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The doghouse

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Original poster

To sleep WITH a new pup???

68 replies

Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 09:41

So. After sad passing of our beloved westie in Jan, we are gearing up for the new arrival of a Cockapoo female end April. Got ma books, to refresh on approach. Shock! First few pages......SLEEP with the new pup next to you in the bedroom?! Really????
I've had 2 well adjusted happy joyful dogs from pup, never did this. Why? What am I supposed to actually do at 2am when it cries....pat the crate reassuringly? I'm sorry, I just don't get this. My own sleep isn't great anyway .....we've all got,to,get up and function the next day.....unlike the pup which can crash out at anytime! Views appreciated please!

OP posts:
JaimeLannister · 05/04/2018 09:50

I've always had pups sleep in the bedroom with me. Being alone suddenly is unsettling for a puppy. If they cry at 2am I take them out to pee then pop them back in their bed. I wouldn't expect a puppy to hold themselves overnight so would rather hear when they need to go.

Fair enough if that's not what you want to do but it's not that strange.

TheDogHasEatenIt · 05/04/2018 09:53

The latest thinking is that separation anxiety can be caused by leaving your puppy alone when it is too young to cope with that. Obviously many pups are left at night and grow up to not develop separation anxiety, but it's a bit of a gamble as you don't know at this stage whether or not your pup will be prone to develop it. Bear in mind small poodles particularly, need to have a lot of human companionship, so perhaps cockapoos might be more prone to developing SA. When they wake up at night, they may need a wee/poo, so take them out. Puppies only have small bladders so you can't expect them to last overnight to start with. I have a cockapoo and she certainly loves human company, we tried to leave her when she was younger and she was not happy, (neighbours let me know), so we took her with us whenever we could or left her with a friend. Now she's 15 months old, she can be left a few hours happily.

BiteyShark · 05/04/2018 09:53

I slept in the next room to my puppy and had a baby monitor to monitor him. I did get up in the night to let him pee/poo as he wasn't one of those pups that could make it through the night.

I would do whatever is best for you (especially as you have done this before) as there are so many different approaches and opinions on bringing up puppies.

Original poster
Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 09:53

.....I was going to use a large puppy pen with a crate or bed inside and a puppy pad for wees etc in the night. ? Or perhaps a cat litter tray?

OP posts:
TheDogHasEatenIt · 05/04/2018 09:56

Puppy pads just teach your dog that it's ok to go inside the house. Much better to bite the bullet in the early stages and take the pup outside (after every meal, when they wake up, after a play session). If you are really on it, house training can be done reasonably quickly. Otherwise you'll train the dog to go inside the house and then at some point, you'll have to undo that training to teach them to ALWAYS go outside.

Original poster
Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 09:57

Pup will be 8 weeks, we can play soft music on the hifi (which the cat actually enjoys) and also get a blanket covered in mummy dogs smells. Any good?

OP posts:
BiteyShark · 05/04/2018 09:58

I know some people like puppy pads but I didn't used them as I never wanted my puppy to think that it was ok to pee or poo inside the house.

Original poster
Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 09:59

Outside for a pee at night.....c'mon!!!!! Was thinking final outdoor pee around 10:30pm then we're up at 6am for a first morning pee. Obviously during the day, toilets outside.

OP posts:
ScurfyTwiglet · 05/04/2018 10:03

I had my whippet in the bed with me as a pup. They have very short hair so get cold easily, and a natural burrowing instinct which means their favourite place is burrowed deep under the duvet next to warm skin. He unfortunately never grew out of it, and while I don't mind having my fuzzy little hot water bottle next to me in bed 9 years later, DH isn't so keen, especially when he farts...

BiteyShark · 05/04/2018 10:03

It's entirely up to you what you do at night. I didn't want my puppy peeing and pooing in his crate so I got up to let him out.

Goldmonday · 05/04/2018 10:05

I sleep with both of my pugs and have done since they were babies. I don't know I would do this if they were bigger breeds though.

Original poster
Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 10:09

We've got a large house with a big downstairs space. We've never allowed our dogs upstairs - and to be honest, they've not missed out on anything. I wouldn't want to start that.
The crate / sleep area would be contained within a larger puppy pen...so wee zone is clearly well away from sleep zone. I know dogs detest fouling their space.

OP posts:
TheDogHasEatenIt · 05/04/2018 10:09

Gosh, you expect your 8 week old, pup to last 8.5 hours overnight...i can't to do that and i'm a lot older!
Just bear in mind that for every wee/poo in the 'wrong place' it's a learning experience for him, i.e. he's learnt to go there. i'd want my puppy to have the most chances at learning the appropriate place to go. It's only for the first few weeks that he'll get you up and it's easier to let him out for a wee than to clean out his cage/bedding etc after he's messed in there and potentially trodden in it and smeared it all around. Cockapoo's have very hairy feet...

missbattenburg · 05/04/2018 10:11

Entirely your choice, OP. There are pros and cons to both approaches so I suspect it's about what works best for you and your dog.

Sleeping with pup allows you to hear when he needs to go and get him outside. For me, it only took 5 mins and then I fell back asleep again quickly - but I am a good sleeper. It meant he never had to learn then unlearn peeing in the house because I could minimise the accidents so I think it helped him be clean in the house more quickly. He settled to sleep within 15mins or so by my side and I suspect (knowing him as an older dog) he would not have settled so quickly if left alone downstairs. It may have helped or further hurt attempts to leave him alone during the day, I can't be sure. I had to be home during the days anyway so disturbed sleep wasn't a massive issue for me.

Original poster
Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 10:16

It would be 7.5hrs max. I've kids doing A levels sleeping upstairs to consider as well. I would have cat litter tray within the puppy pen....all well spaced.

OP posts:
Kate123cl · 05/04/2018 10:17

In my opinion, I'd not hesitate to have a pup in the bed / bedroom with me. I think it'll probably ease anxiety massively but the only problem is the pup becoming spoilt over time! It happens. I don't think allowing pup in room / upstairs is a problem as when you buy a dog, it becomes part of the family and your house becomes their house too!Smile

Original poster
Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 10:19

Ok.... so I'm very excited and the pups going to be my baby and be loved etc. But here's the thing. There's crying cos I need a pee and food etc. And there's crying because I want a cuddle / pick up etc.....surely at night isn't there a danger of rewarding the 'I need cuddles' pick up and making a rod for ones own back???

OP posts:
BiteyShark · 05/04/2018 10:23

When mine cried he got taken out for a pee/poo then straight back in his crate for sleep. If he didn't pee/poo I just put him back and he soon learnt that night time was for sleeping except when he needed the toilet.

bigsighall · 05/04/2018 10:24

The puppies I’ve had have always slept downstairs. Between dh and I, one of us has always gone to bed late, the other gets up early and one of us gets up in night to let it out. Wouldn’t want a puppy accidentally peeing in my bedroom

JaimeLannister · 05/04/2018 10:24

It's your pup and your home so you do what you feel is right for you.

But I don't know why you seem to think people are crazy for doing it differently? I didn't want my pup to pee or poo indoors so I took him out at night. He is 6 months now and has had less than 5 accidents inside and was fully housetrained months ago.

Floralnomad · 05/04/2018 10:24

Why ask the question if you are so happy with your arrangement ? Times change , opinions change and everybody is different and so are dogs . Our family dog slept upstairs in my parents room in the late 60s , seem of us don’t use crates and let our dogs sleep upstairs , just start off with what suits you and see if it suits your current puppy .

ZibbidooZibbidooZibbidoo · 05/04/2018 10:24

You really can’t get up during the night for a few weeks to toilet train your pup? Maybe you should wait until the kids aren’t doing A levels if that’s what the issue is. Although how a puppy crying at night won’t disturb them when you quietly taking her out for a pee will Confused

Are you sure a pup is the right thing for you?

LEMtheoriginal · 05/04/2018 10:24

Puppies cry at night because they are lonely and anxious. Did you honestly think that you weren't going to have disturbed sleep? If you are crate training your dog then he has to be happy to go to his crate. An association with fear and loneliness isn't going to achieve this.

But my dogs sleep in my bed

Original poster
Tinkobell · 05/04/2018 10:26

I was brought up on a farm up north. Most farmers there have 2 dogs - a working collie and a Border terrier (the friendly ratter). I just know that if I showed "The Perfect Puppy" book to one of these farmers, which advocate sleeping next to a puppy - they would fall about in stitches! I wholeheartedly agree that a dog is a fully fledged member of the family ....which just lost one which was horrendous. But aren't we in danger these days of treat dogs as people ...which just to be clear, they are not. Dogs are dogs.

OP posts:
MaMisled · 05/04/2018 10:26

When we got our pups, a year apart, we'd take turns, across the first two or three weeks, staying awake until really late and getting up really early. They were crated next to our bed. We'd start by putting them outside hourly until 3am and start again at 6am. After about 4 weeks they ended up in our bed and able to hold out from 11pm to 7am. By about 5 mths old it was 9pm to 9am. They're puppies for such a short time. It's all worth it.

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