting her out, ignoring her and then putting her straight back in her cage and going back to sleep. That worked quite well at the weekends but I was still getting up early and she would be quiet for about an hour or so and then wake me up again. I used to let her out and put her in the kitchen/outside and go back to bed but then she would bark and wake me up again and I was worried she would wake the neighbours up so I thought putting her in her cage would be better.

So I have been trying to do that now and it was working ok but the last two nights she has beat me to it by waking me up at 6.00am and when I try and ignore her until 6.30am or 7.00am she wets the cage. Even so, I am still having to get up really early to let her out and then have disturbed sleep as she scratches the cage for a while, wakes me up, then stops for a while I go back to sleep and so on.

I know every puppy is different but I am desperate for her to start sleeping longer and because her sleeping patterns are so inconsistant. I tried staying up later and that worked well one night but then she went to bed at 10.45pm last night as I stayed up later but was up at 5.55am this morning. There is no pattern and I feel like she's never going to let me have a lie in and she's in the habit of waking up early now. Our friends said there puppies started going from 9-5 when they were about 6 months old. For her that is at the beginning of November I just hope she starts to go longer by then too.


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## flounder_1

Oh Cleo I do feel for you :hug: Everything seems so much worse when you are tired. I'm afraid I can't remember when Lolly started to sleep longer and we were lucky that she had very good toilet control from very young.

Where is her crate? Lolly's used to be in the living room (she no longer has a crate) but one night we took her away to our inlaws with us and put the crate in the bedroom with us. She was as good as gold but I got hardly any sleep as I woke up whenever she gave a little move and rattled the crate 
If she's in your bedroom then maybe try moving her downstairs. I presume you are taking her water away in the early evening? Have you got a large crate that you could section some off to try to encourage her to hold her wee? Sorry I really don't know what to suggest other than it will get easier. Is there anyone who could her for the night or weekend to give you a little break?


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## Sezra

I really do feel for you and completely understand what you are going through. If I was in your position I would be getting up at 6am to let her out for a wee and then putting her back in again if you need more sleep. I think it would be good to break the weeing in the crate habit. Once she has been dry for a week, get up at 6.15 and so on. That is what I have been doing with Daisy, not for wetting but to stop her getting anxious. 

It is so hard, I have had Daisy for nearly 3 months and it is only now I feel like the hard work is paying off.

You may get better advice from owners who had puppies from a younger age than me!


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## DONNA

My husbands lie ins havent chaged at all only mine!! so i do know how you feel 
Buddy will sleep in till 7.15am but thats the latest he's done so even at the weekends i get up with him,theres noway he would go back in the crate once ive taken him out ,hence the reason im always on my laptop in the morning ha ha.

It does sound as if shes waking up needing the loo so im afraid i would try to get up early prehaps before she starts going crazy in the crate,when i go down at 6.30 in the morning in the week i ignore Buddy until im ready then i let him out this has stopped him going crazy in the morning and he will sit there till i let him out now, it toke a few weeks for him to do this.

Also if shes anything like my mums dog i think its harder for ladies to hold their bladder ,sometimes Buddy has a wee at 7pm falls a sleep and wont go out for another wee then dosnt get up till 7am.

Hopefully it will get easier its hard dealing with things when your tired im sure the first few weeks with buddy i had 40 winks in the afternoon just to catch up !


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## Kirsty

Wow

We've been lucky with this one - she goes to bed at 9.00pm/9.30pm and sleeps through to 7am.... bliss

only problem is by 7.30am her batteries are charged up and she's ready to go!!!!!


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## lady amanda

13 Weeks is when Lady was fully dry and fully sleeping through the night...tho she is my alarm clock and is awake at 7:30 everyday.


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## Dawny

hi where do you keep the crate? and what time do you stop her from drinking at night? i didnt use a crate with wispa she slept on our bed so i new when she need a wee cuz she woke us up, wispa is almost 2 and still wakes us up at 7.15am every day without fail!! it does suddenly all come together and you'll forget all the sleepless nights.


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## MillieDog

Millie used to do a wee in her crate, but not try and wake me up. She waited quietly and patiently. 

Do you have any toys or treats in the crate that can keep her amused in the morning.

Also do you cover the crate with a large blanket so its more like a den. They should feel more secure in their if its a den rather than exposed.


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## jools

Do you give her water in her crate - if so maybe just put a couple of ice cubes in the dish instead so pup doesn't drink loads in the night! It will get better for you - i remember it well - i felt like i'd had another baby!!! P.s............don't forget to cover the crate with a dark blanket so its nice and cosy & knows then its nightime till u get up in the morning xx


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## cleo

Hi. Thanks for the advice. Her cage it downstairs in the dining room and yes I put a blanket over it. No she has no water in her cage and I try and pick it up at 7. I do forget to pick it up sometimes but this doesn t seem to make much difference. I ve been setting my alarm to let her out at 6.30am and that has meant a dry bed but as I said recently she seems to be waking up even earlier. She used to be my 7am alarm clock which was fine. I think she does need the loo but it seems to have become quite a habit and I feel she should be able t hold her bladder longer by now. Anyway I ll carry on getting up before she wees and try and extend it longer everytime. At this rate I ll be getting up earlier and earlier to beat her to it rather than later and later.


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## colpa110

Hi Cleo
I really feel for you too. Betty is about the same age. I can put her to bed
at 10.30 and she will wait without making a sound until I get up.
Most weekdays it's about 7.15 but at weekends I sometimes don't
get her out of her crate until 0830 and even then she's not that bothered about coming out .. she is such a lazy bones in the monring ( thank goodness).. but the point is that as they are around the same age I would have thought physically she should be able to hold on...unless there is a problem...perhaps you could get the vet to check her out??your post really makes me think twice about getting another pup as I'm sure I would be tearing my hair out my now too...Hoping things improve for you soonxx


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## cleo

ok set the alarm for 6.40 and got up let her out her cage, no wee, didn't speak to her so she went straight out and then I locked her in the kitchen with access to the outside. I managed to sleep until 7.00am when my alarm went off. 

We have managed to tie up bits of her cage and put a blanket underneath the cage so it doesn't rattle now so was not woken up by it. Hopefully, if I carry on doing this for the next week she will realise that rattling the cage isn't waking me up and also her bladder will get better. Then after a week I will increase it by 10 minutes and see if that works. In fairness to her she is now more dry mornings then wet so we are getting there as before it was just wet, wet, wet all the time.

Maybe two early mornings were a blip. She does seem to have irregular sleeping habits.


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## Rufini

Vincent goes to sleep at night at between 9:30 and 10pm, then wakes up at 6:00-6:30 with a wonderful howl ._.
He's been dry through the night for a week now...this is something we know is not going to last! 

Weekends we have found that earplugs are wonderful things if you want an extra hour or so kip  We let him out at 6:00 for a wee/poop, then put him back in his pen then sleep for another hour!

p.s last night we went for a meal with my boss so weren't home until gone 11pm, he was wide awake wanting to play, fell asleep again at about half an hour later....this morning he was howling at 5:30 :/


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## Trisha

*Sleepin would be lovely...*

Hi There
I know how you feel, it can be exhausting, my Buddy is 12 weeks old now and he does sleep through the night but wakes up every morning at 6am without fail as he needs to go toilet, somtimes he has held it in but other times he hasnt although he always holds his poos in, only wees in his crate. I think I may need to cut back his water in the evening, maybe thats something you can try.. And definatley cover the crate with a blanket when its time for bed.
Trish


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## cleo

Oh it's nice to know I am not the only one getting up early with the dog. 
Well things are getting better but she is so inconsistent still. No wets since posting, I have been setting my alarm for 6.45am (sounds like a lie in compared to some people, lucky me) So when it gets to the middle of next week I am going to make it 6.55am and then the following week later and so on.

I wish we'd tied up the rattlely bits of the cage ages ago, today I got her out at 6.45am to go to the toilet, and then slept in until 9.00am and didn't hear a thing. I feel so much better. But still had a snooze this afternoon after a long walk.

Hope it lasts.


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## flounder_1

Glad things are improving  Wish I could lie in until 9am! My 9 year old son tends to wake somewhere between 6.30am and 7am and although he will go quietly downstairs and watch TV my mummy brain wakes when I hear him and then I struggle to go back to sleep.


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## cleo

Lol. Yes I think having a puppy is perfect training for having children. We ll be used to early mornings and lots of commitment by then. Before her our biggest commitment was the cat And a mortgage


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## Maysong

Hang in there! I'm sure it will get better, and Pixel sounds like a doll. 

Is she only in her crate at night? Perhaps try putting her in there for the desired overnight length of time during the day, so you can see what her exact weeing pattern is. That way you will not only see when she tends to wee, but also if her wetting is truly that she cannot hold it, or for some other reason.

If you don't want to try a full seven/eight hour period (as I know it can seem cruel), try several shorter periods over a few days (3-4 hours). Make sure to include several fun chews and toys! You want her to see the crate not as a small space she needs to wee in to escape, but as a lovely fun den that is just for her!

These methods have worked for some of my friends, and we definitely practiced the second with Izzy, though I have no personal experience with the first. 

I must be the world's luckiest owner, but Izzy has only wet her crate a handful of times, and can reliably go 8-10 hours with no problems (and has done so since 3 months). Knock on wood it continues!


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## jamsB

hope things getting better! we have been very lucky charlie is 16 weeks old now and has pretty much slept through 10 till 7 since about 10 weeks with only 2 accidents in all that time! last nite we were up late with a few too many glasses of wine/beer (hubby also spent afternoon in pub watching the football) so were both desperate for a lie in(we usuallu take it inturns sat/sun) so hubby got her up at 730 for a wee then let her come up to our room on the bed - she went back to sleep an we all dozed there till 10am BLISS! 3 months ago i wpuld never have dreamt that i would let a dog up stairs let alone sleep on my bed - she is sooo one of our family!


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