I am curious to see how it went last night with your bully??

I am curious to see how it went last night with your bully??

my dogs all totally love it
everyone of them...
I first thought they were being spoiled but on the other side.......great bonding.
I LOVE IT TOO and so do they.

esepcially with a new dog in the house..great for bonding
you could try to hand feed her some of his other meals too...a handful here and there sorta thing..
the whole meal can be a chore..lol. but a few handfuls during the day is great.

my dogs all totally love it
everyone of them...
I first thought they were being spoiled but on the other side.......great bonding.
I LOVE IT TOO and so do they.

esepcially with a new dog in the house..great for bonding
you could try to hand feed her some of his other meals too...a handful here and there sorta thing..
the whole meal can be a chore..lol. but a few handfuls during the day is great.

We give him one handful of kibble right before bedtime to keep him from throwing up from an empty stomach. He enjoys it and so do we! He really is such a sweet boy!

We give him one handful of kibble right before bedtime to keep him from throwing up from an empty stomach. He enjoys it and so do we! He really is such a sweet boy!

YES they can be quite noisy when they sleep.
try it with 2 bullies in the same room..lol
and then a pug too sometimes..
I sleep through it and do not even notice anymore...
but like you said some are light sleepers..

could also try to hand feed him his last meal..
that would delay the digestion even longer..

I often hand feed my dogs for the bonding experience..
they all love to be hand fed.

YES they can be quite noisy when they sleep.
try it with 2 bullies in the same room..lol
and then a pug too sometimes..
I sleep through it and do not even notice anymore...
but like you said some are light sleepers..

could also try to hand feed him his last meal..
that would delay the digestion even longer..

I often hand feed my dogs for the bonding experience..
they all love to be hand fed.

Well for the last 3 days we have seen a little improvement. He has been improving 15 minutes per morning. This morning he barked at 4:45. Still really too early, but better than 4:00. We are trying to be patient and keeping our fingers crossed that the improvement continues.

We have started feeding him a little later hoping a full tummy would help him sleep. Don't know if that will help or not. Tonight he will have his dinner at 6:30. We always split his dinner to two helpings with about five minutes between servings. We usually wet his dry food, but last night I gave him the last helping dry, so it might digest more slowly. We serve his breakfast at 7:30am in the same way.

We discussed the crate situation at length and decided to keep it for now. I am a very light sleeper. Spanky is so noisy with his snoring and breathing that there is no way I could sleep in the same room with him.

Thanks for your support!

Well for the last 3 days we have seen a little improvement. He has been improving 15 minutes per morning. This morning he barked at 4:45. Still really too early, but better than 4:00. We are trying to be patient and keeping our fingers crossed that the improvement continues.

We have started feeding him a little later hoping a full tummy would help him sleep. Don't know if that will help or not. Tonight he will have his dinner at 6:30. We always split his dinner to two helpings with about five minutes between servings. We usually wet his dry food, but last night I gave him the last helping dry, so it might digest more slowly. We serve his breakfast at 7:30am in the same way.

We discussed the crate situation at length and decided to keep it for now. I am a very light sleeper. Spanky is so noisy with his snoring and breathing that there is no way I could sleep in the same room with him.

Thanks for your support!

first of all.......maybe try to stretch out the feeding more and more until you get him at the time you want..a bit at a time.

seriously inner clocks ..lol are not one of my specialities. I have this issue with the pugs. they do it too..........UP early. they take a long nap before they retire or up late..running around no change. they are creatures of habit. seriously. I feed them at the same time as well. first thing in the am. and then about 5 at night time..

I think if you can get your bully on a set schedule..
maybe splitting up his meal a bit more... more times is actually better for a bully...anyhow.

the other thing is he is your ONLY bully..try moving his crate to your room at night. I bet he will just sleep in not a problem at all..in the am and not get up. I put Gus in my room..he sleeps on a dog pillow and does not like the big bed at all. finally uses the dog pillow took a bit to get him to that too. you can just throw down some old blankets on your floor and try that too.

if your bully is used to his crate...I say ditch it. change his routine a bit...and see what happens.

try to keep a bully UP..is another story too. MINE sleep a long time before heading to bed and still sleep during the night. remember too much activity at night before Bed..can disrupt the sleeping patterns too in dogs..they need some quiet down time first...... so I just let them take it easy for a bit before bed..with no playing and such.

first of all.......maybe try to stretch out the feeding more and more until you get him at the time you want..a bit at a time.

seriously inner clocks ..lol are not one of my specialities. I have this issue with the pugs. they do it too..........UP early. they take a long nap before they retire or up late..running around no change. they are creatures of habit. seriously. I feed them at the same time as well. first thing in the am. and then about 5 at night time..

I think if you can get your bully on a set schedule..
maybe splitting up his meal a bit more... more times is actually better for a bully...anyhow.

the other thing is he is your ONLY bully..try moving his crate to your room at night. I bet he will just sleep in not a problem at all..in the am and not get up. I put Gus in my room..he sleeps on a dog pillow and does not like the big bed at all. finally uses the dog pillow took a bit to get him to that too. you can just throw down some old blankets on your floor and try that too.

if your bully is used to his crate...I say ditch it. change his routine a bit...and see what happens.

try to keep a bully UP..is another story too. MINE sleep a long time before heading to bed and still sleep during the night. remember too much activity at night before Bed..can disrupt the sleeping patterns too in dogs..they need some quiet down time first...... so I just let them take it easy for a bit before bed..with no playing and such.

Thanks for your thoughts Pat! We will certainly ask our vet about the possibility of deafness. Spanky is our only dog and we are obviously not very experienced owners. We know now that senior bulldogs are not beginner dogs. I think when we adopted him we used our hearts, rather than our brains. That being said, we are totally devoted to him and want to do the best we can for him.

What do you think about the possibility that his internal clock is just off??? Since the time change and the evening getting darker earlier, he wants his dinner 2 hours earlier than usual and wanted to go to bed 2 hours earlier too. I think we need to figure out how to reset his clock. Any ideas on that?

Thanks for your thoughts Pat! We will certainly ask our vet about the possibility of deafness. Spanky is our only dog and we are obviously not very experienced owners. We know now that senior bulldogs are not beginner dogs. I think when we adopted him we used our hearts, rather than our brains. That being said, we are totally devoted to him and want to do the best we can for him.

What do you think about the possibility that his internal clock is just off??? Since the time change and the evening getting darker earlier, he wants his dinner 2 hours earlier than usual and wanted to go to bed 2 hours earlier too. I think we need to figure out how to reset his clock. Any ideas on that?

good luck with your bully there..
try to put the bully in your room tonight and see how that goes..
I bet it might just work out fine..

good luck with your bully there..
try to put the bully in your room tonight and see how that goes..
I bet it might just work out fine..

Thanks again! You have made some excellent suggestions for us to consider.

Thanks again! You have made some excellent suggestions for us to consider.

first of all ...maybe ditch the crate. I gave this some thought last night and Max my rescue PUG ..was 6 months when I got him.....he had been beaten every day ...and he would just LIVE In that crate if he had a chance. I remember him crying in the crate at all times of the day and night in the beginning. so I DITCHED the crate and thought hey you are going to settle in here and be part of the family.. I used old blankets for him at night in another room to sleep. he had 2 pugs buddies in there and it worked out better. he was a super light sleeper...so the company of the other dogs worked wanders.
he still gets up at 6am though..lol. Max totally dislikes his crate now though..the only issue with ditching it.

as far as Gus is concerned. he was more of a handful when I did not understand him and his issues. I used to think he was untrainable or just a stubborn bully. wow was I wrong. he is much better now..a few hand signs and he is like a new dog. he was always fun to be around though..very extroverted and deaf.......in a house in turbo mode...is always interesting .. NO is not word that he ever understood. he is getting it now finally.

I guess you could try some reverse phycology on spanky too. you could try to put a night light in the room that he is in. he might just get lonely and need some reinsurance..in the morning. or a piece of your old clothes in his kennel works good too.

as far as the food dish is concerned with deaf dogs..yea says Gus..he knows it..lol. he comes running but he might just see the other dogs getting fed..so he joins the group.

I would go to the vet and see if Spanky does have some deafness first. I would ditch the crate for now..and see how that goes. or I would put the crate in your room..with being a rescue dog..he might just get lonely. I think that is the number one issue that you have there. PUPPIES do the same thing right.

how is he with your other bullies??

first of all ...maybe ditch the crate. I gave this some thought last night and Max my rescue PUG ..was 6 months when I got him.....he had been beaten every day ...and he would just LIVE In that crate if he had a chance. I remember him crying in the crate at all times of the day and night in the beginning. so I DITCHED the crate and thought hey you are going to settle in here and be part of the family.. I used old blankets for him at night in another room to sleep. he had 2 pugs buddies in there and it worked out better. he was a super light sleeper...so the company of the other dogs worked wanders.
he still gets up at 6am though..lol. Max totally dislikes his crate now though..the only issue with ditching it.

as far as Gus is concerned. he was more of a handful when I did not understand him and his issues. I used to think he was untrainable or just a stubborn bully. wow was I wrong. he is much better now..a few hand signs and he is like a new dog. he was always fun to be around though..very extroverted and deaf.......in a house in turbo mode...is always interesting .. NO is not word that he ever understood. he is getting it now finally.

I guess you could try some reverse phycology on spanky too. you could try to put a night light in the room that he is in. he might just get lonely and need some reinsurance..in the morning. or a piece of your old clothes in his kennel works good too.

as far as the food dish is concerned with deaf dogs..yea says Gus..he knows it..lol. he comes running but he might just see the other dogs getting fed..so he joins the group.

I would go to the vet and see if Spanky does have some deafness first. I would ditch the crate for now..and see how that goes. or I would put the crate in your room..with being a rescue dog..he might just get lonely. I think that is the number one issue that you have there. PUPPIES do the same thing right.

how is he with your other bullies??

I appreciate your quick response and your ideas. I am pretty sure Spanky is not totally deaf, because he runs to his food bowl as soon as his crunchies hit the heavy ceramic dish, even when he is in the other room. He might have some loss at some frequencies, making him sensitive to movement. That is an interesting idea. His crate is not in our bedroom. He actually has his own room (used to be my hobby room, but HE is now my all-consuming hobby!) We can't really let him bark at will because of a grumpy neighbor who has told me that he doesn't like dogs.

If Spanky just didn't have that adorable face... Sounds like you also have a challenge on your hands with that sweet boy of yours. It always feels so good to have someone to talk to who understands both the frustration and love! Hope we both get some sleep tonight!

I appreciate your quick response and your ideas. I am pretty sure Spanky is not totally deaf, because he runs to his food bowl as soon as his crunchies hit the heavy ceramic dish, even when he is in the other room. He might have some loss at some frequencies, making him sensitive to movement. That is an interesting idea. His crate is not in our bedroom. He actually has his own room (used to be my hobby room, but HE is now my all-consuming hobby!) We can't really let him bark at will because of a grumpy neighbor who has told me that he doesn't like dogs.

If Spanky just didn't have that adorable face... Sounds like you also have a challenge on your hands with that sweet boy of yours. It always feels so good to have someone to talk to who understands both the frustration and love! Hope we both get some sleep tonight!

I can guarantee you that this is a result of his hearing or loss of...
dogs that have hearing issues and this came from my own vet here is that they will JUST bark in the middle of night for NO reason at all.
I was told..do not get up with Gus when he does it..and he does do this ALL the time.. let him bark and he will go back to sleep and he does always.
I was told..no sense in wasting my breath in saying NO..lol would do not good.
although I turn on the light and do the hand sign for no and he stops..lol.
also.........you could try to move him out of your room maybe to another room
tried that with Gus but that did not stop the barking.

I can not tell you the number of times that this has happened here... I just kinda learned to live with it..

what happens is that deaf dogs feel vibrations...and in the middle of the night things move that startle them and they bark. it can be as simple as someone moving in the bed, ruffling up the covers or ...even walking on the floor..

I am sure that this is your issue..

I could be wrong though ..other people might have suggestions on this too..

I can guarantee you that this is a result of his hearing or loss of...
dogs that have hearing issues and this came from my own vet here is that they will JUST bark in the middle of night for NO reason at all.
I was told..do not get up with Gus when he does it..and he does do this ALL the time.. let him bark and he will go back to sleep and he does always.
I was told..no sense in wasting my breath in saying NO..lol would do not good.
although I turn on the light and do the hand sign for no and he stops..lol.
also.........you could try to move him out of your room maybe to another room
tried that with Gus but that did not stop the barking.

I can not tell you the number of times that this has happened here... I just kinda learned to live with it..

what happens is that deaf dogs feel vibrations...and in the middle of the night things move that startle them and they bark. it can be as simple as someone moving in the bed, ruffling up the covers or ...even walking on the floor..

I am sure that this is your issue..

I could be wrong though ..other people might have suggestions on this too..

this is the first time in 2 years that my pugs have slept in until 8am
I was up a bit later last night watching some tv with them and they played hard..
never had them sleep this late ..lol
I bet it will not happen two days in a row..hahhaha
but it was neat to get at least a bit more sleep

this is the first time in 2 years that my pugs have slept in until 8am
I was up a bit later last night watching some tv with them and they played hard..
never had them sleep this late ..lol
I bet it will not happen two days in a row..hahhaha
but it was neat to get at least a bit more sleep

when Gus barks in the middle of the night, I just turn on the light and point at him and he is usually fine and then resettles down. does not seem to matter if he is on the bed or on the floor..he still barks in the middle of the night sometimes. I seriously think Gus gets lonely.lol. maybe..

thanks for the compliments on Gus. he does not go to the vet until Next week. that ought to tell us lots that is happening with him. he is a great bully. much better now that I know what is going on though. so much easier to understand him

hope things continue to get better with Spanky

Gus is not food driven so me never gets early to be fed and such. alot of times I am up before he even thinks about it. I have to step over that dogbed..

I hope that the vet does have some answers though
someone had a good post on one of my threads and asked me if Gus could hear himself bark and that is another question for the vet. good one to know.

when Gus barks in the middle of the night, I just turn on the light and point at him and he is usually fine and then resettles down. does not seem to matter if he is on the bed or on the floor..he still barks in the middle of the night sometimes. I seriously think Gus gets lonely.lol. maybe..

thanks for the compliments on Gus. he does not go to the vet until Next week. that ought to tell us lots that is happening with him. he is a great bully. much better now that I know what is going on though. so much easier to understand him

hope things continue to get better with Spanky

Gus is not food driven so me never gets early to be fed and such. alot of times I am up before he even thinks about it. I have to step over that dogbed..

I hope that the vet does have some answers though
someone had a good post on one of my threads and asked me if Gus could hear himself bark and that is another question for the vet. good one to know.

this is totally awesome
big change eh
that is ok..good time of the day to get up....lol
I am a morning person..if the dogs were not up on their own..which that are by 6am or a little later..I get up anyhow.
NOTHING like a bully and a coffee first thing in the morning..

MY bullies get up early..because the pugs are like the clock. 6am right on the mark ..each and every day. today I think they were a bit later..but 6:30 would be pushing it.. the pugs get up and then the bullies get up. Gus gets up if he sees me get up... Bella gets up as soon as the puggies. she goes out with always..

well I hope that Spanky...
is over the hump...
might even have been just the time change..
no barking..is a good idea..that might have helped too
but MORE THEN LIKELY it is cause you did NOT go and get him OUT at that time of the night...
they learn by that type of thing.

this is totally awesome
big change eh
that is ok..good time of the day to get up....lol
I am a morning person..if the dogs were not up on their own..which that are by 6am or a little later..I get up anyhow.
NOTHING like a bully and a coffee first thing in the morning..

MY bullies get up early..because the pugs are like the clock. 6am right on the mark ..each and every day. today I think they were a bit later..but 6:30 would be pushing it.. the pugs get up and then the bullies get up. Gus gets up if he sees me get up... Bella gets up as soon as the puggies. she goes out with always..

well I hope that Spanky...
is over the hump...
might even have been just the time change..
no barking..is a good idea..that might have helped too
but MORE THEN LIKELY it is cause you did NOT go and get him OUT at that time of the night...
they learn by that type of thing.

I couldn't believe it! Spanky barked at 6:15 this morning! We are about back to normal now. I don't know why. Maybe it just took him this long to get used to the time change, or maybe that "No, no bark" talk I had with him helped. I am a happy girl!

I couldn't believe it! Spanky barked at 6:15 this morning! We are about back to normal now. I don't know why. Maybe it just took him this long to get used to the time change, or maybe that "No, no bark" talk I had with him helped. I am a happy girl!

Hi Pat,

Well, Spanky is still getting me up early, but I guess I'm getting used to it. Two nights ago he started barking at 12:30. I was really upset and for the first time I went into his room in the dark and in a stern tone said, "No, No, No, Spanky, no bark! Go to sleep!" I went back to bed and didn't hear another peep out of him until he barked at 4:45, and then I took him out to pee.

This morning when he barked at 4:50 I decided to try the "No, no approach" again. It worked again. He was quiet until 6:00! Then he barked and I took him out to pee. The thing is that there is not enough time between 4:45 and 6:00 to really go back to sleep, so I have decided that I might as well take him out at 4:45 and get it over with.

I am very quiet and business-like at 4:45. I don't talk to him, or pet him. When we come back in I put the dimmer light on in the living room and after he explores the kitchen, he lays down quietly on his living room dog bed and snores until time for his breakfast at 7:30. I either lie on the couch or on the bed in the front bedroom.

My husband and I have now set up an every other morning schedule with Spanky. Hooray, tomorrow is his morning! Spanky is training both of us! Who says bulldogs aren't smart??? If he just wasn't so darn adorable.....

Gus is a fortunate guy to have such an understanding owner. Hope he had fun with the trip to the vet. You have done so much to research and accommodate for his hearing loss. Take care.

Hi Pat,

Well, Spanky is still getting me up early, but I guess I'm getting used to it. Two nights ago he started barking at 12:30. I was really upset and for the first time I went into his room in the dark and in a stern tone said, "No, No, No, Spanky, no bark! Go to sleep!" I went back to bed and didn't hear another peep out of him until he barked at 4:45, and then I took him out to pee.

This morning when he barked at 4:50 I decided to try the "No, no approach" again. It worked again. He was quiet until 6:00! Then he barked and I took him out to pee. The thing is that there is not enough time between 4:45 and 6:00 to really go back to sleep, so I have decided that I might as well take him out at 4:45 and get it over with.

I am very quiet and business-like at 4:45. I don't talk to him, or pet him. When we come back in I put the dimmer light on in the living room and after he explores the kitchen, he lays down quietly on his living room dog bed and snores until time for his breakfast at 7:30. I either lie on the couch or on the bed in the front bedroom.

My husband and I have now set up an every other morning schedule with Spanky. Hooray, tomorrow is his morning! Spanky is training both of us! Who says bulldogs aren't smart??? If he just wasn't so darn adorable.....

Gus is a fortunate guy to have such an understanding owner. Hope he had fun with the trip to the vet. You have done so much to research and accommodate for his hearing loss. Take care.

I hope you see this
just wanted to see if things were changing..??
Gus got me up last night to bark at 4am. lol. so not much is new here.. he still has those nights.
I know that Gus will not change though..just part of accepting him for who he is..I guess
good thing I can just go back to sleep..

I hope you see this
just wanted to see if things were changing..??
Gus got me up last night to bark at 4am. lol. so not much is new here.. he still has those nights.
I know that Gus will not change though..just part of accepting him for who he is..I guess
good thing I can just go back to sleep..