Did you know that, depending on your dog’s age and breed, he needs 12 to 14 hours of sleep a night? It can be hard to believe when your dog is nudging his cold, wet nose in your face at 4 AM, but it’s a fact.
Your dog needs his sleep just as much (if not more) than you do – so why does he feel the need to wake you up before your alarm can do the job? According to dog experts, it could be that habit has made him believe that you’re working on his schedule, not the other way around.
A common tip to new dog parents is to take their pets out to pee early and often – which is a good idea when your dog is learning where to go. Taking him out is probably the first thing you do when you wake up, especially if it’s in the early hours. Once your dog is potty trained, though, he should be fine “holding it” until you wake up if you took him out before bed. (Remember, though, your dog’s age, health, and breed might make him an exception.)
If your dog knows he can whine and nudge your body out of bed for any reason at all, why wouldn’t he? If you’ve ever gotten up in the middle of the night to give your dog a little love or a midnight snack, you could be telling him it’s a good thing to wake you up. We want to be there for our dogs when they need us, and we definitely don’t want to have to clean up a spot on the floor, but a lack of sleep can negatively affect your health, not to mention your attitude and caffeine intake during the day. It’s best for both you and your dog that you get your full eight hours.
Old habits die hard, but with some training, you can spend your nights catching Z’s, not begging your dog to go back to bed. Check out these helpful tips for getting your dog to let you decide when wake up time is at Cuteness.com.
