New puppy checklist I want to do things right (pics added!!!!!!!)

slummymummyof3

Our puppy is now 12 weeks, we got her at 8 weeks. We only had 2 disturbed nights. She goes into her crate at about 11 and gets up about 7 (with no accidents) She had an accident the first 2 nights but nothing since. She sleeps in her crate in my study.

mumhug

Hi , I took the advice given and have put an up turnedbox in the crate so it is now much smaller. We had no toilet accidents overnight at all, in fact none what so ever. But I had the worst night ever in terms of sleeping. I have literally had 1 hour , she cried all night long i did go down to her because she had woken everyone up and the children were crying. I was not speaking to her or opening the door just stroking her head through the bars for 1 minute then going back to bed.
I know everyone will say ignore her but really cant as my neighbours have commented and the children arent getting any sleep.
I am taking her out for the toilet at about 11pm then again about 2am then again at 5am. She has the light on , blankets ,a little soft toy and i even wrapped a wheat bag in a blanket and put that in last night.

I cant really put the crate in my room as there simply isnt room for it.
What i have been doing today is putting her in the crate for an hour now and then ignoring her when she cries and going to her andrewarding when she stops and settles.

What do you think is this a good thing to do????
She is such a lovely little girl with a lovely temprement and great with toilet biting etc. I would love some help to reolve this. Please.!

foreign_correspondent

Yes, you have to get up in the night, she is too small to hold it all night.

Make her crate a fun place for her - pop a couple of really tasty treats for her to find when she goes in it, and perhaps just try popping her in when she looks drowsy in the daytime so she learns it is a place for sleeping.

Keep popping in and out of the room in the daytime so she leans that you do come back, and ignoring her a bit when you come and go, that you coming and going is normal and boring, not something to worry about.

If you go and stroke her when she cries you are teaching her to cry to get a fuss...

ETA - I would not be leaving the light on either - it makes her harder to know it is night time and she should be asleep! Have you tried covering the crate with a blanket, dogs naturally like little den like spaces and she may feel more secure if the crate is partially covered.

MoneySavingStudent_2

Maybe shes just scared of being alone? Have u tried having her in the crate in ur room? She might feel better seeing a familliar face when she wakes up? x

sarabe

mumhug wrote: »

Hi , I took the advice given and have put an up turnedbox in the crate so it is now much smaller. We had no toilet accidents overnight at all, in fact none what so ever. But I had the worst night ever in terms of sleeping. I have literally had 1 hour , she cried all night long i did go down to her because she had woken everyone up and the children were crying. I was not speaking to her or opening the door just stroking her head through the bars for 1 minute then going back to bed.
I know everyone will say ignore her but really cant as my neighbours have commented and the children arent getting any sleep.
I am taking her out for the toilet at about 11pm then again about 2am then again at 5am. She has the light on , blankets ,a little soft toy and i even wrapped a wheat bag in a blanket and put that in last night.

I cant really put the crate in my room as there simply isnt room for it.
What i have been doing today is putting her in the crate for an hour now and then ignoring her when she cries and going to her andrewarding when she stops and settles.

What do you think is this a good thing to do????
She is such a lovely little girl with a lovely temprement and great with toilet biting etc. I would love some help to reolve this. Please.!

I could never ignore a puppy in distress. This is very often how separation anxiety problems start.

If I were you I would be moving a piece of furniture out of my bedroom temporarily to make room for her crate or else I would be sleeping dowstairs with her.

You really, really need your pup to be happy in her crate and happily sleeping all night before you even attempt to make her stay on her own all night.

mumhug

Thank you for the advice i will try to cover the crate over a bit tonight and see how we get on. She has just ben happily sleeping in there for about 1 hour (with the door open) So i am hoping she is getting used to it.

I will also turn the light off.

supermezzo

I'd nip next door with a bottle of wine and explain to the neighbours that you're really sorry for the noise but it should only be for a few days til she gets the hang of it. Might sound harsh but if she learns now that she can get your attention whenever shes left alone by crying, she will do it whenever she feels she can and you will be apologising to the neighbours for the next 20 years!
Try to establish a night time routine with her in just the same way you do with kids - tea, bit of a play, out for a wee and into bed. Make 'night night' a command and settle her with a small treat, tuck her in/make a fuss, leave a light on in a nearby room (we leave the hob light on usually) and then stay up a while so she can hear you wandering about still. Our puppy bed time is 11.15 but we're invariably still up a couple of hours after that - It means we get chance to tidy the toys away and be 'normal' for a while. Then we either put them out before we go up, or we set the alarm and get up a couple of hours later (the idea being we get them up before they get us up thus not establishing a ' if I cry, you come running' routine). It's also a lot easier to semi-wake them, pick them up and put them out for a wee then re-settle them than if they are awake and alert by the time you get down. We don't make a fuss on the mid-sleep wee though as pups learn to wake up to see you for the fuss and the treat, even when they no longer need a wee.
The same routine works for getting up in the morning -If you can bear it for a few weeks, pre-empting the puppy getting up makes life a whole lot more bearable later on when you fancy a lie-in.

tr3mor

mumhug wrote: »

Thank you for the advice i will try to cover the crate over a bit tonight and see how we get on. She has just ben happily sleeping in there for about 1 hour (with the door open) So i am hoping she is getting used to it.

I will also turn the light off.

Yes. You really should turn the light off so that she knows it's night-time.

And really don't be tempted to go back to her, just let her cry, she'll soon get used to it. I wouldn't put the crate in the bedroom either.

leekat21

Hi

I would second covering the crate so that it's cosy and den like. We were lucky as we only had a couple of nights where Monty whined and he gave up after a few minutes. I just used to knock on the door of the room he was in. However, I never closed the door on his crate at night. For around a week, I got up to one puddle on the floor, never a number 2. I cleaned the puddles up without fuss each morning.

We also left a radio on all night in the kitchen, not at a very laudible volume just a background murmur.

I may be seen as cruel or too strict, but I just wouldn't have a dog (no matter how young or whining) in my bedroom with me. My dog has never been upstairs, his area is the kitchen and garden. He only gets in my living room on special occasions, he normally just lies on the threshold of it as that what we have trained him to do.

All puppies are different and some take longer to settle than others. When we collected Monty 6 of his 7 litter mates had already gone so he had already spent a couple of nights with just one brother and his Mum for company so he was perhaps more used to not being in a big litter huddle.

Our routine was out for a wee last thing, a little reward for doing a wee along with lots of praise and then a cuddle with me (on the rocking chair in the kitchen) and then into the crate. Some nights he didn't even wake when I put him in his crate, others he opened his eyes but closed them again.

I'd have a word with your neighbours and apologise for the noise explaining that it may continue for a few days.

mumhug

Hi, Another very long night. We let her out t 11.30 and she went to the toilet. Then she went into her crate with a treat.The light was switched off and we put a blanket just over the top.
Within 30 mins she started howling which we ignored. At 2am she stopped very breifly so I used that time to take her out again. Back in the crate and howling again till 4 when she stopped again I came down to check and she had messed in her bed so I cleaned that and she went back in the crate then she howled again untill 6am when she finally stopped and we finally got to sleep.

The alarm went off at 7am.


When i said i couldnt fit the crate in my room and i meant it there is nowhere i cant go moving furniture out as someone suggested as i have nowhere to put said furniture.

I know this is something we will just have to work through , it is just hard having hardly any sleep even my daughters teacher commented how tired she has been in class.

Off to the vets for her first lot of jabs tonight.