Puppy crying at night

Ms Tootsie

Hi folks

We juts got a new puppy (15 weeks old) and last night he spent the night whining and crying once we went to bed. This was his fourth night with us and he had no issues the nights before this.

We have him in a kitchen where he has a soft bed (which he hasnt chewed up and he likes to even sit in it during the day when we are there so we know he likes this space) and he is currently paper trainned so it is not like he is looking to be let outside for this. Last night he cried until we let him out into the hall and then he slept at the foot of the stairs but then began whining again when he woke up at 5am.

A google search seems to suggest that having him in a crate in our bedroom and then gradually moving him back to the kitchen is the most common way to cure this problem but to be honest we are a bit loath to using a crate or cage of any kind. We would prefer him to see his bed as his space and not have to confine him to a cage.

Any suggestions or advice on how we can stop the crying once we go to bed would be greatly appreciated!!

talkin

put a small ticking clock under his blanket or pillow in his bed. its something to do with the ticking soothing him like the heart beat of his sibblings or mother.
i dont know about moving him into your room for a while,we did that and 8 years later we cant get our dog to sleep anywhere but in a bedroom! except for during the day she'l fall asleep anywhere during the day but at night it has to be the bedroom

endasmail

try giving the pup a jumper of something with your scent on it to go asleep on
then ignore the yelps
worst thing you can do is go down to it

Ms Tootsie

I will def give both the jumper and the ticking clock thing a try! Thanks. I wish I hadnt went down last night when he was crying as now I am sure he thinks if he does this then someone will eventually come down. And I really dont want him in the bedroom at night as I know a few people who have done this and like the previous poster it became a permanent situation.

It's just so heartbreaking as I know he is doing it for attention but it genuinely sounds like he is in such distress.

andreac

You just have to be tough and not give in. He will settle after a few nights. If you go down to him or give him attention he will realise if he cries he gets your attention so just be tough, it will pay off in the long run.

talkin

try to make sure hes tired as well so all he'l want to do is sleep. i read somewhere putting a hot water bottle at the end of his bed would work but iv never tried that one. the ticking of the clock has worked in the past for me though.

its all about routine. he'l get used to it soon as long as you dont give in. see he's just settling in now and feeling part of the family,nows the time to teach......

noddyone2

Ours done the same, that was 14 yrs. ago. She slept in or bedroom every night after. Glad we gave in, she's coming to the end of her days now, we feel we done right by her.

talkin

noddyone2 wrote: »

Ours done the same, that was 14 yrs. ago. She slept in or bedroom every night after. Glad we gave in, she's coming to the end of her days now, we feel we done right by her.

we did the same, i wouldnt change it either not that she'd let us at this point but its not for everybody.

_Lady_

Hey, don't worrry about having gone down - I freaked out after our first night as well. Our lad was eight weeks old and sleeping on a warm blanket in the back bathroom. He wasn't trained yet which was why we were keeping him confined to a smaller (tiled!) room. He cried and whined for hours and then eventually got himself worked into such a state that I couldn't take it any more and went downstairs to take him out and settle him down. Argued with the oh over going down just like most, but I was glad I did. He was frantic. Ended up rocking him back to sleep like a baby that first night!!! All he wanted was contact. I wrapped him up in an old pj top of mine once he settled, plonked him down and he slept after that. He still keeps the top in his kennel now and we never have any problems with him (5 mths old now). Your dog is probably just coming around to realising what he's lost in the litter and may have been distracted for the first couple of nights with all the excitement - and probably exhaustion!! Took a couple of nights for Freddie to settle but at least after the first few nights you know he's only doing it for attention cos he's already been reassured that you are coming back!!! We've never gone to the bedroom option - he gets to come up in the morning time on weekends if we're having a lazy start but that's it. He learned quickly enough and then when we moved him outside to his kennel, we never had a bit of bother with him sleeping outside - he loves his independence and his run of the back garden. Best of luck with it, people give out about the early puppy stages but it's so lovely really so enjoy!!!

Blogger50

We had the same. Fine for the first week and then out of nowhere two nights of blue murder but we didnt give in and she was fine after that.

Having said that when she was about a year old we decided to bring her to bed with us one Friday night as a "treat"..... you can guess where this story is going.

Anyway it suits us, as someone else said its not for everyone.

OP give it time. The ticking clock and clothes with a scent of you are an excellent idea. Also, a radio on really really low might help.

Oh an by the way, its obiligatory on this forum to supply puppy pictures!

B

Ms Tootsie

Hey folks, thanks for all the advice. I went with the ticking clock wrapped inside my jumper. I wore a hoody att yesterday evening and made sure to let him come over and smell it while I was wearing it. Then after a few hours to 'test' it I put it in his bed. Instantly he took it out, carried it over to the bottom of the stairs (which seems to be his favorite place at the minute) and lay down on it. he then carried it about the house with him for the next hour or so. Before we went to bed I wrapped the clock up in it and put it into his bed. Now I have to say when he eventually went to bed it did work (!) the problem is getting him to stay in his bed. The minute we leave the room he jumps out and cries at the door. We didnt go down to him but we could hear him whining and pawing at the door. It went on for about an hour before he eventually gave up and went to his bed. Once he did go to bed he slept until about 7am this morning (BIG improvement).

I am just wonderning now how we get him to stay in his bed when we leave the room - this is only an issue when we are going to bed as he happily sits in it during the day even when we are not in the room. It's like the little scamp knows we are going to bed!! Without a doubt he would prefer to sleep on the 3rd bottom step when we are in bed but we have seen him accidently stretch and end up rolling off the steps so since he is still very young we are worried about him hurting himself and so we wont let him sleep there at night.

I have to say, while it is hard work and yes I am exhausted! It is worth it. I just hope we can get him to stay in his bed and stop yelping and pawing at the door at night.

kylith

The only way I can see to get him to stay in bed is in a crate. Seriously, don't think of it as a 'cage', if it's introduced properly the dog will see it as their den. My pair were introduced to them quite late in life and they absolutely love them.

talkin

kaza2710 wrote: »

Hey folks, thanks for all the advice. I went with the ticking clock wrapped inside my jumper. I wore a hoody att yesterday evening and made sure to let him come over and smell it while I was wearing it. Then after a few hours to 'test' it I put it in his bed. Instantly he took it out, carried it over to the bottom of the stairs (which seems to be his favorite place at the minute) and lay down on it. he then carried it about the house with him for the next hour or so. Before we went to bed I wrapped the clock up in it and put it into his bed. Now I have to say when he eventually went to bed it did work (!) the problem is getting him to stay in his bed. The minute we leave the room he jumps out and cries at the door. We didnt go down to him but we could hear him whining and pawing at the door. It went on for about an hour before he eventually gave up and went to his bed. Once he did go to bed he slept until about 7am this morning (BIG improvement).

I am just wonderning now how we get him to stay in his bed when we leave the room - this is only an issue when we are going to bed as he happily sits in it during the day even when we are not in the room. It's like the little scamp knows we are going to bed!! Without a doubt he would prefer to sleep on the 3rd bottom step when we are in bed but we have seen him accidently stretch and end up rolling off the steps so since he is still very young we are worried about him hurting himself and so we wont let him sleep there at night.

I have to say, while it is hard work and yes I am exhausted! It is worth it. I just hope we can get him to stay in his bed and stop yelping and pawing at the door at night.

He'l just realise with time that bed time is bed time. As long as you don't give in. If u knew he'd stay on the step at night it wouldn't be so bad. But I'd say as he gets to know Ye more he'd keep testing the boundaries and soon end up in yer room. Glad he slept last night

_Lady_

What about putting up a baby gate on the stairs and a sheet of mdf around to pen him into a little area near his favourite spot - so he's got room to trot around a little if he wants and isn't "caged" as such? But you are teaching him that there are boundaries at night time that he has to get used to and have manners because bedtime is bedtime! They could be removed over time when he gets used to the sleep routine?

This was my issue with Freddie as well. I don't believe in locking young pups into confined spaces as I think they're likely to get worked up and end up potentially "going" in their sleep space (at a young age anyway) and this is an unnatural occurrence. We always intended for our fella to sleep outside so it's worked perfectly for us as now he marches in and out of his kennel whenever he wants to go and is happy to go straight into his little house quietly when we put him out at night.

_Lady_

Other thing is - put a sheet of mdf in front of your door to protect it from scratching in the meantime!!!

Ms Tootsie

Even better news! On the second and third night we popped the clock in my jumper, it was a total success! This time we stopped playing with him for about 20 minutes before we went to bed so he was calmly settled in his bed, after a few minutes we left the room and he didnt follow us. I went back in and switched of the light and left a corner light on and left the room again. I went back a few minutes later and closed the kitchen door and went to bed myself. Result!

no scrapping at the door and he slept most of the night until about 20 minutes before we had to get up. We were greated by a very happy and waggy tailed puppy this morning when we came down.

Here he is settled into his bed for those requesting a picture frodo.JPG

Blogger50

Thats great news! Glad you're making so much progress.

On another note....... he's adorable!

talkin

Blogger50 wrote: »

Thats great news! Glad you're making so much progress.

On another note....... he's adorable!

Aw he's gorgeous so happy he's sleeping!

_Lady_

Awh brill!!! Had to laugh that he's called Frodo, he's lovely!

Here's Freddie!!!

Carrot munching - a favourite activity if someone is cooking in the kitchen!

Ms Tootsie

_Lady_ wrote: »

Awh brill!!! Had to laugh that he's called Frodo, he's lovely!

Here's Freddie!!!

Carrot munching - a favourite activity if someone is cooking in the kitchen!

Awww he is co cute!! Bit of a wee poser, I love it!

_Lady_

Haha - oh for sure a complete and utter poser!