Help w sleeping through the night?

[gandalfsbigpants]

Our dachshund sleeps in our room, and somewhere along the way he learned that if he hops up on the bed and licks my partners bald head he'll wake up and bring him out to toilet

It's been a few months and this is now routine - If he ignores him and pretend to be asleep he eventually gives up trying to wake him up and toilets the floor

Any tips to try and reprogram this behaviour?

He's a fully grown almost 11 month or so kaninchen dachshund, so I guess tiny dog = tiny bladder but my partner hasn't had a full night's sleep in months and I feel bad - he never wakes me and just let's me sleep through

 

[drcao]

@gandalfsbigpants The dog needs to potty. The dog is telling you he needs to potty. When he potties on the floor after telling your partner and then being ignored, yeah no brainer he’s going to pee on the floor. If your partner is not waking you to deal with it sometimes then it sounds like that’s on him. Also, 11 months is still a puppy.

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@drcao Thanks so much for your comment! So this is actually kind of our thought process as well, it's our first dog so still going through the motions but everyone we've mentioned to thinks we are insane for "tolerating it" which is why I posted!

 

[drcao]

@gandalfsbigpants Nope not crazy! I was hoping I didn’t come off as rude. But I think he just has a small bladder and he’s trying to tell you the best he can!

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@drcao No you're okay! I think it's great that he's does wake my partner up first instead of just going on the floor, I only mentioned the ignoring bit (which has only happened maybe 2 or 3 times over 6 months) in case people were like have you tried ignoring him and see if he goes back to sleep haha

 

[ghy1221]

@gandalfsbigpants Oh I’ve tried it. I still try it. But my puppy (1) is now old enough that she won’t give up and go inside. I wake up, try to look at my phone without waking her, then close my eyes and pretend I’m asleep. She’ll get up and (1) turn around curl up back to sleep or (2) shake out. Once she shakes out it’s all over. If I ignore her whining she steps on my face. Thankfully she’s 5 lbs.

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@ghy1221 Hey thanks for commenting! So it might be an age thing finger's crossed! that's what he would try, the really dramatic heavy breath and roll over to show him that he's still asleep like we do on the weekends but no joy - Frankie's the same w the paw on the face but he's only 8lb thankfully so not too heavy!

 

[oceanskk]

@gandalfsbigpants What's the longest he's gone without peeing during the day? What happens if you leave him home alone (do you leave him home alone)? If it's not a physical issue (you know he can hold it longer because he has done so during the day), you can institute alarm training in conjunction with picking up water near bedtime.

Alarm training: If puppy is pretty consistent about what time he wakes you up to potty, start by setting your alarm before he wakes up and take him out to potty. As the nights go by, incrementally push the alarm time forward. Get to the point where the alarm is going off just after he would normally wake you up to pee. Stay there for a few nights then move the alarm forward. We're training his bladder to hold longer overnight by doing this. Try not to go too fast and allow any mistakes.

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@oceanskk We can leave him home for 3-4 hours at a time and no issue, as soon as we get home he'll paw to get out to do business - haven't left him at home longer than that though

Have been picking up water an hour before bedtime but haven't tried any kind of alarm training - will definitely try this and see what happens - thanks so much for your comment!

 

[williamstarks]

@gandalfsbigpants Try a 2-3 hours before bedtime. When my dog was about that age, I removed water bowls at ~7pm and she went to bed at 10pm

 

[dtate98]

@williamstarks It is never recommended to leave a puppy without access to drinking water. Puppies can dehydrate quickly and and the consequences can be dire.

 

[latyneyez]

@gandalfsbigpants If you don’t train your dog, they will train you. Crate training is the most effective potty training method I know of. I have trained 2 dogs this way and once trained they have not had an accident in the house and were given free reign including sleeping with us.

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@latyneyez Thanks for commenting! He is toilet trained and doesn't accident even when we are not at home - it's just holding it at night time that seems to be the problem - we also did try crate training but its just not for us

 

[jrm36]

@latyneyez Second this!

 

[isgilyarovskaya]

@jrm36 third^

 

[phloating]

@gandalfsbigpants By 11 months a dog should be able to sleep through the night (or at least the majority of the night). If you don't want him waking you up, you need to contain him with pee pads (in a playpen for example) and just clean them up every morning. If you want to take him out but make it fair to your husband, try setting an alarm for the time your pup normally has to go out and then just alternate who takes him out. There's tips and tricks to get him sleeping all night but I don't know enough to advise those.

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@phloating Hey thanks for commenting! He is a regular pee-er with regards to times he typically goes out, so will try the alarm for maybe 30 mins beforehand so he can empty the tank!

Trying to avoid the pee pads as he's toilet trained otherwise, I'm terrified he might regress if he learns to pee on the pads again (but this might be first time doggo-parent paranoia)

 

[mlangwasusan]

@gandalfsbigpants Look I understand and don’t use them myself but anecdotally, I’ve sat for many dogs (months long at times), most recently a deaf staffy in a terrace with pee pads and no yard. She will only use them as last case, different dogs do have different motivations but she knew that pooping and peeing outside = a treat and a walk.

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@mlangwasusan That's interesting! There's a few ideas on here about alarms etc which I'll try and give a go, but if it is a case of small doggo = small bladder then this is definitely handy to know that it might not affect how he toilets after reintroduction of pee pads - thanks for your comment!

 

[taryn12]

@gandalfsbigpants Our pup lokes to go out at 3:30 am every day...a peep a d a poop. We never get accidents in the house. I hate getting up in the night, would do about anything to avoid it, but my pup needs me and I always lover her up when she is done.....comes back directly and gets back in bed.