Doggy needs to go out? or Doggy being a dick?

Dr. Frenchenstein

My almost 2 year old (she may be 2 honestly, she's a rescue and they gave me a 6 month age window when i got her) pit/lab mix is crated while i am out of the house, and runs free when i am sleeping. Usually she sleeps with me in bed, but is never there in the morning. I tend to be a restless sleeper, i'm assuming that's why she rolls out.

anyways, usually at least once a night, she will jump into bed, and then immediately back down to the floor. if i don't get up, she does it again. When she does this, i get up, and let her out into the backyard to do some business. when she comes back in, she gets a treat, i go back to bed. using last night as an example, she woke me up at 2am (went to bed around 11), and then again at 4:30-5. both times she was waiting by the back door when i shuffled downstairs.

I am typically at work for about 10 hours or so, (8-6, including travel time) and i have a dog walker that comes at noon. So, she can definitely physically hold it while i am sleeping. However, sunday morning (happy fathers day to me) she left me a nice dump and pee puddle on my downstairs floor. I was doing yardwork all day saturday, so if she did jump up, it didn't wake me up. I always let her out before i go to bed, and when i get up. it's starting to be an issue as i am just not well rested in the mornings, from waking up once or twice a night.

How can i get her to know that nighttime is sleepy time, not bug daddy to go out time? am i encouraging the bad behaviour with the treats? i want her to know that pooping outside gets her a treat/praise, but often i am out of it, and it's dark, so i'm not sure she is pooping everytime i let her out at night. She doesn't mind being crated, but she tends to flip out a bit when someone is home, and she's in her crate. That would be a last straw option for me, ideally. I do not think she has any bladder/bowel issues currently, but she has had the odd UTI in the past.

Wow this ended up lengthy TL;DR: Doggie wakes me up several times a night to go out, gives no evidence that she can't hold it until i wake up normally. How can i get her to leave me alone?

Esh

Yeah, definitely knock off the treats in the middle of the night and move those to the day time.

Kistra

I know it would suck, but could you turn on a light or go out with a flashlight and see if she is actually pottying every single time for a few nights?

How to handle this differs depending on whether or not she is pottying. If she isn't pottying and just playing, you either ignore her requests to go out completely or take her out on leash for 30 seconds and if she doesn't potty, then crate her for the rest of the night. She will figure out pretty quickly either way that waking you up to go play isn't very fun. However, while more time consuming (and sleep depriving) the second method means that she will still try to wake you up if she does have to potty (very rarely hopefully).

If she is pottying every single time, you need to figure out how to make it so that she doesn't need to potty in the middle of the night. Do you free-feed her or does she have defined meal times? If she has meal times, how long before bed is the last one? How much exercise does she get during the day? Sleeping changes the physiology of the bowel/bladder and makes it easier to hold it over night so if she is sleeping all day and then wandering around at night it actually makes sense that she needs to go out at night. How regular are her nighttime potty breaks?

If changing her mealtimes, getting her more exercise, and picking up her water 2 hours before bedtime don't help, you can also set an alarm for 15 minutes before she currently needs to potty. Do that for 3 days and then move the 2ish am alarm 5 minutes earlier and the 5ish am alarm 5 minutes later each night. It will take a while, but it is an effective way to change her potty habits as long as she doesn't have an actual medical condition that is causing the problem.

tofu

Exercise her before going to bed and don't reward poor behavior with treats

mts

yea, agree with Kistra, you need to make sure she is actually relieving herself each time. if she is, it could be signs of an illness, especially if its a peeing thing.

i

Dr. Frenchenstein

she has defined meal times, noon and at 6(or whenever i get home). she gets a 45 minute walk unless a neighbor is home, then she plays with her dog for about the same amount of time. I usually take her for another 30 minute or so walk at some point, no set time though.

I can't really pick up her water as it's one of those 5 gallon jobs (i guess i could find something to cover it with), so i'll try the out on a leash thing. i actually have to do that at my GF's house when we are there, because she doesn't have a fenced yard.

Deadfall

I'm going to recommend kenneling her at night. Is she kennel trained? You can't make it a punishment. It needs to be a happy place. Treats when she goes in, and possibly a worn shirt thrown in for a comforting scent.

She's going to whine like crazy for a night or two. Seriously, it sucks. But you have to keep her in. Dogs won't pee in their kennel (unless they absolutely can't hold it anymore, but if you're taking her out before bed it should be fine.)

After a few days, she will (hopefully) get the idea that night time is for sleeping, and daytime is for peeing. When she starts sleeping through the night, for like a month, you can let her out again.

My dog was kennel trained at first, at night and during the day (when we were at work). Now we can leave him out both times because he knows night time means sleepy time, and daytime means relaxing time.

dispatch.o

Start picking up the food/water 2 hours before bed, let her out before bed and don't set it back down. So long as she poops/pees on her last trip out, there will be nothing in the pipeline.

Honestly it sounds like you've trained her to get treats when you let her out for playtime and doesn't understand it's time to poop. Playtime is fine, but reward the pooping.