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Changing sleeping pattern

gamefanz

Well-known member
Recently Toby has changed his sleeping pattern and we don't know why. He is now wanting out in the middle of the night. He never used to do this. It's been happening for the last week or so. Last night we took the water away at 6:30pm. He was sleepy at 8pm so we went upstairs to bed. Husband took him out at 9:30pm to potty then back to bed. At midnight he wanted out again. Took him out and put him back in the crate. He was up again at 3:45 and rattling the crate to get out. We laid there not wanting to get him this time. We waited until 4am then we got up. He went out to potty and is now sleeping on the couch.
Not sure why he is wanting out in the middle of the night. My husband has changed job positions which in turn he goes to work later in the morning. We used to get up at 4:30am but now want to get up 5am. Toby won't let us sleep this long.
We take nightly walks with Toby(of course training loose leash walking along the way) and we play with his toys after that. Some nights my husband runs with him outside to wear him out.
Any suggestions on getting him to sleep longer? He used to sleep all night until 4am without issues. Not sure what has changed. He is teething right now. He has lost 7 teeth so far.

Becky
 
Hmm, first thoughts would make you think this was to do with his teething wouldn't it ? But also, could he be waking because he is either thirsty, or hungry? What time does he have his last feed of the day?
 
He eats dinner the same time we do between 4:30-5pm but when we go for our nightly walks he does gets treats with his training. Usually the treats are very small (we cut them to make them small) and feed him maybe 30-40 along our walk. Our walks vary between 6pm to 7:30pm just depending on what we are doing after dinner. We didn't do anything with his water until last night. I thought maybe he was drinking too much before bedtime but even taking it away at 6:30 didn't do anything.
I thought about putting him back in the crate after his waking at 3-4am just so he knows he doesn't have the upper paw on us. Even if we just laid in bed staring at each other, I want him to know who's boss. But not sure if that's right thing to do so we have not done it yet.

Becky
 
From your schedules, and if you were describing my Alfie, I know that some treats seem to make him thirsty. Sometimes he whines a little in the evenings and if I recall that he has had a certain chew or a lot of treats, then I offer water and he guzzles a fair bit and settles down afterwards. Also Alfie gets fed his last meal between 6 and 7 pm. It may be nothing at all to do with that however, and as with human babies, maybe he should be left if he asks to come out at an unreasonable (to you) time, and see if he is trying it on ? .... maybe others will have some ideas :xfngr:
 
We have been having the same problem with Sonny. Ever since we brought him home at 9 weeks, he has gone to bed at 10 and slept through the night until 6. However the past three nights he has woke up once in the middle of the night and needed to be taken out. After wards he seems ready to play, but I have been putting him right back in his crate and told him good night. He cries for about 5 minutes, which is heartbreaking to hear, but we just wait it out and he settles back down and goes back to sleep. It's driving me crazy that he all of the sudden needs to go out in the middle of the night!!!! But I know he is still just a puppy and hopefully will outgrow this routine.
 
Our treats are usually the Ziwipeak jerky type that we cut into small pieces. When we get home from our walks he does guzzle a lot of water. Its funny, as soon as he see's the front door open he is like a grey hound, he runs as fast as he can to his water. We took the water away last night after he had his fill from our walk.
Our feeding schedule is really not great but because he gets up so early we feed earlier. His first meal is at 6am, 2nd meal is about 11:45am and 3rd meal is 4:30-5pm. Its not ideal but this seems to be the times where he will not leave me alone until he gets his food. I take him for a walk right before lunch and soon after dinner.
I think what we will do is take him out in the middle of the night if he needs to go but when he wants out again between 3-4am we will just try to ignore him. We've been talking and he-hawing about putting his crate in the empty bedroom upstairs instead of in our room but if he does have to go out I don't think we will hear him. He only pushes on his crate door, he doesn't whine at all.
Becky


From your schedules, and if you were describing my Alfie, I know that some treats seem to make him thirsty. Sometimes he whines a little in the evenings and if I recall that he has had a certain chew or a lot of treats, then I offer water and he guzzles a fair bit and settles down afterwards. Also Alfie gets fed his last meal between 6 and 7 pm. It may be nothing at all to do with that however, and as with human babies, maybe he should be left if he asks to come out at an unreasonable (to you) time, and see if he is trying it on ? .... maybe others will have some ideas :xfngr:
 
I hope we both find the answer :xfngr:
I think the reason why its hitting us hard is because we spend a the last year of our Pekingese's life getting up several times a night taking him out. We were very sleep deprived because of his MVD. Getting a new dog only a few months after he passed away did not give us time to get our sleep patterns back on track so we are still really tired.
Becky


We have been having the same problem with Sonny. Ever since we brought him home at 9 weeks, he has gone to bed at 10 and slept through the night until 6. However the past three nights he has woke up once in the middle of the night and needed to be taken out. After wards he seems ready to play, but I have been putting him right back in his crate and told him good night. He cries for about 5 minutes, which is heartbreaking to hear, but we just wait it out and he settles back down and goes back to sleep. It's driving me crazy that he all of the sudden needs to go out in the middle of the night!!!! But I know he is still just a puppy and hopefully will outgrow this routine.
 
Good luck with that. Let us know how you get on. We all seem to have our different challenges with our pups and my latest is likely to be off the leash walking to heel at puppy classes for the first time tonight ! Think of me :lol::rotfl:
 
Positive thoughts for Alfie! I hope he gets it :xfngr: I wanna know how it goes!

Becky


Good luck with that. Let us know how you get on. We all seem to have our different challenges with our pups and my latest is likely to be off the leash walking to heel at puppy classes for the first time tonight ! Think of me :lol::rotfl:
 
At his age he should be able to hold his potty all night long. Perhaps he is just trying to get attention? I would try ignoring him and see if any accidents happen. That way you will know if he really needs out, or if he is just trying to get you guys to come play with him :p
 
Thank you for the reply. That's the thing, he usually does sleep all night but for some reason his pattern has changed. My husband never plays with him during the night. Its out and back in to sleep. I hope its not about attention because he has 2 grumpy parents right now who are not playing around! Gonna try ignoring and see what happens.

Becky



At his age he should be able to hold his potty all night long. Perhaps he is just trying to get attention? I would try ignoring him and see if any accidents happen. That way you will know if he really needs out, or if he is just trying to get you guys to come play with him :p
 
This could also be due to something like a urinary tract infection. If it continues, or if you ignore him at night and as a result, he starts wetting the bedding in his crate or his sleeping area, I would immediately get him to the vet.
 
Thank you Karlin. I've wondered about a UTI. Some of the things he's been doing makes me think about it. He licks his privates a lot but he's done that for a long time. I thought it was just the "male" thing to do. We also had an issue this past weekend that I thought was our fault. We took him to the dog park for the first time on Sat. He was ok at first but did find some dogs not so happy with him. Each time he met a dog he would turn onto his back, not something he does normally meeting dogs on the street. On Sunday for our last session of dog training, we went into petsmart. Each time he saw a dog shopping with its owner, he would sniff them and dribble pee a little. It happened 3 times BUT once he got into training and saw his class mates, he did not do it at all. Our trainer mentioned UTI but also mentioned it could have been too much too soon at the dog park and he hasn't come down off the "dog park high". I felt horrible for putting him into a situation that he wasn't ready for but now it makes me wonder about UTI.

Becky
 
So discussing with my husband, we decided to make him an appointment at the vet for tomorrow evening. I want to make sure its not a UTI.

Becky
 
sleep

Not sure how old Tobi is, but I recently got a new puppy, 3 months old, and he initially woke at night and would cry when put in his crate at bedtime. I started giving him a saucer of warm puppy milk ( most pet stores have it) at about 11:30 pm, take him out to potty, then put to bed. Do not hear a sound until 6:00-6:30 am when I get him for breakfast.
 
Toby is almost 21 weeks old (tomorrow). Never heard of puppy milk at the stores. Wouldn't that make him need to go to the bathroom more if you give it at night?

Becky
 
UPDATE:
just got home from the vet. They could not get a voluntary urine sample from Toby. He was shy. She said from what we described he may have a slight UTI so she said just to be on the safe side she will give us antibiotics for him to take. She also did a physical of sorts. His ears check out fine and he anal glands are ok. His heart is strong! I cried when she said that because our Peke died from MVD complications so having her say he has a strong heart really touched me. I know it can happen later but right now I will take that and run with it.
TMI warning: she said he also has big testicles for his size but she said its normal and nothing to worry over. I was thinking about human issues with that but she said not so with Toby.
When she did walk in the office Toby did dribble a few drops of pee. She said submissive urination. I told her that he has never done that with a human before. She said she thinks the dog park was too much for him but she said he will outgrow this. It may only last a little while. He didn't do this stuff until after the dog park on Saturday. I am so upset for going to that park! UGH!
I thought this would be a perfect time to ask if she knew what SM was. She said she does! She said a receptionist in their office had a dog with it, it was a mix dog..something poo. She said that she knows it runs with Cavaliers. I told her that I do worry with some of the things I see in Toby sometimes. She said if we are very concerned that Toby may have it then she is all for us going to get an MRI so we can be settled. She said it will run about $1500-$1800 for it. BUT I don't know what age would be good to get this done. He is 21 weeks now. I know that getting an MRI requires him to be under so I don't take this lightly. I don't know what would be the right thing to do at this point.
Anyway, that is a conversation for another thread sometime soon.
So antibiotics for now.
**forgot to add** He is now 12lbs 14 oz
Becky
 
Last edited:
Update this morning:
Toby vomited twice this morning so I called the vet. The receptionist told me to stop giving the antibiotics and she will have the vet call me when she gets in. More than likely she will give us a new med.

Becky
 
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