# Why does my 2 1/2 year old golden wakes up EARLY in the morning!



## Cam's Mom (Apr 13, 2007)

Normal...perhaps she needs much more exercise and training than you think she does. My guys only get me up early if they need to go out (I have and 11 year old who has always needed a potty break at 4-5 am..but goes back to sleep if I'm not up), Or, something happens in your neighborhood that she hears and you don't. Every spring our neighbor goes wood gathering every morning for about a week. He leaves very early(3.30-4.00). He is actually very quiet, but the dogs hear him and want to go out and say hi!


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## barrett (Feb 1, 2008)

I was married June 3, 2006. We got our golden boy barrett June 5, 2006. I haven't slept past 6 am since that date. :uhoh::doh:


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Maybe if you keep the toys out the bedroom then she will want to sleep in.


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## IDKaren1 (Jun 2, 2009)

I am recently having this with 8 month old Moses. For the last 3 months he has slept through the night- 1.5 months ago brought him from crate to our bedroom floor- STILL slept all night. This last week He has been waking at 12:30am 3:30 am and 5:30-normally sleepts till 7. He whines like he has to go potty- out he goes around the corner and I ASSUME he does. I am afraid to NOT let him out if he really does have to go but gosh this is getting old! I don't know whether to feed him earlier or later or WHAT to do! All I know is I am TIRED:no:


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## liero133 (Aug 23, 2009)

how much exercise do you give 
each day, and what kind?


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Make sure your pup is well exercised and tired before bedtime... if there is nothing medically wrong with your dog, at that age she should be able to hold her bladder through the night and most likely is just bored/wanting attention/not tired enough. 

When my Sam was a puppy, he used to always wake up at 5-6am every morning. While he was potty training, I never wanted to test him, not sure if he could hold his potty or not... as he got older and I knew he could, and I knew he was just excited to start the day and/or get fed, I just ignored him. It took him a good 3 or 4 days, but he finally understood that the crack of dawn does not equal time to wake up!! 

Make sure there are no toys in the bedroom... don't let her associate the bedroom with play time at all. You want her to know that being in the bedroom means its time to sleep or lay there quietly and that morning starts when you say it does!


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## ems (Dec 12, 2008)

Hello

Lottie often wakes during the night, wonders up and down the landing, grabs a tissue from the bathroom and shreds it and then settles down to chew on her bone for upto an hour before going back to bed. If she wants to interact with me then i give her a hug and another tissue. if she wants to pee then she gives a soft bark, shes a sweetheart.

It doesnt bother me, as this is Lottie, I love her for all her funny little ways.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Kattawyna said:


> Help me please! I have a 2 1/2 yr old golden retriever named Zoey, she is a wonderful dog, but recently she has been waking up at 4, 5, 6 in the morning. She picks up a toy, like most goldens always having a toy in her mouth, and starts making this noise, kind of like a whine but add a grunt I guess you could say. Then she wags her tail and bangs the wall as if she wants to play. She does this even after she went for a long walk/run. I just want to know if this is normal? My vet has cleared her with a clean bill of health, anyone have any suggestions?


This is my life story. I have insomnia sometimes, and accidently trained Tally to get up early by feeding him at 5 am - duh! Tango and Finn sleep until I wake up, but Tally pitterpatters downstairs, gets his breakfast dish, and plunks it on my stomach at 5 am without fail. Finally, I went and found a huge rock and weighed his dish down with it. This delayed him by about 45 minutes. . . I know it's my own fault, but it is still ANNOYING.


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## sameli102 (Aug 23, 2009)

With my first dogs, when I went from the crate to sleeping in our room I first tied their leashes to the bed legs and gave them their own mat to lay on. When I felt sure they wouldn't wander around or get in trouble I eventually removed the leashes and by then they were in such a habit of only being able to lay on their beds that is where they stayed. They were probably almost a year old when we did that.
The 2 I have now will probably just stay crated during the night as I have 2 young ones and it's nice to know they are contained and safe while I sleep.


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

If you are home all day for one day - keep your doggy up with you alllllll dayyyy looonnngg. My dad does that with Willow when he has to bunk downstairs - my room is right over the living room and apparently, she spends a lot of time moving around at night...and scratching sometimes.  thud thud thud. It works for my dad!!


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## New Golden Mom (Dec 17, 2008)

Rufus has never been a great sleeper and it took us a long time to get him to sleep right through the night but like Ljilly I blame myself because I have insomnia too. For some reason the past three nights he has changed his pattern and now HAS to go out at 2 a.m for a potty break. We walk him for about 4 kms right before bedtime, and he used to go then but for some reason he's changed that schedule. Nothing like getting out the poop bags at 2 a.m. He also does his darndest to convince me it's breakfast time at that hour too!


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## IDKaren1 (Jun 2, 2009)

I just don't know what the "common denominator"is to his2X a night wake up. One day he went to the river and played with dogs in the park- he was SO exhausted and slept in the car- at home and ALL night! Yesterday he had to be tethered all day with NO exercise until I cam home and ran him and played with him- figured it would not be enough and he would be awake all night. NOPE- slept all the way through. I wonder----hubby had been feeding him "people" food al couple days- maybe his tummy was sick.Dunno- will just have to see how it goes. THANKS ALL!


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## snappyweather (Mar 4, 2007)

The funny reply that all golden owners know to be true is that you just aren't quite on Zoey's schedule yet!


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## goldhaven (Sep 3, 2009)

I think that all of these are great ideas. Keep the toys out of the bedroom. Make sure that she is getting enough exercise during the day. My only question to you is, what do you do when she gets up that early? If you get up and let her out or feed her you are just reinforcing her early morning habits. As long as you know that she doesn't have to go, I would just say settle down and go back to sleep. Let her know that she can get up when you want to get up. If you have been giving in to her this may take a little while to get through to her.


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## FeatherRiverSam (Aug 7, 2009)

I'd consider two things which I think might help your situation; 

1. More exercise late afternoon or early evening .

2. Pick up the water dish late afternoon.

And as already suggested remove any toy's etc..from the room in which he is sleeping.

Good Luck,

Pete


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## Karen2 (Jan 5, 2009)

Sierra is the best alarm clock I ever had.
Anytime after 3:30 AM she could start in, that early, usually when she didn't get an evening walk the night before. :doh:
Otherwise about 4:30 AM she gets me up and we head out on our walk.
She has slept in to 5:30 AM after a very vigorous workout the night before, I had to wake her!
What a great way to get up, how can you not love a cold wet nose planted on the back of your neck? Then a big wet kiss on the face!:
Karen


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## Bkhollan (Aug 18, 2009)

I have been woke up between 5:30-7:30 AM since I have gotten my Golden Retriever. She wakes me up to go outside to use the bathroom. I take her outside and then we both go back to sleep until I have to wake up for either work or class. I think its perfectly normal. She never wants to lay in bed until 9 or 10 AM. She is ready to go outside and move around by then. I just accepted it since I would rather have her wake me up than leave a mess for me to clean up once I did get up.


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