Midnight Run - to the treat jar!

[Red Haired Girl]

Help me. Please.
Mitch wakes up at 12 to 12:30 every night wanting a snack. He gets out of bed, goes down the hall, turns around, comes back in the bedroom and whines until I wake up then he turns and runs, double time, down the hall to the kitchen to the treat jar. I give him just a small piece of a chicken strip; then he turns and runs back to the bedroom and waits for me so I can put him in bed. He sleeps the rest of the night until morning.

It is driving me crazy! He comes to bed around 10 to 10:30 when Daddy comes to bed. I have asked DH to give him a snack before he comes to bed but he won't. I can't give him one before I go to bed because Low-la goes to bed with me and she doesn't need a snack.

Help me :please:

[jenfer]

Do you know how/when did it start?

[Red Haired Girl]

About 2 months ago he started staying up with daddy. He used to be ready for bed when I went.

Right about the time I switched them to raw......

[areese]

Gosh, as hard as that would be, I think the only thing you can do is NOT give him the treat at midnight. He's got you trained now...
If you really think he's hungry maybe he can have an earlier snack...just don't give one to Low-la or give her a bean or carrot or something...

[quavec]

:ditto:

Best thing to do is ignore him and break the habit (I know, easier said than done coming from someone who doesn't get woken up to the whine, tap tap tap sounds).

Or, like she said, give one before bedtime and give LowLa a lower calorie one.

[Red Haired Girl]

I've tried not giving him a treat. You know the drill - belly rubs and lovin's then back to bed. He gets back out of bed and goes to the kitchen. I honestly think he is hungry. He can't tell time, so something must wake him up.

The bad thing is, I have to get up at 4am. I'm missing my REM sleep time. I'm tired.

[Patt]

Been there, done that... Just stop the treats he'll catch on quick.

[jenfer]

Yea, ignore him.

[Otto'sMom]

Yea, ignore him.

Spoken like someone who has never just wanted to go back to sleep NOW and willing to do ANYTHING to make it all stop.:rotfl:

I did something horrible once: I made one of the dogs sleep in their kennels instead of with me so I could just get a good night's sleep.
I SO know what you're going through. A certain Habba Habba Princess' tummy didn't enjoy that whole Raw Chicken diet change the other day and it was POOP city 4 times that night, 3 times the next night. She'd poop in the bedroom and THEN wake me up so she could go outside to eat grass and poop some more.:rolleyes: It was killing me, because when one goes out ALL go out, and then we all have to resettle and I get to step in Otto's pee because he didn't want to make the walk all the way to the door.
I feel your pain, sista. :hug99:

[lotsadox]

I know what you're going through. Miller decided that he didn't want to sleep in the crate and started crying at 4:00 am. The DH gets up and lets him get in bed with us! :shocked: It took a week of being woke up at least once per night with crying to get him retrained to be quiet ALL night. I don't know of any other way to do it once they've figured out that they can get what they want except to say "NO" and listen to the fall out. :dunno: I just figured it was better to do it then before it got to be a real habit. The sooner you stop him the easier it will be.

[Tanya]

I definitely agree with don't give him a treat! If he won't settle down then I'd gate him in the kitchen and make him stay there. Then he'll figure out that if he gets up, he might not get to come back to bed. This may require ignoring crying or barking.

The Ps know not to mess with my sleep! When Peaches was a puppy, she was a total P.I.T.A. She'd wake up in the middle of the night, wake us up, run around, etc. Well a few times when she'd absolutely not settle down, I left her in the kitchen and went to bed. She stopped really fast after spending a few nights alone. I felt really guilty, but nothing else worked.

Also, if you switched them to raw and now he seems hungry, are you sure you are feeding them enough? It took me awhile to figure out exactly how much to feed Peaches and Piper.

[Red Haired Girl]

I left a 1/3 of a chicken treat on the coffee table before I went to bed. It is gone and Mitch didn't wake up through the night. DH must have fed it to him since I have been B****ing to him for the last 2 days about being woken up.

I give them 1 Natures variety meatball w/ a dab of cottage cheese at 6:30am for breakfast. Grandma gives them 1 chicken snack: Waggin' Tails breast strip, each throughout the day, and 1 NV meatball at lunch time. I give them 1 more NV meatball and another dab of cottage cheese for dinner. Then they get a small piece of cheese after nightly walkies at 7:00. Maybe he is hungry by Midnight?

[oceangirls]

I don't know if that is the right amount of meatballs (will defer to someone who feeds them), but even if he is hungry I think it is more that he has figured out he can get you to give him a treat :D. Sometimes I am hungry when I go to bed too (often) :rotfl:. As you know, he will not starve to death by morning... IMO only dogs who are sick or need to go to the bathroom should be waking people up in the middle of the night - you need your sleep!

If you WANT to give both a treat before bed, you can always factor it in to their daily intake (easier with kibble, I will admit because you just feed a few pieces less to account for a treat... but you could always cut little pieces off their chicken strips). But keep in mind if you feed them right before they go to sleep, the food on the teeth will easily form plaque (no drinking water or "brushing" by chewing on bones or toys, also they don't salivate much while sleeping :( ).

I would agree to go with a few days of "detox" where you ignore him... I know, easier said than done, but three days of lost sleep is better than disrupted sleep for the next 12-15 years :faint:

[alfina]

How much does he weigh?

[Red Haired Girl]

about 14 pounds. They are both losing weight, which they needed to do. He was up to 15.5 awhile back, lard butt!

[catstamm]

:rotfl: :rotfl: You are TRAINED!!!! If it works he will keep doing it :rotfl: :rotfl:
Carlee started that at 4:30 am (there regular time is 5:30) I just keep shoving her back under the covers until she goes back to sleep..... of course sometimes that takes 30 mins....but at least "I" win....

[alfina]

I think 3 medallions are not enough for him. Sofie is almost 9 lbs now and she gets 3 medallions. And is perfect weight. What weight are you trying to get him down to?

[Red Haired Girl]

Around 11 to 12 pounds. He is a very small framed dog. Low-la is a standard and wieghs in at 19 to 20 pounds. She is really looking good and she sleeps all night on the same amount of food. But: She is a lot lazier than Mitch. He is go, go, go all day, where Low-la will lounge around quite a bit.

[Otto'sMom]

Different metabolisms need different amounts of food! Poor little feller needs a sammich:hearts: