I'm either starving them

[Mama S.]

or they really love their new food. I feed the herd every morning about 7 am and then again at night about 6. Everyone is right at about 20 pounds give or take -. The store had only one bag of medallions so I bought a bag of patties to get the free medallions. According to the bag they should each get approx 3/4 patty per day. I give them about 1/3 a patty in the morning then the rest at dinner.
The past 2 mornings a certain young man who shall remain nameless to protect his own life (SAM) has woken me up at 5 am :yikes: then dances to the fridge. THis sets up Stinker & Pete - they start barking. Which wakes up SHadow & Hershey who come running to investigate - then comes lard bu** sniffin at the fridge. No amount of hush, ignoring them - anything gets them quiet. Daddy does not like waking up an hour before he is supposed to get up and this here old Mama most definitely needs more beauty sleep!
SO, suggestions? Should I maybe move their dinner time to a later time? Boogers never showed this kind of interest in kibble..
PLease help me get some sleep! If I give in and feed them - of course it's scarfed down in 3 seconds and then I get the IS THAT ALL L@@K???
SAndi

[oceangirls]

I can't help you. If you figure out a solution, help ME!!! Cassie wakes us up every morning wanting her breakfast (which is kibble and canned). I have an alarm clock, but it never gets late enough for it to go off :rolleyes:.

I know she is only one dog (instead of 8), but we still can't sleep through her :D

[Laurie' s Dachshunds]

MINE @ 5:30AM! You can set your clock by 'em! But they wanna go out. They don' t eat 'til 7:30am. So I' m not sure :scratch:
I gotta think on this one!

[Laurie' s Dachshunds]

Maybe you can give a frozen Kong at night. Can' t hurt to try it!

[Patt]

Agree, maybe a snack at 'your' bedtime would help.

[JanUet]

I am up way before MY 2 during the week (5 am), they lay in bed and give me the sleepy look and I'm sure are thinking "turn off the light woman! They have to wait for Daddy to wake up at 9 am to get their kibble.

I feed them their medallions at 5pm.

On the week-ends they get me up at 9am. I give them their kibble and Casey goes to sleep with Daddy or Brett until they get up. Sophie sleeps under my computer.

I love my Babies! :hearts: :hearts:

[Fluffy]

Oh Mamma!! I can TOTALLY relate!! Buddy and Heidi were on a potty schedule for 4:30 am for almost 3 years!!! Andrew had to drive to Philly every day (1 1/2 hrs on a GOOD day) and had to be up at the arse crack of dawn. When we moved, and he was no longer here, it drove me MAD for about 3 or 4 months!! I just had to adjust their schedule little by little and they eventually got it, and now rarely stir before 7:30. Since it wasn't due to food, but potty issues, I don't really have too much advice....but perhaps try the "snack" idea. It might help fill their tummies for a little longer!! Good luck and keep us posted!!

[lotsadox]

I don't let mine wake me before I'm ready to get up. I've found a quick squirt with the vinegar water spray pretty much ends that! :shocked:

[Courtney]

You have to IGNORE them as painful as that will be for you. You can also start feeding them at random times of the day so that they will not expect or demand to be fed at a certain time every day! Mine don't get fed at the same time every day.

[oceangirls]

I have to get up about 6:30 every day when I'm working, so Cassie always "wins" and gets to eat then. But I try not to respond if she starts whining early and try to get up in the brief period of quiet in between whining cycles. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: Sandi, I doubt you can do that with multiple noisy dogs :D

[Chrystyna]

Courtney's point about ignoring them really does work. I didn't belive it when her and one other girl told me to do that with Tex, but I finally gave in when I wasn't getting any sleep. I used to push his face away when he'd walk up to the bed and nudge or kiss me or I'd tell him NO like 90 times. After probably 2 mo's of not taking their advice I finally tried it. Sure as sh*t it worked! If he comes up nudging me I just lay there or I roll the other way, so he gets the back of my head. Granted, it wakes me up, but I don't get out of bed for him. On most mornings he will just lay back down and stop bugging me.

Once he's up the little ones wake up and they're not as easy since they're on the bed with me. They like to run on me, kiss my face, and scratch at my head until I respond. What works for them is grabbing them and putting them back under the covers. They eventually figure out that Mom IS NOT getting out of bed until she wants to!!! :banana:

One other thing that we've started doing is pushing back their dinner time. It used to be 5:00 - 5:30 and now it's 6:30 at the earliest. I don't think they're hungry though. They all just LOVE their food, so they want to eat it all the time.