sleeping through night?
by Melanie & Ziggy
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Hi,Before Ziggy was able to sleep through the night without having to use the bathroom. Recently (last 2 weeks) he calls me to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. This makes no sense to me because he uses the bathroom around 10 or 11 pm before we go to bed. Then he will call me around 3 or 4 am to go again. (this is a 4-5 hour time span, and I know he can hold longer than that. Do you have any suggestions to stop this recent behavior pattern?
Thanks!
DISCUSSION:
You didn't mention how old Ziggy is. Snowball went through a similar stage and I found reassurance and love got her through it and she's now sleeping through the night.
Kathy
First of all, I think you have to specify Ziggy's age. Age makes a big difference. If he's a young puppy, I think it's okay that he has to go in the middle of the night. But if he's older, then it's not right.
Winnie
I had the same problem with my male. Angel would sleep on the bed with me and was too little to get on and off by himself (he was first pad-trained; later housebroken. I always made a huge fuss over his going, in or out, followed by treats when he did it "correctly." Everything was fine for the first 18 months or so, then all of a sudden it seemed to occur to him that perhaps if he begged to go out when he was in the mood for a snack, he'd be likely to get one no matter what the time. For the first few weeks, I let him get me out of bed to put him out (I have a trolley line; I don't have to walk him) and he'd be most indignant if he didn't get a treat, jumping up and down on my pillow as if to say, "But they're right here. I can see them!" He quickly learned that he only got the treats at certain times (namely when I'm already awake). Otherwise he just gets picked up, put on the bed and I roll over and go back to sleep. Now, on the rare occasion that he does it (usually when he doesn't finish his dinner), I just sternly tell him "No, it's sleepy-time" and he'll lie back down. It's really adorable. Of course, it helps that I don't have trouble getting right back to sleep!
siobhan gallagher
Sorry, forgot to mention that Ziggy is 1 year and 8 months old.
melanie and ziggy
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