Help me with my puppy! I am so tired

[talia66]

My darling puppy isn't the best sleeper. He is crated in our room. He used to wake at 6, but since the clocks changed its 5am. Last night he started moaning at about 2am.
I think because I am so over tired I can't think clearly about it!

I read somewhere that puppy's need sleep a lot - but could him napping in the day mean that he isn't very tired at night? And therefore should I wake him?

He is 4 months and gets two walks a day.

Any advice appreciated before I end up a loony! Thanks

[kjhkj]

Don't have his crate in your room?

[kjhkj]

How long are you walking him? At four months he should be getting about 20 minutes of walking exercise a day

[SweetNorthernRose]

How long is he crying for? A few minutes then quitens down, or continuously until you go to him? Do you leave him to cry for a bit or do you go straight to him? Is he crying because he needs to toilet, or just for attention? There are so many reasons a puppy might cry, and i think we need to know how you are currently dealing with it to be able to give proper advice.

[shopsalot]

No idea but I am sitting here all bleary-eyed following a broken nights sleep also because of a 4mth old puppy. Mine was up at half midnight (he went out for wee at 10.30pm when we went to bed) and did a poo then 4.45 (wee) and 5.45 (poo) - sooooo tired!

I work on the basis that they need to sleep so let them (let sleeping dogs lie.....) and if they get used to self-settling during the day and sleeping then great. I know children are different but I never woke mine when they were babies and the more they slept in the day the better they slept at night time.

My puppy was doing really well - sleeping from 11-7 but has regressed, I think because he was ill for a few days.

Does yours go back to bed once up? Is he hungry? Mine will go back to bed and isn't hungry which I find weird.

Hopefully someone will come and tell us it gets better.

[kjhkj]

Don't feed them in the night. That will simply encourage them to wake at night.

[shopsalot]

kjhkj - I don't feed at night, I meant in the morning or larger/ later meal at night if waking up hungry.
Mine has gone back to bed having greeted the family at breakfast (and had another poo) and still hasn't had his breakfast. Last ate at 6.30pm! I'm about to start a thread about how much he eats / poops as he is doing 7 poos a day which I think is ridiculous but may be normal for a puppy.

[FleasAndKeef]

Puppies need mega amounts of sleep when they are small to prevent 'problem' behaviours like chewing, hyperactivity, etc. Maybe a bit more sleep in the day might help puppy sleep at night too? "The family dog club" on facebook is a page run by qualified behaviourists. They have some excellent tips for new puppy parents! Highly recommend taking a look 🙂🐾

[kjhkj]

How much/what are you feeding and what breed of dog?

[FleasAndKeef]

m.facebook.com/trainingisfunfordogs/

[PestyMachtubernahme]

Puppies do need a ridiculous amount of sleep. 16 -20 hours. A tired
puppy is a grumpy, bitey puppy. An over tired puppy is a bugger to get to sleep.

We found camel chews helped when we had missed the bedtime slot. www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/green-and-wilds-camel-hide-chews-100g Take away after about half an hour of you could have an exhausted, obsessed by chewing puppy.

Pestypup likes to fidget. groan, stand up fidget some more and all sorts of stuff during sleeptime. Unless she asks to out we ignore and she soon settles.

It will get better over the next couple of months.

[Motorina]

I remember celebrating the first time my little dickhead, errr, darling, slept past 4am. Puppy rearing is hard.

[talia66]

Thanks for all the tips guys. Really has helped and it is also good to see this isn't just my puppy!!
After reading this and looking at the other tips on other threads I feel so much better. I am getting him into a good routine. I walk him twice for 15 minutes a tim. Make sure he is stimulated - but not too much - throughout the day. He does sleep in the day but I realised after this he falls asleep at 8:30pm so of course he is waking early. So have decided to walk him at 9pm and not let him nap so much in the evening. Last night was better. He slept until 3am. Cried a little and then went back to sleep until 6:30am! Such an improvement.
Thanks for the tips. Not feeling so crazy now

[talia66]

@shopsalot how are you getting on? Any improvement?

[Kaddm]

My puppy slept in the crate in our room fairly happily until he was about this age. And then he didn't.

He now sleeps with the crate door open in the bedroom with us with the bedroom door closed. He likes to sleep a bit in the crate, wander and then sleep some more in the crate. And we are careful to ensure toileting done last thing before bed.

[shopsalot]

@talia66 yes some improvement here as well thanks. Going from 11-6.30 so much better - phew. My puppy also likes to go to bed early (although on the sofa not in bed!) so we start moving around and disturbing him a good half hour before we want to go to bed. Sometimes it is tricky to get him to go outside for that last wee though!!