My dog wakes me up early for hours of belly rubs. How can I stop it?

4 am is way too early kiba! I can imagine your frustration. Is kiba needing to go outside to go potty? If he is make sure you are letting him out as late as possible the night prior and make sure he goes potty at that time. If he is asking for his breakfast that early than you could try feeding him a small meal before bed so he s not hungry so early. If it's just that he wants you to get up and play etc then exercising him more the evening before will help him sleep longer. Long evening walks, a hard play session right before bed etc. you could also try kennel training overnight to see if he sleeps better. hope this helps a little!

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem with Sadie! Unfortunately, puppies are very similar to babies in this respect - they often wake up early. There is often no way around this other than waiting for her to get older. The good news is, most adult dogs are happy to sleep later and will eventually adjust to your daily schedule - so be patient with her for now :) One thing that you could try is crating her in your bedroom, beside your bed - I'm not sure where you have attempted to crate her before, so I apologize if you've already done this. This generally prevents excessive whining or barking in the crate, because you are right beside her - so she shouldn't be lonely or upset. But, being in the crate will prevent her from being able to wander around, chase the cat, or find other things to do when she wakes up - so this is a good way of teaching puppies to lay quietly until it's time to get up, even if she is already awake.

There could be a few different things causing this. If he's a puppy, he may need to go to the bathroom -- take him out and but don't give him attention or play time. If he's an adult, it could be pain, habit, a medical issue causing him to need to get up to go to the bathroom, or accidentally reinforcing this behavior previously with play (or even by yelling at him - if he wants to interact he doesn't really care if you're happy or unhappy during the interaction). If he's elderly, he could be starting to have dementia (canine cognitive dysfunction) or any of the adult issues. So, if he's a puppy, I recommend the above, but if he's not a pup, I'd recommend starting with a vet visit and then ignoring him at night if nothing is wrong. Good luck!

If you keep getting her out at that time she will get used to that. Ideally you should build her back up to the later time. make her stay there a little longer each day until 6-630. At 4 months old, it is not unreasonable to expect her to not go to the bathroom from 10-6. If you are consistent, she will begin to understand that routine and stay quiet.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would change her feeding times. Feed her dinner earlier. Be sure you are limiting snacks at night and you aren't feeding more than twice a day. If that doesn't work or you are already doing that, then I would change her diet. It may take some trial and error to find the right food. I hope this helps and I wish you the best!

Hi there. Snowball sounds like she has a good life :) I agree with you, meds are not a good idea especially at this young age. You can try a natural remedy like Rescue Remedy (be sure to get the one for pets) or Comfort Zone (dog appeasing pheromone). Here are links to the products: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bach-Rescue-Remedy-Pet-Natural-Stress-Relief-for-Pets-0-35-FL-OZ/25581235 https://www.comfortzone.com/dogs The first thing you have to do is rule out a medical versus a behavioral issue. This can be hard to do. If she is really gassy this could be causing the restlessness. You may want to consider a diet change AND/OR the addition of a probiotic like Fortiflora to her current diet. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Purina-Pro-Plan-Veterinary-Diets-FortiFlora-Probiotic-Supplement-30-CT/43284986 It could also be that she has a urinary tract infection even if she is showing no other signs. Watch her closely for any accidents, excessive licking at the vulva or any changes in appearance/odor to the urine. This can be very uncomfortable. Of course, continue with lots of exercise. Sounds like you are doing everything right. She just may be one of those anxious dogs just like there are in people where you can't really pinpoint a cause. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions if you need to. Best wishes. Dr. Amber

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your question. Scout is very young still and this is likely just a phase he will go through and likely will not continue long term. Some things you can do to help prevent this would be to feed earlier in the night so that when he goes out to the yard, he urinates and defecates and does not wake you up to let him outside. You can also try NaturVet Quiet Moments Calm chews and exercising him regularly to see if that helps him at night and will hopefully prevent any issues in the future. I hope this helps! You can also try the Adaptil dog collar and see if that helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.