Talk to me about night times!

[Bunglemom]

HELP!

So as most of you lovely lot in my computer know, we picked up our puppy last week, an 8 week old cocker spaniel.... and there has been some issues (i.e having second thoughts etc, anxiety the lot!)

So first 2 nights we let puppy cry it out... woke up to s distressed puppy and fed up owners of lack of sleep.... so we changed tack and one of us is sleeping on the sofa to get up to take puppy to go outside 2-3 times a night...

My question is am i making a rod for my own back getting up in the night? is it better to just clean up the mess in the morning and let puppy cry it out?

Currently he is fed his last meal at 5-6pm and taken for his last toilet stop at around midnight then is back up again at 1am wanting another wee/poop... back down again til 3 then hes out again for a wee however the last 2 nights hes got up at 4am, weve taken him out and hes done nothing... just wanted company!

So please tell me about your routines around bed time, did you leae doggy to cry or keep getting up?!
😥

[Suzi888]

I got up. He’s a baby... he’s going to poop and pee and won’t want to be left alone.
It will get better though.

[UnfinishedSymphon]

He's a baby, on his own for the first time missing his mum and siblings, of course you go to him

[LBee2020]

We got up whenever he cried. We had him in a crate downstairs (in hindsight I would have started him off in our room so he wasnt alone). For the first couple of months, the day started between 5 and 6 usually with 1 or 2 wake ups. From about 16 weeks he was sleeping through. It does get easier but I echo PP that he is a baby so i dont believe in letting them cry when theyve only been away from their mother for a few days / weeks and are alone in a new place

[DilysMoon]

I slept downstairs for 3 weeks, and took him out to toilet each time he woke, usually 2 or 3 times at first but went down to 1-2 quite quickly, then 1. He's 16 weeks now and sleeps through 9.30pm -7.30am with no waking (we have a baby monitor set up so we'd hear him.)

Have a look at Dog Training Advice and Support Group on Facebook. Invaluable advice on bringing a puppy home and what to expect and do in the first weeks. Cry it out not advised, he's only a baby and just left his mum.

[gonewiththerain]

As others have said he’s very young and they do grow out of it quickly so it’s best to get up to them. If you have another older dog they can snuggle up to them.
We wanted ours to sleep downstairs so didn’t take them upstairs when they were puppies, we got up and let them out and stayed downstairs if they didn’t settle.

[MrsTumbletap]

He is only 8 weeks take him out, it's like a newborn but they don't have a nappy.

Get up no fuss, no talking, just straight out, wait for a wee/poo then straight back in their crate or pen. Are you using a crate?

We did that for about 1-2 weeks and it got less and less to just once a night and then she slowly went all the way through. Then when I knew she could go through the night at 10-11 weeks I just said "shhhh".

Now she is 6 months and sleeps 11pm-8:30am and loves her sleep.

[Girlintheframe]

We had the crate next to our bed. Used to sleep with my hands through the crate to reassure him.
When he cried we took him straight out for the toilet then straight back to bed. This only went on for a couple of weeks then he slept through.
After 3 weeks we started moving the crate out of our room bit by bit. Think it took another week or so but since then he has slept alone in the office. Never had a problem with him going to bed, in fact he often just takes himself to bed when he's tired.
As others as said at 8 weeks he is very much a tiny baby who is scared having left his mum and siblings. Sure some recommend the cry it out method but I would find it too hard plus I very much need my sleep!

[AnOrangeForAHead]

Our pup is 14 weeks and can now go from 10:30 - 6:30. We are in the process of trying to edge the wake up time forward a bit.
1st 5 nights I slept next to him on the sofa and got up when he needed. After that I slept upstairs in my bed and set an alarm for 3 to take him for a night wee/poo and again at 6 for morning. I gradually moved the night wee earlier until it got to 5am when I dropped it altogether. We had a few accidents when he went in his crate and I also occasionally (when absolutely shattered) left the crate door open into his pen with a puppy pad and just let him do whatever he needed as and when.
I had a few (a lot ) moments of doubt, but in hindsight it worked well and I’d do similar if we ever get another puppy.

[AnOrangeForAHead]

Just reread what I wrote above and want to stress that there were many times pup wanted to get up at 3:30 after his wee etc and when he’d cry and I’d sit stroking him or just waiting next to his crate until he fell asleep again so he didn’t cry. And also times that I wanted to cry too . It wasn’t awful but it wasn’t plain sailing either but it got better quickly.

I was sleeping upstairs within a week so if pup had woken up just wanting company I wouldn’t have noticed, although I did buy a dog cam thing so I can keep a bit of an eye on him.

It is tricky at the start. Tiredness doesn’t help. It will get better soon though. And then you forget how bad it was...!

[Bunglemom]

Thanks for all the messages!
We have been taking out bunglepup at midnight and last night he slept from midnight til 6am! There’s light at the end of the tunnel!

[thisstooshallpass]

You're ultimately teaching pup to go outside to toilet and you'll reap the benefits of that way before if you left it to cry it out.

A puppy doesn't know what newspaper or a puppy pad is for.

I did the same as you and as pup's bladder/bowels grow stronger it'll be 'sleeping through' sooner rather than later.

[Snoopdogowner]

Agree with @LBee2020, we crate trained but probably shouldn't have left pup on his own for the first couple of nights but other than a couple of trips to the garden in the middle of the night he eventually slept through. If you go through all the puppy threads, which I did last year, sat on kitchen floor wondering wtaf we have done getting a puppy, it does all eventually get a bit better. You'll get there!

[midnightstar66]

I slept on the sofa for weeks. I now have an independent 6 month old pup who sleeps all night. I couldn't let a puppy just cry out out at this stage. It's more likely to cause separation anxiety than to prevent it. Puppy is being reinforced with the message that being away from you is scary and distressing.

[bonnysmum]

5/6pm seems very early for last meal. How about trying later? Might be waking around 4am cause hungry.

[mamamia2020]

We're moving back to the UK with our 4-year-old Golden Retriever. We currently live in a very dog-unfriendly country. Dogs are viewed as dirty and often mistreated. Our dog was living in a high rise in the capital and at risk of being put out on the streets when his owner was offered work abroad and no one would take him. We brought him to us, 300 miles from the capital where we have a fairly big garden where he can play in safety. During the summer months, we can't take him out for walks as the temperatures in the shade are 45c. There are no dog parks and the only dogs nearby are feral dogs that growl at him despite wanting to make friends :-D. During the summer he has to get most of his exercise in the garden - its not ideal but his life is significantly better than 99% of the dogs here.
Anyway, we are flying him to the UK in November and we're so excited to be able to see him running through green fields, swimming in the sea, and maybe making some friends at the park. The only problem is that he is not very good on the lead, he gets overexcited when he gets to go outside for walks, not his fault as its due to the limitations above. Do you have any tips on improving this? Also, while his recall is very good when he is at the bottom of the garden I will need to improve his recall before he can be allowed off lead - the excitement will mean he ignores me.

[mamamia2020]

sorry! this was supposed to be a new post. Whoops!