Abigail wants to play all night

[heather r]

Well we got our Abigail last Wednesday and after one night of waking up about 3 AM she slept through the night until 6:30AM.

Last night she awoke at 1:45 and after taking her out for a pee; she cried until 5AM. I did try one other time tio see if she needed to do anything but she wanted to play.

I don't know if she isn't getting enough exercise or what else is going on.

This AM she was playful so wasn't hurting etc.

I still have to figure how to get pics up

She and our golden get along great except the golden steals all of Abigail's toys and Abigail steals hers


Heather R

[Karlin]

First off, if you do not have it I would recommend immediately ordering Before and After you get your Puppy by Dr Ian Dunbar. Anyone with a dog, especially if not too familiar with typical puppy behaviour, basic training, etc -- needs a good reference book like this at home as it will quickly answer many questions like this. It is easy for an adult dog owner to forget a lot of puppy information too so such a book is very handy.

This is pretty typical behaviour and getting a puppy means some inconvenience, lack of sleep, and use of earplugs. I'd recommend giving her a very active play session within an hour before she goes to sleep -- which should be when YOU go to sleep. If she is whining you can try crating her in your room, but mainly the approach is you have to ignore her calls after you get her out for a toilet break. If you respond you reward the unwanted behaviour. Just about every puppy goes through this and this kind of behaviour may come back several times in the first year as she gets older.

[heather r]

Thanks Karlin;

Since our golden retriever is only 2 1/2 yrs. old ; I had read puppy books and have been through puppy and obedience classes. Our golden did get up during the night for a week or so but never cried for hours on end. She would cry for a few minutes and then fall asleep. I guess any 2 dogs will behave quite differently.

Yesterday we kept Abigail busy much of the day and evening and she slept through the night.

Heather R