bright mornings

portgirl123

my son who is 19 and lives at home bought himself a beautiful GSD puppy nearly 2 months ago. He is very good with her, he is her main carer so no problems there.
the prob we have is that as the morning get brighter she is walking up earlier and waking the other dogs and waking us up.
W/days are no hassle as we are up anyways but its the w/ends. this morning she was awake from 6.45 and im dreading tomoro morning. She starts barking first and then she starts her chatting, which if you own or know a GSD you will know what im on about. What can we do? Soon it will be bright from 5 am and i really dont want to start my day then

mymo

Where does she sleep?
Does she get a good walk in the evenings?

I have crates for my dogs and you can drape a blanket over them to keep them dark, I don't even close the doors at night now but they stay in them until its time to get up.
Routine is very important, she's just a pup and if you go to her when she starts she will learn this.
Is she waking to go to the toilet?
If so the best thing may be for your son to get up before her and let her out, then send her back to bed(and him too). Once the routine is established he needs to get up few mins later every day until she can go all night.
A few mins training before bed can help too, even just sit, stay, give the paw etc, as it tires the mind.
Best of luck.

Tranceypoo

I had this problem with my foster dog who I've had nearly 2 weeks now, I worked out (process of elimination) that it's a need to go to the loo that starts her off, so I started feeding her earlier and giving her an extra walk in the evenings about 8/8.30 and letting her out as late as poss before bedtime, about 11/11.30pm, we also put up curtains and a blind in the kitchen/diner where she sleeps in her crate (we were going to do this anyways but this prompted us to do it quicker!), I also pre-empt her and get up at about 6.45/7am and take her out, give her breakfast and I go back to bed for an hour! This has mostly worked, still have the odd morning of barking before I get up but I think it's just a settling in thing with her.

If your GSD is a pup it's probably a need to go to the loo, I would advise looking at it's feeding and toilet schedule and adjust if/where necessary and just be patient!!

Discodog

Teach the dog to get up when you want it to & not when it wants to. GSD's are pretty bright so it won't be difficult. But, as other posters have pointed out, make sure that it doesn't need a pee.

portgirl123

up again this morning at 7am. Keshia is 5 months old and is a VERY clever dog. She can already sit, give paw, high 5.
At the moment her shedule is up and put out for a wee, she then comes in and with the others gets her brekkie, about 9 its walk time which is about an hr or so, which is a bit of training and off lead as well as lead walking. Dont worry we have a secure walk way were we let her run, i know she cant get too much exericise at her age so though i say an hr its more like 20-30mins actually walking/running rest is sits, stops, heel etc. She goes home then and sleeps/potters around, maybe car ride as we want her socialised well. As been brought to train station, shopping centre etc, to get her used of dif situations.
tea is at about 5, put out back around 2 hrs later for play time and then about 10 she goes on a 10 min walk, this will get longer as she gets older, then before bed is let out for wee again.
She sleeps in kitchen with the others, last nite i tried her there on her own as i thought if she has no one to play with she might sleep. Which she decided to play with her blanket instead. She sleeps in a crate with door open.

If anybody has suggestions on how do improve her day please let me know. om at home all day so my son so we are pretty much able to do anything. she is also starting puppy classes soon.

Sigma Force

The puppy classes will help, pups can go through phases like this but the early morning light doesn't help. Our youngest went through a phase around that age but as you pup gets older they will appreciate their sleep at night, they tend to nap less during the day so perhaps without making the dog cranky and tired try to keep day time naps short and a walk last thing at night, it starts getting dark around 6 now but the later the walk the better.
It gets easier and the dog classes will be able to give you more tips.

Chris_Heilong

I am having this problem also, my dog likes to get his breakfast eairly and then thinks its time for play and being a Malamute will howl from the bottom of the stairs to wake everyone up in the morning I let him out for a pee and then back in but by this time he is already awake, I am lucky we had him toilet trainned from 11 weeks old and he is really quiet at night so its not too bad would just like a lie on today as I have worked 4 12hour shifts back to back.

portgirl123

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh a wake again from just after 7. nbrought her for walk last night, put her at about half 12 for wee break. brought her at 1. was watching a good dvd so stayed up later and still wide awake.

Discodog

Dogs will wake many times during a night. The point is to teach the dog that waking up doesn't mean barking or whining. If you are not careful the dog will get the message that it can get you up whenever it pleases. Be firm & consistent with praise when it does stay quiet.

portgirl123

thanks all for all your replies. things have been getting better. even had a lie on till 10 fri morning and around half 9 the rest. school day tomorrow, so will again be up at 7, dont mind that as after getting a few well needed lie ons. everything has been kept the same apart from in the eve now im bringing her for a swim which she seems to love and seems to be tirying her out more. As she is still only puppy didnt feel i could bring her for any longer walks and asked the vet would swimming be easier on her growing joints. so i would recommend swimming to anybody that needs more exercise in their dogs life.