Is it advisable to co-sleep with new puppy

[drivinmecrazy]

We have a new puppy, he came home on Saturday.
He's 8 weeks old.
This is our first time going solo with a puppy and have got off to a pretty good start.
He's well settled and bonded with us immediately.
He's (sometimes!) going to the loo on his puppy mats.
However our big issue is nighttime.
I was determined that we would just let him cry it out. Didn't last long obviously.
Second night I took a duvet down to the kitchen and slept next to him, actually he slept with me.
Last night DD1 did the same as she has a late shift today so was happy to.
Again he slept wonderfully.
Just wondering are we 'making a rod' for our backs?
All the stuff I've read suggests, just like methods of baby rearing, the advise is changing suggesting he'll settle in his own time (obviously not months down the line).
So my long winded and lack of sleep addle brain question is should we continue sleeping with him for the next week or so, will it hinder him sleeping on his own??

Congrats on the new puppy OP! I got a pup a few weeks ago.

We put his basket in our bedroom but on the floor, so that he can sleep close but not actually on the bed. He cried and cried for the first few nights, where I had to sit by him until he fell asleep and then sneak up quietly to the bed without waking him! But after a few days he started going straight in to his basket with no problems and will sleep in there all night now.

This might not be helpful, but that's what we're currently doing 😊 hope pup is doing well!

I wouldn’t Co-sleep with a puppy. They need to learn to be alone. Sleeping with a puppy can cause separation anxiety at the times when they have to be left.
You could try leaving a radio on low, make sure pup is warm enough.
With our pup we had one person stay up late and take out for toilet break, second person got up in the night and took pup outside and spent a few minutes with him. Third person is an early riser so pup was never left that long. Once he was house trained after a couple of weeks we extended his ‘nighttime’ and didn’t get up in the night etc. He happily slept in a crate under the breakfast bar. He’s huge now and chooses often to go under the breakfast bar but he’s a bit big for that really 😂

I did. But he still sleeps in our bedroom now, so possibly not the answer you are hoping for !

He starts the night on our bed, snuggled at the end, but then not after we put the lights out, he jumps off and curls up on the floor by side of the bed. I like hearing him snoring as he falls asleep 😊

It’s personal choice. But they need to be near you. Personally I’m not a fan of animals on the bed when I am. Our pup sleeps crated right next to the bed. To begin with I sat beside it and waited until she dropped off. After a few weeks she didn’t need that and is happy to trot in herself.

Some pups will choose to sleep away from you when they get older and some not. So if you are ok with an adult dog doing it then go for it. If not then tread carefully.

You can’t force independence by crying it out. It makes things worse in the long run as they just shut down. They gain confidence themselves if you let them follow you as much as they need.

http://www.simplybehaviour.com/letting-dog-cry-cause-permanent-damage/

A nice sciencey read here.

Every puppy I've had has ended up in the bed . I value my sleep and the crying / door scratching wasn't worth it .

Our puppy came crate trained -as breeder used to pop sleeping pups into the crate when they feel asleep and left the crate door open so in a couple of weeks, the pups used to take themselves into the crate to sleep. We made their crate snuggly with blankets and soft dog toys and our pup slept in their room the first night, whining a couple of times to go out for a wee until old enough to go all night. We had the crate in our room and then a bed in our room. We popped into into the corridor outside our room when cleaning the floor once and our pup prefers it there - so he now sleeps in the corridor outside our room or on the sofa in the lounge - whatever he feels like. Worked well for us.

Thankyou all, especially Newpeep.
That gives me a bit of reassurance.
We know as a family that he won't be an ' only downstairs' dog based on our past experiences so it's very much about what we do before he's reliably housetrained really.

Another confusion we're having is that in the past family puppies would be in the garden before vaccinations are completed.

But breeder mentioned not letting him out until after his second (had his first on Thursday). Again I've been reading conflicting views about this.
Some say absolutely wait until after second yet other day it's fine (with the usual caveats of the garden not been used by other dogs)

But another four weeks with puppy pads everywhere we step seems a little unnecessary.

Ideally we'd like to get him in the garden at the weekend and properly begin toilet training.

Fine in your own garden 🙂 Just keep them away from anywhere where rats may have been if you have them.

Our vet advised straight out after the second set but stick to hard surfaces and don’t allow contact with unvaccinated dogs. She started training classes then as all dogs were vaccinated. It’s a bit area specific so go on your individual vets advice. In our area disease rates are extremely low.

Our puppy spent the first night hoe with us sleeping between our pillows on our bed and ended up lolling on my neck in the night. He was so tiny I couldn't remove him from his siblings and mother and leave him all alone downstairs. We then put a crate in our room and he was encouraged to fall asleep in his crate with DP lying on the floor next to him, he would migrate into DPs arms in the night. After a week we tried leaving him downstairs and thought he'd slept all night OK, until we realised DD has heard him and taken him up to sleep on her head instead. It was a few weeks/month or two before we got him downstairs.

Just take your time, it's all sorted after a few months and they are so little and cute. I rather enjoyed the cuddles.

In my opinion yes if necessary and they need reassuring. Then you can all sleep.

It’s not true that sleeping with your puppy will cause separation anxiety - the more confident your pup the less likely they are to have issues with separation (although separation anxiety can also just be down to the pup’s nature and not anything to do with nurture!). If you co sleep with them, they will know you are always there for them and it will help build their confidence. We do what a PP mentioned and have pup in her own bed in our room - she will go to her bed and jump up for a cuddle in the morning. She also has no separation anxiety whatsoever - we built up to alone time slowly to ensure she was always okay and it worked well.

My dh slept downstairs with puppy for the first week then we gradually transitioned to crate. Puppy would obviously need let out during the night but then would howl from early morning. Once fully toilet trained (about 6months) he moved upstairs to our room. Slept in his bed, but now sleeps at the bottom of ours. No more early morning wakings and he gets up when we do.

I slept on the sofa for a few nights, with pup in his crate, so I could quickly get up and reassure him when needed.

It didn't create a rod for our backs at all - he soon learned to sleep in his crate and when we got rid of the crate, just in a normal dog bed or on the sofa. He had the run of the house but rarely went upstairs, because he associated it with having a bath, which he didn't enjoy.

@caramac04 is wrong. Leaving a pup who isn’t happy to be left is much more likely to create separation anxiety. I’ve of mine couldn’t care less about being left. One couldn’t stand it.
Also I would ditch the puppy pads. They just teach a pup to pee indoors. Dog training advice and support on FB has great advice going forwards. Good luck.

Never had a dog that didn’t think they owned the bed!

Whilst we didn't end up with a dog with separation anxiety we never managed to get them out the bed and sleeping on their own either!

Our pups always slept with a family member from day one and we have had some very loyal loving dogs from it over the years. Never believed in crating and never will putting a baby all by itself like a naughty corner.

Lots of reassurance, Thankyou

I will never ever ever have a dog sleeping in my bed! Those that do arent your beds all dog hairy?

However when puppies first arrive I sleep near them until they are confident and happy to be sleeping with me away from them. It depends on the puppy how long that is. I do have multi dog household so the dogs are never on their own.

You do need to get your dog outside and being toilet trained in the garden asap.

Your dog will have some antibodies from its Mum and some cover from the first vaccinations.

IngGenius that's good to know.
I remember when our cats were babies and the liberation we felt when we weaned them off the litter tray.

Will save us a fortune in kitchen roll too if we can get him outside to do his business, and will be nice to get out of the house with him!

Carry him out and about until his second lot of vaccinations but he is fine to wee and poo in your garden

That read is a load of nonsense and, unsurprisingly, they have a 'puppy course' and 'online trainer course' to sell 🙄

…and you know better? 🙂 Please site evidence where letting a juvenile mammal become distressed and shutting down is beneficial to their long term welfare.

Love our dog to bits but I absolutely wouldn’t want him in our bed or bedroom (for a variety of reasons).

The first night he cried and I didn’t get much sleep. But we made his crate really cosy more like a cosy den and got an old towel with his mums smell on and we left the radio on low initially for him and he was absolutely fine.

On the rare occasions someone has slept downstairs with him or if he has been camping with us he fidgets about too much. He and we both need our own space.