6m female puppy still not sleeping through the night!

[Lonny1985]

Puppy is crated at night in our room. We tried in another room - she cries constantly. We have only just been able to crate her to leave the house for up to 1.5 hours as even 10 mins she would go mad. She now does not cry if we go out for a little while (camera). She knows the word bed and goes in of her own accord and lies down to go to sleep.

Sometimes she will go all night but she is still waking up twice a night at times 😫. We take her to toilet (doesn’t always go) and then silently put her back to bed. We are exhausted and I would assume she could sleep for longer however clearly she wants to be let out to come on the bed or go and play so it isn’t bladder related. Do you think it’s time to move her out of our room? What else may help?

Sorry but that's grounds for divorce imo!

Besides, they say that but.... often break their own rules. Poor pup probably just wants to be near you for warmth and comfort. It's still young.

Ours eventually learnt to sleep in her own bed and joins us around 8am for a bit before we get up. We got her a cave bed (whippet so they get extra cold) so she's more settled at night.
Big difference compared to a standard open bed.

She’s not cold, she is long haired for the winter and pretty shaggy rn also has blankets and bedding in a large crate. I appreciate she ‘gets a cuddle’ when taken out but she gets carried in quite uncuddly style but putting a lead on is even worse as she will start playfighting and rolling around with you!

I understand why not on the bed, we had a dog before who slept in the bed and it was not particularly comfortable neither could you spontaneously kiss or cuddle each other either and the bed always smelt like dog. We had to put her crate in the bedroom as she would not stop crying and no one was sleeping. At least how we get 3-4 hours of sleep in blocks 😫. she is a cockerpoo they can jump quite high so getting onto a bed is a pretty easy feat for her! Sleeping in her own bed is the goal, perhaps we need to try to get her to sleep on her bed in the same room

Just stick the crate downstairs or pop her in the kitchen/utility room and leave her. She's 6mths not a few weeks, the whining and wake ups are just habit.

You might have a noisy couple of nights so warn your neighbours if you're in a semi but honestly, just leave her she will learn very quickly. I know it's awful to listen to but for your sanity you need to do it.

Its obviously better for everyone including the dog not to be up and down all night.

Mine slept in their basket downstairs from the start
No way I'm sharing a bed or getting up in the night beyond the first few weeks.

Ours sleeps in the kitchen in a dog bed, the kitchen door closed and a small light on, he has from when he came to us. We occasionally have a problem with him eating his bed but in general he’s very chilled and happy out in the morning. Could you try this instead of the crate?

No way I'm sharing a bed or getting up in the night beyond the first few weeks.
The lady at the pet store suggested he sleep with us, I said ‘my kids never slept in our bed, I’m not starting co sleeping with a dog’ and laughed. Her and her colleague never ever smile at me or give pleasantries anymore 🙈

I appreciate she ‘gets a cuddle’ when taken out but she gets carried in quite uncuddly style but putting a lead on is even worse as she will start playfighting and rolling around with you!

Hmm, I could be way off the mark here, but it sounds like you need to be much firmer with her in general.

She's not a baby anymore, she's six months old and needs to learn to stay in her bed and sleep. Waking up multiple times a night isn't good for either of you, so it's in both of your best interests to firm up those boundaries now before she enters her teenage phase.

Bed needs to mean bed. Yes, take her to the toilet if you need to but that really needs to be as business-like as possible. Out on a lead. Toilet. Back to bed. No fuss, no treats, no toys, no leg-stretching in the living room - just a quiet "good girl" when she toilets and then a firm "bed" when you put her back in her crate. Then ignore her.

If she plays around on the lead then that's a behaviour you need to work on in general - for her safety as much as anything.

You must be so tired OP

Our dog used to sleep in our bedroom, he had his own bed on the floor. He knew he couldn’t get in the bed and never tried. He settled really well.

I know 4 people that have/had cockerpoos, one is chilled, two are very, very needy and quite anxious unfortunately, one was totally ruling the roost so much so the owner was living in fear, the owner made a difficult decision to rehome.

I would try, a couple of nights downstairs, perhaps over a weekend. If that doesn’t work, try the bedroom again, without the crate.

Good luck.

At six months old, she should be able to go all night without needing to go for a wee. Just make sure that you are taking her out ( just before bed) every night and that she does her business before bringing her back in. Move her back down stairs and ignore it when she messes about. I absolutely wouldn’t have a dog sleeping on my bed either. Mine isn’t allowed upstairs.

She is so gorgeous but certainly clingy. She does not like being separated very much. The crate is an extension of this but the few times we have tried to have a lie in after a bad night, we have put her in living room kitchen area, with food, toys, bed, radio - still cries and then barks.

She has learnt a lot of commands and will stop/get down if you tell her to but her excitement levels are off the scale. She is a full mad spaniel ball of energy - yes she gets walked a lot too!

Going to try moving her out to the hallway to begin with.

Please please please don’t ignore a distressed puppy. Look at the files on FB in the group Dog Training Advice and Support. Leaving a distressed dog alone is very likely to lead to bigger problems.

Thing is a yelping barky dog isn't necessarily distressed. It can be a habit, just learnt behaviour. They make enough noise, they get attention.

As long as they have plenty of love and exercise during the day a responsible dog owner should help their dogs self settle. The massive negative impact broken nights have on humans wellbeing is just as if not more important than a restless dog wanting attention .

I agree with @Janiie that there's a difference between genuine distress and attention seeking through habit or because it's a learnt behaviour.

OP says herself that when the puppy is let out at night, it's rewarded with a toy or the chance to go into the living room for a bit. Of course it's going to bark or whine if it gets rewarded afterwards!

We ignored our puppies cries, three nights was all it took. Three nights and ear plugs. Crating is excellent for dogs, their own little safe space so ignore the user who said you shouldn’t be using it. Is the crate big enough for her to have a bed, a bit of space and a puppy pad?

She is given a plastic chew toy, a flavoured nylabone, not a ball or teddy - she is reaching the end of teething and often likes a good chew/chomp and frankly that’s fine by me if she isn’t crying - sometimes DP forgets to put it in her crate at bed so I will give it her. There is nothing worse than listening to a dog crying and whining at 3am (for months on end) and we have neighbours so I let her sniff the living room for 5 mins after a wee to stretch her legs then she has to go back to bed and then we might get a couple more hours sleep. Not doing any of those things means no one is getting ANY sleep as at least this process means you can go back to bed within 10 mins rather than being kept awake by her crying for hours. The cry it out method just doesn’t work. I appreciate it worked on other dogs but she is 6 months old and we have tried that and made zero progress. We didn’t even have her in our room for the first few weeks as per many suggestions to put her elsewhere and that was even worse. The method of having her in our bed is probably what she wants but I don’t think it will result in her sleeping all night anyway.

Problem is I do not know if this is a ‘I need a wee’ whine or an attention whine as since we brought her home it’s the exact same whine and we aren’t sure if she does need to wee so we are letting her out to go. The attention seeking barking is a sharp yap and I know that one is her frustration but the crying is a constant whining noise

Let her sleep in your bed that's what she wants

@Lonny1985 tell dp to sleep in the crate then, if you don't let her you won't get any sleep or will have to let her go to a family that will, she needs the closeness, it's not fair on anyone.
You can hoover the bed

She is given a plastic chew toy, a flavoured nylabone, not a ball or teddy

But that's still a reward! You're teaching her to whine at 3am and then all she has to go is go outside and she gets a yummy flavoured Nylabone to chew on 🙈

She's not a tiny puppy anymore - she's six months old and should really be sleeping through the night at this stage. Stop giving in for an easy life because it will create more problems down the line.

And there it is! The dog is a fucking cockapoo. There’s your answer, poor thing is probably from a puppy farm.

You say you have to do those things or nobody gets any sleep, but it's more that you do those things for her because it's the easy option.

She doesn't need to stretch her legs or have a Nylabone at 3am. She needs to go to sleep in her bed at 3am. As her owners it's your responsibility to teach her to sleep through the night for her own health as much as anything else.

The more you encourage her to get up in the night, the harder it will be to break the habit. Tough love is what's needed here, even if it means a few nights of very little sleep.s

As soon as I read you post I just knew you had a cockapoo. They get very anxious.

Has she been taught to settle? If not teach that first of all. Mine know the command settle down now and that means it's time to relax and go to sleep.
It takes time. You have to reward the settled moments and that's hard.

I'd ditch the crate. Too restrictive. I'd either accept she's got free reign in the bedroom or set up a larger pen for her.
She needs to be able to move to regulate her temperature. That includes being too hot. You need to teach her and reward her for the behaviour you want. So randomly give her a reward when she is settled and doing what you want.
Practice in the day too. Go into the bedroom settle her in her bed and lie down and read a book. Reward her for doing the right thing. If she needs attention then get her to come to the side of the bed and give her a fuss.
Neither dogs nor children attention seek to be naughty. The attention NEED and therefore seek it out. She's still very little and may be going through a fear period. If she's asking for attention it's because she's anxious not because she's trying to piss you off. Put her bed beside yours so she feels close to you. Or sleep with a blanket for a few nights then put it in her bed so she is reassured by your scent.

Yes you need to be firm. Make sure she toilets in the evening before you go to bed so she doesn't need to go out. Stop picking her up she has legs she can walk herself outside.

Make sure the bedroom is dark and consider having a white noise machine on too.

But also don't overthink it. The more you get anxious about it the more she's going to pick up on and be made anxious by. Don't be cross with her either. She's not understanding what you want.

You havent taught her to "chill". Every single dog needs to learn when to switch off.
Shes waking you up because its rewarding to her. She gets your attention. And she hasnt been taught when to switch off I.e bedtime. I've always crate trained my 3 dogs as pups, even if they don't use the crate as they get older. It is no different to putting a baby in a crib when they are tired ( I don't like comparing dogs to kids but I will for this only). When you take her out for a walk, put her in the crate after, even for just 30 minutes. It's a chill time after exercise. If you never train your dog to switch off you will create a over excited hyperactive dog that wakes you when they can't "chill". Same as when they are young pups and they get nippy, they're overtired so crate for a nap. I'd also work on mental stimulation, she's getting older and mentally stimulating games will tire her out more.
I have an extremely highly driven female American bulldog and honestly I've had to train her to switch off ( she's never fully off) but it's helped massively. Also found a blanket over the crate helps them feel more safe, it feels more like a den. Pups are hard work, all animals really but you'll get those peaceful nights back again. Hang in there. Remember consistency and routine. All the best xx

Cockapoo. Probably from a puppy farm 😡