A couple of issues

[GrayC25]

Hello again everyone! Sorry this is a bit long, but we've got two issues with our little guy and we are just at a loss on how to handle them.

We've got an almost 7-month-old male yorkie named Samson. We got him at the end of April, around 9 - 10 weeks. He adjusted to sleep in his crate at night pretty quickly, though we never really did any training with it. He doesn't run to it when I say "Go in your crate" at night. We have to prod him in there.

For a while, he was waking up and whining a bit around 6:30am - 7am. Then, miraculously, he started sleeping in until 7:30am or later! And sometimes never even gave a peep, we had to wake him. However, the last two weeks, he's been getting up earlier and earlier. One day this week, he was up around 5am and just whined and whined. Today he was up around 6:30am and whined hardcore.

First, we don't know why his sleep schedule keeps changing. We don't usually put him in his crate until 11pm or later, but here he is, getting up earlier and earlier - and totally whining like crazy!!!! Any ideas on how to control this a bit better?

Second, I know he's up and whining because 1) he wants to be with us and 2)Has to go to the bathroom. However, here is my problem: He whines and whines and whines because he needs to go out, but we don't want to let him out because he's whining. So then he just whines harder and we still don't want to let him out because he's whining. In the beginning, when he was sleeping until about 7 or so, he'd whine just a little (I think just to let us know "hey, I'm up and I need to go" - not serious hard core whining) and we'd let him out because we knew he had to go. Now though, since he's getting up earlier and earlier, we aren't letting him out right away and he's been whining like crazy. I mean, serious whining and crying (we ALL know what that sounds like). We try to leave him in there and get him to quite down because it's so early (and also so we can let him out when he's not whining) but this morning, he just WOULD NOT STOP!!!

So I'm at a crossroads. Do we let him out of his crate when he's whining that hard or do we keep him in there until he quiets down??? He was up at 6:30am this morning and started whining and we didn't let him out until 8am because we couldn't wait for him to be quiet anymore (we had to go to work). I don't know what the right thing to do is....!!!

Our second issue is water. We leave him in a bathroom all day with a baby gate up, with his bed (not the crate), a ton of toys, a pee pad and water. He's been doing WONDERFULLY during the day - pees only on the pad and holds his poop all day until we get home (such a good boy!!!). We usually leave the water down until around 8pm - 9pm, depending on what we do after work. He doesn't drink much water during the day, but honestly, all he wants at night is water. After we pick the bowl up at night, he's constantly looking for it. If we put water bottles on the night stands or side tables while watching TV, he climbs over us to get to them and just licks the condensation. We feel terrible not giving him water, but know if we do, he'll be up at 5am having to go out.

He's not malnurished, he's not dehydrated, but it's gotten to the point where just this morning, he was so thirsty all he wanted was water. I gave him both food and water and all he did was drink the water so fast he made himself throw it back up. He didn't eat anything. When I put him in the bathroom to finish getting ready, I gave him the food again and he ate a little bit, but not a lot.

I'm having a really hard time finding a balance between food and water. I don't want to give him water in the morning because I know he'll drink so much he'll get full without even eating. But I hate to give him food without water. I just don't know what the balance is and I'm really afraid that we aren't doing it right. I hate to think that our little one is suffering in any way.

Can anyone help us out!?!?!

[YorkieMother]

First I go see a vet cause climbing over you to get water can be one of two things as I see it one is medical and needs checking .. I know for diabetes in humans you look for the need to drink a ton as a factor. we need to rule out a health concern first.
The second is he got your attention. He is smart and has learned a great trick even if your not impressed by it that is a great one....you fussing and giving him attention for getting at your water... move the water right out of reach and or used closed cups and see if the behaviour extinguishes it self as you do not have to stop him getting at it so you ignore it is becomes no reason to try and there for no attention even negative that will reinforce it.

Second work on kennel being a go to place and comfort zone. no one likes being made to do anything and that place we must be becomes a trap and a place to whine in.

So start with making the crate a happy place.. clicker solution site has an article on crate training in there training articles.. Pam dennison in her book as well got a great way to do it.

Second listen really close when he tales a breath in the whine and he does get that door open fast and praise like heck.... I know it will be a stretch but stretch it.
Make sure he gets more mental and physical work out before bed... just a walk around the block is not enough for these guys even as little as they are.. I play ball with mine after a walk for about a half hour depending on the heat plus trick train if it is to hot. Working the brain tires them out too.
A tired dog is a good dog.

JL

[anta76]

Hello
Okay regarding the water and food issue. Don't deny him water in the mornings because you think he might be full and won't eat. Water should be available to your puppy from morning till 7pm or so. 7pm is a good time to take it away so he can go through the night without peeing. This is what we do.

7am feed the puppy, water is available...if he chooses to drink and not eat..he has 20 min or so. Water stays and food is taken away. He won't starve until 6pm when we feed him again. Water is always available.

6pm we feed again and be sure of it that if he is hungry he will eat. Again 7pm or so water is taken away.

Now I agree that if he is begging for water soo much it could be a health issue. check with your vet.
The best thing for you I think would be routine. Again please don't deny water since it's soo necessary.

As far as letting him out of the crate at night when he is whinning is okay as long as he only gets to go outside to pee. He will learn that whinning will let him go outside only and not to be with you. It worked with Bigos...he did do it often but learned quickly.

Bigos' owner.

[GrayC25]

Thanks for the replies so far.

As far as letting him out of the crate at night when he is whinning is okay as long as he only gets to go outside to pee. He will learn that whinning will let him go outside only and not to be with you. It worked with Bigos...he did do it often but learned quickly.

It's not at night that he's whining/crying. It's in the morning. He sleeps all night without a sound, but lately he's been waking up earlier and earlier (sometimes before 6am, sometimes around 6:30am, but always before his previous wake up time of 7am - 7:30am). So in the mornings, he's waking up early and just crying. Is it crying to go outside? Probably. Is it crying to be with us? Probably a little of that, too. If it's quite some time before we need to be up, do we let him outside and then put him right back in his crate until we're ready to get up? If it's close to our wake up time, do we let him outside to go to the bathroom and then keep him with us or do we put him back in his crate?

I think I just need to be more of hard nose when it comes to the food/water balance. If he just drinks water in the morning, and chooses not to eat, then I have to be okay with him waiting until 6:30pm or so to get his dinner. He won't starve, but maybe he'll learn to not just scarf down the water and no food. My fiance feels just as bad too and wants to leave him biscuits when he doesn't eat. I don't want to do that. I think he needs to learn that when his food is down, that's when he eats, take it or leave it.

[GrayC25]

Also wanted to add that I don't usually get home from work until at least 6:30pm (and that's on a good traffic day). My fiance's arrival time can vary depending on his work for the day. We like to take walks with Samson, but sometimes can't go on the walk until 7pm or later. Of course, Samson needs water once he's home from his walk, but that isn't until 8pm or later. Is that too late to give him water if we're trying to potty train him?

[YorkieMother]

What about a dog walker or a doggy day care for your little one.

JL

[Yorkiedaze]

Either put him in an expen attached to a crate or in the bathroom, leaving water down 24-7 and toys, a beef femur bone & pee pad. He should never be denied water. Next, when he cries in the morning regardless of the time, it means he wants out. I'd let him out. It's his only way of letting you know.
If he continues to drink more water than is normal then he should be seen by a Vet. You may also cut out all his snacks. Some are high in sodium which could make him very thirsty. Also what brand of kibble are you feeding?

[GrayC25]

Yorkiedaze, as per my original post, Samson is already in a bathroom with a baby gate, all of his toys, a bed and a bowl of water. We do not deny him water during the day, just at night (after 8pm or so, after we pick the water dish up). By the morning he is so thirsty, he drinks a ton and has no room for food.

We've been feeding him Science Diet Small Bites food for meals; he gets puppy milkbones and the soft BilJacks (LilJacks???) for treats. We don't feed him a ton of treats, just when he goes to the bathroom outside, we need him to go in his crate or when we are teaching him "sit."

YorkieMother, doggie day care would be way expensive and I'm not sure about having a dog walker. Maybe something to look into. Thanks!!

[Erin]

He's probably waking up early because he sleeps all day long.

The thirsty thing unfortunately sounds familiar. Is his urine yellow or clear? Is it concentrated at all? Loki has diabetes insipidus which causes increased thirst because his body does not concentrate urine. It's easy to rule out though. He also might not drink during the day because you are gone. Mine don't eat when I'm gone. If I give them a Kong and leave they don't really eat it until I get back.

You really should consider a dog walker. He's going to get pretty bored all by himself all day and a bored dog can be trouble

[GrayC25]

Erin - His urine is yellow. How do you tell if it's concentrated or not?

As for waking up early because he sleeps all day long - could be. But nothing about his routine has changed and for quite some time before these last two weeks, he was sleeping until at least 7:30am, without waking up. I just wonder why now, all of a sudden, he can barely stay asleep past 6:30am.

[Erin]

If it's yellow then it is concentrated. Loki's is clear. Still, with excessive thirst I would still see the vet. It could be the sugar type of diabetes too. I've learned not to mess with excessive thirst.

I was up 2 hours later than normal last night and my guys were still up at 6:55. I haven't needed to get up that early for work in 2 months but they still wake up then, want breakfast, go out to pee and we all get back in bed and snooze for another hour. They wake up because they are hungry. If I feed them later in the day they sleep longer. But then they want dinner at 3pm. So I might switch them to 3 meals a day... But anyway we are pros at getting up whenever they do, taking them outside, throwing food in their bowls and going back to bed.

Oh, an extra trip out at night helps too. I have to wake them up and practically carry them out, but it give me an extra 20 minutes in the morning

[GrayC25]

I will definitely check with the vet on the whole thirst/diabetes thing. However, we had a much better night last night and morning. We took a walk in the evening, gave him some water when we got home, took him out twice before we got into bed and he actually settled down and fell asleep in our bed (where usually he's wide awake, messing around with his toys and jumping off the bed to roam around).

A few days ago, I found this really cute Coleman sleeping bag for dogs - it's just like a regular sleeping bag, but much much smaller for our little guy. We had been camping over Labor Day, but had to leave him inside the trailer at night because it was too cold for him out in the tent. So I bought it, figuring he could snuggle down into it and be completely covered up and we could use it for camping or during the winter months (we live in Michigan). I showed Samson how to get into the bag and he took to it right away (especially the zipper - he loves chewing on it!). Soon he was climbing in and out of it himself and rolling around in it.

Samson's cage is under a window in our bedroom. When it gets cold out, we shut up the window he's under, but it was warmer out Wednesday night/Thursday morning (the morning he was up before 6am crying) so we left it open some. Last night, we put the sleeping bag in his crate and after he fell asleep on our bed, I picked him up and set him on the ground in front of his crate. He walked right in, snuggled into the bag and fell asleep.

We didn't hear a peep out of him until just after 7am!! We think now that maybe he's been cold, hence the crying. We love having the windows open, and tried putting extra blankets in his crate to keep him warm, but maybe that wasn't working. He seemed to really like the sleeping bag and it looks like it kept him warm. His crate is right next to my side of the bed, so this morning I heard him wake up and whine a little bit, but then he got quiet again pretty quickly (so excited about that)!!! I opened up the door to his crate when he was quiet, he crawled out, jumped up the ottoman he uses as a step onto the bed and showered us with morning kisses!!! Then I got up a few minutes later and we went outside.

Also, he did much better with the water this morning. I did what anta76 suggested - put down his food and water at the same time without worrying that he would have too much of one without enough of the other. And he did perfectly!!! He went for the food first, then had some water, more food, then more water. It was a relief really.

Now my only problem is that all he wants to do is eat in bed while we laze around in a bed a few more minutes before getting up Seriously, we started doing that when he was just a little thing and now he just runs straight for the bed after we come in from outside in the mornings. He'll also eat in the kitchen if he has to, but you can totally tell he prefers to eat in bed while we're laying there - haha!!!

[Erin]

Aww! It sounds like you figured it out. They can be so quirky and it's hard to figure out but I'm glad you did!

[GrayC25]

Yes, I hope we have figured something out and that it sticks. We'll just see how it goes. I love our little guy so much, but neither of us are use to the demands of a small dog (we both grew up with black labs), so it's been difficult and quite a change, to say the least.

Thanks for your help everyone!!!!

[jdonica]

Could it be that wanting all the water was from all the crying? I have noticed that an time that Harley wines, he wants water when he is finished.

Jeri and Harley