Sleeping through the night...

[pugluver82]

So Hugo kept me up all night. I love him...but man! I'm exhausted. 11pm, 2am, 4am, 6am....like clock-work.

Any suggestions on getting him to sleep through the night? I tried one of those heart-beat toys in his crate. No luck. Should I just tire him out real good today and tonight? Maybe not let him sleep as much today? I'm at work today until 2pm, and I was thinking about taking him for a walk around the block then giving him a bath.

Can he go on a walk now? He's only had his first shots...

Help!

tired ashlee and puppy hugo

xoxo

[Sandy and Debbie]

I think that he should be getting up every four hours at the most to go to the bathroom.  this should last for about four months.  the work you put in now will lead him (and you) from puppyhood to being an excellent dog.

[pugluver82]

I'm down for 4 hours. But 4 times a night....my goodness!

I think I'm going to tire him out today so he's pooped by tonite!

Good idea??

[Kathy]

I only found one sure fire way to make them not do that - take them to bed with you.... sorry... could not resist.

Sophie never slept through for months and months then I tok her in to bed with me just too get some sleep - sure enough slept through the night.

Seriously though he is lonely right now but it gets better. Try putting a hot water bottle into his bed wrapped in a blanket.

[pugluver82]

I think I'm going to buy a hot water bottle today. I want him to sleep and be comfortable, not crying all night.

I just want to cuddle him...but I know I'm suppose to ignore the "crying" behaviour. So hard though!

Thanks all!

More tips would be helpful!

ash and hugo

[blanche]

Ah yes, puppies and night time.  Fun, fun.  You will be getting up with him to potty three to four times a night, depending on the dog for quite a while.  And if he gets you up and doesn't go potty, then put him back to bed and ignore the crying.  It can take awhile to figure out what's "I have to potty" vs. what's "Wake up and keep me company".
I always tell people that it's not much different from having a human baby initially.  there's alot of work and not much sleep.

And no, he can't go for walks until after he's had his shots.  Try rousing games of chase the toy in your yard, down a hallway, etc.

[Anna]

Darwin had me up every couple of hours every night for months when we got him.  He constantly had to potty or poo, or he was lonely, and we discovered that he has many many food allergies so that was making him worse than other pups for pottying.  Do you have Hugo on a grain free kibble?  It may help.

I was told by a vet and a dog trainer that a good rule of thumb for small breed puppies is to not expect them to hold their bladder for longer than their age in months plus one - so a two month old pup can hold their bladder for 3 hours.  And that the length of time doesn't start to extend until they are about 6 months old.  I was also told that for good potty training to always take the pup out for a potty after every meal, every time they wake up from a nap, and after excitement or playtime because they are likely to need to go in all these circumstances.

But yeah, be prepared for the "I want love" crying.  If you give in and put him on the bed with you be warned!  You will never get him off again.  We found that a stuffed toy and a hot water bottle wrapped in a shirt that smelled of us helped with Darwin but in the end we succumbed and put him on the bed after he was injured.  He's been a sleeping through the night, big bed dog ever since.  Funnily enough he's still is very attached to the stuffed toy though, he still needs to sleep with it at night, but on the big bed.

They really are like having a baby from what I'm told.  When we first got him Darwin fell asleep on my chest and actually wet on me while he was sleeping!  He did the same thing on Nick's lap.  When I told my Mom she howled with laughter and said I was being prepared for motherhood by dealing with puppyhood.

Good luck! and enjoy!  You'll actually miss the wee puppy days when they're over.... really.

[Julie]

All these posts make me realize how lucky I was with all of mine, either that or I was a mean mommy.
I always crated in a big enough crate that they had paper to go and a blanket to lay on. We would always look in in the middle of the night but never did the every two or 3 hrs. I feel for you and your lack of sleep, but the time will go by quickly and he will sleep through the night.

[blanche]

Ashlee:
I can email you a ton of stuff about puppy training and dealing with the various issues.  My email is blanche.axton@gmail.com.  Shoot me an email if you're interested.

[Pam]

We didn't get Sully from the breeder until he was almost 12 weeks old.  He cried and cried for the first night.  The second night was not as bad.  I get up every night at 3 am to check my sons sugar so I would take Sully out of his crate and put him outside.  Usually parading in the yard like a lunatic go potty, pee pee baby.  When we came in he would be excited and want to play, I would put him in the crate and he would cry and cry again.  He actually was worse when I put him back after I woke him up.  After about a 7-10 days I started just putting him on the bed after he went out in the middle of the night, which lead to him just sleeping in the big bed and lasting all night.  I found he slept better with us right through no accidents ever on the bed.  After we had him 3 weeks he was out of the crate completely and just sleeping with us.  We were lucky he was totally trained in 3 weeks probably a little less.  He has generally gone out for the last time around 11:30-12:00 and got up at 8.  Now the lazy boy will sleep until the last human wakes (usually a teenager) any time after 11 LOL.  He hates the first day back to school ::)but loves weekends