[lbarlow]

Hey all! I am hoping someone can give me some great advice. My 3 year old Great Pyrenees (we rescued her 9/2011) has started waking us up 3-4 times a night. She just started doing this about 4 weeks ago. It will start about 4 am and continue until around 6 am, when I finally let her out. It isn't that she needs to use the bathroom, she just wants outside. I wouldn't mind if she didn't start barking the minute she is out the door.
She wakes us up by coming to the bed and just stares at you and breathes. I say "Lucie, NO! Go lay down"! And she does. But I am so tired of waking up over and over! Any suggestions?

[reeskujo]

Anytime a dog starts to exhibited any new behaviors that are negative it's always best to get them to the vet and rule out anything medical..also have you tried closing your bedroom door so she can't get in there to wake you up? If you don't want to close the door perhaps putting a baby get up so she can't get in there.

[Lunareclipse]

I have a great pyrenees. They are mainly nocturnal due to the fact that they were bred to guard sheep at night. If you have a securely fenced in yard, you can put in a doggy door so your pyr won't pester you anymore. I'm a nocturnal person, so my pyr going out at 3 am to bark at squirrel farts doesn't bother me in the least. Don't be upset when your pyr barks. That is what they are bred to do. They bark as soon as they go out to inform anything that might be out there that they are on duty and they need to stay away. There is nothing you can do about that. It is instinct. That is what they were bred to do. Between 2-3 years old, pyrs guarding instinct kicks in to the max. When it does, your pyr needs to be allowed to act like a pyr or you will drive each other nuts. I would find a group on guardian dogs and (LGDs) Livestock Guardian Dogs. There is a yahoo group called Working LGDs and another called Great Pyrenees. You could join both. One is for actual working dogs and one is if you own one as a pet. I suggest joining both because making a pyr a pet doesn't mean that they won't do what they were bred to do. They are still working dogs and your dog's guarding instinct has kicked in and she's working to protect you.

LEt me add another thing, since we got Porter, we haven't had our garage or our house broken into anymore. The neighbors love him because of that too. They like it when Porter's out because they haven't gotten broken into either since we got him.

[DobermanGuy]

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

Let me add another thing, since we got Porter, we haven't had our garage or our house broken into anymore. The neighbors love him because of that too. They like it when Porter's out because they haven't gotten broken into either since we got him.

There were times in the past when we had tools disappear off the loading dock at work or cars parked right outside get broken into. This has never happened in the many years that I have been bringing a Doberman (or two) to work with me.

Some dogs 'need' a job to be happy/content. Breed matters more than many think.