[finzi]

My four month old Mini Schnauzer is such a wonderful puppy. We are still dealing with some housebreaking issues (no poo, just pee now - what a relief), but beyond that, he is doing SO much better. We keep him up until midnight or after, but he seems to consistently get up at 4 and then, for good, at 7:45 (almost to the minute!). Is there any way to adapt his sleeping, or lack of, patterns? I'm not sure I want to keep waking up in the middle of the night - will he grow out of this, or is he training us to be at his beck and call?

[labman]

Look around your house for anything that could be giving him a clue it is 7:45. We once decided we needed our sleep more than the one plant needed its grow light at 5 AM. The light was easier to change than say your neighbor leaving for work. If you find something you can't change, perhaps you could move his sleeping quarters away from it.

Dogs, like kids, are notorious early risers. When we travel, we seldom leave a wake up call. Sometimes if we are meeting others, we get an early start in the parking lot as we are all out there with our puppies.

Our Aster takes spells of 5 AM barking. Usually she will quiet down if we down stay her. It doesn't give us the best sleep, but we can get back to sleep. With a puppy, you often do have to take it out. Taking the water dish up at 7 PM may help. Be sure to walk him around good at bed time.

[RubyPitbull]

Hello again. I was just rereading your original post about Finzi so that I could refresh my memory on your situation. You have only had him for a little over a month. Do you remember my telling you that consistency and patience is the key? Finzi may just be on a slower learning curve. Also, mini schnauzers, as a result of inproper breeding practices have a tendency toward hyperness. At this age, he may not be able to sleep so many hours, and usually after a few hours of sleep pups need to eliminate. He is holding it longer than he did before which is a good sign. I know we talked about neutering and rabies shots but did you ever bring him in to the vet for a full health check and parvo shots? You may want to have the vet check and make sure there are no issues with his bladder. I did wonder early on what the reason was that the breeder and pet stores rejected/passed over the little guy for him to have been given to a rescue at such an early age. It is important to get him a full physical check up and speak to the vet in detail about the problems and issues you are encountering. He/she might find a physical reason for this or may give you some other suggestions on top of what we have discussed here on this forum. It would be smart to ensure that there aren't any physical problems prior for us to assume that this is merely a training issue.

[finzi]

Thanks for your responses! We really do appreciate it. Finzi is, in fact, doing much better with his overnight potty-training. He has not eliminated in his crate in quite a while, which is such a victory! He is getting better about giving us signs that he needs to go out too, so we feel like we are on the right track. One of the other significant factors in his success was that we cleared up his diarrhea issues, so he is obviously able to hold it longer.

However, I wasn't sure if we could be doing something else to help him sleep longer. Since Finzi has some of these puppy mill/rescue dog issues, he doesn't seem to fall under normal training books - I think we have them all - but they rarely discuss dogs with special circumstances, so I'm very happy to have access to people willing to offer advice.

Our other dog is much different - Bella sleeps through the night and would stay in our bed with us until 11 am. And she did this soon after we got her, probably around 5 months. I wasn't sure how we could do things differently to convince him that sleeping is a great thing. :)

We took Finzi took to the vet for a puppy check-up, and I'm not sure if you saw my other previous post, but the reason he was passed over was most likely because his testes haven't descended. The vet is doubtful that they will (actually, I think you responded to that thread) by the time he is neutered. He is 4 and 1/2 months now, and the second one is not able to be found in his little body!

So with all of these possible complications, it's no wonder he isn't the average puppy. But we love him, and we'll keep working through it! But I really do appreciate your thoughts and advice, sincerely. Thanks again.