<p>The white noise may be a really good ides, it will help mask any small noises that may be waking big dog up. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Had not really thought about the earlier daylight, although this hasn’t been a problem in past. DH commented that we’re both working from home more these days. The dogs used to be outside all day at least three days/week; now–not so much. He’s thinking maybe just keeping them inside more might be a contributing factor.</p>
<p>Re: noises in the night–usually not a problem, except when we have a <em>very</em> windy night (and DH is often up and about with all of his sleep issues–bothers me much more than the puppies!).</p>
<p>The last few days I’ve made sure to take them out for extra play and it seems to have helped. I’m going to try to continue that (plus throw them outside more each day) and keep my fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Do the dogs have crates? My dog loves her crate, and she’ll hang out in there during the day as well to get away from it all. At night we lock her in. If we didn’t she would wander around the house, pee on the carpet and be a nuisance. Ask me how I know. We have one that is covered all around, not an open cage, and it’s like a cave for her.</p>
<p>We don’t have crates for them–Big Dog sleeps on a pad in a corner of the kitchen; Little Dog has a little pad that fits nicely under a built-in desk in the kitchen (pretty cave-like). He definitely hangs out there quite a bit. A crate would probably be nice for Big Dog, but not sure I want to keep one in our <not-all-that-large> kitchen! (And the kitchen door is closed at night so they do not roam.)</not-all-that-large></p>
<p>ingerp- I’'m wondering what time of the morning Big Dog wakes up and calls you. Is it a reasonable hour, like 6:30, or is it more like 5am? Dogs usually wake with the sun.
My 10 year old Lab sleeps on a mat in our bedroom, but still is awake a little after 6am, when the sun comes up. He may just sit and stare at me until I get up, but he’s definitely ready to start the day. After all, he’s usually been sleeping since 8pm or so in the evening. He gets a three-mile walk every day as well as playtime, because I’m home with him. I can only imagine a three-year old would have energy to burn.</p>
<p>One of my favorite stories is of our previous dog, the Collie we adopted when our kids were little. We brought him home when he was 18 months old, so he had lived with another family for his first year and a half. I set his bed up in the laundry room the first night, which is in the hall next to my son’s bedroom, and started to close him in there for the night. Pitiful wails came from inside the room. Thinking maybe I could do something to make him more comfortable, I opened the door to try again. Promptly, he grabbed his bed in his mouth, carried it out the door and plopped it right between my son’s and my daughter’s bedroom doors, and lay down. Looking up at me, he may as well have said, “I’ll sleep here, if you don’t mind.” And that was that.</p>
<p>Our dogs are very attached to their humans- it’s in their genes to be near us. I realize we can train it out of them if we choose to. In your place, I guess I’d just figure that if Big Dog is awake in the kitchen at 6am, I’ll use this peaceful time in the morning to have a cup of tea, read or surf the net, and appreciate the quiet time in the company of my loyal pal and let my husband sleep awhile longer. ;)</p>
<p>Oh 6 would be fine. This is more like 4:30-5:00. And it is new behavior–it only started a few weeks ago. We’ve had various dogs sleep in various places over the years. Our chocolate lab had the run of the house at night. We had a corgi who slept in a small bathroom (not sure how we came up with that but it worked well). The two dogs sleeping in the kitchen has worked really well–until a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>Confession: At first glance I thought the thread read Febreezing the kids was easy…" :)</p>
<p>4:30? Hmm. Earplugs?</p>
<p>I have a dog who is also an early riser. Sometimes is a garage, or a neighbor, or just the sun. They get out three or for times a day for park time and long walks, easily 7 miles a day. Anyway, back yards are boring after awhile and dogs needs to be stimulated with new smells, etc. That evening walk will do wonders for them and for you. Sometimes my dogs look at me like really? Another walk, but after dinner it feels so good to walk the hood.</p>