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Campbell my cocker spaniel puppy seems to be going backwards in his happy sleep patterns. He's now crying at 6am. He isn't desperate for the toilet, he's just desperate for attention. No matter how long I leave him and/or try to ignore him he continues the howling until someone goes and gets him. If its my partner he will just run straight up to me instead of wanting to go out a walk. I'm trying to avoid letting him sleep upstairs with us as when we go on vacation he won't be able to sleep in the room with my dad who is going to be watching him. I'm totally up for letting him sleep up here once we come home, but for now I am still hopelessly searching for a solution to the howling at 6am  its so exhausting being woken up by that noise every morning.I take him out plenty big walks and he goes out before bed for a not bad sized walk. I've tried taking him an hour walk before bed but it makes no difference! Should I continue as best as I can with the ignoring? We are currently ignoring til 7am which is the time we get up for work.
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Apr 26, 2012 22:33
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 22:51 |
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Thanks for all the replies. He's almost 9months old. I was sure it was the fact that the mornings got brighter earlier, so I started putting a blanket over the window. This worked for like a week, and I thought we were sorted, but then he went back to getting up earlier. This morning it was just after 5am he started. He has some chew toys and stuff in with him, so it's as though he's choosing to ignore them. If I could get up at 5am and still function as a normal person I would totally do it and love it, but getting up at 5am before the howling starts, and not starting work til 9am and then working all day and being awake enough to have the good fun we usually have at night, is impossible. I am struggling even with the 6am. I think it's a simple case of waiting it out for long enough to hope he gets the idea? I will try the white noise and also the 'Thats enough' tomorrow morning to see how that goes. Everything else about him is awesome, he's so well behaved and clever but he's just not getting the sleep thing. He usually goes to bed around 10/10:30. But on nights when my partners working he'll take him out when he gets home which is sometimes like 1/3am and he will still get up at 6. (I know it's for attention because when we had a night out and were a bit drunk I fell asleep before taking him downstairs, and he slept right through. He woke up, but just came and settled closer to me and got comfy.)
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Apr 27, 2012 07:15
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Kiri koli posted:Pretty much, yes. What you're attempting to do by ignoring him is extinguish his whining/crying-to-be-let-out behavior. Dogs do things that are rewarding or reinforcing and behaviors that are not reinforced will disappear. The tricky part is realizing that the dog decides what is reinforcing. The typical example is a dog that jumps on you when you get home. Petting/playing with him is reinforcing, but the dog might also be reinforced by ANY attention at all, including you saying 'NO!' and shoving him back down, which you think is an aversive. Standing still like a tree and completely ignoring him, on the other hand, is not reinforcing (for most dogs) and will eventually extinguish the behavior. Thanks for this. I really just wanted confirmation that I am doing the right thing by ignoring him. Generally he will cry non stop. I wait for a split second of silence and i will cough or stand up and this keeps him quiet. Then when he is still quiet I shout down that I'm just coming, and then i use the bathroom etc and then head down and let him out the kitchen and we go out for a walk! When I go down he is obviously SUPER excited that someone is finally there, should I just be like silent and put his lead on or is it okay to be like, heyyyyy and give him a cuddle?
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Apr 27, 2012 14:23
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I just have a small question about doggy humping. Campbell hasn't ever done it, should I be concerned about that? Is that weird? He's almost 9 months, and we meet all these puppies at 5/6 months that are humping everyone, and he has never done it. Not that I am complaining ofcourse, I just want to know if thats normal?
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May 4, 2012 10:54
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Good to hear. Campbell is still un-neutered. Are they likely to do it more when un-neutered? I will have a wee look-see next time I'm at the park and meet a humpy puppy.
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May 4, 2012 14:38
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