# Morning routine



## novemberblue (Nov 27, 2011)

Hello all! We've had our puppy for a month tomorrow and things have been going well! No huge problems, but have started to run into one...

When we first got Butler, after the first couple of days, he started to sleep all the way through the night (from about 10:30-11:00 pm to 6:00-6:30 am) in a crate next to our bed. So, when he started moving around in the morning, I would get up and take him to the living room where we have his ex-pen set up, make sure he pees on his pad (with lots of praise), feed him, then go back into our room to get ready for work. By the time I was done getting ready, it was about 7am and I would come out to the living room, watch some tv and give him loving before leaving for work at 7:45. After about two weeks of that, I thought to myself "I don't need to start getting ready at 6:30 when it only takes me 20-30 minutes.. why don't I go back to sleep after bringing him in the living room?" 

So now... my husband and I think that he got used to me coming out there around 7am so when 7am rolls around and I'm not out there... he starts barking. Constantly. We live in an apartment and we're pretty sure we have heard banging on the walls when he starts going at it. I know the best option is probably be let him cry it out and learn a new routine, but that's really difficult when we have close neighbors. For a couple of days now, I'd finish getting ready at 7:20 after him barking for 20 minutes, come out to the living room and sit at the kitchen table with him still in his pen. He will whine for a little bit, then stop and go back to eating breakfast/napping/playing.

Any suggestions? We cannot keep letting him bark the way he is at 7 in the morning. I'm afraid it would come to get rid of him or get evicted.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

First off that's not much interaction time with you in the morning. If I was going to work for the day, I'd want at least 30 minutes of good, hard play and cuddle time for a puppy. 

But to answer your question, start by going out before he goes off. Each day go out a minute later. This will allow a slow adjustment to the knew schedule.


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