Newly homed and rising earlier and earlier

[matthewh]

Hello all, I'm new here and thought I would say hi. We've had Harry for almost four weeks now and he's settling in very well. He's a nervous soul but very affectionate and he's making great progress with us. We have trouble getting him to go out on walks and use the garden but made a breakthrough last weekend when myself and my partner were having breakfast in the garden and he followed us out of his own accord! It was something we'd been hoping he would do and he's much better in the garden now, although still jittery and won't come out if it's noisy in the park behind our house.

He doesn't enjoy walks and we have to lift him out his bed and nudge him out of the house most days, but we stick to the same route (a few quiet streets nearby) and he has some days better than others. He isn't particularly treat-motivated when he's stressed so we just do lots of verbal reassurance when we walk him. Luckily, he never freezes so we don't have that problem. He tends to just pull in the direction he thinks will take him home!

It's early days though so not too worried yet and hopefully his confidence will build.

One problem we're having recently is that he is crying to wake us up earlier and earlier. Last night he woke us at 3am. We took him in the garden but after 15 mins he didn't do anything so we took him back in. He then woke us at 5.30am, I took him out again and he did a fairly small wee.

As I was up, I then took him on his walk about 6.15am. He usually goes about 6.30 or 7am.

We take him out for walks twice a day at around 7am and 8pm. He goes out in the garden in between those times and at about 11pm. Last thing at night, he'll usually just have a wee.

I'm just wondering why he is waking us earlier. Up until last week, it was usually about 6.30am which I can cope with!

We don't want to ignore him while we're still house training him but if he's testing us we don't want to give in.

We live in a small house and he sleeps downstairs. We keep our bedroom door open so he can hear us. After we take him out in the morning I'd be happy to bring him upstairs with us for an hour or so before we get up but we don't want him to sleep in our room all night.

We haven't taught him the stairs yet because we didn't want to throw another new experience at him while he's still getting used to everything else!

Any advice on how to make him rise at a more acceptable time?

When I work out how to post pictures, I'll upload a few!

Thanks,
Matt

[prince]

Hi Matt

Harry may be feeling a little chilly at night, which could be a reason for him waking up early. Maybe putting a fleece house coat on him until the nights become warmer. Being confident with harry is going to make him come out of his shell more. Good luck with him and hope this helps.
Diane

[darcysdad]

Matt, sounds like you are doing well with Harry. All hounds have their challenges but that makes it all the more rewarding in the end.

When we first got Darcy he was in the kitchen overnight and we had an issue with him singing to us shortly after we went to bed which we put down to separation anxiety. If Harry is settling for a few hours it may not an anxiety issue.
I have just looked up the time for sunrise and he may be being disturbed by something like the dawn chorus. Perhaps a radio left on low might keep him settled. We also tried leaving an item of our clothing in Darcy’s bed just to remind him we were still about. Not saying it will work but worth a try!

As for walks I think the key is to find something Harry really likes, sausages do it for our two, plenty of encouragement and treats may work. If you are anywhere near Hockley I could bring our two over to join Harry for a walk, it may help his confidence if he is out with other hounds.

Ian

[matthewh]

Thanks both for the advice.

We bought him another coat, in addition to the one we got from RGT, for outdoors but I hadn't bargained on him needing a fleece at night just yet. Having said that, when I got up with him this morning (5.30am, better than yesterday at least!) his ears were a bit cold. So thanks, I'll get him one and try him with it until it gets a bit warmer.

I think you may also be right about the dawn chorus. We'll try a radio on low, as we do when we go out. Well worth a go.

I took him in the garden this morning at about 5.30 and he was eager to go out. He did a wee and poo after about 5 minutes but I don't think he was desperate to go. If we can gradually get him to wait until about 6.30am, I'll be happy with that.

In terms of his walks, he's not very food-motivated but I think you're right, I'll keep trying with the treats.

This morning he was a lot calmer on his walk (he prefers the mornings as it's quieter) so I was pleased. It's just a shame we always have to lift him out his bed and nudge him out the door to get him out. As soon as we get his lead out, he retreats to bed! We're always upbeat about his walks but he just doesn't respond, bless him. We live in Stratford so we're a little bit far from Hockley but thank you for the offer. We walked him with my other half's mum's cocker spaniels on Sunday and it definitely helped. Would like to do more of this with other dogs.

The little challenges do make his progress more rewarding though. When he came out into the garden by himself last weekend, we were so chuffed!

[caz]

Hi Matt,
My dad has to get up and put Jimmy's coat on at the moment as he gets a bit cold too. This is definitely worth doing iif it gains you more time in bed!

Harry is such a lovely boy, I am glad he has such good new owners! I was at the kennels when you picked him up and demonstrated very good reversing skills! Lol!

My dad lives in East Ham with Jimmy who is also a very calm soul. If you do want company on a walk for him give me a shout as we are round the corner! Caz. X

[darcysdad]

Hi Matt,

You may want to try one of Pia's walks as they are quite gentle and he would be around other hounds. Again it would hopefully improve his confidence.

In time he will come to see walks as good things and worth getting out of his comfy bed for.

Ian

[matthewh]

Haha, Caz I think the funniest thing about collecting him was trying to get him into the back seat of the Nissan Micra!

Would love to meet up for a walk with Jimmy. I think it would do Harry the world of good. He is such a sweet-natured dog, we just need to build his confidence a bit. Let me know when might be good for you.

Ian, I've been reading a bit about Pia's walks and they sound great. The only problem for us is that we don't have a car (have never really needed one where we live) so the locations are sometimes a bit tricky to get to. It's definitely something I'd like to do with Harry in future though.

Off to bed now. We're giving Radio 4 a try tonight!

[caz]

Haha! Yeah I just remember Mo trying to push his bottom in!

I will message you and we can sort something out. Caz. x