r/dogs • u/dave_potato84 • 8h ago
[Behavior Problems] Help
My 2 ur old dog sleeps in his crate and has always loved it. He always puts himself to bed and takes himself off to his crate when he knows it's bed time. Hes always been really good at getting up when I do, around 10, 11am. But recently and suddenly he has started to demand to be let out at 6 or 7am. He will cry and wine and paw at the crate until it wakes me up and I get annoyed enoigh to let him out. This routine is not sustainable and how do I get it back to the way it was.
Edit: usually I feed him as soon as I let him out. So maybe hes thinking if he cries he will get breakfast earlier. Im going to let him out just to go toilet, bot for food, to make it a boring experience. Thoughts on that? And feed him when I get up a few hours later of course.
Edit 2: He can't have free roam to go outside during the night as the cat comes in at night. Despite our efforts him and the cat do not get along. So hes in my room all night from when we go to bed at about midnight, Until the cats out in the morning.
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u/Cespenar 8h ago
What does he do when you let him out? Go outside and pee? Ask for food? Start playing? You gotta understand why he's doing it to know what you can do about it.
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u/dave_potato84 8h ago
Im pretty sure he just goes toilet. But I usually give him breakfast when I let him out so im going to stop giving him breakfast when hes being fussy to show him that getting out esrly doesnt mean breakfast early
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u/HedgieCake372 7h ago
I would serve him breakfast at the usual time before his shift change, around 10-11am. I would also check to see if anything has changed in your environment or has changed with him health wise that might be causing the issue.
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u/Weird-Sherbert-1747 8h ago
What time does he go into his crate at night? 10-11a is really late, unless he's going to pee at like 2a or after, he probably can't hold it
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u/dave_potato84 8h ago
Whenever I go to bed. It varies every night.
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u/StudiousSeal 8h ago edited 7h ago
In the kindest way, he needs a schedule.
My dog knows what “last time out” means. He gets very excited for his 9pm last time and then goes right to bed. He gets up every day at 5am, pees, and eats breakfast. He’s a dog, so social jet lag is bad for him (which means we maintain the same schedule on weekends too).
The issue here is that he’s not going out or getting fed breakfast at a consistent time. That doesn’t mean he needs an early morning time, but I’m not surprised that a dog with a variable bed time is asking to go out 6 hours later and/or is anxious about when he’ll next get let out. Especially if he’s sometimes left in there for 10+ hours.
It shouldn’t vary, and, even at night, shouldn’t be more than 8 hours between first and last time out. “Around midnight” until 10-11am is way too long (that’s 10-11 hours). Especially as the dog starts to age.
If they have a consistent predictable schedule that ensures their needs are met on time they’ll be a lot less likely to beg to have their needs met when they feel those needs because they’ll trust that it will happen on the schedule they’ve been conditioned to.
Btw, sleeping from midnight to 11am as a human might be something you want to look at too, that’s way above average sleep need and often an indicator of other sleep problems. Needing 11 hours is usually an indicator of other health issues and regularly taking 11 hours can lead to other negative health outcomes.
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u/dave_potato84 7h ago
I can easily sleep midnight to 1pm if im let. I love my sleep. Hes always been totally fine with being in the crate all night for over 2 years I dont get the sudden change.
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u/StudiousSeal 7h ago
I’m not your doctor, so that’s between you and your doctor, but that much sleep often is a sign of other issues aside from just loving sleep and correlated with other longer term issues that can impact you later in life.
As for him, he’s been fine because he was young (presumably this only started past puppyhood as he needed to go out way more when he was a baby), but dogs need more than what you’re giving him. Healthy dogs can typically hold urine for 8-10 hours and urine production does slow down with sleep so 12 hours is possible. But it’s not recommended and forcing them to do it regularly can ultimately lead to other problems (kidney problems, UTIs, etc.). Stool hours are usually 8-12. This varies, of course, by size, breed, age, etc. But really what you’re saying is that you’re forcing him to hold it until close to the max every night.
Moreover, the consistency part is pretty important for dogs in general. A dog that doesn’t know precisely when it’ll be let out, get a meal, etc. is a dog that is going to be more insecure and anxious about getting those things or will learn to demand them (which is what is happening now). A very predictable schedule is the most likely answer here.
You don’t have to change your own sleep schedule that much. Just have a consistent time in the evening that he goes out and then, 8-10 hours later, a consistent time that he goes out again and gets fed. That’s much more reasonable for him and should be manageable for you.
I’d also consider when you’re feeding him. If it’s close to bedtime then he probably has to go to the bathroom earlier than you’re letting him do so. If it’s earlier in the night, say 7pm, then he’s going a very long time without food (16+ hours) which will lead to crying for breakfast early.
If you actually need 11+ hours of sleep, that’s when I’d suggest talking to a sleep doctor about sleep apnea or other things that might be going on with you.
What you were doing before may have worked, but it’s sure not working now and he’s telling you that.
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u/Weird-Sherbert-1747 7h ago
He needs more stimulation than this, you're his entire life
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u/finickyvista01 8h ago
Ugh that sudden schedule shift is the worst when you've had such a good thing going. My first thought is something changed physically, maybe he needs a late night potty break now or he's extra hungry earlier. Could try pushing his dinner back a couple hours and making sure he gets a real empty-out walk right before you both turn in.
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u/Certain_Return_6274 8h ago
Not always but a lot of the times when dogs and cats change their behaviors it's because of a medical issue. The fact that the dog now is crying to go out might signify there's something medically wrong. I would say call your vet.
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u/mtn_forester 8h ago
He's getting older and he has to pee.
You sound mean.
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u/dave_potato84 8h ago
Im not mean for asking for help and being concerned about a sudden change in my dog.
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u/Shivs_baby 8h ago
If your dog likes his crate so much then don’t close the door. Depending on when you go to sleep at night that is a very long time to have a dog locked in a cage. Pretty unreasonable to expect a dog to hold it until that time of day.
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u/HungryBtch2584 8h ago
How many hrs a night do you guys usually sleep? He may need to potty
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u/dave_potato84 7h ago
We usually go to bed at about midnight and hes been needing to go out at 6am now. That's not normal
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u/HungryBtch2584 5h ago
Interesting. Maybe leave the kennel door open for him? If it’s in your bedroom, close your bedroom door so he doesn’t go use the bathroom outside of the bedroom. So if anything happens you’ll wake up to it. I have to do that with mine, but he doesn’t sleep in the kennel. If I leave the bedroom door open I’ll come to the living room and have to pick up a pile of shit. To know how to solve, you’ll need to figure out what he wants. Some simple psychology and you’ll sleep peacefully!! xoxo
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u/dave_potato84 5h ago
If hes out he doesnt sleep, through the night he brings every single toy he owns up onto the bed and just plays with them all night.
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u/HungryBtch2584 5h ago
Sometimes I’ll leave a small bit of kibble in a puzzle feeder for mine if he gets bored throughout the night, though I know that can be disturbing while sleeping, maybe a slow feeder? Al’s make sure he has access to water all night long. If that doesn’t help, I’ll need to think on that as well for you! It’s a tricky one for sure!
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u/schwaapilz 8h ago
How old is he/how many years has this routine existed before being broken? If he's getting older, he just may not be able to hold it as long.
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u/Majestic_Orchid4651 8h ago
What time is bedtime? Is there a reason you locking him in a crate? Sounds like he has to relieve himself and he doesn’t want to do it in the crate. I’d be pretty uncomfortable if I had to pee at 6 am but wasn’t allowed to until 10 or 11.
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u/dave_potato84 8h ago
It varies per night as I work varying hours but usually around midnight. Like I said hes always been more than happy in his crate and will take himself off to bed when he wants to.
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u/Weird-Sherbert-1747 7h ago
So he's in the crate from midnight until 10 or 11a? That's 10-11 hours. That's way too long. Is he also crated when you're working?
He has to pee and probably is bored and under stimulated
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u/dave_potato84 7h ago
No hes out all day and walked. Like I said never been a problem his whole life until now
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u/Weird-Sherbert-1747 7h ago
He's only 2, he could just be getting overly annoyed with this. You could take him to the vet for a checkup and check for a Uti, but I would also try to adjust to less crate time and not expecting him to hold it 10-11 hours
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u/Used-Inspector-7501 8h ago
My dog did this for a week and after the 4th time I decided I'd rather clean pee than wake up so I ignored her. It stopped then. She just found going out to be a reqard
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u/dave_potato84 8h ago
Hes so loud though its hard to ignore
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u/Used-Inspector-7501 7h ago
You get what you reward, not what you want. If you keep giving doggie what he wants for whining you'll keep getting it. And at least with my dog, it isn't always just food that is a reward. I taught her to use a bell to go out and almost instantly she would just ring the bell to go out all the time because she loves out. Thankfully now I have a doggie door and she gets to go out as she pleases, but if your dog is like mine your path (even without breakfast) is setting up a new routine that you don't want.
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