New Puppy - what to do overnight

[Wobblyhousebuyer]

Hey everyone, we are soon to welcome our first puppy, but I'm still confused about what to do overnight! Am I setting an alarm, am I sleeping downstairs, am I going to her when she whines, or am leaving her with a puppy pad in her crate to use?! These are all things I've read or been advised and I just dont know what I really should be doing to establish a good routine to build on to get her toilet trained. Any help greatly received. She will be 8 weeks when we get her. Thanks

Hi, I’d recommend the book easy peasy puppy squeezy, it’s really good and full of really helpful advice through all stages of puppyhood.

Thank you, I actually got that book yesterday and will be making a start on it today!

We did large crate with bed in half and puppy pads in other half. Also got a heart beat puppy from Amazon for her. She cried first 15 minutes left in crate but then fell asleep and slept through. We got an inexpensive puppy cam from Amazon so could see on our phones what she was doing. We didn’t talk over it although friends said that helped. We had crate initially in kitchen. She slept through from that first night with no issues until the other week (15 months) and she now just sleeps downstairs outside the crate. She house trained quickly and grew quickly so bed ended up taking whole crate quite quickly. Puppy would wake at 05.00 but that gradually moved back. Good luck. It’s hard work - like a baby - at first but they grow up quickly and our dog is the best thing I’ve ever done for DC2.

I followed the guides on the Dog Training Advice and Support Facebook page (which is free, but they also have a book you can buy if you want a hard copy).
My puppy slept right next to my bed so I could hear when he woke up and take him to the garden. He woke twice in the first night, once in the second and mostly slept through the night after that. He was my first puppy so I don’t know if this is unusual or not. The guides said that he was likely to sleep better if he wasn’t on his own and it certainly seemed to work for us. If you don’t want to have the puppy in your bedroom, the advice in the guides is to sleep downstairs near your puppy at first so you will wake if they need to go out in the night
For daytime house training I followed the guides to the letter (watching him like a hawk and taking him outside regularly) and we only had a couple of indoor wees and no poos.
It was pretty exhausting being so vigilant, but he was house trained fairly quickly because I just didn’t give him the chance to toilet indoors.
Good luck and enjoy your new puppy!

The first few nights will be difficult. They have left their mum and littermates and feel horribly alone, so we’ve always had their crate in our bedroom. They then know you’re there.

My last puppy didn’t take to the crate though, she wanted to be huddled up next to our other dog, but that was all fine. She asked to go out etc still.

Think you’ve got to see how it goes, each dog is different.

Crate made up with a bowl of water and a blanket form the breeder (smells of mum). You sleep downstairs but not in same room and go immediately when cries and lift and go outside and place puppy on grass.

You need a correctly sized crate. Not too big or small. If it’s not too big, they won’t wee inside it and will learn to hold it a little bit u til you get them outside. They’re babies though so that’s why you sleep down stairs as they can’t only hold a few seconds from needing (like toilet training a toddler).

my dog is older now but we never had accidents doing this. I only slept downstairs for 3 nights but continued going as soon as the dog cried for a few weeks.

What breed - that makes a huge difference, I think.

Mine sleep in my bed from the day their littermates go home, and they're clean through the night. My youngest went from something like 10pm- 5am her first night. Since her littermates went home she's never woken me up. But I know if I had tried to put her in a crate, even in my bedroom, she would have cried all night.

I don't like crate training for big dogs. I wouldn't make a big dog sleep in a crate for 6+ hours every night as I don't think it's good for their joints to not be able to move as necessary.

I wouldn't set an alarm to wake up, and I would keep the puppy close - either upstairs with you, or you downstairs - so if she does wake up you can get her outside quickly.

But, honestly you need to do whatever works best for you and the dog. But lack of sleep will only make the next few weeks harder than it needs to be - so if you're not opposed to having the puppy upstairs, do that.

Thank you everyone for the advice! I am an overthinker and it's really good to hear what's worked for everyone. She's a Jack Russell so no worries about being too big for a crate fortunately. 😀

I don't like crate training for big dogs. I wouldn't make a big dog sleep in a crate for 6+ hours every night as I don't think it's good for their joints to not be able to move as necessary. @TheHungryHungryLandsharks I agree with this.

Got a crate for one of my puppies when they first became a thing, he didn’t like it, but one of the other dogs slept in it, despite having the whole room, he loved it. But the door was never shut, just somewhere he could lie.

OP, We used a pen for our last dog. Gave him space to sleep, and move around, was only in it when we went out, or at night. This was used for a few weeks then he had the run of the room with the other dogs. It was helpful to have somewhere to put him when he got over stimulated and needed sleep. The other dogs sometimes went in as well - more out of fomo I think 🤣

Sleep together. Whether that’s puppy up with you, or you down with puppy.
Take her out to the toilet in the night if she wakes.
Pads will make house training harder, unless you will always have a pad in the house/crate for her.

We slept on the sofa for 7 nights with small puppy on ur chests. I know, I know....
Took him out every hour to pee.
By night 8 we were broken and put him in his covered crate in the kitchen while we went up to bed. Everybody slept so much better. Set alarms to take him out to pee every hour. Started extending that hour. Dry overnight by week 3.
He stayed in that crate till he was two, it was his safe place.

Everyone is different, everyone has different ideas, every dog is different. What breed.? I've always had dogs. Mostly 2, one time 3. Previous puppy a phalane slept downstairs in the utility room with the other 2, male very quickly house trained.. until his bestie died suddenly when he was a year old,he cried all night,so was allowed onto the bed. Last puppy (now 2) border collie got her at 7 weeks, (and COVID first time 2 weeks later!) in a crate by the bed. We put her outside at midnight, then when she whimpered around 5 am. Later moved her to a bigger crate outside our room. She still likes to go in the crate now if we go out, the door isn't closed. People think crates are cruel,a prison. The phalene slept in his in the day, door open. Our other dog 10, sleeps under the dining table with her back to the wall. We have a dog flap have used them about 25 years, they have a section of garden about 50 foot long securely fenced off,so we can go out and leave them. Almost all our dogs have been border collies.

I had my westie in my room. He was probably a similar size to yours. The plan was he slept on his bed which was next to the 3yo cocker, but he thought the shut door meant he had a captive audience to play with and was more interested in games than snoozling. So he got the cat crate. It was a cold winter so he had a soft turtle cover over a hot water bottle that he could move away when he wanted. He was 2kg, so kitten sized and had plenty of room.

I'd take them both out when I got up in the night and if he needed to go outside of that he'd whine or, if it was an emergency, give a single sharp bark.

He eventually progressed to his big boy bed, outside of the crate, but with the bedroom door still shut. Once he stopped trying to play outside the door was left open so he could go out through the dog flap whenever he needed. Highly recommend that approach as there's been some nights when he's had an upset tum and exited like a puppy rocket.

I'd also recommend playing with puppy, rolling him over, handling his paws and nails. All as a big game and no stress (they love being roughed up) so they get used to their feet being held. Makes nail clipping much easier. I just roll him over and quickly trim. No stress for anyone. Tickle his tum if he gets wiggly.

@Wobblyhousebuyer Oh she'll be tiny! 😍Do update us with how it goes (and share photos - nothing better than a puppy photo).

My jrt, I didn't know what I was going to do until the first night.
I crated her in kitchen, with everything she needed.
Knew pretty soon she was a bright thing and that I just needed to leave her, because I needed my sleep too.
Didn't get much for a week. I went down to regularly when she cried to let her know she was ok, out for a wee each time.
Straight back into crate, no fussing.
She learnt after a week that was how we were doing nights!
I did lose it emotionally at times, not at her but it was really tough.
She was good as gold from then on, no accidents and started sleeping longer.
I think she got fed up of being taken to the garden every time she howled those first 3 to 4 nights 😂

We didn’t do puppy pads at all, especially not in the crate. He knew not to do his business in the crate from the start - but we did take him out to garden regularly. Every hour or so at the start in the day. He got it really quickly.

We had ours in his crate i slept downstairs he woke at 3 am for a pee i let him out he did his pee on the pad then back to bed, i never had to set an alarm, .i ended up moving his bed upstairs i was missing my bed, i did try and let him sleep out of his crate but he never settled or slept much so it is his night time bed now

We had ours next to our bed. Everytime he cried in the night we got up and took him outside. That lasted a week then he got up once in the night for the second week then slept right through. Over time we inched the crate further away from us towards the door u til eventually he was sleeping in a different room. Can’t remember what age he was but a good few months I think.

We had a farm pup who had never lived in a house before so he didn't suffer much with separation anxiety. We cordoned off part of the living room with a playpen and had a crate in there. We'd take him out for a last wee at 11pm, set an alarm for 3am so we could take him out again and then up for the day at 7am. We also used to put a hot water bottle in his crate, with the top I'd worn that day wrapped around it. We only had to do this for about 2-3 weeks before he managed 11pm-7am.

Edited to add that we never used puppy pads. They really do just drag out the toilet training process.

I think you have to play it by ear a bit - and it's what suits YOU as well as the new pup. I've never crated a dog at all, have slept with my pups in my room overnight (they've usually found themselves their own bed as they get bigger and older and don't need me), and toileted them several times in the night when they are small (but I'm usually toiletting myself at the same time - age, sigh).

Some dogs love the security of a crate, others just want to be near you. None of mine who slept with me as pups have insisted on continuing to sleep with me as they got older, they've moved out onto the landing or down to the kitchen (where it's cooler).

My pup stays in the crate in my room. I put pads in it as I'm lazy so he has a little pee on it during the night if he needs to or if I'm up I take him to pee.. this works for me as he doesn't disturb me all night. He sleeps from 8pm unto 6am.

My last two puppies have slept in crates next to my bed. When they woke up and whined, I took them outside for a wee. Then back in the crate until morning.
My eldest needed taking out during the night for a good few weeks, but was trained during the day within two weeks.
My youngest slept through the night from day 2, but wasn't reliable during the day until about 4 months old.
At around 5 months old, we did away with the crate and they slept in dog beds in my room or on my bed.

K1233,a very good point, Id also add,lift their lips,touch their teeth, and start grooming, brushing from the word go, otherwise these things become a battle ground.

When we got our puppy he was 11 weeks old. He slept in bed with us for the first week, 2nd week he was in a crate next to the bed and the 3rd he was in his crate downstairs. He was sleeping fine by the then, obviously all puppies will be different so you'll have to figure out the best strategy as you go

My puppy slept in a crate by the bed for three nights then he made so much fuss he went in his crate to sleep downstairs with my other dog. Went to bed at 10.00, got up at 2.00 for first week then pushed it on by 15 minutes every three nights until he could last till 6.00. We had no accidents at all during the night.