# 9 month old pup - doesn't sleep through the night anymore



## scott.teece (Apr 8, 2009)

Greetings-
We've had our Miniature Schnauzer pup for about 6 months now and she is great. Until about 2 weeks ago she slept through the night and in a separate room in her crate. She wouldn't make a peep until we came in and got her in the morning. The only time she yelped was when she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

But over the last two week she has whined/cried/barked and when I take her out she hasn't gone to the bathroom. Of course I put her back in her crate immediately but this occurs about 45 earlier than when she used to wake up. It seems like she is just wanting to be up and around.

A little background - we both work but she gets a 30 min walk in the morning + at least 10 more minutes of throwing the ball up + down the stairs. I come home for lunch every day and she is out/up for an hour in the backyard. IN the evening she gets another 30 minute walk + more play time since we are both home.

My thoughts are that she has entered a little rebellious phase and is just being a little bratty. Also since she is growing up she may be requiring less sleep and is ready to be with us in the morning (my wife is up for an hour earlier than me).

I've decided that we can do one of two things: ignore/correct the behavior just as we did when she was a little 3 month old pup OR allow he to sleep outside her crate at night (she is fully potty trained). Just wondering what other people thought.........


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

It sounds more like a metabolism change than anything else. If you're feeding puppy food, which is high calorie, high energy, she may not be able to handle it anymore.
You might want to consider switching to adult food.


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## scott.teece (Apr 8, 2009)

TooneyDogs said:


> It sounds more like a metabolism change than anything else. If you're feeding puppy food, which is high calorie, high energy, she may not be able to handle it anymore.
> You might want to consider switching to adult food.


That's interesting that you say that actually. When she is waking up now she doesn't need to go to the bathroom immediately. But we have noticed that she is eating her puppy food less in the evening. Right now we are getting her the regular Iams puppt food which she seems to like but doesn't wolf down. But she is only eating a little bit of her food in the evening. She's not starving in the morning or anything though.

I had thought about bringing her down to one meal a day in the morning but I'm not sure about that either. Any thoughts on that?


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

I'd stick with the two meals but, reduce the size. Even my senior dogs have a hard time with just one meal a day. In fact, they're both laying next to me and I can hear a stomach gurgling....suppertime is still several hours away.


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