# Dog barking to wake me up



## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Join the club. Chloe does the same thing. She is five months. My mom lets her out at about six. She doesn't let her back up stairs and she sits and barks at the gate when my mom goes back to bed.


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

I live in a condo as well and my almost 6 month pup Rundle, also wakes up with the sun. This morning that meant 5am. It also does not matter how much exercise she gets the day before, or when she goes to sleep. But, I do get up and let her outside. Afterwards I come back in and grab a bit of extra shut eye on the couch - not the bed because she will bother my DH and I both if she thinks its "bedtime" again. She will often go back to sleep herself or will play by herself until I wake up around 7 to feed her. 
I will mention however that she is not a barker. She puts her head or paws up on the bed. Lets a little whimper at best. I'm a light sleeper so, I notice her right away. I'm not sure how to help with the barking issue.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

I have always woken my pup up before he has a chance to bark or whimper, because I didn't want him to think he could signal me that way. Maybe coincidence but it has worked. So, I would suggest that you set your alarm or whatever and wake him up before he starts. Take him out quickly or give him a small treat. Slowly, increase the time you wake him up so he sleeps longer. Then the pattern will reverse to you waking him.

Lloyd is so cute-- Mom, pay attention! OK, now I can go back to sleep since you are up.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

Wow - the sun is up at 5 a.m. for you guys? It doesn't come up until about 6:45 here.


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Yeah it is light here about 545.


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

rabernet said:


> Wow - the sun is up at 5 a.m. for you guys? It doesn't come up until about 6:45 here.


Yes, I'm in Seattle where summer is awesome (shhhhh... don't tell anyone as it is a well kept secret!). The sun is up at 5:00 and doesn't go down til 10 pm. However, I am very sleep deprived and am going on about 5 hours of sleep each night thanks to my very loud alarm clock!


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

It starts coming up at 4 here...which is why we're all up at 5:30 these days.

Maybe if you just take him outside when he barks, on leash, no comment, no treats, then back into the crate, no matter what? If you can remove the reinforcement for getting you up, maybe...

In my house, it's our senile boy who's up with the sun and then he has to go and right now. Which wakes everyone else up. And there's really no re-training him at this stage...he's doing the best he can. But yawn. I feel for you.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

lloyddobler said:


> Yes, I'm in Seattle where summer is awesome (shhhhh... don't tell anyone as it is a well kept secret!). The sun is up at 5:00 and doesn't go down til 10 pm. However, I am very sleep deprived and am going on about 5 hours of sleep each night thanks to my very loud alarm clock!


Wow! That's a lot of daylight! Tell the truth, that's the REAL meaning behind "Sleepless in Seattle" LOL



Noreaster said:


> It starts coming up at 4 here...which is why we're all up at 5:30 these days.
> 
> Maybe if you just take him outside when he barks, on leash, no comment, no treats, then back into the crate, no matter what? If you can remove the reinforcement for getting you up, maybe...
> 
> In my house, it's our senile boy who's up with the sun and then he has to go and right now. Which wakes everyone else up. And there's really no re-training him at this stage...he's doing the best he can. But yawn. I feel for you.


I knew you were further east than I am, but same time zone. I remember visiting friends in NH and being blown away by how early it got light in the morning. How early does it get dark where you are this time of year?


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

Noreaster said:


> It starts coming up at 4 here...which is why we're all up at 5:30 these days.
> 
> Maybe if you just take him outside when he barks, on leash, no comment, no treats, then back into the crate, no matter what? If you can remove the reinforcement for getting you up, maybe...
> 
> In my house, it's our senile boy who's up with the sun and then he has to go and right now. Which wakes everyone else up. And there's really no re-training him at this stage...he's doing the best he can. But yawn. I feel for you.


I could do that, but I live on the 5th floor of an apartment, so by the time I put on clothes to presentable, leash him up, go down the elevator and let him do his business, I'm wide awake. But, I get your point that it should send the message that waking me up does not mean he has a ticket to play all day from that point forward. I'll give it whirl!


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

This may be controversial but when Bear started waking me up early and incessantly (after potty breaks) I would pull him into my arms under the covers and tell him to go back to sleep. At first he struggled and didn't like it. But now all I have to do is throw the covers back and it's his favorite part of the morning. And he no longer barks. 

The only time he'll wake me up now is for food at 6:30-7 am and he whines and nuzzles or licks me until I wake up.


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## DoreenB (Sep 19, 2014)

*Would this help?*

Will keeping him in a covered crate help....maybe darkening curtains so he has no idea it is light outside??


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## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

We see this a lot more in apts/condos - to the point when I hear certain phrases about barking I ask about living arrangements. It's so hard when 'best training practices' conflict with 'don't make the neighbors mad'.

A few things: 
- Like recommended, set your alarm, get him up, take him out very quickly, bring him back in. When we do this with puppies or humans who desperately need sleep sometimes we add in a frozen, stuffed kong after returning to the house (only if the human got the dog up - not the other way around). The calm, boring, attractive chewing object will sometimes help the dogs settle back down and at least let the humans rest. Gradually change the time 5 min at a time until it's more reasonable.
- Play fairly high volume of white noise/music/fan. Apartment dogs often learn about demand barking - but they also sometimes get set off by certain neighbors/rituals that are happening that the owners are not always aware of (we're asleep when it happens, though we hear the dog's bark.
- DAP/adaptil collar.
- Do settle/relaxation training during the day while you lie on the bed.
- Susan Garret's "Crate Games" program. Then with a crate in the bedroom, then a mat on the bedroom. Gives the dog a context we can fall back on.

One more thing: We see better success if a LOT of changes are made at once. If you try one thng, then another, then another, each piece becomes not useful. But a big change in process/routine gets better success. Some families are super awesome and will even change the layout of their bedroom to give us an even bigger 'fresh start'


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

Definitely some good advice here if you want to train this out of him. I know how hard it can be getting up early, getting dressed and heading downstairs, which for me is 26 floors! But, I usually just throw on something easy, throw my hair in a pony tail and head down. I have retrained myself to either fall back asleep if needed, or take advantage of the full day ahead of me  I'd rather her tell me she has got to go than make a mess on the floor.


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

We have black out blinds everywhere so Buddy can't tell when the sun's up (me neither for that matter lol) but he has his own little alarm system same time every morning anyway. He comes up and puts his paws on the bed and then, if I am facing the right way, he pants doggy breath directly in my face!! No barking fortunately.


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

BuddyinFrance said:


> We have black out blinds everywhere so Buddy can't tell when the sun's up (me neither for that matter lol) but he has his own little alarm system same time every morning anyway. He comes up and puts his paws on the bed and then, if I am facing the right way, he pants doggy breath directly in my face!! No barking fortunately.


Interesting! What time does Buddy normally wake you up?


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

SwimDog said:


> We see this a lot more in apts/condos - to the point when I hear certain phrases about barking I ask about living arrangements. It's so hard when 'best training practices' conflict with 'don't make the neighbors mad'.
> 
> A few things:
> - Like recommended, set your alarm, get him up, take him out very quickly, bring him back in. When we do this with puppies or humans who desperately need sleep sometimes we add in a frozen, stuffed kong after returning to the house (only if the human got the dog up - not the other way around). The calm, boring, attractive chewing object will sometimes help the dogs settle back down and at least let the humans rest. Gradually change the time 5 min at a time until it's more reasonable.
> ...


Hello swimdog. You mention "white noise". I recently came across a TV channel just for dogs which, during sleeping hours does play white noise or soothing music, and during the day has other stuff which is supposed to reassure and/entertain dogs whilst human is out. Is this chain just peddaling a load of nonsense? Or is it Worth leaving it on in the background sometimes when I go out?


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

3Pebs3 said:


> Interesting! What time does Buddy normally wake you up?


Wakes me up at 7h15. He pees, gets fed, no fuss no talking and then goes straight back to sleep until around 10ish if I don't disturb him. Which is divine! After that there is no stopping him until bed time! What's your morning routine?


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

BuddyinFrance said:


> Wakes me up at 7h15. He pees, gets fed, no fuss no talking and then goes straight back to sleep until around 10ish if I don't disturb him. Which is divine! After that there is no stopping him until bed time! What's your morning routine?


Rundle wakes up with the sunrise, between 5am and 7am depending on the season. She comes into our room and puts her head and/or paws on the bed to let me know its time to get up. I get up and throw on some pants and a sweatshirt, tie my hair back and take her down 26 floors (in the elevator), to go potty. We come back inside. And if its really early like 5:15, I grab my things off of the bed, come into the living room and go back to sleep. If its closer to 7 or 7am, I will spend a few minutes on the computer, then get moving feeding the cat and Rundle. After they are fed I eat and get ready. From then on it depends on what the day has to hold, but I am fond of taking a trip to the dog park in the morning. The morning crowd is really nice. 

I am interested in these blackout blinds though.. Something to consider when we move into our next place  Thanks!


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## golfgal (Dec 31, 2013)

If in crate, a good settle down command is useful as otherwise they learn barking gets them freedom. If not in crate, they learned "its early, go lie down". They'd go lie down on their bed and chew quietly or go back to sleep. Really helpful on weekends when you don't want to get up early cuz you need to go to work. Usually good for another 45min or longer. I had a room-mate and share a bedroom wall with the other side of duplex so know keeping noise down is important especially early in am. If you're lucky they'll also grow to sleep later. Now that sun's up early, mine sleeps in later oddly enough versus winter's 6:30am wake up call or last year's 5am.


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

3Pebs3 said:


> Rundle wakes up with the sunrise, between 5am and 7am depending on the season. She comes into our room and puts her head and/or paws on the bed to let me know its time to get up. I get up and throw on some pants and a sweatshirt, tie my hair back and take her down 26 floors (in the elevator), to go potty. We come back inside. And if its really early like 5:15, I grab my things off of the bed, come into the living room and go back to sleep. If its closer to 7 or 7am, I will spend a few minutes on the computer, then get moving feeding the cat and Rundle. After they are fed I eat and get ready. From then on it depends on what the day has to hold, but I am fond of taking a trip to the dog park in the morning. The morning crowd is really nice.
> 
> I am interested in these blackout blinds though.. Something to consider when we move into our next place  Thanks!


We don't have any designated dog parks or beaches here in France. And dogs need to be on leash 100 percent of time. Not even any off leash play at dog school. Am envious of you guys in US and Canada. I know Buddy would love it. 26 floors every morning! Go you! I blindly stumble 10 feet to the front door and then he bolts out into the vineyards while I get my caffeine rush. Fascinating hearing about other lifestyles!


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## Rkaymay (May 12, 2014)

I also advocate the blackout curtains. I got some when Z was around 4 months old and in the crate and doing the whole getting-up-with-the-sun thing. They helped immensely. Now that she sleeps on the bed, she will wait until I'm up (even waiting until noon or 1 - awesome for my night shifts). She only wakes me up if she needs to go outside. When she does wake me up, it isn't by barking (thank goodness - we also live in an apartment). She either (a) puts her face an inch away from mine (totally unsettling), or (b) pulls the covers off my feet and licks them (also fun).


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## Moose15 (Feb 12, 2015)

I haven't read any of the previous posts, because I am on my phone right now.. But, I TOTALLY recommend black out curtains. They have allowed us to sleep in, and wake them when we get up. Sometimes they will get up to potty before we do, but we have really caught up on sleep since investing in them.


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## Lilly15 (Jun 4, 2015)

Omg lilly hasnt done this and hopefully she wont Because in my house we all sleep in even my 2 yr old lol but shes been so good since 8wks old she wakes up when we wake up... Althoughh we keep her in the laundry room in her crate with my other dog in a separate crate and its dark in there so i guess thats why she doesnt even notice when the sun comes out but as soon as we wake up shes wideeee awake and starts whining... Its funny cuz when we wake up around 6 for my early class she looks at me like wait im not up yet! Shes a sleeper too! 

Anyway i guess you can close the windows make sleeping area as dark as possible so they dont notice is morning time


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## Jessie'sGirl (Aug 30, 2010)

Jess has been an early riser most of his life, although now that he is 5 , I find he is sleeping in more. When he was a bit younger , his bed was right beside mine. If he woke up really early( and he would whine, not bark) I would gently pat his head for a few minutes and tell him to " go back to your bed". This would usually work and he was good for another hour or so of sleep. 
Presently, we get up at 7:00. Anything before this he is sent back to bed.


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

We set a record this morning! 4:45 am is when Lloyd decided myself and the rest of the neighborhood should get up with him. Now I'm more motivated than ever to try all of your suggestions! 

Signed,
Sleepless in Seattle


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

Rkaymay said:


> I also advocate the blackout curtains. I got some when Z was around 4 months old and in the crate and doing the whole getting-up-with-the-sun thing. They helped immensely. Now that she sleeps on the bed, she will wait until I'm up (even waiting until noon or 1 - awesome for my night shifts). She only wakes me up if she needs to go outside. When she does wake me up, it isn't by barking (thank goodness - we also live in an apartment). She either (a) puts her face an inch away from mine (totally unsettling), or (b) pulls the covers off my feet and licks them (also fun).


She sounds so much like my Buddy... On the (all too rare) days that I want a mega sleep in.. as long as he has peed at around 7am if I bring him straight back into the dark bedroom he will go back to sleep until 11 even midday. He also likes to Wake me up by putting his face in mine... I usually "sense" him but if I don't, or if I ignore him, he pants heavily and starts breathing all over me! Don't you just love them!!!


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

lloyddobler said:


> We set a record this morning! 4:45 am is when Lloyd decided myself and the rest of the neighborhood should get up with him. Now I'm more motivated than ever to try all of your suggestions!
> 
> Signed,
> Sleepless in Seattle


Off subject but.... Looooooove that film!


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

Thought I'd share my latest as its kind of funny. I woke up on my own (no barking involved!) a looked at my clock to see it was 5:30 am. I actually thought to myself, wow.... He let me sleep in! Then I wanted to slap myself because my dog has clearly trained me very well if I now consider 5:30 am on a saturday as sleeping in. 

I was going to try to catch a little more sleep when the cat started hacking and puked up a hairball on my duvet which then got the dogs attention and obviously my peaceful morning was over. Poof!


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

We put a blackout curtain up last night. It didn't help lol.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Murphy sleeps in our bedroom and around 6am would wake my husband by jumping with two paws on the side of the bed. Now when my husband gets up around 4am to use the bathroom he puts Murphy out of our room. Problem solved,,,,,he waits patiently on a queen size bed in the next room over.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

lloyddobler said:


> Signed,
> Sleepless in Seattle


Too perfect!


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## momo_ (Dec 15, 2014)

I don't know how you guys deal with a dog and living in apartments not on ground level. Sunny is 6 months and still asks to go out for potty every 1-1.5 hours. He has a pretty weak bladder unless he's sleeping. 
I wish he was a barker sometimes. A few nights ago he did a poop in his crate. I came downstairs in the morning to see it was loose, but looked like it'd been there for a few hours, and he just dealt with it! 

Probably not the best suggestion, but does he have to sleep in the same room with you? I thought I'd never sleep away from Sunny but now I finally get uninterrupted sleep and it feels so good. Maybe you could try shutting your bedroom door and then like others suggested, wake up a little earlier, then gradually later?


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

momo_ said:


> I don't know how you guys deal with a dog and living in apartments not on ground level. Sunny is 6 months and still asks to go out for potty every 1-1.5 hours. He has a pretty weak bladder unless he's sleeping.
> I wish he was a barker sometimes. A few nights ago he did a poop in his crate. I came downstairs in the morning to see it was loose, but looked like it'd been there for a few hours, and he just dealt with it!
> 
> Probably not the best suggestion, but does he have to sleep in the same room with you? I thought I'd never sleep away from Sunny but now I finally get uninterrupted sleep and it feels so good. Maybe you could try shutting your bedroom door and then like others suggested, wake up a little earlier, then gradually later?


Sunny probably doesn't need to go out that often the little rascal (it is unusual for Goldens not too hold their bladders longer at that age unless there are some special circumstances) he probably just loves to and wants to and knows he can! At 6 months Buddy would hold on easily for 5-6 hours and 10 hours plus at night if he needed to.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

momo_ said:


> *I don't know how you guys deal with a dog and living in apartments not on ground level.* Sunny is 6 months and still asks to go out for potty every 1-1.5 hours. He has a pretty weak bladder unless he's sleeping.
> I wish he was a barker sometimes. A few nights ago he did a poop in his crate. I came downstairs in the morning to see it was loose, but looked like it'd been there for a few hours, and he just dealt with it!
> 
> Probably not the best suggestion, but does he have to sleep in the same room with you? I thought I'd never sleep away from Sunny but now I finally get uninterrupted sleep and it feels so good. Maybe you could try shutting your bedroom door and then like others suggested, wake up a little earlier, then gradually later?


I don't know how they do it either! We're ground floor, and we don't even use our front door, ever. 

We have a door that leads to a patio (other apartments with the same floor plan in my building are all porches with railings around it), but mine is a patio with no railings and we use that door as our main door. 

Let's just say I'm not in the least bit jealous of you guys that have to take elevators to get outside. :


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## momo_ (Dec 15, 2014)

BuddyinFrance said:


> Sunny probably doesn't need to go out that often the little rascal (it is unusual for Goldens not too hold their bladders longer at that age unless there are some special circumstances) he probably just loves to and wants to and knows he can! At 6 months Buddy would hold on easily for 5-6 hours and 10 hours plus at night if he needed to.


Loves to wee?! Hehehe 
I know he can hold it, but I think he's a bit like me - wants to empty his bladder even when it's like 20% full just because he can and it's more comfortable that way. Recently had a playdate at another friend's house while I had plans. They live in a Queenslander (house with stairs up to first level), and their dog is trained their dog to wee on a grass mat on the veranda. Sunny refused to go on it, so my friend took him downstairs to pee just once in the 6 hour period. 
I'm going to record his peeing times tomorrow to see just how often he goes. Holding for 5-6 hours regularly though, that's amazing to me!

Oh gosh taking an elevator to go outside would actually be hell for us considering Sunny's constant and ongoing poo issues!!!!


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

Jessie'sGirl said:


> Jess has been an early riser most of his life, although now that he is 5 , I find he is sleeping in more. When he was a bit younger , his bed was right beside mine. If he woke up really early( and he would whine, not bark) I would gently pat his head for a few minutes and tell him to " go back to your bed". This would usually work and he was good for another hour or so of sleep.
> Presently, we get up at 7:00. Anything before this he is sent back to bed.


My first golden was named Jesse after the song Jessie's Girl!  Great name.... My Jesse was the best dog ever and I miss her so!


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

momo_ said:


> Loves to wee?! Hehehe
> I know he can hold it, but I think he's a bit like me - wants to empty his bladder even when it's like 20% full just because he can and it's more comfortable that way. Recently had a playdate at another friend's house while I had plans. They live in a Queenslander (house with stairs up to first level), and their dog is trained their dog to wee on a grass mat on the veranda. Sunny refused to go on it, so my friend took him downstairs to pee just once in the 6 hour period.
> I'm going to record his peeing times tomorrow to see just how often he goes. Holding for 5-6 hours regularly though, that's amazing to me!
> 
> Oh gosh taking an elevator to go outside would actually be hell for us considering Sunny's constant and ongoing poo issues!!!!


I meant he enjoys going outside (to wee is secondary) lol! :doh:


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

momo_ said:


> Loves to wee?! Hehehe
> I know he can hold it, but I think he's a bit like me - wants to empty his bladder even when it's like 20% full just because he can and it's more comfortable that way. Recently had a playdate at another friend's house while I had plans. They live in a Queenslander (house with stairs up to first level), and their dog is trained their dog to wee on a grass mat on the veranda. Sunny refused to go on it, so my friend took him downstairs to pee just once in the 6 hour period.
> I'm going to record his peeing times tomorrow to see just how often he goes. Holding for 5-6 hours regularly though, that's amazing to me!
> 
> Oh gosh taking an elevator to go outside would actually be hell for us considering Sunny's constant and ongoing poo issues!!!!


When Rundle was having poo issues we didn't make her hold it to go down all 26 floors. We just let her go on the balcony and cleaned it up every time. Still a pain for us, but less cruel for her. And I mean if you had to do it you just would. Its been years since I lived in a house with a dog, so at this point I don't know what it would be like any other way. And going down an elevator with Rundle, is much better to not having Rundle at all! And this way when we do get a house, she won't be fixed on using pee pads or fake grass.


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## BuddyinFrance (May 20, 2015)

:wavey:


3Pebs3 said:


> When Rundle was having poo issues we didn't make her hold it to go down all 26 floors. We just let her go on the balcony and cleaned it up every time. Still a pain for us, but less cruel for her. And I mean if you had to do it you just would. Its been years since I lived in a house with a dog, so at this point I don't know what it would be like any other way. And going down an elevator with Rundle, is much better to not having Rundle at all! And this way when we do get a house, she won't be fixed on using pee pads or fake grass.


And at least you don't have the problem that I have with living in a house in the middle of open countryside... which is.. everytime I open the front door Buddy is off somewhere like Ussain Bolt!! Even the electric fence is not stopping him at the moment!


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## Rkaymay (May 12, 2014)

Zelda still peed every 1.5-2 hours at 6 months. Then one day, around the time she turned a year old, she decided to hold it for 4-5 hours. Confused the crap out of me for a few days! I was still taking her out every 2 hours, but she wouldn't go every time! Now I enjoy it, because we just moved to an apartment on the 2nd floor.


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