16wks - surely I should be allowed to sleep now?

[OldEnglishSheepDog]

I'm honestly at the end. Pup has slept through ONCE since we got him. When he wakes for a wee it can take an hour to resettle him. Much of the time I find myself sleeping on the sofa with him on my lap.

I'm currently stood in the living room afraid to move as he will start whining the moment I do. I am on the fb page everyone recommends and am following advice.

Can't fit crate upstairs so to be with him means being downstairs. Stopped bedding down on the sofa a couple of weeks ago as it felt like I was creating an expectation.

I have woken up in my own bed once since I got him. He is taken out around 10pm and settles reasonably quickly, it's when he wakes that us the problem.

Right now, despite all the planning, I am wishing we'd never got him. I am clearly incapable of looking after him and he can't be happy to be whining this much. It's not his fault but I don't know how to fix it.

Tinkobell I got an iegeek one. I can live stream to my iPhone and also turn it around so I can follow him as he moves. It also has pretty good night vision. You can get dearer ones but this did everything I wanted quite cheaply.

A dog is a pack animal and after separation from his siblings and parents, YOU are his pack. If you have to crate the dog then get him another one or some kind of bed upstairs where he can at least hear and smell you. At a young age they don't have the analytical mind to know you will be back, they just know they've been left alone, separation anxiety. As he gets older he will not need to toilet through the night, much like babies you just have to do it for now. He's a family member and will need to be included in lots of situations but if you love him enough, that won't matter will it. Other solution would be to get him his own pack mate

I haven't rtf but I just thought id mention that I used to put my puppy to bed with a cuddly toy which she would cuddle up too, (and still does!) For comfort.

Also, we put a throw over the crate at night (she didn't like it fully over so we just have the sides and roof coverd by it and leave the door uncovered) that helped alot as it was more den like (which dogs love, gives them security) and she could calm down as she couldn't see us leaving ect.

Zak george on YouTube also has done a few videos to help with night time sleeping.

Good luck, you will get there :)

I shall take a look at Zac George - thank you.

Re: having him upstairs. It is not purely my decision.

Hi OP, I won't come in with any more suggestions because I think you've had loads and what you are doing is likely to still work (I think). However, I did want to 'pick you up' a bit on us being patient and you fucking this dog up.

Neither are true.

What most of us on here are, is people who have had puppies and know only too well the feelings of guilt and frustration and despair that comes with them. I promise we have ALL thought that we have fucked our dogs up in one way or another. I think I mentioned on another thread how much research, dog experience, even some basic qualifications I have. Yet, last Saturday I cried (literally) with frustration and disappointment when in his junior class he wouldn't focus and just did what he liked for the millionth time after seeming to 'get it' the week before. Arsehole .

The thing that really stood out to me for a couple of months or so after the springer puppy arrived was the "what if this never changes" feeling. The worry that whatever he was doing, was going to stay for life. They don't. Puppies change all the time and behaviours that seemed like they would never go away, do.

At various points in the last few months I have worried that

• mine jumps up at people far too much and will hurt someone
• he barks at the front door and will do forever
• he causes chaos in the garden and we'll never be able to just 'potter' out there
• he digs
• he chews
• he pulls on the lead
• he bothers the other dogs
• he cries when left alone during the day
• he gets VERY distressed when I leave the room, even when other people from the house are still with him

...and so on.

All those things have gone completely or improved significantly as he matured.

They do change.

@missbattenburg Thank you. That helps. X

Good luck for tonight OP.

OESD - try to teach the DDog a command to wee and poo, that may make your trips a bit easier. Mine learned very easily. As he wee'd or pooed I just said "(dogname) wee" or whatever command, then loads of praise. I still do it periodically but now he will perform on demand every time.

Great when its raining!

missbattenburg that's so right.

Yes we have been using "go busy" which I'm sure he must recognise by now but it's pretty hit and miss!

This afternoon pup settled in his crate with a chew and I closed the door. He was perfectly happy the whole time. Then I went to the loo and before I sat down he was yapping. When I go to the loo and he's out, he just sits patiently behind the door. So.... although I realise that this is going to be YET ANOTHER change, I'm thinking of leaving the crate open tonight. If he rattles against the stair gate I will go down and do the wee routine and put him back in the crate but if he chooses to settle at the bottom of the stairs, then he can.

I'm conscious that this may create more confusion but, having tried it before and having had a small amount of success, it might be worth a shot. I know I need to commit to one course of action though. Any thoughts on this will be gratefully received.

In other news, DH came home and petted and played with pup then took him and DS out for a walk so that "mummy can have a break from being bitten and barked at". I was very grateful indeed.

(PS: @missbattenburg - sorry yours was an asshole too!)

Oh the biting. Argh!
Do what works for you. Worth a try.
I haven't trained to poo on command but she's pretty regular. We have trained a wee wee command. Start by only saying it when the pup is actually going. Praise and say the word when they are peeing. They will then make the link between the word and the action. Just saying wee is noise that they don't understand IYSWIM.

We have a different command for peeing and pooing. Often I have to 'remind' him to poo last thing at night as he just wants to get back to bed.

OESD go with your gut feeling. Leaving the crate door open would not have worked for me but it could work for you.

All the best for tonight and glad you got a bit of a break from it all today.

Ive not read the entire thread but honestly I’d be trying something new because you are now weeks in and still being kept awake . Can you fence off a part of a room and see if he will settle there or persuade your husband that he needs to be upstairs until you’ve got him sleeping through at which point you can move him again . Having him upstairs now does not mean it has to be forever it’s just to teach him that night time is for sleeping .

Your dog poos on command!? That's amazing! Pup likes to save it up for a particular driveway on our walk where the owners watch me frantically dragging him away before it hits. I may try teaching a word for poo then. He is reasonably regular (apart from last night, obviously). There's a straight after breakfast one and a before or after dinner one. I shall have a think about that.

Pup has rebelled against the sofa ban by successfully leaping onto an armchair instead. We have hummed and hawed about it and decided that since it was such an impressive effort, it will henceforth be his chair. He looks very pleased with himself.

DS has gone to bed looking ruining so I really hope we manage to minimise noise tonight if nothing else. I will try leaving the crate open. I don't think it can make anything worse.

Once again, I am starting the evening feeling so much more positive thanks to you all being so supportive and lovely. I really can't tell you how much you are all helping.

Why not just leave him in the armchair after his last wee , stick a puppy pad under a blanket in case he wees in his sleep , to me that’s an acceptable use of puppy pads .

Definitely useful to have two different commands. Mine will only poo to the command if he needs one iykwim but when we need to leave him or at night I know if I say it he will either do one or he turns straight round and jumps back in the house to tell me he doesn't need to go.

Ooh interesting. Will work on that next! My new problem is that he's curled up and gone to sleep in his wee area!

I shall simply wait.

Wee finally done. He walked straight into his crate. I turned the lights out and left him to it. I can hear him padding about now though BUT no yapping as yet...

Wondering if he's going to try the stair gate....

Fingers crossed for a calm night.

More fingers and paws crossed!

Hoping since it's been an hour, he settled down and you're both sound asleep. 💤

OMG. There was a single bark, I went downstairs and he was sat patiently at the bottom. Opened the door, he went out, did a poo, walked back in and went straight back to his crate. I am back upstairs.

He is now making some odd mewing noises but seems to be settling back down all by himself...

Keep everything crossed.

Hope the rest of the night went well!

How was the rest of the morning?

That sounds brilliant. Hope rest of early morning went ok.