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Chester has woken me up at 2am for the last 3 nights...grrr!

GudrunTheRed

Well-known member
Chester (1.5 year-old male) usually sleeps all through the night like a furry little log, but for the last 3 nights (Mon, Tues and Wed nights) he has woken up and jumped off the bed at or around 2am and growled at me to let him out. My first thought was that he 1) had a bladder or urinary tract issue, or 2) was being an obnoxous and demanding brat.

I just took him to the vet and they tested his urine and said it's perfect and there were no signs of bladder stones or any other abnormalities. Physically he is in perfect condition, he's urinating at the same frequency as normal (except for these 2am wake-ups) and he's drinking the same amount of water as usual...so I'm at a loss.

The vet asked if there were any environmental changes and I told her that my boyfriend Gabriel is here every weekend and that Chester LOVES him and that they play and cuddle together all the time. I wonder if Chester is missing Gabriel and that's why he's waking up and being a demanding brat at 2am.

What do you guys think? Is it possible that Chester has gotten used to Gabriel being here on weekends and is upset that he's not here during the week? Is it possible that Chester is just pushing his boundaries and seeing how demanding he can be and is trying to train me to be his personal slave?

Let me know what you think and if you've had any similar issues with your furbabies.

-Monica
(x-posted on Cavalier Connection forum)
 
Last winter Abbey did this exact same thing, and we did all the steps you've done at the vet. I think she was testing us, because after a few nights of ignoring her, she gave up. It was hard to ignore her though! She then moved onto a phase of barking at us while we were on the phone. Then I knew the 3 am wake up calls had been a behavioral issue for sure! She was testing us and needed everything to be about her. We just kept ignoring her when she was acting this way and she finally got over herself.
 
Jen said:
...We just kept ignoring her when she was acting this way and she finally got over herself.
I will do my best to ignore him...but I'm a light sleeper and he is very insistent and his growls will get louder and louder. Silly, sweet Chester...why do you torment me so?!
 
...and then up come the toys on the bed, then the cats get figidy, and then the next day I look like I've been out all night drinking! Yup, been there, but hopefully he'll get past it like she did!
 
Lady has on ocassion woken me up during the night to go out but she always goes for number 2 then. I think this happens usually when someone gives her something other than the food she is used to. Like one day i gave her half a tin of salmon for her dinner instead of her usual Royal Canin and she was got up three times that night to be put out and each time she came in I had to wash her backside. :roll: Needless to say I dont deviate from her food anymore. Her stomach just cant take it.

Maybe something like that happened with Chester?
 
edel,
I wondered the exact same thing, but his poops have been perfect and consistent every evening, so I don't think it was a food issue.

Good news is that he slept through the night last night and didn't get me up until 6:30am, so I think we're back on track again. I hope! He has had episodes where he had to go #2 at night due to an upset tummy, but that hasn't happened in a loooong time thank goodness. Poor dogglets...I feel so bad for them when an upset tum wakes them up at night. I know I hate it when that happens.

Thanks for the input everyone! Cross your fingers and paws he doesn't do it again!
 
We go through this every once in a while...especially with Jake. For a while he was crying to get up at 4:00 (they both sleep in crates in the family room). The first time he did it I immeditely ran him outside assuming he had to go potty. Nope, he just wanted to play. He did that for about 5 days before he finally figured out that we weren't going to get up and play at 4:00 a.m.!!
 
Cathy T said:
We go through this every once in a while...especially with Jake. For a while he was crying to get up at 4:00 (they both sleep in crates in the family room). The first time he did it I immeditely ran him outside assuming he had to go potty. Nope, he just wanted to play. He did that for about 5 days before he finally figured out that we weren't going to get up and play at 4:00 a.m.!!
Sigh...silly dogs. They usually have impeccable internal clocks, but I guess Jake's was out of synch for a little while. But I guess if we humans napped all day long we might want to play at 4am too!
 
And what do you know....he woke us up at 3:00 this morning and again at 5:00. We called out quiet and he quieted down. I've learned to distinguish his cries and know which means "I have to go potty" and "I want to get up and play".
 
Pixie went through a phase of that too. I thought she was hearing the kitties chasing imaginary prey through the house, but they were sound asleep.

I put a blanket over her crate, the side facing me open, the rest only a couple inches open at the bottom. Turn on the tv, put a pillow over my ears, and hope she falls back asleep.
 
Gizmo did this for a while but he's back to sleeping the whole night through... it's harder for us to ignore him as we have him sleeping in our bedroom and yes we've gone back to letting him sleep on our bed !!! He's just too cute for his own good !! We especially like it when he falls asleep and rolls onto his back and starts snoring !!

We changed dinner time to earlier and that seemed to work for us ... sometimes if he's expecially thirsty there could still be a 6am trip outside... he trots back and forth in the bedroom and if he really needs to go he'll start nudging our hands to let him out !!! Ah the joy of dogs ... ;)
 
Gudrun,

I hope Chester is letting you sleep now. Charlie, our little one usually trots into our bedroom at 4am and nudges his Dad's hand to fuss him. If hubby ignores him then he either jumps up the side of the bed and wallops hubby's arm or he jumps onto the bed, gets in between us and wallops both of us to play with him. I usually just cuddle him in and rub his tummy until he drops back off to sleep again but sometimes I just make him get down onto his own bed as he just won't settle. I think it's the dawn chorus of birds that waken him :roll:
 
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