We have an almost 2-yr old choc lab who sleeps with us but has a habit
of jumping off the bed twice at night to go out (1-2 am and 4-5 am).
Although we could try to ignore this and try to get him into the habit
of settling, he likes to pace and the click-click-click on the laminate
not only is unerving but there are the fears of waking the eight month
old and really not getting sleep. She sleeps through the night
otherwise tahnkfully...

We've found he's a creature of habit. We feed him twice daily and I
think he can read the clock because he always looks at his food bin at
6:30 AM and 5 PM. You could set your watch by him. IF his walk was at
a certain time the day before, he get exitable around that same time
the next day. We have to crate him most of the day while at work
(although I do come home and give him a lunch break to go out and I
play with him) due to his separation anxiety and chewed furniture. The
other destructive tendency was anything related to baby including bibs
on coffee tables.

Any suggestions to break this habit. He drinks in binges so I hate to
deny him water later at night.

Thanks in advance

On 21 Apr 2005 09:09:38 -0700, "zeke" wrote:

We have an almost 2-yr old choc lab who sleeps with us but has a habit
of jumping off the bed twice at night to go out (1-2 am and 4-5 am).
Although we could try to ignore this and try to get him into the habit
of settling, he likes to pace and the click-click-click on the laminate
not only is unerving but there are the fears of waking the eight month
old and really not getting sleep. She sleeps through the night
otherwise tahnkfully...

Any suggestions to break this habit. He drinks in binges so I hate to
deny him water later at night.


Take his water away after 8. He doesn't need to drink water during
the night. Confine him overnight. This will probably be very
temporary, just until he's "repatterned" to sleep through the night.

A thorough vet check is in order if breaking the habit doesn't do the
trick - a healthy adult dog should not need to eliminate in the middle
of the night.

what do you mean (specifically) by "drinks in binges". That can
really put the bladder out of whack, so getting him to be more of a
sipper than a guzzler is an important move. Ice rather than water can
be the key to that transition.

--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album

I guess by binges I mean he seems to wait and when he decides to drink
he'll empty the bowl. Even when we come back from an aggressive walk
and he's panting and thirsty he doesn't shoot for the bowl. He'll
lounge around checking if we're going out again and wait till we're up
by the bowl to indulge. Sounds like a playful lab, eh? Labs seem to
want to play themselves to no end if allowed.

By ice do you mean freezse the bowl or put ice cubes in the bowl to get
him to slow down?

On 21 Apr 2005 09:09:38 -0700, "zeke" wrote:

We have an almost 2-yr old choc lab who sleeps with us but has a habit
of jumping off the bed twice at night to go out (1-2 am and 4-5 am).
Although we could try to ignore this and try to get him into the habit
of settling, he likes to pace and the click-click-click on the laminate
not only is unerving but there are the fears of waking the eight month
old and really not getting sleep. She sleeps through the night
otherwise tahnkfully...

We've found he's a creature of habit. We feed him twice daily and I
think he can read the clock because he always looks at his food bin at
6:30 AM and 5 PM. You could set your watch by him. IF his walk was at
a certain time the day before, he get exitable around that same time
the next day. We have to crate him most of the day while at work
(although I do come home and give him a lunch break to go out and I
play with him) due to his separation anxiety and chewed furniture. The
other destructive tendency was anything related to baby including bibs
on coffee tables.

Any suggestions to break this habit. He drinks in binges so I hate to
deny him water later at night.

Thanks in advance

Your choc lab and our yellow lab/golden mix must have read the same
book. Ours started wanting out at about the same times lately. She
is 15 mos old.

She sleeps in the bedroom with us. On or off the bed. There is no
water in the bedroom and the door is shut. We do make sure she goes
outside to pee before bedtime between 9 & 10 PM.

I went out with her several nights & found that a raccoon was hanging
out beside the house & she wanted to check it out. Once we had a
confrontation with it & she knew I knew it was there, she started
sleeping through the night.

When she wakes up now, we just ignore her & wait. If she goes to the
door and barks, we do go out with her. Otherwise, we tell her to
settle down & goes back to sleep.

Good Luck & Sweet Dreams

Don S