Dog howling at 6am never done it before

HI all im new, i have a problem with my 9yr old patterdale, she has started howling at between 6am-7am. I get straight up and let her out she has a wee and poo's. she has never done this before. Could it the heating which kicks in at 6am? so need help, would be grateful for any advice

I would think it is possible that the click of the heating coming on might wake her, but I am no expert.

In the meantime

Hello Amanda and welcome
Have you changed anything in your little dogs routine eg food/feeding time/time of going out.

Yes the sound of heating going on or any new noise like milkman/foxes outside could be waking her . She may get into the habit of waking at this time and once awake may need to go out to relive herself.

HI thanks for your reply's. To be honest, no shes on the same food, shes fed on a morning and at 3pm, haven't changed that, and they both walked 3-4 times aday, there is plenty of toys. our backyard is enclosed, by a high fence. Our other dog had been here for over a year now. They get on really well, they are both cage trained. But no nothing has changed that i can think of, they have always slept in the kitchen, in cages. I believed it was next doors cat at our back door, but yesterday she howled at 6am but next doors cat was in the house so wasn't that. But i will give the heating a go and changed the timer from 6am till 7am.

It could very well be the click of the timer that wakes her - I know that even though my alarm clock is not set to ring it does click when it reaches the time it was set for, and that tends to wake Pereg and once awake she needs to go our for a pee and poo.

As Mini says perhaps your girlie has gotten into the habit of waking at that specific time and like Pereg, once awake she needs to go out to relieve herself.

Hmmm yeh i can see that, as when it kicks in on a night, it is load like. i will changer the timer to 7am and see how it goes. thanks for your advice

I just wonder if now that the evenings are darker and colder if you are letting her out for her bedtime toilet a bit earlier or if she is not going at night because it is cold out there thus meaning she wants to go out earlier in the morning to relieve herself.
Another idea is now that she is getting a little older she cannot hold herself for so long.
I suppose looking on the brightside at least she is telling you she needs to go and not soiling in the house.

Hi we take them out on a walk, at about 10:00-10:30pm they both wee and poo, plus they get let out in the garden. So she always wee's as soon as i put her out at 6am. so could be she cant hold it very long now. She will b 10 april 30th. True better outside in the garden than in her bed

Hi Amanda, and welcome to Dogsey!

If you have had a cold snap like ours is it possible she may be feeling a chill or a draft in your kitchen? I know as a human I tend to need to go if I feel a chill - don't know if dogs, particularly senior-aged dogs, may be similar? Maybe a heavy blanket over the crate to keep the dogs cosy could be a help.

I had a similar problem with way-too-early rises a few weeks back when we started letting our 6 month old pup sleep on her bed in the living room instead of her crate in our bedroom;
Our cat tends to be woken by the heating coming on around 5am and starts meowing as she wanders the house telling us to get up and feed her! This was waking the pup, who would then run through to our bedroom and wake me to let her out.

We have since brought the pup back into our bedroom at night and she sleeps right through, in her crate, but with the gate open. I expect she may wake at some point but she doesn't leave the crate or ask to go out until one of us is awake and properly out of bed (even if we get up to use the loo ourselves during the night!).

As this cold snap is worsening up here in the frozen north we'll be setting the heating to be on all the time, but at a lower constant temperature. I am wondering if this will settle the cat too. Fingers crossed!

Hi there and welcome.

My dog is 'programmed' to react to certain changes/sounds/routines etc. within the house so it could be this. Breaking it wouldn't hurt.