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[color=#400000]Hi Everyone!
Let me start by saying that any help would be most appreciated!!
Here is my situation...I have a 6 year old 65lb. English Bull dog/Pug mix who is a dream to own. We got him as a puppy and he really adjusted well to our work schedule when it came to feeding, crate training, play time and potty training, again he is a great dog. He is no longer crated at night and hasn't been in 4 years. My problem is this...with in the last month or so he has started waking up several times a night, anywhere from midnight to 3am. He'll barge into the bedroom and come over to my side of the bed and stare at me and do his (what we call) whisper bark...it's a very very quiet GrrrrrrrrRufffffff. That is his way of telling me "hey mom, I need you to cover me up", his dog bed is in our living room, typically once he was covered back up he'd fall fast asleep. For some reason, this no longer works. We know the signs when he needs to go out and will act on his signs immediately. He's been to the vet to rule out any medical issues, so we're really not sure whats going on with him. Our daily routine goes like this: When I get up at 5:15am for work, I feed him (he's normally still sleeping and eats when he gets up around 6am, he's outside for his walk between 6:30am and 6:45am, we typically walk for 30 minutes sometime longer depending on who we run into on the way, he gets to socialize with his neighborhood fur friends and his human friends alike. When we're done, it's time for me to head out to work, so he gets his "meatball with benadryl" for his allergies and then I'm off to work. Husband comes home by 3pm, they go for another decent walk and Otis is fed around 4 or 4:30pm.
When I get home at 6pm, Otis and I will go out for a walk and more playtime with his friends between 6:30 and 6:45pm, when his business is done we head back home for another "meatball with benadryl". Before we go to bed between 9pm and 10:30pm, Otis goes out one more time to pee and then it's lights out. For some reason now his nightime routine has changed and he feels compelled to wake me up several times between midnight and 3am.
Sorry for the long narrative but thought it would help. So here are my questions:
1. Should we try putting him in his crate again? (I'm a little leary of this only because he's had issues with colitis in the past and I want to make sure we act on his signs of having to go out side)
2. Should we try feeding him later at night?
3. Does he need a doggie therapy? (just kidding, I think I need the therapy)
I love him to pieces and just want to get some friendly advice (and some sleep) as to what could be going on with him since we know it's nothing medically...mommy is really tired these days.
Thanks again![/color]
Sometimes certain posts really make me laugh, not because they are a joke, but because they are so familiar. Our dogs range in age from 7 yrs. to 1 yr., 9 mos, to 9 mos.. In the words of Roseanna Danna, "It is always something!" My Daisy 7 yrs. also wakes me up to re-cover her should she lose her blanket during sleep or due to a bed-chair-or floor change of sleeping spot. Sometimes she just needs to "go" during the night and sometimes fakes me out for a late-night treat, everybody joins in on that ploy. My Buddy, the almost 2 yr. Beagle, sleeps like a log. Levon, the puppy, free ranges at night now and he may wake us anytime, to pee (good boy), early (before 6am) breakfast and sometimes just to say hi and get a pat or two. He won't get up on the bed to take a snuggle sleep, so he is persistent with his whining, get up and take care of me. We are retired and at their beck and call, they must know this! LOL! Also, with the oldest dog, she wakes me up if my restlessness during sleep bothers her. Maybe I stop breathing. My point is that dogs, like people, change on a regular basis and bravo for you to have checked your puppy's health first. Good luck, change is good they say, who are "they"? As far as re-crating, can you hear him call you from his crate? Seems like he is too old to re-crate unless it is serious.
