My first thought would be that since he is getting limited exercise for his body he needs more interaction and "brain" work to tire him out. If it were me I would spend 15 - 30 minutes a night working his mind with basic obedience, tricks, and anything else you can think of to work his mind so he will sleep well at night. My guys would do the same thing if they didn't get their work outs everyday. You just have to do the same thing but with his mind.
Waking me up?!?!
My golden will be a year old at the end of october. He was sadly diagnosed with hip dysplasia as a young puppy and most of my post on this site have been questions due to that. He has been doing very well and as we have been giving him his glucosamine every day and limiting his running and certain activity.
My question now though is recently he has been waking up at around 4-5am and waking everyone up in the house by whining and pacing around. His tale is wagging and he seems to be excited but he has a sort of whining tone almost as if he is talking. Do you know why he might be doing this and if there could be any way of stopping this behavior. Thanks alot, you all have been so great on this site! -pat
My question now though is recently he has been waking up at around 4-5am and waking everyone up in the house by whining and pacing around. His tale is wagging and he seems to be excited but he has a sort of whining tone almost as if he is talking. Do you know why he might be doing this and if there could be any way of stopping this behavior. Thanks alot, you all have been so great on this site! -pat
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I wish I could help you, but Bella usually wakes me up around 5-6 AM every morning to go outside to potty. She does that whine/cry so I know she has to go. She is still young so she can't hold it as long as she will be able too in the future.
Since the walking might be rough on his hips, I agree with Oaklys Dad to do some trick training at night with him. That will help to wear him out so he might sleep longer. And if he does whine tell him to shush and hopefully in time he will learn. You have to ignore him because he has you trained right now.
needs to walk....
In my expierience , the goldens have to go potty or haven't had enough excercise.I would say , even with hip displasia , while being so young , they need to atleast walk daily.
If my dogs don't walk , they will pace at dark hours of the night.
In my expierience , the goldens have to go potty or haven't had enough excercise.I would say , even with hip displasia , while being so young , they need to atleast walk daily.
If my dogs don't walk , they will pace at dark hours of the night.
Ugh - our situation is very similar! We have a 2 yo golden with hip dysp. and she does the same thing early in the am! Part of our thing is I think we have deer outside and she wants to go bark at them, but part of it is directly related to how much she is worn out. I agree with trying to challenge him in ways that don't stress his hips, playing games inside or tug or whatever he likes to do a while before bed. Lainey seems to sleep so much better when we do this. Good luck! I'm glad to hear his hips are doing well - Lainey's are too 
I have that same problem with Jamie (waking up, not hips) so I was happy to find this thread and I will try all the good suggestions. Jamie goes to the dog park for an hour every day at noon but not much exercize at night.
I've had 2 goldens (at different times) that tried to wake me up earlier than I wanted. In both cases it wasn't to go to the bathroom and it wasn't because they weren't exercised or stimulated enough the night before--both just LOVED walks and wanted to go walking! Neither were puppies at the time either. They were exercised before bed and slept soundly. They just were ready to seize the day. Our dogs go to the back door to go take care of business and the front door to get their leashes on for a walk. Every time I got up to see what they wanted they ran to the front door, ready for a walk. One of them would put his muzzle in my face and then pat me with his paw. The other jumped on the bed and on top of me talking to me--hard to ignore. They say the early bird gets the worm....I'm a confirmed early bird now!
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