Train a Bichon to 'sleep in'...

batman1

I have a 2 year old Bichon who was spoiled from a pup but the past few months we moved it to the utility to sleep.

However, it wakes every morning at 0530 or 0600, out for a pee and then darts straight to the cosy bedroom.

Can anyone advise on methods to keep him from getting the house up at that hour?

**Vai**

There are different schools of thought on this. Most people will tell you to ignore the dog and it will stop eventually. In my experience, Ive found going into the room with the dog and firmly telling it 'no' works. Dont be angry, just firm and then walk back out. After a few days the dog should get the message. Theres no wrong way really, its whatever works for you and your dog.

Of course theres no accounting for just how spoiled your dog is and how well it responds to voice commands.

seamus

I think the two approaches that **Vai** gives are somewhat equivalent.

In both cases, the dog is not getting what they want and it will eventually cause the problem to go away.

It's a reasonable argument that if you go in and tell the dog "no", then the dog gets the message that you have heard it but it's not getting what it wants. If you just ignore the dog, then it doesn't know it's being ignored, and so it might take longer for the problem to be cured.
The problem with entering the room is that often people will give the dog attention - whether that's something as simple as picking it up and giving it a pat on the head - which only reinforces the behaviour.

So in many cases it's much easier to just ignore the dog and the problem goes away.

At the moment the dog is getting everything it wants - it whines, you let it out to pee and then it gets into your bed. Awesome! This whining lark really works!

Obviously there's no need for the dog to suffer for this. If it needs to pee, then it needs to pee. Get the dog out to pee immediately before bed. Some dogs can be stubborn about this because they're already comfy. But if you stand out there till the dog pees, then after a week or two it will become routine and it'll be no bother.

If possible, try to get some form of walk in late in the day too, as this will help get the dog to sleep a bit later.

And finally, consider the lighting in the utility room. Both dogs and humans are naturally predisposed to sleep and wake with the sun, so during the summer if the sun is creeping into the utility room at 5am, then the dog is going to be up and running around by 5.30. Put up some form of blind to reduce the amount of light coming in, in the mornings.

Whispered

Just wanted to add that if the dog is used to going for a pee at 6am then he might find it difficult to hold it at first. What I would suggest is waiting until the second the dog stops whining, then go down, bring him out, don't talk to him or interact in any way, just bring him out and stand there until he goes. Then bring him in and put him back into his own bed.

I understand it might be easier to ignore the whinging until you want to get up yourself but that way you're not forcing the dog to hold on for longer than he can but he's still not getting anything from waking you up.

As he gets used to it you can extend the time between the first whine and his pee until you have a half decent lie on.

When he gets older you'll have to practically carry him out of bed in the morning if he's anything like mine. Now when I come down in the morning all I get is the sound of 2 tails thumping on the couch, eyes squeezed shut in the hopes I wont move them.