Rapha Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Hi All, We have an 11 week English Springer Spaniel (we have had him for 1 week). We are crate training and everything is going great. The only concern is his night time barking. He sleeps in the laundry (not in his crate). He has a good bed, toilet, chewtoy and a kong with a little kibble. We put him to bed and after 10 mins he starts with a bit of whining that lasts about 5-10 minutes. After this all is quite. After about 2 hours he starts to bark in 10-20 minute blocks. He may stop for about 20-30 minutes in between. This goes on until 3am. We get up about 5-5.30am which we let him out then (he has been awake since about 4am). We never get up to him and just ignore it, hard to do when it wakes the whole house We tried a few nights with a radio and a night light but we noticed no difference. Should we continue with ignoring it, or is there some other technique we could use? Appreciate any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Have him sleep in his crate in the bedroom until he gets into the routine of sleeping through the night. Then move the crate gradually from the room to the laundry until he can sleep in his open crate in the laundry. He is a young pup who is suddenly away from his litter, mum etc and is lonely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APBT Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 ignore him, he will stop in his own time, food before bed might help as they like to sleep on a full tummy, and make sure to take him to the toilet every 3 hours aprox. is the laundry going to be his permanent sleeping room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Do not ignore the pup, obviously the current arrangements are not working and for whatever reason he's not happy and not sleeping. You really can't afford to ignore the behaviour and risk upsetting neighbours and noise complaints. Agree with Dan, move him into his crate in a place where he feels secure and will sleep through the night. You will probably still need to get up during the night for a toilet stop ( depends on the pup, my youngsters usually sleep through from about 8 weeks ). If he whinges, get up, don't speak to the pup and take it outside for a toilet stop. They pretty quickly learn that whinging = toilet and no play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapha Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 ignore him, he will stop in his own time, food before bed might help as they like to sleep on a full tummy, and make sure to take him to the toilet every 3 hours aprox.is the laundry going to be his permanent sleeping room? yes, the laundry will be permanent. We did think some food might help, although he does get some kibble in a kong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 The Springer is a very loyal and family orientated breed. They enjoy being close to the family and they also make excellent house dogs. Is you pup allowed inside during the day and evenings when you are home ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapha Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 The Springer is a very loyal and family orientated breed. They enjoy being close to the family and they also make excellent house dogs.Is you pup allowed inside during the day and evenings when you are home ? Yes they are. That is why we chose the breed. He is allowed inside and always will be. My wife is generally at home and the dog makes trips in the car and to school (once he is fully vaccinated they will walk) Also, he has been spending time in the laundry during the day while my wife is at home (lunchtime with a kong) for about 2 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasslyn Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Do not ignore the pup, obviously the current arrangements are not working and for whatever reason he's not happy and not sleeping. You really can't afford to ignore the behaviour and risk upsetting neighbours and noise complaints.Agree with Dan, move him into his crate in a place where he feels secure and will sleep through the night. You will probably still need to get up during the night for a toilet stop ( depends on the pup, my youngsters usually sleep through from about 8 weeks ). If he whinges, get up, don't speak to the pup and take it outside for a toilet stop. They pretty quickly learn that whinging = toilet and no play. My first thought upon reading the OP is that the pup needs to go to the toilet. It may also be that he just doesn't like sleeping in the laundry, but in case the problem is bladder related, I would second SBT123's recommendation and take him out for a no-fuss toilet break during the night. He might cry again for a while when you first put him back in the laundry but as stated above, he'll soon learn that getting up in the middle of the night is just for potty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 IMO I would have the dog beside my bed in the crate and as a previous Doler said gradually move the dog further away over a period of weeks, eventually ending up in the laundry or wherever you are going to make his permanent crate site. For years I have always said for my puppy buyers to start as they mean to continue but I really think that you are doing that by crate training. It is no big deal to ease the pups insecurities by having it near its source of comfort (you) until it gets into a routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I agree with more toilet breaks. Having a dog learn how to wake you to tell you he needs to go to the toilet is the best thing ever. Every now and again, Orbit desperately needs to pee in the night, or worse, he has an upset tummy, but thankfully he knows he just needs to pace around my bed a few times, staring at me and I'll wake up. If he's really urgent, he'll put in a little cry and I know he's busting!! But thanks to the routine which we started really early on, we've never had any accidents inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I found crate training with the crate next to my bed the bed thing, I could hear pup whimper when he needed to toilet. For the first week there was a bit of upset when first putting him to bed but you ignore the tantrums but don't ignore the "I need to toilet" whimper. I had a crate cover for the crate but lifted a bit so pup could see me. Pup was toilet trained and could hold overnight by 11 weeks. All dogs are different, but a suitable routine is absolutely neccessary. I personly don't think cold laundarys or bathrooms are a place for a puppy just seperated from its' Mum and litter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapha Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 Thanks all for the suugestions. The last 2 nights have been good, virtually no barking (the first night had 1 toilet break.) So we will keep with the toilet solution and see how he goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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