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?

FFS she’s trying to get your attention overnight. She’s desperate to be close to you. You have said she will sleep downstairs if you’re there. So be there. Or let her sleep on the bed.
My eldest dog was very distressed when left as a puppy. So I didn’t. I slept downstairs with her until she felt secure enough that she didn’t need me.
You’ve got a dog. You need to give it what it needs and stop seeing behaviour as naughty. Behaviour is how your pup is communicating with you.

she isn’t from a puppy farm, why is this an assumption from my posts?
Behaviour is not naughty no one is reprimanding her. We are just tired. She isn’t our first dog. Please don’t infer from my post that she’s constantly crying, she isn’t, she can be left alone now, she will sleep for a few hours in her crate without any fuss she just wakes up and then cries. She is very healthy, exercised and loved and is rarely left on her own (the time it takes to do a Tesco shop once a week).

This thread has so much conflicting advice, theories, opinions (demands), not all of you can be right at the same time! Dog rearing is hard! Each dog and owner is different I don’t think it’s one size fits all as clearly shown here, but thank you for those who have taken the time I think it’s best we get advice from a behaviour specialist instead.

You're right op, we can only comment on what we've experienced ourselves. Dogs, like kids are all very different.

You just have to find a workable compromise. Ours wakes up far too early, 5.30/6am and if she goes back in her crate she just rattles and faffs on. So I go downstairs and get on the settee with her for an hour. Not ideal but it's doable, we don't want dogs with all the dog hair on our bed so if I can get an extra hour but it's on the settee then I'll accept that. I keep thinking it'll pass and she'll be like our old dog just quiet until its getting up time one day!

The problem with poodle crosses is, you just don’t know what you’re getting. Some people seem to believe now, that cockapoos are an actual breed. Someone told us last week, that their 16 week cockapoo was pure bred.

Anyone who is selling cockapoos is not a registered breeder of cockapoos because there is no such thing.

There is an explosion of cockapoos currently and they seem to be cute, cuddly and difficult to train. Our vet told us that her heart sinks when she’s seeing yet another CP with behavioural problems.

Personally, I think you would be wasting your money if you got a behaviour specialist in at this stage, but if you feel it's necessary then at least go with someone who has the necessary qualifications.

It just sounds like you have a slightly over-indulged puppy who knows that if she wakes up and makes a fuss she'll get rewarded. The only solution is to stop fussing her and ride out the "tantrum" as it were.

You're right that everyone is going to speak from their own experiences but I don't think there's a single behaviourist in the world who would recommend giving a six month old puppy a treat in the middle of the night

'Our vet told us that her heart sinks when she’s seeing yet another CP with behavioural problems.'

How funny, you'd think they'd welcome the business seeing as they charge 50 odd quid just to even look at them.

Some dogs are just noisy and demanding. Spaniels in general seem to be hyperactive yappy breeds so I can't see what different it makes if it's a purebred spaniel or a poo cross.

Spaniels in general are very high energy and intelligent - they're working dogs who need a job and that doesn't change just because you mix them with a poodle - also an intelligent working breed that needs a job.

I'm a dog walker and absolutely love being out with the spaniels but there is no way I would own one (or a mix) myself. They just need too much input and training - and I say that as a beagle owner

I think the reason so many seem to have behavioural problems is because they end up in homes that are completely unsuited to a working dog, and I suspect their cute "teddy bear" looks have a lot to do with that, unfortunately.

Our vets is permanently very busy, so they don’t want to take on difficult cases.

Is she exhausted by bed time? We used to spend the evening entertaining the puppy so by bed time she was exhausted. She slept through by 12 weeks ish in our room first in a closed then open crate. If she wakes us in the night she needs something usually a wee but that’s very rare. She’s gone through a few confidence wobbles where we’ve just dangled a hand down, she’s sniffed it then gone back to bed. No engagement just reassurance if she’s needed it. Now as an older pup she’s quite confident.

Either let her sleep with you or sleep with her until she’s going through the night reliably. Either works depending on your set up.

It sounds like there are multiple things going on here. It’s not normal for a pup that young to be ok with being left for that long during the day It’s possible that that’s contributing to the night time neediness. They need to be taught very slowly that you’ll always come back.

Id look at her day in general and see what you can tweak. You have a mix of two very intelligent and active breeds there which will need considerable input over her life. I’m an agility trainer, have behavioural qualifications so chose a working terrier as a small active dog as they’re far less work than a spaniel cross tbh. I’ve taught many.

I had terrier breeds before, mine have all been lazy. DP has had big dogs. I did tell him she was going to be hard work. Her mum is a high energy, lean, intelligent spaniel so we did know ours is going to be similar. She is pooped out by 9pm and we have tried moving the bedtime later as she’s going to sleep early evening instead of with us but she is often in a deep sleep by 10pm!

She is not mentally unstable she is just high energy, gets bored easily and likes human company. She’s otherwise good at learning commands and a people pleaser. She’s healthy and not mouthy and has no aggression although the over excitement around other dogs is another area to tackle (bum wiggling and lead pulling central!). We have a cat and dog is intrigued by cat but knows boundaries. Dog would like to play with grumpy cat but has now learnt cat doesn’t want balls 😂. She is a really good girl I can’t complain she isn’t unmanageable - we are just tired!!