CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => General Cocker Spaniel Discussion => Topic started by: alexisdee on March 06, 2004, 08:36:43 AM
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Desperate for some advice!!!!
I have a beautiful male cocker who is nearly 8 months old. I have had him since he was 12 weeks, so he is not new to my home.
The problem is every morning at approx 6am, sometimes earlier, he decides he wants to come out of the kitchen. So to attract attention he scratches continually at the kitchen door, which, I have to say, is now mostly paint free!!!! The continual scratching gets louder and louder and he appears to be getting more and more annoyed the longer I ignore him. I have tried keeping him awake longer at night and filling the kitchen full of his favourite toys, but nothing seems to work. The problem is I don't want to get up at 6am, and I ignore him until about 7am, but he doesn't seem to be getting the message that his scratching will bring me downstairs. HELP!!!! :(
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Can't help but can sympathise, we're having a similar prob' with Charlie-Spud as in the last few weeks he's been crying really bad earlier in the morning, which we've put down to the lighter mornings - it's our first year owning a dog so getting use to the season changes so still learning!
We're looking at getting a blackout blind thing for the backdoor to see if this helps.
We're currently doing the 'ignore' routine for him as well as he's been getting the separation anxiety with us even going upstairs!
(Gina's post: http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/forum/viewt...pic.php?t=4027) (http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4027))
:D
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Hi Alexisdee,
Isn't it a pain getting a rude awakening so early in the morning? I have to say that Maggie 4 1/2 months is doing the same with us at the moment but between 4-5am :shock:
I'm not sure if a cat is prowling in our garden that might be disturbing her. She did sleep well up until about a week ago.
She is kept in a crate over night so atleast my paintwork is still intack but the howling would waken the dead!!
I can't advise you, just wanted you to know you are not alone.
Samantha & Maggie x
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We ended up getting a crate for our boy to stop him getting near the door and scratching. He's so far doing much better in it, we drape it with a big towel at night so it's dim.
Shona
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Tali is getting us up at 6am too I'd put it down to birds etc. Hes always been an early bird and we haven't needed an alarm clock since we had him.. Hes 9 months. a while ago it was 5am regular as clock work, I changed the radio station we leave on and checked the timmer the lights are on, it was 6 from then on. I'm convinced its something specific waking him just a matter of tracking down.. :? :?
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I have found that Bleu wakes up when the combi boiler in the kitchen fires up in the morning. As she doesn't wake up so early on a weekend when the boiler is not switching on automatically. I use a blanket over Blues crate as well.
Andrea, Phil and Bleu
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Thanks everyone, it's nice to know I'm not alone. Maybe its just the lighter mornings? :?
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I think that it's just a cocker thing. Our old girl used to get us up @ 5am in the summer until we got some black out curtains.
Our little boy used to surface at 5 but we ignored him (not easy!) and now it's a very civilised 6am.
I've noticed that the only other people out walking dogs at 7am on a Sunday also have cockers....
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Well, I think if it's 6 am that you are being woken at, you should think yourself lucky !!!!!! :lol:
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I'd settle for 6.00 am :roll:
This morning it was 2.00am 4.00am 6.30 amand she only went to bed at 11.30pm :evil:
Still at 8 weeks I didn't expect any better :D :D
Sam
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like the central heating, noise next door. The wind! Ours were up at 12.30 am this morning, then 4, then 6, 6.30, 7 until I finally succombed and got up at 8 :(
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Morgan was a bit of a nightmare until he was about 4 months - crying through the night at first, then waking early - but once he was allowed out of the kitchen to sleep outside the bedroom door he was fine.
I have prepared myself this time, for the fact that I'd be going to work like a zombie for the next two weeks (until the holidays) but Cooper is an angel. He lies down and falls asleep as soon as he goes in his crate, he even cried to get into it on Friday night :) . He doesn't wake till we do, when the alarm goes off at 7.30am. Today he slept till 8.30am.
Has your situation improved any alexisdee??
Hope you've found a solution as I know it can be very tiring :? :)
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it must be a cocker thing,, :shock: i automatically wake up in the night now to let jasper out,if i don,t he will leave a message on the floor for me ,he is 2yrs old now and still doesn,t go through the night,might as well had permanent babies, trouble is while i,m waiting for him to relieve himself,i have a choccie bar,,so we have now both got into the habit :lol:
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one thing we have noticed,is that if we leave the gate to the shop open,he will go and do his thing :shock: ,if we shut it he won,t,so i suppose we are letting him get into the habit of doing his business,we keep it closed now,and all is well,,but i,m still eating snickers in the night,maybe hubby should close the gate to the cupboard :lol:
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I found that allowing Sally to come upstairs and sleep on the landing or in our bedroom stopped all the early morningwake up calls :o , in fact this morn she was lay on the bottom of my bed till 9am :D :D
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It is nice to know that there are plenty of other Cocker owners going through their daily routines with matchsticks propping up their eyelids.
Buster is now 12 weeks old and manages to sleep for around 4 hours on average before informing us of his requirements.
We reckon that as Buster is on a complete puppy dry food he drinks a considerable amount of water. This in turn means that his little bladder can only manage four hours before it needs emptying.
We try to time going to bed around 10.00 p.m. so that we only have to get up once in the night to cater for his needs.
Hopefully, as he gets older, he may be able to sleep right through the night.
He is still a little darling though. :wink:
Mike, Tina and Buster.
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I found that allowing Sally to come upstairs and sleep on the landing or in our bedroom stopped all the early morningwake up calls :o , in fact this morn she was lay on the bottom of my bed till 9am :D :D
That's the answer.
When Robin was a puppy, he slept in the kitchen & he dug the kitchen floor up! I can't remember when or why, but I eventually had the dogs upstairs to sleep in my bedroom. Bess often wakes up & asks to go out (she often needs both a wee & a poo in the middle of the night) & Dillon usually wakes about 6 am & needs to go out then as well. Once they've been out & done what they need to, they settle down to sleep in the bedroom again.