Puppy crying at night help

[Literaryseed]

Hi everyone,
We got our working cocker spaniel puppy a couple of days ago and really struggling with nights. He'll happily nap in his crate in the day but at night cries constantly. Weve tried the crate in the bedroom with us and last night tried sleeping next to his crate to reassure him but it was awful.

I've read lots online and I can't figure out if we should be ignoring him when he cries or not. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Are you allowing him to toilet in the night.

Mine would need a couple of toilet trips a night at that age so I am wondering if some of the crying could be that? So if he doesn't settle then perhaps see if he needs a pee then try and settle him afterwards.

Thanks @biteyshark yes we're letting him out every time he wakes up which is usually hourly at least.

Apparently a ticking clock in beside them helps as it sounds like their mums heartbeat c

Thanks @clpsmum I'll try that.

I gave up and just let mine sleep with me but not sure that's helpful

Anything worth a try. When mine were puppies I put an old t shirt of mine in with them at night too in the hope my scent would comfort them not sure if it worked or they were just too lazy to care!!

Haha I'll try anything! It doesn't help that I now have covid and am exhausted.

I think I'm going to opt to just cuddle him to comfort him when he wakes and try and settle him that way. It doesn't feel right to let him cry. Even if we set ourselves up that it'll take longer in the long run.

It took my lab 6!weeks to settle at night on his own. I wouldn’t let him sleep with me as a vet told me it was unwise, unless I planned to carry him upstairs when he was too old to climb up himself. If you don’t mind DDog in your bed, I’d just let him up with you!

I put an old tea towel in the cage with my scent on it and that seemed to help. I also covered the cage with a blanket.

Mine cried for two weeks straight. I gave him a top I’d been wearing to snuggle into, and put the radio on. It was awful. No tips, other than to do what others have said, and ride it out. Failing that, have pip in your bed, although once you’ve done that you’ll never get puppy out, so think it through

It's like having a baby, they do just cry bless them. Dogs are pack animals so being alone all night is horrible for them. I have working dogs ( that work) and they hate being alone.

That said, they will get used to it. But as someone else said, they will need the toilet in the night, so for the time being you need to go down and let them out. Best approach is to not interact too much , go down, let out for toilet and praise then straight back in crate and back to bed for you.

It will get better!

This might help. Gundogs seem to react to this toy quite well. It has a heat pad and a beating heart so can feel like sleeping with their littermates.

If you carry it around for a while so it smells of you that can help too. Hope you feel better soon

this is expensive but the one I have used

cheaper version not used this one but may be ok

Thank you for all the advice!

@mrsmaryclausface thank you! I hope so. We aren't leaving him alone at all, we're sleeping with his crate next to us and I've no problem letting him out. The problem is the constant crying in between poor boy.

@pollyroulson thank you! I've ordered something similar to come tomorrow! I'm going to wrap a hot water bottle in a top I've been wearing today and put that in with him in the hope that helps him settle.

I let mine sleep with me, he still does now at nearly 4, though not in the bed anymore as he's too big 🙈

@Literaryseed ahhh even better if he's next to you!

Honestly they do just cry. It breaks your heart doesn't it 😭 This doesn't help but I've got a 9 year old in the house who still gets dramatic until she's let on the bed 🤣

@MrsMaryClausFace gosh it's so hard listening to them! Just feels so wrong to let them cry.

Be careful the water isn't too hot in case he pierced it. Puppies have sharp teeth & nails.

If it wasn't for the Covid I'd take him to bed with me. He's just a baby separated from his mum & siblings.

I used a Heartbeat soft toy linked above by PollyRoulson from day one. I have a Golden Retriever and she loves it. We rubbed it over her Mum and she only has the heartbeat on when she's crated last thing at night. She had a couple of night wakes recently and we realised DH had forgotten to put it in with her as she's always slept from 12-7am minimum. It's probably the best piece of kit we bought.

I gave in with mine, it was relentless. He slept on our bed until he was about five when he suddenly decided he didn't want to anymore and slept downstairs.

He's now 14.5 and still sleeps downstairs and I'm glad as he can't get up the stairs now.

Are you leaving the door open to the crate? Some of them also don't like the feeling of being shut in there. We didn't crate our working cocker as we didn't think he would take to it (he is extremely energetic and boisterous) but it is a personal decision.

We found lying next to him and putting our hand on him and going shh shh worked (in between toilet breaks ) so he could feel us and smell us. We slept downstairs with him for just over a week I think and slowly moved his bed further away.

Thanks everyone for the help last night. We opted to sleep next to him again and when he woke up, straight out for a pee, praised for going in the garden then a little cuddle and back in the crate and he went straight back to sleep. He woke about every hour and a half to two hours but I can cope with that.