My dog wakes me up every morning at 5 am. She barks until my eyes are opened. Can I train her to wake me later or not at all? If so, how?
Already Tried: I have tried telling her "no!" I have tried keeping her awake later in the evening.
HiCustomer
What breed is she?How old is she?Does she sleep in your room?Is she crate/kennel trained?How much exercise does she get?
When she wakes you up, is it because she has to go potty?
She is a 3 year old toy poodle.She sleeps in my room on her own bed.She hasn't been in a cratesince she was a puppy.She gets a walk a day and has a run in the back yard. She is potty trained, so can go by herself when she needs to.She dopesn't get fed just after I wake up either.
Thanks for answering my questions.
I suspect your little one has figured out that if she bothers you long enough, you'll get up and give her attention. We want to change that behavior.
I'm going to suggest is to have her sleep in a different room. I know that you're used to having her in the room with you, but in a wild pack, a submissive dog would not be allowed to sleep that close to the alpha dog. In spite of the fact that your dog is a tiny poodle, she's still a dog, and they all have those wild dog rules ingrained in them. If there is another bedroom or somewhere else in the home where she's comfortable, I'd suggest making her sleep there. She may bark for a day or so in the beginning, but I promise she will get used to it.
Some things you can do to help her be comfortable sleeping in the other room would be putting a shirt that you've worn (so it smells like you) in her bed and leave a radio playing for her. If she seems especially anxious, you can try an over-the-counter product to take the edge off her anxiety.
Melantonin is an over-the-counter drug that can be used to treat some anxiety issues in dogs. The dose you would give would be up to 3 mg given orally whenever necessary up to every 8 hours. More information can be found here:
http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/melatonin-melatonex/page1.aspx , which includes risks, warning signs to watch out for and other bits of useful information.
Try a DAP collar. These are collars that are impregnated with a man-made version of the dog appeasing pheromone, which is a pheromone that nursing bitches give off to their pups to help them feel calm and secure. It's something that humans can't smell, but it has an amazing effect on dogs with anxiety and other issues. Although you can find them at your vet's office..you can also find them online at places like Amazon.com and Ebay for much cheaper. Just make sure they're DAP brand, as they seem to work better than some other versions.
I promise with a little time and new routines, she'll let you sleep later.
Experience: A CVT with a special interest in behavior modificaiton through structure, boundaries and limitations with positive reinforcement.
Hi,I'm just following up on our conversation about your pet. How is everything going?CVT_in_MN
Honey has adjusted to sleeping outside my room. I have a child's gate up and she sleeps through the night. But she still wakes me up around 5:15 am. How will she make the transition to waking me lateer? (I don't get up until 6) I'd like to sleep until 7 or 8. Thanks for all yur help, Dale
I have aclimated her to sleeping in the hall with a gate in my doorway. She is wearing the collar. She goes to sleep without too much fuss. How do I help her make the tranition to waking me later? It's still 5:15 am. Thank you.
Has not helped yet.
The dogis sleeping separated from me bya child's gate. She has adjusted to that but still barks and whines at 5:15 am. What can I do about this? Thanks, Dale F