Controlled crying for puppies?

[CarofromWton]

We bought a beautiful border collie pup a week ago (now 9 weeks old). We've had border collies before but it's been a long time since owning a pup and it's easy to forget the early days - a bit like babies!

Anyway, on the advice of several people we bought a large crate and the puppy now sleeps in it at night in the kitchen (she's not housetrained so we didn't want to give her the run of the house during the night!)

She gets lots of attention during the day from all the family and she's never left alone as DH works from home. However, she's not coping very well with being left alone in the crate all night and she howls/barks on and off for hours . I feel so cruel but, again on the advice of a few, I'm told we should stick it out and the puppy will soon calm down and sleep all night. She's in the crate from approx 11 pm till 6 am.

Is it cruel to ignore their cries at night or is this the only way to go?

TIA.

Hello Caro

Congrats on your lovely new puppy.

This is an issue which, as you can imagine, will provoke some debate

Personally, I do 'controlled crying' but I do allow for very small pups not being able to hold a wee in all night. When I got my lab pup at 8 weeks last summer I got up a couple of times with him for the first few nights, but only to take him straight outside for a wee and then straight back into his crate. After those first few nights he would sleep right through until 5.30 or so, which (having been put to bed at 11pm) I reckoned was long enough for him to hold on for a wee!

IME you kind of have to try to judge whether the pup genuinely needs out or just wants your company.

In any case, I wouldn't reasonably expect an 8 week old pup to be able to hold on all night, but within a few weeks they can last all night, or at least until 7am!

HTH

What Bella29 said! Gosh you are good Bella

Sorry - logged off last night before these replies! Thanks bella and King.

On the plus side we had a really good night with the pup - she only barked when we first put her to bed and then again at 6 am when we get up to her (she seems to know the time!)

I suspected that it may be too long for the puppy to hold on, but she has in fact managed to keep the crate clean most nights. DH did go down to her one night when she made a mess in the crate, and like you said, he put her out, cleaned the crate and just put her back in again. My concern is that coming down to her in the night may make her worse.

So if we put her down about 11 pm should we get up about 3 am to let her out?

Thanks again.

At the moment I would get up at 3, this stage shouldn't last too long. Once you start to think she can make it through the night you can start running the time later and later. Maybe 20 minutes a night or something, until the middle of the night visit runs into the morning getting up time.

If it helps I would say she should be ok to go from 11 to 6 by around 15 weeks (note; this is a very rough estimate, each dog is an individual!)

Ok we'll give it a try.

I'm only concerned that, if we get up to her in the night, this may encourage her to bark as she'll think it's working!

It's like having a baby.

We had our last bordie collie at 12 weeks old and it seemed much quicker and easier (although that may be selective memory - that was 17 years ago!)

This is why I suggest extending the time rather than just stopping, hopefully she should not notice the difference and start barking for you. If she does move it back 40 minutes or so to pre-empt her for a few nights then move on again as before.

If your last one was 12 weeks then it would have been quicker, in fairness they should be able to make it through at 12 weeks but you risk accidents which can cause problems with her confidence, especially if she is in a crate.

Thanks - great advice. Are you a breeder?

No, I have a tiny bit of experience is all! Hope it goes well!

Sounds like you are doing well.

Like a baby it does not last for long and she will soon be able to make it all night. My pup is 11 months now and takes herself to bed at 10pm! I let her out for a quick call then and she sleeps until we get up, which was 9am this Sunday!!

I did leave my pup in her crate from 11pm to 5.30am straight away. She only had a puddle and a mess for the first 2 nights and then was fine. After about 2 weeks I could leave her until 6am, then 6.30am which is our normal weekday rising time. After a few more weeks she would go through until 7.30am and now I often wake her up when I go down!

Have fun!

Thanks for the encouraging words. Have to go now.

xxx

Hi how is your dog now. Did she stop crying? I have a ten week pup and she crys on and off all night. Does it end???