Insomnia and my Yorkie
 

I think I would wear ear plugs when you need to sleep. Also, walk her very often to tire her out. It, also, might help with the potty training to walk her often. I might also help with your sleep problem.

Thanks for the response!

Ear plugs and I have never gotten along, but I did buy some to stick in in times of emergency. :)

Exercise for me isn't the problem, I work out quite often. (just about daily)
She also gets quite a bit but we can try some more. :)

I honestly think it's just a behavioral issue, instead of her being over-excited because she isn't getting enough stimulation. She's kinda spoiled.:rolleyes: But I bet all of our babies are!!!:aimeeyork

I feel your pain, as a life long insomniac and with my Pixie who wakes me up every hour to hour and a half from 1 am until she gets fed at 5 am. She is going to be 4 and learned this behaviour from my pom (RIP) who had cushing's disease and would need to go out at night and eat. Once Maya passed away I was hoping that I would be able to get some sleep, but no Pixie has become a nightmare at night. She will not stop running back and forth, kicking her feet barking until I give her something. I know this is a learned behavior and she is terribly spoiled. It just seems easier to give her a treat and go back to sleep for an hour or so until she wakes me again. I know it is crazy and I am so tired all the time. I talked to a dog trainer and he said start cutting out one wake up treat at a time. Once my husband retires in December I am going to try ignoring her if that doesn't work I will put her in another room to see of she will eventually settle down.I can't let her wake everyone up when they have to get up for work the next day. I have been using a spray bottle during the night when she wakes me up but it doesn't really stop her. My only advice to you is try now to stop the behavior as the longer it goes on the harder it is to break. I hope you get some good suggestions and can get Poppy sleeping at night. Keep us posted.

Patti,

Have you tried crating her at night so she can't run around to wake you up? Possibly even crating in a basement or kitchen or garage if it's warm there? We crate Sadie when she's been naughty and won't calm down and stop biting before bed. she'll get calm and stop her whining and that's when i let her back into bed with me. when she was little though and we needed more sleep we'd crate her in the kitchen and close our door to let her whine and ignore her. eventually she learned to stop whining so much in the crate.

maybe that would help get her used to sleeping and being quiet at night without disturbing you or hubbie?

Last night while not sleeping as usual (not her fault this time, just the good ole Insomnia)....I did a bunch of research on "silencers". I honestly think we are going to try one of those. It seems rather hit or miss with all the reviews I have read...some small dogs respond to them almost immediately and stop the barking, others aren't phase.

*fingers crossed*

OMG Patti, how do you function? I award you the Metal of Yorkie Honor.:number1ri Really, I'll be honest and say I could never do what you do.
Thanks heavens Buddy sleeps like I do. My heart goes out to you
gals who are sleep deprived! I can't imagine such a horrible thing.

She is still veeeery young :) It will get better, really :) And when it does, you will look back at this time and it say it was all worth it :)
Patience and consistency with the potty training, don't give in easily when she demands things (lol, I know how that is ) and one day you will all of a sudden realize your little girl has grown up and wonder where your puppy went ;) Enjoy the experience of raising her and training her, give her love and she'll give it back ten-fold

Insomnia and my Yorkie
 

I really identify with your problem. I don't sleep either so that is what caught my eye when looking through the thread titles.

I have two (yep, two!) 5 month old Yorkies - sisters. During the day we do splendidly. They have an ex pen in the kitchen/family room. We almost never have an accident. The problem is at night!

They sleep in a bathroom with a baby gate. They have crates with open door and lots of paper on the floor. Some nights I get lucky. Other nights (like last night) not so much.

This morning I was awake by 4:00, so before 5:00 I went ahead and got up hoping I would beat them to the pee and poop. Well, I found the biggest mess in the world. They had peed on the paper and the awful part is they BOTH had pooped and had scattered it all over the place . . . get ready for gross, and were eating it.

If I crate them separately with door shut, they protest! I've never crated them together with door shut. Don't know how that would work.

Any suggestions?

I feel for you also. What a bad situation to be in. I would say you have
a very spoiled little girl on your hands. Her way or no way. LOL
Time to take control Mom and be the boss. No way would I allow her
to rule the roost expecially at bedtime. Being sleep deprived is not going
to help you be patient with her during her training period either.
I would put her crate next to the bed and cover it during the night.
When she barks tell her NO and gently shake the crate or coins in a can.
You may have to do this often the first and second night but do not give
in to her. Yorkies are smart and know when they get their own way.
You have to be tough, patient and wait it out. My vet said to me, when
Bud was a puppy(5mos old) and got me up at night, do you want him on your schedule
or do you want to be on his the rest of your life. So I stopped getting up
in the middle of the night to take him out. He cried for maybe two nights,
crate was clean in the am and the crying stopped.
I also would not allow her to roam around free until she was potty trained
on pads or outdoors. She needs to be confined to one area or you will never
get her trained. Crate training does work but you have to be consistent.
Let her bark during the day in the crate. She'll get tired eventually and stop.
She will not outgrow her behavior unless you stop it now. They don't know
right from wrong unless we teach them.
Good luck and get some sleep.