Gr Pup @ Night Time - Am I Doing The Right Thing?

[gmc]

Hi all

We picked up our GR girl on Saturday and after 5 days she is settling in pretty well I think. She is an absolute delight.

I wanted advice on how I am handling nights with her = she eats at about 7pm and then gets put to bed at about 11pm.

For the last few night she hasnt been crying when she gets put to bed, I think she is too tired! Her bed is in the laundry, she has lots of toys and my trackie pants to sleep with.

I am sleeping in the spare room next to the laundry so I can get up to her during the night. She pretty much wakes every 2 - 3 hrs on the dot and makes a lot of noise, at which point I take her out and she does her thing, then straight back to bed with a kind word. At this point she cries the entire house down before settling after maybe 15 minutes. This goes on at about 1am, 4am and 6am, and I am of course, sleep deprived (and worried about the neighbours)!!!! Some people have told me not to go to her during the night at all, but I am worried if I go back to sleeping in my bed and leave her all night locked in the laundry it will undo all the hard work I have done to get her to toilet outside?

Thanks in advance for the advice - I need to know there is light at the end of the tunnel!

[Kelpie_Pup]

Hi all

We picked up our GR girl on Saturday and after 5 days she is settling in pretty well I think. She is an absolute delight.

I wanted advice on how I am handling nights with her = she eats at about 7pm and then gets put to bed at about 11pm.

For the last few night she hasnt been crying when she gets put to bed, I think she is too tired! Her bed is in the laundry, she has lots of toys and my trackie pants to sleep with.

I am sleeping in the spare room next to the laundry so I can get up to her during the night. She pretty much wakes every 2 - 3 hrs on the dot and makes a lot of noise, at which point I take her out and she does her thing, then straight back to bed with a kind word. At this point she cries the entire house down before settling after maybe 15 minutes. This goes on at about 1am, 4am and 6am, and I am of course, sleep deprived (and worried about the neighbours)!!!! Some people have told me not to go to her during the night at all, but I am worried if I go back to sleeping in my bed and leave her all night locked in the laundry it will undo all the hard work I have done to get her to toilet outside?

Thanks in advance for the advice - I need to know there is light at the end of the tunnel!

HI

Firstly, can I request we see a pic of your beautiful new girl?? :D

Secondly, there isn't one right or wrong way to do this.. its all about how you want to teach your pup-because what you teach them to do now should be what you expect them to do for the rest of their life.

For us, personally, we used a crate. It was the best, safest way for us to ensure she was not going to toilet all over the house during the night time, but also to ensure she was warm and cosy.

For about the first 4 nights, she woke during the night to toilet. And by that I mean she woke at about 2-3am only. Went outside to toilet, then back in her crate. She put on quite a show for about 15 mins, but we just ignored her. She had just been to the toilet so she obviously didnt need to go again.. she was just pi$$ed off that she wasn't out for a play!

Just remember that if you go into your puppy when she cries, it will only make her realise that its her crying that will get your attention!

I don't have any other suggestions that don't involve crating, because thats all we did, so hopefully some other DOLers will be on to help soon :rolleyes:

[Luke W]

I seem to remember mine did pretty much the same thing (was that only 8 month ago?!?).

The crying time got shorter and shorter though. So did the length of time between toilets.

I'd keep doing what you are doing.

[gmc]

Hi Kelpie Pup - thanks for that. I have a soft crate that I bought a few weeks ago, and was all prepared for crating, but we tried it the first night and I thought she would cry FOREVER, so I have ended up just putting her bed in the laundry and she seems a little happier. Maybe I should try the crating again. Sounds like I should persevere with getting up to her through the night to let her out tho, and just be sleep deprived for a while longer!

Here she is :-) Not a great pic as it was taken with my phone, but I will get some decent ones of her up soon.

[Cockerlover]

Hi gmc ,congratulations on your new pup, if you keep going to yr pup ,it will learn that it only has to whimper & it gets attention !!if it is let out to tiolet before bed it should be able to go more than a few hrs without the need to go again ,i would be getting up maybe once in the night but no more ,yes pup will cry cause its already got you under the PAW !! :D so now has to learn that u r not going to let it out whenever it feels like it !!!if you continue to do this pup has won!!!!!& you r making a rod for your own back .

Was the pup paper trained by your breeder ?if so & you chose to let it sleep in the laundry <i suggest you ly newspaper near the door ,so it can relieve itself.

number one rule with a new pup is start as you mean to go on !! :rolleyes: good luck ,there is a light , ............. though we sleepdeprived one wonders!

[Kelpie_Pup]

Hi Kelpie Pup - thanks for that. I have a soft crate that I bought a few weeks ago, and was all prepared for crating, but we tried it the first night and I thought she would cry FOREVER, so I have ended up just putting her bed in the laundry and she seems a little happier. Maybe I should try the crating again. Sounds like I should persevere with getting up to her through the night to let her out tho, and just be sleep deprived for a while longer!

Here she is :-) Not a great pic as it was taken with my phone, but I will get some decent ones of her up soon.

She is just beautiful!!

Now that she has been let out of her crate just once after putting up a little protest, it is going to be that much harder to ignore her crying from now on. Puppies are much more clever than we'd like to think sometimes.. if she were an adult dog and crying like that for no good reason would you have let her out? I'd hope the answer would be no. Like a PP said, the midnight toilet trips will gradually decrease-all depends on the individual puppy. Halle only took 3 nights, but we were lucky.

Basically with crate training, make sure they are toileted immediately before going in, do not put water in the crate, and leave them be. Any crying/wimpering will only be to get attention and nothing else. I know this is so much harder in practice, but its worth being tough now! We put Halle in our room in the corner for the first week, just so she could hear us talking etc, but after that she was out in the kitchen. Once she goes to sleep, YAY!!! :D if she wakes at 2 am crying, its obvious then that she needs to pee/poop, so going outside then is fine, but no play or chit chat, and then straight back in the crate like the initial bedtime (come to think of it, its kind of like changing a baby in the middle of the night :rolleyes: )

Obviously crating isn't for everyone, but if you're willing to give it a go, make the decision and stick to it. You'll be amazed at the difference it will make within the week

[gmc]

Hi gmc ,congratulations on your new pup, if you keep going to yr pup ,it will learn that it only has to whimper & it gets attention !!if it is let out to tiolet before bed it should be able to go more than a few hrs without the need to go again ,i would be getting up maybe once in the night but no more ,yes pup will cry cause its already got you under the PAW !! :D so now has to learn that u r not going to let it out whenever it feels like it !!!if you continue to do this pup has won!!!!!& you r making a rod for your own back .

Was the pup paper trained by your breeder ?if so & you chose to let it sleep in the laundry <i suggest you ly newspaper near the door ,so it can relieve itself.

number one rule with a new pup is start as you mean to go on !! :rolleyes: good luck ,there is a light , ............. though we sleepdeprived one wonders!

Hey Cockerlover, thanks for this. This is what I am confused about! I could easily go back to my own bed upstairs and never wake up through her crying and leave her until morning, but I was worried then she would think toileting in the house is ok (she has had a few accidents anyways, but I am sure it is only because we weren't watching her closely enough.) I have newspapered the laundry every night but she has not 'gone' on the newspaper yet\, she cries and I let her out instead! I dont think the breeder did any paper training, I might call tomorrow and ask. Gee, this puppy business is stressful! Thanks again for the advice, if any GR owners are out there that want to weigh in on the situation, that would be great too.

[goldielover]

Congrats on your new puppy gmc - she's a cutie. I crate train also, but i have the crate in my bedroom - a little difficult if you have stairs though!! LOL. I have a 10 week old goldie pup and have been extrememly lucky with her. We go to bed around 11.30 and the earliest she's woken up is 6.30 - i'm so thankful for that!! LOL. I'm not sure where you live, but if it is in a warmer state like QLD, i would leave water in the crate for her personally. I'm in VIC and still leave water and my baby does drink a little during the night. Ignoring her cries is all you can do provided you're pretty sure she doesn't need to toilet - not easy, i know!!

We have a goldie thread on here if you care to join us!!

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry3290754

[Luke W]

For the OP:

How old is the pup?

And for the more experienced...(of which I am not one, this is my first ever ppup!) ...how long do others think a 9wk (if that's how old it is) should be able to hang on?

I thought it was one hour for every month of age + 1...

So at 9 weeks - about 3 hours is how long it should be able to hold on.

[Clyde]

Personally I'd steer clear of paper training and keep going as you are.

When the pup was crying in the crate where was the pup? In the laundry or inside?

Would you consider having the crate in your bedroom for a little while?

All of my pups have slept with me until they're over the hump of losing their Mum and their litter mates, new home etc. Then they sleep where I want them to sleep permanently. I've not ever had a problem booting them out of my room when the time comes and this way puppy feels safe and secure and you get your sleep. :D

[Clyde]

I thought it was one hour for every month of age + 1...

So at 9 weeks - about 3 hours is how long it should be able to hold on.

I've heard that too, although females tend to wee more than boys (as pups).

I think the newspaper training doesn't teach the pup to hold on and that any urinating inside is a no go. It can get confusing for them.

[gmc]

I thought it was one hour for every month of age + 1...

So at 9 weeks - about 3 hours is how long it should be able to hold on.

I've heard that too, although females tend to wee more than boys (as pups).

I think the newspaper training doesn't teach the pup to hold on and that any urinating inside is a no go. It can get confusing for them.

Hi everyone - thanks again for all the feedback... I love this forum!

I would love her to be in our bedroom in a crate but we have such strict guidelines from our landlord that no dogs are allowed inside, so our bedroom (upstairs) is a total no go zone. The first two nights she slept on her bed next to me in the spare room downstairs (its next to the laundry)... the next 4 nights she has slept in the laundry and I have been in the spare room down stairs so I can hear her.

I also thought it was her age in months +1 for how long she could hold on for - i.e. 2 months plus 1 is 3 hrs holding on. And I am a little hesitant to withhold water from her.

The breeder tells me to just leave her all night and put paper down.... I have just put her to bed and I think I will do the usual wake up every few hours to her crying to take her out again tonight. I just hope I am not being soft. I will see how I go over the next few days and report back.

Thanks again everyone.

[Patters]

Congratulations on your new puppy!!

My new Irish Setter girl was 9 weeks old when she arrived. She cried, screamed, barked and scratched til 3.50am in her new crate on her first night - after 8 hours of travel including flying. I didn't go to her again after the first, one and only, reassurance that I was there. The next night, she carried on for a hour. Night 3 - 15 minutes. Night 4 - perfect, settled straight away and didn't wet or mess in her crate, or since then. It was really hard that first night, not to weaken and go to her - but the proof is in how fast she settled into her new life.

She is now 12 weeks old, goes willingly into her crate for feeding. And whenever I decide she needs a rest from racing around like a mad thing. And absolutely, no problems at night - right through from 10pm - 8am. Even if I'm sitting here at the computer 2 metres from her crate, she is just lying quietly in her crate, not asking to get out to be with me.

She is now learning about staying down in the covered run for several hours during the day. It is much cooler there than anywhere else in the yard. Again she only complained on the first day - it is Day 3 today and I feel confident that I can go out and she will not spend the time I'm away crying or barking.

Stick to your guns with your training and the results will be worth it.

[jamesanddean]

Congratulations on bringing your new Golden Retriever puppy home. By now you will be in the hectic first few days where you feel like a zombie and don't know what you have done! We were also first time dog owners 12 months ago and researched and adopted crate training and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Our puppy went in from the first night and was very comfortable with it and never made a sound. We put the crate in our bedroom with us for the first night but I hardly slept a wink as I was listening for him to take him out to the toilet. All I could hear all night was his tail wagging and hitting the cardboard divider we had put in there to restrict the space. From the second night we moved his crate into our kitchen becuase I couldn't sleep from the anxiety of listening out for him! I would set my alarm and get up once in the middle of the night to toilet him. He was sleeping through from 11.30pm to 6.30am within 2 weeks of getting him home. I was lucky that he was good in the crate but found that taking him out on my terms worked well ie set your alarm and take him out before he cries and get him in a routine which you determine so that he knows you are the one (suposedly!) controlling him. I also agree you need to get into the routine and stick to it as soon as possible.

For the first couple of weeks we had to get up in the night to take him out, but he learnt so quickly. At least it is summer and not the middle of winter for those middle of the night trips outside. If you go with crate training it is important you restrict the space available in the crate (we used cardboard boxes) and cover it with an old sheet or blanket as it makes them feel more secure - I think this was one of the things that really helped us. It is also good to have somewhere to put them when you want them safely away when you can't give them your full attention (or you need a rest!).

The other thing that happens in the early stages is that they grow in size and change behaviourally so quickly in the early stages. I went back and read over my old posts tonight and the things you get concerned about one day are gone the next week or month and there is something else to address. So don't get too stressed about things as they will change constantly.

It will be one year tomorrow (Mon 5 Jan) since we picked up our GR puppy and it has been the best year of my life. Once you get into the routine it will be a breeze. Just persevere and it will get easier every day. I am no expert when it comes to this stuff but happy to answer any questions regarding our GR puppy experience in the first few months.

Good luck and keep posting those pics!