Waking up during the night.

Picked Luna up on Sunday and she is such a little bundle of joy and surprisingly she listens when she does something wrong. Sleeps a lot but suppose that's expected when as she is only 7 weeks.



She is waking up every 2/3 hours for the toilet which she does in her cage fine but then cries for attention. I am wondering how I should act on this? Should I go straight down when I hear her and try settle her? Wait 10/15 mins then go down so she knows that crying wont always get my attention? Or just leave her to cry and settle on her own?

Aww.... what a sweetie!

More than likely the cry is for attention. She has to get used to sleeping without her mum and littermates.

I was lucky in that Betty never cried, but my fall back was to ignore it or risk her learning that crying would bring attention.

She may do better if she can hear you at night. How feasible would it be to bring the cage into your bedroom.... just for a few nights?

How have you set her cage up? With a separate area for sleeping and toilet? I started like this but then removed the puppy pad (which she was shredding) and made the cage smaller with a divider. I would take her out for a wee at midnight and then set my alarm for three hours later to take her out. To start with she was awake and ready to go pee but as she got older I found that she could go longer between toilet breaks until she slept through at 12 weeks old.

The getting up in the night is a killer, but it doesn't last long. Keep those night time toilet trips quiet and low key (no playing) so that she can quickly settle down again.

Good luck - it is hard work in those early days

Bless her. You have to remember as she is younger she will find it even harder than a usual pup would at 8 weeks. She's away from the comfort of her litter mates and more than likely very scared. Is there any reason that you're allowing her to toilet in her crate, rather than taking her out into the garden at night? She won't be able to hold her bladder/bowel movements fully for a while, but i would say it's best not to create habits with toileting inside - great advice from Rachel above r.e seperating space etc.

Does she have a teddy to cuddle up with/is she warm enough? How long does she cry for when she wakes up? I've always had foster pups in the room with me (in their crate) but that's just personal preference.

Rachel33 wrote:Bless her. You have to remember as she is younger she will find it even harder than a usual pup would at 8 weeks. She's away from the comfort of her litter mates and more than likely very scared. Is there any reason that you're allowing her to toilet in her crate, rather than taking her out into the garden at night? She won't be able to hold her bladder/bowel movements fully for a while, but i would say it's best not to create habits with toileting inside - great advice from Rachel above r.e seperating space etc.

Does she have a teddy to cuddle up with/is she warm enough? How long does she cry for when she wakes up? I've always had foster pups in the room with me (in their crate) but that's just personal preference.

I am not wanting her in my garden just yet as she has not had her jabs and I know for a fact there has been a neighbours dog in my garden in the past couple of months as they do not have a fence to the rear of their property. (I will be putting one up) She takes her blanket into her crate with her to cuddle into, I will be hooking a pen onto the cage when it comes and will leave her cage open for her to go out and do her business but it worries me that she may get up and play. I have thought about bringing her into our room but really didn't want this as our cat sleeps in there just now and he is trying to keep his distance lol. It has only been 2 nights so I would expect the crying was just looking for a little bit of info on what to do regarding it.

I found putting a t shirt I had worn in the crate with a hot water bottle helped settle Buddy when I first got him - I would take the bottle out just before bedtime.. seemed to help him settle-having my smell around, when you take her out in the night try and not talk to her other than the command to go toilet whatever word you have chosen and then put her straight back in and say sleepies and go upstairs she will soon realise that you will be back in the morning - try and break the habit of toileting in the crate- even if you put the pad outside the crate by the door until you fix your fence , it will be a hard habit to break if she gets used to it.. Buddies breeder did the same and it took a lot of hard work to get him to go outside - at 8 months he still has accidents - doesn't ask to go out as he still thinks its ok to do in the crate ...im sure she will settle soon everything is so new to her

Give in and let her in my bed after 2 nights and still there.So not best person for this type advice.

ColinW wrote:Give in and let her in my bed after 2 nights and still there.So not best person for this type advice.

I did the tiring hard yards from 8 weeks but bozo sleeps in my bed every night too so add me to the 'hopeless' list My advice, ONLY let Luna on your bed if you are prepared to share your bed for the next 10+ years, I'm not kidding

AussieStaff wrote:I did the tiring hard yards from 8 weeks but bozo sleeps in my bed every night too so add me to the 'hopeless' list My advice, ONLY let Luna on your bed if you are prepared to share your bed for the next 10+ years, I'm not kidding

Well im single so no probs also have 2 cats who sleep bottom of bed

My partner wants to let her in the bed but I like my space in the bed tbh, even the cat annoys me never mind a big lump of a dog when she is bigger lol.

Anyway 3rd night was a lot better. She settled around 10 and did not start crying until around 4ish, my partner went down and said she had done 3 pees so had obviously been up but didn't cry for attention. I left her cage uncovered so she could see in the kitchen and looks like it helped.

Just be aware that this arrangment could well teach her that her crating is her loo. As folks on here know, I don't like crating dogs on a regular basis and I personally would be looking for an alternative, such as having the crate in there if you really want to, but with the door open and puppy pads available for her to use when she needs. If you don't want her on your bed, you could also think about having a bed for her next to yours. At this age, she won't be able to jump up and you should be able to teach her using rewards that her bed is her place.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'she listens when she does something wrong'. Puppies don't know what 'wrong' means. All they can do is learn to associate that an action gets a consequence (which is in fact a punishment), and they may learn to avoid doing an action if it gets something unpleasant. While there may be a place for clear but fair correction at a later date, it's not a great idea to go down the punishment route as this can create worry, and that can often make the original problem worse and/or cause new ones.

My favourite puppy training videos are these, well worth a look:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

LizP wrote:Just be aware that this arrangment could well teach her that her crating is her loo. As folks on here know, I don't like crating dogs on a regular basis and I personally would be looking for an alternative, such as having the crate in there if you really want to, but with the door open and puppy pads available for her to use when she needs. If you don't want her on your bed, you could also think about having a bed for her next to yours. At this age, she won't be able to jump up and you should be able to teach her using rewards that her bed is her place.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'she listens when she does something wrong'. Puppies don't know what 'wrong' means. All they can do is learn to associate that an action gets a consequence (which is in fact a punishment), and they may learn to avoid doing an action if it gets something unpleasant. While there may be a place for clear but fair correction at a later date, it's not a great idea to go down the punishment route as this can create worry, and that can often make the original problem worse and/or cause new ones.

My favourite puppy training videos are these, well worth a look:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

The cage will be getting kept open after tonight as I will be hooking a pen onto her cage for nights. I didn't think about putting her bed next to ours to be honest, I wanted to keep her down stairs as it is all laminate/lino so is easy to clean up if she doesn't make it to a pad which I have spread around the downstairs.

Maybe "she listens when she does something wrong" was the incorrect phrase to use. An example of what I was trying to say would be if she was trying to chew something if I went "eh eh" (hope you know the sound I mean lol) she would stop and move away from it. Should I be giving a treat for this? Or do you not think she actually understands she is doing good?

I will watch the video tonight when I get home from work, thanks.

I never had this problem with Jess. She sleeps really, really well. I do know my friend had a similar problem a few years back. I'm pretty sure the crying was less to do with needing the toilet and more separation anxiety and fear.

If I recall he bought some kind of pad (designed for cats iirc) that you put in the microwave for a minute or so to get it warm, then you put it in a fabric cover. It stays warm for hours and it really reassured the pup (like the warmth of the bitch/litter mates). It didn't completely solve the problem, the pup did still need a toilet break, but it greatly reduced the whining.

I think just leaving the crate open should be enough if the pad is outside. They pup is still really young and is going to need its sleep. That bring said, as long as the room is puppy proofed, is there any harm in it playing when you're not there?

dannyboi91 wrote:
Maybe "she listens when she does something wrong" was the incorrect phrase to use. An example of what I was trying to say would be if she was trying to chew something if I went "eh eh" (hope you know the sound I mean lol) she would stop and move away from it. Should I be giving a treat for this? Or do you not think she actually understands she is doing good?

It sounds more that the noise is breaking her focus on the toy and possibly adding aversive (something not nice). Right/wrong, good/bad are human concepts, so no she won't understand. But if every time you made a noise, either a word or any other sound, if she responds in a specific way and you reward her with a treat, you will have trained her to perform that action in response to that sound. It's not a million miles off how I teach 'leave it', except I build up an association between the words and a treat first, then work with toys asking the dog to 'leave it' then giving a treat. It's a very useful command!

I agree with Dan-C, by the way, if you room or a part of it is puppy proofed, and you leave toys and things to do, I don't think you need a crate. For me, they are over-used and with the door closed not all that nice for the dog.

We had a very successful night last night. No crying from 9:30pm to 6:30am this morning and I think that was only because she heard me going to the toilet. We put 2 puppy pads out and there were 3 pees on them . This is her area and cage (she is in there somewhere) lol.

Thats excellent for a dog her age i can just see her bless her

That looks perfect.

LizP wrote:That looks perfect.

Thanks Liz, I am trying to give her as much space as possible but keeping my kitchen safe at the same time . I can actually extend it out to the left as the back door is on this side of the alcove but we use the door a lot so think I will just leave it as is. Forgot about the bowls on top of her cage. We bought these thinking she could actually use just now I think she can bathe in them

Aww

Not a great night last night but think it may of been because of her first vaccination. Got woken up around 1:30am with Luna crying so I left it around 15 mins before I went down, when checking I couldn't see any pee in her pen so went over to her cage and her bed was soaking wet. I put a pillow from our bed and wrapped it in a blanket for her. She then toddled back and fell asleep. I think she may have been in that much of a deep sleep that she had an accident. She really wasn't herself after her jag yesterday.

LizP wrote:Just be aware that this arrangment could well teach her that her crating is her loo. As folks on here know, I don't like crating dogs on a regular basis and I personally would be looking for an alternative, such as having the crate in there if you really want to, but with the door open and puppy pads available for her to use when she needs. If you don't want her on your bed, you could also think about having a bed for her next to yours. At this age, she won't be able to jump up and you should be able to teach her using rewards that her bed is her place.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'she listens when she does something wrong'. Puppies don't know what 'wrong' means. All they can do is learn to associate that an action gets a consequence (which is in fact a punishment), and they may learn to avoid doing an action if it gets something unpleasant. While there may be a place for clear but fair correction at a later date, it's not a great idea to go down the punishment route as this can create worry, and that can often make the original problem worse and/or cause new ones.

My favourite puppy training videos are these, well worth a look:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

Watched some of the videos last nigh Liz and was very impressed, tried the sit one but she kept latching onto my fingers trying to get the treat which wasn't too pleasant lol. I think we might have to start with the mouthing video before we go ahead with teaching her to sit.

Hi danny remember and limit the training sessions to 10 minutes luna is still very young don't expect too much of her

Mia05 wrote:Hi danny remember and limit the training sessions to 10 minutes luna is still very young don't expect too much of her

I said that to my partner regarding her age last night, we sat for 5 mins and she kept getting distracted. Will definitely keep them short . Thanks for the advice.

Aww excellent i still do the basics with mia most days keeps her joints moving .i use natures menu they have a very high meat content. It comes in lamb beef and chicken ps the lamb stinks to high heaven

She had some of the puppy nuggets for her dinner last night as she will be getting fed raw but I haven't had a chance to get to our RAW food supplier yet. Cant remember the treats I am giving her but they are very soft and absolutely stink. Actually think they may be pets at homes on brand.

Aww bless her

LizP wrote:Just be aware that this arrangment could well teach her that her crating is her loo. As folks on here know, I don't like crating dogs on a regular basis and I personally would be looking for an alternative, such as having the crate in there if you really want to, but with the door open and puppy pads available for her to use when she needs. If you don't want her on your bed, you could also think about having a bed for her next to yours. At this age, she won't be able to jump up and you should be able to teach her using rewards that her bed is her place.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'she listens when she does something wrong'. Puppies don't know what 'wrong' means. All they can do is learn to associate that an action gets a consequence (which is in fact a punishment), and they may learn to avoid doing an action if it gets something unpleasant. While there may be a place for clear but fair correction at a later date, it's not a great idea to go down the punishment route as this can create worry, and that can often make the original problem worse and/or cause new ones.

My favourite puppy training videos are these, well worth a look:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

Thanks a lot for the videos, I now have her sitting on command and coming to me on command and she has just turned 8 weeks. Vey happy with how she is doing after following some of these videos. The toilet training is still an issue but I am sure we will get there. She seems to go for a poo on her mats but just pees anywhere.

They are good, aren't they? Glad they're working for you!

Toilet training takes time. They have pittance bladder control at that age and often don't realise they need to go till... oops! It'll come, don't worry.