Hi,

I'm new to this site. My dad asked me to do a little research about why my 4 year old German Shepherd dog isn't sleeping through the night. She eats Eukanuba Large Adult Dry Food mixed with Pedigree Adult wet food at about 6 pm. Before my family goes to bed, we let her out to go to the bathroom. Every morning, at about 4 am, my mom or dad has to wake up and let her outside. I don't know if it's so she can go to the bathroom or if she just wants to play??

There are a couple of things you could do. Moving her meal time up might allow longer to process it and get the bowel movement over with. More exercise at bed time could stimulate her body to have the bowel movement too. Even a good walk to tire her out and have her sleep through the night.

Try those, and if it doesn't help, post back and we will talk about some other alternatives.

My wire-haired pointer is almost 9 years old and has always slept in our bedroom. He recently went to the vet for his check up and is fine. Over the past few months he has been getting up during the night at about 3:00am to either go poop or pee. He is fed at 5:00 pm every day and gets Eukanuba adult formula. He also gets 2 wals per day. Any ideas to get him back on track again?

At 9 years old, even a larger breed like yours should still not be aging. It sounds like you are already doing much of what I suggested in the original question. I don't think anything is to be gained switching from Eukanuba. You could try a morning feeding, although if he is left alone all day, that could cause problems too. Can you move the second walk closer to bed time?

Thanks for your reply. His walk time is usually at either 6:00 or 6:30 pm for half an hour even in sub-zero weather. He is not alone all day, as my husband is home with him which is why I am so puzzled. Any othre ideas?