Re: no sleep

In Reply to: no sleep
Posted by:  Melissa Matuch
Posted on:  February 28, 2001 at 08:52:47

: I have a 3 year old (fixed)male Jack Rusell that I rescued alittle over a year ago. I also have a 8 year old min. poodle (also a fixed male).

: I exercise my dogs twice a day during the week (morning and afternoon) and on the weekends I spend almost all of my time with them. During the winter, they don't spend as much time outside but still get regular workouts.

: Anyway, lately I've noticed that the Jack will not let anyone in the house sleep past 6:30 in the morning. I take him out, feed him breakfast and usually give him a chewy toy to play with. He does not stop yelping and crying until I get up for good. Once I'm up, he lays down on the couch!! He doesn't have to go to the bathroom, he's already exercised, and fed. He just will not let me sleep in. How can I stop this crying to get at least a few more hours sleep? I know he does it just to get me up and I can't seem to figure out how to stop it.

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Well, Melissa,

You probably already know this, but your dog has you trained. He gets rewarded by you "performing for him" every morning if he works to wake you up. You need to ask yourself, "why shouldn't he wake me up?" Because the way I see it, I don't see why he'd think he needs to let you sleep in if you do what HE wants you to do every morning.

And I'm not trying to be wise with you. I'd just like you to see things through his eyes for a bit.

I've said this before on this forum, so forgive me for repeating myself AGAIN, but one of the most important things a dog should know is the most popular thing they don't seem to know. I read so many posts from people who post to this board because, put simply, their dog doesn't know what "NO" means. Doesn't it make sense that you should be able to just say "NO" to your dog and have him realize that he has no right to wake you in the morning?

You see, waking you in the morning is really only a symptom of the bigger problem. I'd venture to guess that while you feel this is the most serious sympton, there are other things he's doing that you don't like much at all.

Well, this situation is sort of like how you have to water and provide "miracle grow" to a row of hedges to make them grow tall and thick so that they block out your view of the neighbors. You wouldn't expect those hedges block the neighbors out without being tall enough to do the job, right? You would accept responsibility for measly, malnourished hedges that can't do the job without your assistance. Well, you need to treat the root of this problem to get your dog to understand that he cannot wake you up in the morning when you need to sleep in. He must simply obey you when you say the word "NO." He must understand the word "NO" before he can understand what is allowed and isn't.

"NO" is one of the most important words in our vocabulary when it comes to our dogs. I've found that it can go so far as to save a terrier's life if he accidently gets loose and wants to run off. Yet it is one word that people have a hard time communicating. Remember... if you give a command repetitively to your dog "Max, No! No! No Max! No!" your dog does not take you seriously.

There are some great training books in the JRTCA's book section.
Training Books

Good luck!