# HELP! Dog whines early in the morning.



## MyLabJackson (Dec 13, 2006)

Hey Yall,

Please, someone give me a suggestion. I have the most well beahaved beautiful chill 4 month old Lab except... at 6 a.m. (we don't get up till 7). He starts whining in his crate and will not stop until someone goes and lets him out/feeds him. How can we make him stop?!? He loves his crate, he goes in there all the time with the door open. He gets plenty of exercise. He gets let out right before bed so he shouldn't have to potty that bad. The only thing I can think of is that he's hungry but I feed him plenty, 1 1/2 cups 3 times daily. Should I feed him alittle right before bed? Anyone got any suggestions to help? Please let me know. Thanks Yall.

- Tired and Cranky Lab Owner


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## Tamara (Dec 6, 2006)

If you read through some threads on this forum you would feel lucky he is sleeping through the night and has taken to his crate so well He is still very young and probably wakes up because he does have to go outside.


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## Tess&Coco (Jan 8, 2007)

How long have you had him and has he got worse at waking you up early?? Have you tried just letting him out to potty and then straight back to his crate without feeding him? Getting food would be a pretty powerful motivator for him to continue to whine at 6am (IMHO). We have Coco in our room in a crate and she wakes us once or twice in the night to go out and then gets put straight back in the crate. We try not to interact with her any more than necessary to reward the pottying outside. She usually settles straight back to sleep until alarm time. She's a bit younger than your labby, 11 weeks today.


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## aero4ever (Jan 18, 2007)

My dog Shiloh does this too, although he doesn't sleep in a crate, he just wants to get up and start his day. What helps me is keeping him up later and making sure he's used up energy right before bedtime. 

I also don't get up (unless he _REALLY_ needs to go out) until the alarm goes off, that way he'll know that's the signal for me to get out of bed. He still whines some, but it's usually lower than what he used to do. 

If the dog isn't sleeping in your room with you, maybe putting the crate in the bedroom with you at night will help.

Good luck!


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## crazydog06 (Jan 22, 2007)

I wouldn't feed him before he goes to bed. Just make sure that he goes outside to do his business before he goes into his crate. 

My dog whines around 6-6:30am and I let her out to use the bathroom and then she sleeps in my room but if she gets up before 6am she goes back into her crate. I try and not let her out before 6 unless she is really barking to get out. But if she whines then I wait several mins to see if she'll go abck to sleep. 

So wait a few minutes to see if he will stop.


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## DogAdvocat (Nov 30, 2006)

Unfortunately I think you've trained your dog to whine by rewarding him when you do open the crate. He's learned that if he keeps whining, he wins. Somehow you're going to have to break that cycle. Can you give up a few more days of sleep and get up before he starts to whine, praise him for being quiet, and give him a treat that will keep him occupied while you go back to bed?


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## Kerry (Jan 12, 2007)

Well, I really don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to training...having problems of my own here. But, I have learned that my pup needs to go out at 6am. If I wait till 7, there's a mess in the crate. So I set my alarm, go down and take her to her spot, then she goes back in the crate until 7.


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