# Does not sleep at night...



## leo_j (Apr 22, 2015)

Hi All,

We have a 6 month old puppy that ( from past 10 days or more) , is not sleeping at night (or sleeping very little) . I've gone through most of the threads here and could not conclude on why this might be. 

He is not getting up to go potty. He doesn't bother us ( no yelping/barking). We have not made any changes to his diet or when we feed him. Is this normal for a GSD's to be up at night. Here are some of the things to note

He gets exercise ( walk for a mile ) and playtime ( tug/fetch/training etc) everyday. 

Dinner is at 7 PM ( its always been the same time). 

He is in the crate at ~11 PM ( last potty before he goes to bed). 

He is out of the crate at ~6:30 AM. 

Crate has a knuckle bone for him to chew on. 

Crate is in a cool place with a fan above it. Temperature is about 78 Deg. 

He takes a few long naps during the day and yawns quite a bit. I am going to time-lapse video him later tonight to confirm his sleep pattern. 

I do want to change this habit as he might be lacking sleep. Have you seen similar behavior before and how did you correct it. Appreciate your thoughts.


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

May be a higher drive pup and needs a lot more exercise. Try increasing exercise and see if it helps. I would triple the exercise, 3 miles plus 3 play periods.


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

Sounds like he isn't getting enough exercise, wick will sleep all day if we don't take him out but then he isn't tired at night (and does what your saying)

. Honestly for wick he needs waaaaaayyyy more than a mile walk and play time. Wick gets full speed running time for (at least )an hour everyday if not more and in addition to that he takes 2 miles in walks (at least) and he still would keep going if we let him, that's just what it takes to get him to go to sleep at 10pm and sleep til 8am.

Wick can and will go an entire day without a nap, hiking for 6hours strait and not sleep til 10 pm and be totally fine and still ready to play (we know this because we took him back packing). He is 7.5 months so I am assuming they have similar exercise needs. 

Try extra running time (in play form not forced) instead of a walk and see how it goes.


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

Basically bored dogs sleep, they will not exercise themselves, it's up to you to initiate it or your dog will become nocturnal lol  we went through this too!


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## DHolmes82 (Jul 13, 2015)

I can see a lack of exercise causing a dog to not sleep, but I feel like it would be acting out in some way (barking, destroying things, restlessness.) I would take him to get checked out by the Vet, especially if it's recently, 10 days. I would for sure exercise him more. I have a 6 month old who gets 5-6 hours of running/play/training every day, and he could still go another 5-6 hours it seems like. Hope it works out.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

I am wondering if its too hot.. I know 78deg is way too hot for my boy, and when its hot, he is up and down.. He eventually finds a cool spot, usually the bathroom tiles and sleeps there. Good luck


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## sourdough44 (Oct 26, 2013)

How do you know he is not sleeping? They do sleep lightly, waking with noises or as you walk nearby.


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## DaisyDaws (Feb 28, 2015)

We have a littermate of your pup. He generally takes 2 fairly lengthy naps in the day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We do about a 2 mile walk in the morning plus some training and greenbelt exploring, then an evening walk and usually a late night zoomie-run-chase game that tires him out for bed, which is usually at midnight. I hear him get up a few times in the night, we have just started leaving the crate open. He shifts from the rug next to my side of the bed to my my husbands side and then will go into his crate. I think he gets hot and that wakes him up and we keep the air really cold and have fans on. There were also a couple mornings where he threw up a little bile, I think he got too hungry in the night so we have been giving him a little snack before bed. Maybe try a little more exercise before bed and a light snack?


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## leo_j (Apr 22, 2015)

Hi All,

Thanks so much for your thoughts and comments. I really appreciate it. I've increased the exercise and reduced the temperature and that seems to help. We are in TX and its 100+ right now . Cant wait for fall weather. He is a long coat so he might be feeling hotter than usual.. 

@DutchKarin -- He doesn't look like a high drive puppy. More a medium drive happy go lucky dog... 

@wick -- I've increased training/play and exercise by a little bit. I think it helped last night . Wow wick has a lot of energy. Leo is tired after 1.5 miles.. he is ready to get back home after that. Its high 80's or 90 degrees when we go for a walk

@DHolmes82 -- How do you manage to do 5-6 hours. That's awesome ! I do an hour of walk in the morning and evening and 30-45 mins of playtime in the evening/night. 

@Debanneball -- I've seen Leo sleep on the kitchen tiles more .. I cant let him sleep there at night. I'm worried he might not get back in the crate if we need him to sleep in the crate 

@sourdough44 -- I timelapse recorded him for a few nights and I can see him up for most part. Which means he is not fully asleep. 

@DaisyDaws -- Hope Brando is doing well. Please send me some pics. I'll try the snack as well. What do you give Brando ?


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## Ceez201 (Jul 3, 2015)

I agree with the other posts mentioning mode exercise. It sounds like your little guy has lots of energy. If you have the time and energy yourself to add to his activity you should give it a try.


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## amburger16 (May 22, 2015)

If he doesn't wake you up at night crying, etc. in his crate, I wouldn't be worried about him not getting back into it. I allowed Bear free roam of my room from 8 weeks at night, and as he was in the crate while I was at work during the day. For over a month now he has been in the kitchen with a baby gate during the day and hasn't been in the crate. The other night I put him in his crate so I could clean (He attacks brooms, mops and runs around like a maniac when you turn on the vacuum). and he was fine, I didn't even need to "put" him in there, just told him to go in. No whining, crying, barking, nothing. It becomes their safe spot, and I don't think you ever have to worry about him not using it, unless you go a year without it, then maybe.


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## DaisyDaws (Feb 28, 2015)

Brando is great, it's hard to believe how big he is already. Training is going well and he's almost done teething so the land sharking is dramatically better. Send some Leo pics, too!


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## DaisyDaws (Feb 28, 2015)

I forgot to answer your question! We will either do a quick late night training session with a little deli turkey or bologna, or cheese or he gets a greenie or a milkbone. Just a little something on his belly seems to have stopped the morning gagging.


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## leo_j (Apr 22, 2015)

DaisyDaws,

Brando looks awesome. I can see how similar he is to Leo! Look at those ears ... 

Leo finished teething as well. I will upload some pictures.


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## leo_j (Apr 22, 2015)

Here are some pics of Leo


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## DaisyDaws (Feb 28, 2015)

He's so handsome! I love the long coat, we went back and forth about that. Maybe our next one. I definitely see the family resemblance!


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