Sabrina, my alarm clock

Q

Qzee

Forums Regular
Sabrina will be 6mths old in a few days. I have asked for help previously because she would bark in the crate and wake us up a couple of times a night. I ended up moving the crate in the bedroom and it helped, she would only bark at 4:58am to wake us up. It would be a constant bark "let me out, let me out, let me out". Once she was quiet, I would put her collar on and let her out.

We have since removed the crate from the bedroom and she sleeps on the big dog bed with my other dog. Now at 4:58am she only lets out one bark. On the weekends we have told her it was too early, not yet - go back to sleep. She would be quiet for anywhere from 10-25mins and then bark once again. The latest I think we have slept until is 6am (so we quieted her down at least 2 times that morning).

I have tried turning the alarm clock (which goes off at 5am) so she could not see it. I was starting to believe she could read the time. lol

Please tell me this will get better.... My husband feels he can not roll around in bed in the middle of the night because he may wake her up and she might bark. I told him to feel free to roll around, that I do and she stays quiet. Her bark is making my husband nervous & cranky unfortunately. He has not had a good nights sleep since we got her :uhoh:

Is there any way to stop her from being our alarm clock? Thanks for any ideas you may have...

By the way, our other dog is a 2yo Labrador, and she will come over to the bed and put her head on the bed and push down lightly to try and wake us up. Her tail would be going a mile a minute of course. Shelby, the lab, we could tell her to go back to bed and she would. Labs are not barkers, but she is learning to bark from the puppy lol. I want Sabrina to learn from the lab to be quiet...
 
From the dogs I had in the past, and now my Sheltie, Blaze, I'd say that you just have to resign yourself to a living furry alarm clock. I sort of like it. Animals seem to go by their biological clock--not man-made time. IOW standard and daylight savings time mean nothing to them. :biggrin2: And it's also what time they get used to. (For instance Blaze got used to and early time--5:00--from when he needed to get up that early, but my previous dog would get us up an hour later (and would just get used to a standard or daylight savings time when it would change again. I've just given up and learned to enjoy it.
 
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the brown dogs are 5 now and for the last several months, we have been able to sleep in until 6:30 instead of 6 sharp:winkgrin:
 
Spitfire is my snooze buddy we can snore alarm clocks into submission. Sca is ok until he really needs to go out or breakfast gets to late :lol: so some hope.

Of course when you are not enthused about getting up for work a toasty Sheltie can be a bad thing
 
I have never heard of a sheltie not being like that. Definately all of the six we have had in our family ! Feed them early one time and they will remember! Time change in the wrong direction and the are still clockwork but now The old timethe only thing i have done successfully is to gradually move feeding time back 15 minutes at 4 to 7 day intervals and expect pushback while adjusting. Then give them the bowl when quiet.
 
true to the nature

shelties are SUPPOSED to sound the alarm, be up with the sun, be the lookout and announcer of all that enters their world. The eyes, ears, and voice for their owners...I appreciate that trait SO much.

Can't imagine any different behavior honestly, you can curb it somewhat, but why??? It is WHO they are...and personally it is one of the reasons I LOVE shelties. They have kept me out of danger from seeing/hearing things I didn't notice. Their intuitive nature is DEAD on for knowing who is friend and who is trouble. If my shelties ever did a low growl from an approaching stranger I was on alert, and it proved accurate every time.
 
Oh no, this is typical Sheltie...

If this is the way it will be I don't mind too much. I have no problem going back to sleep after getting up to feed, and take them out for a potty break. Unfortunately my husband can't.

I will try pushing the time back little by little like Daisy suggested. We shall see how it goes this weekend.

This morning Sabrina woke us up at 4:50 with multiple barks instead of her typical one bark. Ugh. We are going the wrong direction with the time. :eek2:
 
Qzee said:
Oh no, this is typical Sheltie...

If this is the way it will be I don't mind too much. I have no problem going back to sleep after getting up to feed, and take them out for a potty break. Unfortunately my husband can't.

I will try pushing the time back little by little like Daisy suggested. We shall see how it goes this weekend.

This morning Sabrina woke us up at 4:50 with multiple barks instead of her typical one bark. Ugh. We are going the wrong direction with the time. :eek2:
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She is still young, and making her wait for food or to relieve herself is not good. She might settle in as she ages and her tummy can wait for food, or her bladder can hold potty longer, but remember she is a baby still, and when you chose to bring the puppy home it is ALL about the puppy and their needs until they mature-just part of the commitment, ya know. Labs are bigger, they can hold it, and weren't breed for what shelties were. It gets better with time, but 6 mths, you are still in the younger puppy phase, with all the joys, challenges that come along with it...good luck!!!! Raising two puppies, I get it, not always fun, but part of the deal.
 
My husband figured out the reason for the 4:58am wake up call (not sure about 4:50)... The timer on the light in the other room clicks on at 4:58. We will unplug the timer for 5-10mins tonight and have the light click on after 5am - let's see if she waits until we wake up at 5am.

I agree, small young dog - little bladder. The crazy thing is - if I take her out before eating, she just pulls me back inside and does not urinate or anything. She does not need to pee as badly as I assume she does. We switched to feeding breakfast then going outside to relieve herself about a month ago. It is working great.

Saturday my cat woke me up at 4am choking on a hairball. Since I was up dealing with cleaning that mess up, I took Sabrina out to relieve herself. Sabrina did, then we went back in the bedroom to go back to sleep. She tried waking us up at 4:58am, but I told her to go back to sleep. I got her to stay quiet and in bed until 6am - so 1 hour longer :)

We have also been testing her more and more with being free in the evening locked up in the kitchen/dining room (no crate). If we go out to dinner and I know Sabrina has done both poop and pee, she will be left loose with my lab. So far, so good - no accidents on the floor. I think she is finally potty trained :yes:
 
On weekends, my dog wakes me up every morning between 6 & 7am to potty and for breakfast. I've tried ignoring her, but she will continue to whine and scratch at the door. It's just easier to let her out in the yard, feed her and go back to sleep. I wish I didn't have to, but I'd rather lose 10 minutes of sleep than not be able to sleep at all because she demands breakfast. She certainly has me trained!
 
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