[mydogfred]

Hello, I am so happy I found this website! I have a new 8 week old puppy named, Fred
I have already fallen in love with him, he is the sweetest puppy. Just had a question about night time. I have been putting him in a crate beside my bed at night, he goes right in and snuggles and falls asleep with no problems. We go to bed around 10 or 10:30. He wakes up around 1:30 am to go pee and then again at 4 to go use the bathroom. He then wakes back up at 5 or 5:30 to get up and play for the day. I have tried letting him whine a little while but this just turns into little shrieks and howls. Should I just keep getting up that early with my dog him or should I move him to another room after he gets up the second time to pee so he will learn its not quite time to get up yet...Im sure youve read questions like this a million times,sorry, I just need some advice! Thanks to everyone!

 

[dexter0125]

I know it's annoying (and deafening) but I say let him cry it out. Eventually he'll learn that this is not the way to get let out for play time. I'm sure you'd like to sleep later than 5 am! Maybe he'll realize that he needs to be quiet after his last potty and it's really a nice time to take a nap since he's not getting out!

Another suggestion is to buy a kong and fill it with goodies, then freeze it over night and give it to him when he gets up at 4 for potty. it'll keep him busy and maybe with a little something in his belly, he'd get sleepy again.

 

[Bailey'sMom]

The 8 week pups are so cute and sweet but can be alot of work. We would bring Bailey out the first time, then the second time try to let her whine a bit and then take her out. Its tough because their bladders are so little not matured yet. A good rule of thumb is you take the pup's age in months and add one and thats how long they should be able to hold it for. With your pup, they can hold it for about 3 hours. It helped us alot with house training and it gets better as time goes on. When you take the pup out early, never play with them, we made that mistake. Just take the pup out to do his thing and then right back inside and back into the crate until its time to wake up. Its tough, but the sooner they learn to be house broken, less accidents you have to clean up! It takes time and patience, don't get discouraged, just stick to it

 

[Lj41072]

Same problem!

Stella is now 13 weeks old. We started with the crate in the bedroom but would wake up and stay up if she heard us tossing and turning or getting up to go to the bathroom. We moved the crate to the living room which works....until she wakes up at 2:30am and wants to get up to play. We live in an apartment building so we can't let her cry for long periods of time. We have tried the frozen kong treats, etc. Right now the two of us alternate staying up with her but this is not a good solution.

Can any more seasoned pup owners offer us advice?

-Sleepless in Hoboken

 

[rubysdoghouse]

I'm going to throw out the same advice that has been offered many times before on this forum. Try covering the crate with a towel or light blanket at night. I have used this with many pups and they seem to like the "den" like area to sleep in. They soon learn that it is back to sleep time if the crate is covered and time to ask to get out if the create is not covered. I only cover the crate if it is night time and never throughout the day. I have the airline type crate so I would just drape a towel over the door area and leave the side slates open to keep air moving. This also seemed to help them sleep through my many potty stops during the night. I am one to keep the crate in my bedroom next to the bed as I am a firm believer that the 7-8 hours of sleeping and smelling me helps with the bonding process. Have patience with Fred as he will figure it out in no time. Happy training.

 

[mydogfred]

Thank you for the encouragement! I do cover his crate with a blanket, he is great through the night, he just wants to wake up so early which is hard after the 2 potty breaks weve already taken! Is this just part of puppy hood? Will he eventually start sleeping in? Thats why I was just wondering if I should move his crate to another room after the second potty trip. I feel like I have a newborn, LOL...I guess I do though:
Thanks for all the help!

 

[ozzy'smom]

I can't tell you how many times I found myself googling this very question at 5:30am when Ozzy was that age. He would accept his crate easily at all times but that was his wake-up time and though I could get him back in he's whine for awhile and then settle in, but not for long. It wasn't really worth waking up the whole household over. I took a daily nap for almost a month.

They do generally grow out of it. Ozzy still wakes up about 6:30 but we'll let him in bed with us at that time if it means he'll let us sleep a little longer. On weekends when we want to sleep a little more if we feed him he'll settle in for even more. But, at that age we just dealt with it and it DID get better.

 

[Hunter'sMom]

When I first brought Jackson home I was getting up with him for the day at around 5:30 AM. Gradually as we got used to each other's routine, as as he got a little older, he started to sleep later and later. Hopefully things will start getting easier for you soon!