NIGHT TIME SLEEPING - PUUPY PROBLEM

[Charlotte1486]

hi. I need some advice, we did the silly thing when we first got our puppy and let him sleep on OUR bedroom floor in his bed at night, we tried leaving him downstairs on the first night but he cried really loudly and because we live in a terraced house we didnt want to upset the neighbours so we had him up with us. Now we have decided that we need to have him sleep down stairs instead, so last night we gave it a try, he fell asleep down stairs in his bed last night and was fine for about 45 minutes but then we heard him walking around and after a couple of minutes the wimpering started, we left him wimpering for a while and then my partner went down and told him to get back in his bed but he kept getting up and sitting at the bottom of the stairs and the wimpering would start again and my partner would go down and keep making him get back in his bed, although the wimpering was not as loud as the first night it was getting louder. After about an hour we had to give in partly for the neighbours and partly because we had to get up for work this morning and we took him up with his and he settled straight away and slept all night, didnt even wake us up this morning like he usually does.

We would really like to get this sorted and are planning on making a start this weekend, when we dont have to worry about getting up for work. What is the best way to tackle this, should we just persevere and let him cry, I'd like to think he would settle eventually, or should we keep going down and making him get in his bed? Someone recommended we buy ear plugs so we cant hear him but I'm not sure about that.

A lot of people recommend putting a t shirt or something in with him which we did and I dont think it had any effect.

Any advice would be much appreciated. THANK YOU.

[woofgang]

how old is the pup? We have always started ours off sleeping in the bedroom with us because it makes houstraining much easier and quicker. Once they have got to adulthood, one and all they have decided to sleep where they want, sometimes still in the bedroom, sometimes elsewhere. I hold my hands up to being a real softy and cannot stand the thought of a littlie being so upset when I should be making sure that he feels totally secure and bonded with me to form a firm foundation for later training. If you really MUST have him sleep elsewhere then my best advice would be to get a crate. Train him to go into it and sleep during the day and then when he settles and is happy that it is his own den, have him go in there at night. If he is still too small to go a whole night without a wee/poo then you will have to get up and let him out. If/when he accepts the crate as his den, there will be a natural inhibition against soiling it but once that inhibition is overcome then housetraining gets exponentially harder IMO because the basis of it is teaching pup that the whole house is the pack den and therefore making use of the no soiling the den inhibition.CRATE TRAINING WILL BE A SLOW PROCESS! please don't have any expectation that you will complete it over the weekend as you and the pup and the neighbours will just be upset by the results. Me? I'd let him stay in the bedroom lol

[Charlotte1486]

Max will be 14 weeks old tomorrow, I dont really know what we can do because monday to friday he is with my partner's mom and dad during the day because we are both at work, so the gettin him to sleep in his bed in the day wont really work because it will be different to the bed at home, maybe we'll just keep him in our room, its just he wakes up so early, even at weekends!!!! haha

[woofgang]

Given the circs, I would let him stay where he is too! He won't wake any later if he isn't in with you, maybe even earlier and will still be bursting for a wee/poo on waking so you'll either have to get up or clean up the mess anyway. If its any comfort, once he is older the early rising may subside. My two are now nearly two. they both sleep in longer now the mornings are dark. One will be up and at em when i get up but is happy to kip on if I do, the other is as hard to rouse as any human teenaged boy lol

[woofgang]

PS I don't think letting a new little pup sleep with the pack instead of leaving him alone in a strange place is at all silly....I think its the right and kind thing to do

[brenda]

Why can't he just stay in the bedroom in his bed as at present.? He is only a wee one and night time is cold and scary.When he is older and more confident he will probably find his own his own favourite place to crash out.

My dog comes to bed when I go , and is in her basket in the bedroom, but as soon as I have finished reading and put the light out, off she goes to the living room and stretches out on the settee with her head on a cushion .

She stays there until I get up in the morning.Good luck .Don't be hard on him , he is very young.

[woofgang]

Hi Brenda join the big Softies club!!

[brenda]

A good club to be in wolfgang ,I think.! Brenda.

[brenda]

Sorry typo--woofgang , haven't got the right specs on. !

[fredpuli47]

You are not alone! THIS big softie ought to know better and I ought to practise what I usually preach. However I've one pup now who wouldn't settle. My expectation, from past experience, is that he can be left to sleep where he's happy at that age. In due course, when he's older, more settled and confident he'll sleep where you leave him ,and adjust to that. My pup, being odd, has suddenly taken the decision himself. Last night, for the first time ; having come upstairs for a while, as usual, he took himself off downstairs and settled there.( I don't think he likes the bedside radio on all night, or maybe it's the snoring! LOL) The earlier instance did not involve the dog making the decision.Once she seemed old enough to try this, I simply put her downstairs, reassured her (acting much as if I were going out and leaving her), and left her. If she then did start to follow me I put her back, said 'No, good girl' reassured her and left.She adjusted , without whining or fussing and accepted that she was to sleep on her 'bed' downstairs at night (as, indeed, she would do in the day)