Now that we're empty nesting .. .. ..

ctmom05

Member
We've been empty nesting for a couple of years. Now it's our geriatric dog that wakes me up in the middle of the night :/
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
Oh my goodness, Chris. I just said something about this to H yesterday. I just would love to sleep straight through till at least 8 AM on a Sunday without interruption. But our three little dogs won't let us! And actually, it's the puppy that is the worst. She hears H rustling around in the kitchen and wants to join the two older dogs begging for scraps. I let her out of my room and go back to sleep. Then she scratches the door to come back in and snuggle. I get up and put her back on the bed - we both snooze for about 1/2 hour and then she's pawing at my pillow to go out! Argh! Ours are 11, 9 and almost 3. They are little dogs so they will around for a while. I promise to never get another dog when the last one's gone - sounds terrible, but really and truly...lol.
 

tawnya

New Member
Yep, my dogs bark at me when they want to go out. If I ignore them, they root around in the blankets and under the pillows until I give in. This morning it was 6:00 am and dark outside.

Better than having an accident, I guess, but can you at least wait until it is light outside? LOL
 

Mom2oddson

Active Member
We installed a doggie-door which makes it easy for our old dogs. They can go out whenever they want to. And now that we have an empty nest, we sleep with the bedroom door open so they can come in and out of the room as needed. Of course, it helps that they have all reached the age that jumping on the bed is no longer an option. However, being a bit of a light sleeper, we have to leave a fan running in the room all night so we don't hear the dogs moving around. So, we have the heat on and a fan running at the same time. It's what we do to keep our furbabies happy.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
LOL!

Not empty nesting for quite a few years yet, but our cats certainly know when it's time for Mommy to get up!

We even put a cat door on the wall, on the opposite side from the doorknob - so no more scratching to get in and out!
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Chris, what do you think is getting the dog going? Is it potty issues or aches and pains? Or maybe fleas? With Bubba it was just plain hunger. Which is all well and good except the other two wanted far more than a nosh and a quick back to bed. They sleep a little later now, but I keep reminding husband that while we may "gain an hour" next week, the dogs are still going to wake up when the dogs wake up.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
OMG, I haven't slept through a whole night in probably twenty years! I have four dogs, three Bostons and a mixed breed, and don't have a fenced yard so all but one make potty trips outside on a leash! In addition, two of them decided that they don't like each other at all so I have to do the old "crate and rotate" routine, so they're not all out at the same time. I shuffle dogs all day long but we've got it down to such a system! Ragan, my oldest Boston, is allergic to grass so she uses little potty pads in the bathroom most of the time instead of going outside. Ragan sleeps with me, she always has, and the other three sleep in their crates. But being a Boston, she has to be under the covers, so every time she gets up to potty or patrol the house, she comes back to bed and paws at me until I lift up the covers and let her under. No sleeping in for me because the dogs gotta pee! When I get up, Ragan goes in her crate and Trace and Freebie come out and I take them outside, then they play for a while. They're best buddies and playmates. Then they go in and Katy gets out, goes outside, then plays for a while. Katy is a loner and would rather play by herself than with the other dogs. Then Katy goes in her crate and Ragan is out again, and this goes on all day long. They sleep two-thirds of the day anyway so they really don't mind the crate time. At night Trace and Freebie go to bed first since they will be up first, then Katy goes to bed last. Try explaining that routine to the puppy sitter! So I can't even take a nap without basing it around whose turn it is to be out because some I trust to be unsupervised and some I don't!
 
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