Anyone have a puppy and work nights?

[Howmanysleepsnow]

It was my first night shift since we got her last night. I told dd and dh exactly what I normally do if she wakes/ when bedtime is etc. Normally she’s up once a night or not at all now... last night it was every hour, barking and howling.
Is it because I’m not there? If so, how do we get past it?
Or is it just coincidence? Or a 12 week developmental leap? Or is something wrong?
Any thoughts appreciated!

Does she normally sleep very close to you? It could be the change of routine. They're social sleepers and feel a sense of security from sleeping with their nearest and dearest.

No, she doesn’t! She has a crate downstairs. She never goes upstairs.
She does tend to sleep/ sit near the door if I go out though and waits for me.

My other dog sleeps next to her crate, so she isn’t alone. He was there last night, as always.

They know when things are different.

You weren't there at bedtime and it threw her off.

I hope that isn’t it. Any idea how dh and dc can manage future night shifts? She won’t go to bed until after midnight and I can’t move bedtime earlier by 4-5 hours!

Can you not get DH to do "bedtime" occasionally even when you are home? So she's used to it being either one of you.

Oh bless her!
I suppose at 12 weeks she might have just been getting into a routine and been thrown off a bit with you not being there. Maybe the other people in the household can do a bit more with her so you’re not her only ‘person.’
Or see what happens if she gets to sleep near a person?

I’ll work on bringing her bedtime to around 11.30 so DH can put her to bed sometimes (he hasn’t been able to force himself to stay up until she’s ready for bed yet!) but not sure I can convince him to do any night wakings yet after last night! DC are all back in school so can’t ask them (DD13 got up 4-5am with her last night without being asked: DH assumed she’d settled herself to sleep finally!)
I’m trying to get DD13 and DS15 to do more of her training with her too. DH and DS7 already do (will have to work on DS8) but you’re right I do seem to be her person.

(Tbf, I think I’m everybody’s “person”: dogs, dc, dh... How did that happen?)

Haha it’s so true! Dogs can sense these things. You’re clearly the care giver so it’s understandable that they’re worried when you’re gone! Think of a dog pack where the parents are taken away and what the puppies would be like then. That’s how she’s feeling at the minute.
If they can help, they’ll all get better sleep!

Your DH needs to do his fair share - it shouldn't be optional. We split all the night stuff between us.

If he did his fair share of bedtimes etc. then last night probably wouldn't have been so hard for him lol.

Yeah, but he runs a company, I work 1 night a week, sometimes 2 (can’t do more as I work around him) so it’s natural things fall to me.

I get that, but ultimately if he wants his nights to be easier then he needs to help out more when you're around 😊

The puppy is used to you doing it all so of course they feel unsettled when you're not around and everything is different all of a sudden.