Why does my dog get up at night?

Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
I have a dachshund from an animal rescue (3 months now) and
could not be happier!   She has a opened up beautifully and has
developed a great personality!   The only gripe I can think of is
that she will get up anywhere from 1 to 3 times in the middle of
the night!   Needless to say, it makes getting a good night
sleep difficult.   Sometimes she does have to go the bathroom
but for the most part, she is just up to get a belly rub and then
back to bed.   She has access to food and water all day but is not
a big eater.   Sometimes she will eat and drink a small amount
before bed.   Any help you can give would be greatly
appriciated!

Sleepless in Ventura,

Steve
Answer -
Hi steve;
You don't give me much information.
How old is this dog? Where does she sleep?
Do you know how she came to the rescue?
If the person she lived with died, say in their sleep, she could be checking to make sure you are still alive.
she could be waking from dreams of abuse she had in the past. It takes awhile for the scars to heal.
she could just be unable to believe she finally has a safe loving home.
We took a sheltie from a fellow my husband works with. All the guts there know I do rescue and he said he was " Just tired of having pets" how nice a jerk is that ?
He had several children, and we knew they had been very rough with the dog, because he was terrified when he saw a child. My little grandson, who was three then, and is my running buddy, worked with him almost every day for about 4 months, coaxing him to come to him, talkid sweetly, telling him he would not hurt him, and he would just give him lovings, and finally the dog would inch over to him. Laddie was a year and a half years old then, and that was two years ago. Now he throws as big a fit as the other dogs do when the grandchildren come over.
If you could give me a little more information, I might be able to shed more light on fixing this problem.
Charlotte

Heres is a bit more info: I was told she is 3 years old and sleeps on a padded bed near my bed with a cuddle toy and a blanket.   I was also told that the previous owner had took her to a shelter because they had too many dogs(a puppy farm I do not know).   A rescue group that operated out of a vets office scooped her up and that is were I found her.   I do not know if she was abused or not.   Need any more info?   Hope this helps and hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you,

Steve

Answer
Hi Steve;
Too many puppies doesn't sound like she had much attention.
She will probably slack off this behavior after awhile.
It wouldn't hurt to discuss it with her vet, for possible kidney problems etc, but it sounds like she really just wants the attention and closeness.
You might try just putting your hand down to her, calming her and saying "Go back to sleep" and just let your hand dangle by her, kind of rub her back and scratch her ear, etc.
Stop the belly rubs, and just have her do with stroking her back and head while she lies there. The less moving around she does, the faster she will go back to sleep.