I am tired!!!

For the last few weeks, our morning routing has been a 2:30 outing, a 3:30 outing, 4:30 wake up to get fed (by my mom before she leaves for work), back to sleep until 6 then up until I leave for work at 7:45.
Most of the time it's not even Mac who wakes up, it's either Tyson or LuLu. Tyson doesn't have to go potty, he wants to scavenge the yard for poo remnants-which he won't find because I picked everything up this weekend and have begun collection upon production procedures. LuLu doesn't even go out, she just wants it to be time to eat breakfast.
I've pushed back their dinner time and I've tried giving them a snack around 8:00 p.m. in case it's because they're hungry-they still wake up.
I can't really ignore them, because if Mac wakes up, being less than 5 months old, he needs to go outside and potty, otherwise I'll be cleaning up accidents. I honestly don't think Mac would even wake up if it weren't for the other two.
My next step is to be better about the activity level in the evenings. I'm guilty of relaxing on the couch in front of the TV most nights, and I love it when they cuddle with me. It won't hurt any of us to start taking some nice long walks in the evenings, and it's cool now so we can stay out longer.
Should I start giving them something at the 2:30 wake up that may fill their tummy a little and maybe they will skip the 3:30 wake up? I can't just give them a scoop of kibble because they eat Honest Kitchen-takes 10 minutes to prepare...maybe a banana or something.
Wow, that was a little long, thanks for letting me vent and any suggestions are appreciated!!!

I wouldn't give them anything at 2:30 a.m. That's just asking for trouble and starting a bad habit. Do you give them a snack before bed?

Tilly wakes up early too (5:30) because she has to potty, but then she wants to stay up and eat. I'm getting to the point that I just ignore her crying when I put her back to bed.

Which brings us to the dreadful thought of the time change coming soon. Ugh! Til will be getting up at 4:30.

sallyandtilly wrote:I wouldn't give them anything at 2:30 a.m. That's just asking for trouble and starting a bad habit. Do you give them a snack before bed?

That's what I was thinking, I don't want to have them expect to eat something at 2:30 a.m.

Around 8:00 p.m. they get peach chunks with yogurt (peanut butter for Tyson-yogurt makes him vomit), or a banana with yogurt/peanut butter.
We usually go to bed around 10, should I push the snack back a little bit, I figure I still want enough time for at least Mac to process it and poo again before bed...

We went through this too, although I didn't have a 5 month old puppy in the mix. I do however have Angel, who's on a diuretic, and thus pees around the clock (and pees LAKES!).

I got to the point where I just ignored them, or at most gave them a firm "good night" (which is our ritual when I put them to bed each night anyway). They are learning that barking in the middle of the night doesn't get them anything.

I also moved dinner time back. It used to be 7pm, and I found they'd wake up around 6am every day, ready for breakfast. Over time I pushed feeding back to 8:30pm, and breakfast at 8:30am (this is easy for me to do since I work from home!).

Dre is still our resident barker around 5:30am, 6:30, etc. If she's the only one barking, she gets ignored.

Bottom line, I need to sleep in order to work and be effective all day. I need to work in order to take care of the pugs. Thus, sleep comes first.

I did notice that if we increase Dre's activity, she tends not to bark in the middle of the night, so maybe that will work with your gang too.

With Mac - maybe you could put him in a separate space of his own w/ a potty pad or something? At least until he's a little older and can hold it through the night?

It was tough at first. You just have to find what works for you, and don't let them bully you. Give an inch..they'll take a mile. I love them to pieces, I just couldn't handle sleepless nights.

Ohh how I miss little Dre. I have a problem child now (Curry) and he is in the middle of boot camp. We have been able to curb the barking until about 6:45am, and we are pleased with that. My pugs don't sleep with me, they sleep in the pug room and everyone is sound asleep when little trouble maker wants to be heard. He is 7 months old now and I don't tolerate that type of behavior. I am not sure of your sleeping arrangements, but like Allie said a firm "Good night" is usually all it takes. I would think feeding them yogart and peaches at night would make them want to go potty 2-4 hrs. after wards. I would cut all food off at 7:30-8pm. They are not going to starve to death. When you ahve multiples, save your sanity and give them their own sleeping space.

I also agree with Sarina about cutting their food off at the dinner feeding. They really won't starve and evening and middle of the night snacks create a bad habit that is hard to break (just think of it as practice when you need to be firm on night feedings with a human).

When the boys were much younger, we also had problems with waking and barking in the middle of the night. We found that it was because they heard something that woke them up and then they didn't want to go back down. Now, for a young puppy under a year old, it really may be a potty issue so I can't speak to that. But for our dogs, when we realized it was not a potty issue, our solution was to close all windows and turn on the fan or air filter for white noise to block out any outside noise. We still do that. When they aren't distracted by outside noise, they sleep like rocks until we wake up. I don't know if that is what is going in your house but I thought I'd throw that out there.

Thank you all for your suggestions and sharing your experiences. As for our sleeping arrangements, Tyson sleeps with my mom in her room (what can I say, he's a grandma's boy), and LuLu and Mac sleep in our room.
The thing is, it isn't the puppy who wakes up-he only wakes up because one of the other two barks, or LuLu jumps down off the bed.
Since they eat breakfast at 4:30, they get dinner around 5-and are certainly ready for it, LOL!!
We're going to try a late walk tonight before bedtime, make sure everyone has a good chance to go potty and get some energy out.

My Boys sleep with me. They don't ever wake up in the middle of the night for food or potties (unless they are sick and need emergency poop time). So I don't have much to suggest. The one thing I wanted to throw out there is that Lisa at My Dog Ate It Catering has some fabulous Bedtime Biscuits. I don't remember all of the ingredients, but they are listed on her website. The Jones Boys LOVE these! I don't know if they actually do anything for them, because we never had any issues. But as soon as I say "Let's go night-night", they pop up and head for the cabinet where the biscuits are stored. You might give them a try and see if it helps.