Night time pleazzze help!

[Summer70]

11 week lab puppy. Gorgeous & generally very good. She sleeps at night in her crate in the kitchen & when possible I get her to nap in crate in the day although she often falls asleep elsewhere. First couple of weeks I accepted getting up twice a night when she cried & she would go out to wee & usually once a night a poo. However, I was expecting this to decrease to once a night or for her to sleep for longer periods but it’s actually getting worse! Last night she asked to go out to wee at 2, poo at 3, howling at 4 - let her out & had tiny wee, then pretty much yipped & howled til I came down at 6.30. Hubbie & I are now almost on our knees. Any tips to help us out as our enthusiasm is seriously waning! We of course didn’t expect it all to be easy but apparently she is the only one in the litter of 8 who isn’t sleeping 6-7 hours per night (lovely local breeder)

[Tenementfunster]

Oh I feel your pain

[LaughingDonkey]

@Summer70

At what time do you feed her (dinner)? Do you take away water bowl 2 hours before sleep?

[Summer70]

Thanks for replying 🙂. Dinner at 6 & we take her water up at 8.30. We let her out for her last wee at 11, & she’s usually had a poo in the evening too. She is snoring away in her bed now!!

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

It sounds a bit like separation anxiety? Could you move the crate to your bedroom for a bit to see if that helps?

She's still a baby and might not be ready for the independence of sleeping downstairs on her own.

[jlg22]

One of the best things we have for our spaniel pup is a heated mat for his crate

[Cuddling57]

When we got our puppy we planned to keep him downstairs in his crate at night. He was soon sleeping in our room he was a lot happier for it and doesn't mind when we go out in the day. He is five now and very content.

[LaughingDonkey]

Hmm...

Try feeding her in the following proportions: morning - 1 1/4 cup, lunch 1 1/4 cup, dinner - 1/2 cup (dry food).

You might also change her food (gradually) to high quality one. Because poo is essentially waste after body extracts all the nutrients and energy. When food is not rich in nutrients, waste comes out more often and in larger quantities. You can check quality of food by putting water in it, if it swells greatly, then it is low quality.

It is also possible that she wakes because there's a noise (odd car passing by, neighbor using a toilet at night, etc.). Maybe move her crate where it is the most quiet at night. I would also recommend putting on TV or radio.

When you take her outside at night - do you make a fuss of her? You need to be rather detached: take her out, say your usual words like ''get busy''/''go potty'', praise quietly like ''good girl'' (once) and take her back in. No cuddles, no kisses, no stroking.

[Dreamersandwishers]

I would add to some excellent suggestions , to set times to take her out. So if she’s out at 11 Then take her out at 1.30, - before she asks- and then again at say 4 am.
Make no fuss, don’t play or interact too much, take her out, she does her business, praise her for doing it outside, take her back in.
If you don’t already, cover her crate with a blanket to keep it dark. I agree with moving the crate into the bedroom, or the hallway outside if that’s possible. Labs like to be with their people.

[TimeWastingButFun]

My puppy was like that. She hated being shut in the kitchen, even after she was toilet trained and was no longer in the crate. I would first rule out a water infection, as this can make them need to go very often (mine was also whining and licking excessively so the vet gave her antibiotics). After that, and being old enough to not need to go out so often, I used to leave the Tv on for her in the kitchen and she found that soothing (possibly it also drowned out the hedgehogs and squirrels too which she's obsessed with!) now she doesn't whine any more, just settles into her basket at bedtime, all night.

[TimeWastingButFun]

Ps I see you take up her water at night. If we accidentally forget to put it back after washing it at night she barks because she's thirsty.

[TimeWastingButFun]

Sorry, just remembered something else I always did too. I didn't want her connecting her barking with my arrival downstairs in the night, so I used to go down and open the door, absolutely no eye contact and pretend to do something else for a few seconds. When she stopped fussing over me I'd put her lead on, no talking or eye contact, take her out for a wee (she even now goes out on a lead at night as it stops her running around the garden for fun) quick 'good dog' treat when she does a wee then in, no eye contact, and door shut and back upstairs.

[Floralnomad]

Do not leave her without access to water overnight . I also agree with pp that the dog would probably sleep better in your room - either in the crate or not .

[Summer70]

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. There seems such a spectrum of advice from friends ranging from leaving her to cry in the hope she will get used to it or having her in our room (which I’m not keen on but would do anything for a good sleep!)

[Summer70]

LaughingDonkey we are feeding Wainwright’s dry puppy food, think it’s pretty good quality but happy to be corrected!
If she does move to our room, is it easy to move her back downstairs in time?

[LaughingDonkey]

@Summer70

I personally didn't try this food - did you try the ''water'' test - to see how much kibble swells up?

My pup was on AVA and when I have switched to Royal Canin (quite expensive unless bought in bulk from Zooplus), it did wonders to his digestion . From 5 poos a day he went to 2 in few weeks. I'm not saying that Royal Canin is the best, but suited my pup.

Regarding ''if it is easy to move her back downstairs'' - it depends on a puppy and how you move the crate out (5 cm a day or 1 cm a day?). It might take 2 weeks, it might take a month, it might never happen

It does get easier You just need to find a routine that works. I have been nearly crying sometimes, but it all passed! Now he's 10 months old and behaves, albeit from time to time does test the boundaries

[Summer70]

I’ve left the kibble for 15 minutes in water, it’s barely changed. I will make her evening meal smaller & earlier.

[LaughingDonkey]

@Summer70

It is good quality then :) Yes, probably timing and portions need adjusting. Also like PPs said make sure you set alarm before she cries, otherwise she will learn that when she calls you, you always come.

Good luck! It does get better, I promise

[Summer70]

Thank you, we are going to leave her where she is, feed earlier, alarm at 2 for toilet then leave until 6. We’ve not been insisting on using the crate in the day for naps, so will be better at that. This is bravado speaking, at 4am I might crumble & take her to bed!! Will let you know how it goes x

[Shambolical1]

AVA has a way higher nutritional rating than Royal Canin.

Wainwright's is pretty good.

Removing access to water increases the chances of a UTI and you shouldn't be restricting access when feeding a dry food; it does sound like she might be uncomfortable if all the puppies in the same litter are sleeping through. Worth getting her checked out if last night turns out not to be a one-off; was it colder, windy, or otherwise possibly scary weather-wise?

She's really young still. 11 weeks old...

[RedHelenB]

I'd leave pup to whine and just go down once in the night, Our pupay was puppy pad trained so we just left him from night one and if he needed to wee he either did it on the pad or on the kitchen floor sometimes! Within a couple of weeks he was going through the night, although we wake up quite early.