early riser

[jules]

packer likes to get up at 4:30 am every morning and also likes company at this time ,the problem is everyone else gets up at 6 am,we try ignoring but he doesn't stop barking until I get up.I thought he had to go to the bathroom so I let him out , he goes ,I let him back in give him his treat,start heading back to bed and he starts barking again so I wind up keeping him company until everyone in the house is up at 6, packer is now 4 months old

[Berna]

I'd tell him in a serious voice to shut up You are actually rewarding the behaviour by letting him out, no matter how much you manage to ignore it before doing so.

[sipsi]

When you're sure he doesn't need anything like going to the bathroom, just ignore him. It may last long but he will stop barking eventually.

[jules]

that comes regurlarly,we constantly tell him to shut up ,and the voice couldn't be more serious.I think he might be getting cabin fever because he hasn't had his last set of shots so we can't really tire him out by taking him for walks,we are going to sign him up for training after his last set of shots as well

[sipsi]

Yes. When he is allowed to go out. He will be an exhausted puppy and an exhausted puppy is a well behaved puppy

[jules]

this is our 3rd chocolate lab in 25 years and you kinda forget the puppy stage when you haven't been there in a while and the other 2 were a little different ,packer is more nippy and jumps,I think he's part kangeroo ,he gets about 4' in the air when he jumps

[Tanya]

what are you doing for exercise? when is his supper?

[Snowshoe]

He's only four months old, maybe he does need to go out. You say he does pee. Oban still needed out once a night till he was four and a half months old. He came back in and went back to sleep. I think this is where there is actually an advantage to having a winter puppy. It was still very cold and snowy and he didn't want to be out in the wee hours any more than we did.

Does Jules go out to pee just before bedtime? What time is that? It could very well be he jsut can't hold it long enough to last the night yet, like our boy. But when you come back in, THEN he must go back to bed and be quiet. Since you have inadvertently rewarded him for this behaviour it's going to take longer to break the habit. He is most likely going to bark louder and longer for a while before it sinks in that you are no longer going to reward him. This is called extinction burst and it's going to benefit you in some kinds of training but for now you are going to suffer. Sorry.

[Laura]

Theo went through a short spell where he started getting up in the middle of the night again. The first night, he was up a few times and I thought that he had to go outside. I quickly learned that he just wanted company, and it took about a week or so to completely break the behavior. I will say that one night he carried on for at least 15 minutes before he finally settled down and went back to sleep. Now, if he gets me up in the night, it's because he really needs to go. I don't turn the lights on at all when I am letting him out, and if he brings me a toy on the way to the back door, I ignore it. He goes right back to his crate when he comes back inside.

[jules]

i don't try to reward him ,I throw a cookie in his crate so he goes back in then try to go back to sleep,but he wants company,I try to let him out before bed but he doesn't,I think he is scarred because during the first month I had him,I let him out early in the morning while I was getting ready for work at about 4:30 am,it was
pitch black all of a sudden i saw thru the french doors packer running about 90 mph, I opened the door and I guess a couple of racoons were caught between 2 fences and fighting,I never heard anything like it,the noises these things were making so the puppy ran in as I opened the door,but I think he remembers that