Help My Puppy Won't Sleep :-(

[Guest Oscar aka The Bear]

Hi All,

Please meet Oscar, he's now 10 weeks old and has been with us for 3 weeks now, we love him... He's so loving, smart, cute and fun and a complete mummy’s boy!! We've got the toilet training down to a pat but the problem seems to be the last 3 nights he's been really bad.

He sleeps in a large pen in the office next to the front room since day one. The first week he was exactly as we expected but he got over his crying at night quiet quickly but recently he's got really bad. He goes to sleep in his pen no problem but for example last night was terrible. He woke up at midnight and cried for an hour and I'm mean cried (I know my neighbours are going to start complaining soon)... We think we’ve done everything in the book and read every website, ignore him, make sure there's lots of toys, no water after 7pm, a good play time before he goes to bed so he's tired.. You name it we tried but the past few days have been crazy... Last night I had to put a blanket and a quilt on the floor next to his pen at 1am to get him to settle, once he fell asleep I creped back into bed only to have to do it all again at 3am.

I keep saying to my partner lets bring him into the bedroom to sleep on the floor by me but he's adamant not get into that habit.

What else can I do...? Any more suggestions would be really appreciated... Or do I just need to stick it out?? Do you think lying by his pen like I did last night and not interacting with him is going to help or just make things worse??

[Bundyburger]

Go and speak to your neighbours, tell them you have a young puppy and it'll settle soon and you're doing xyz to make sure it happens.

Our nearly 11mth old, is currently confined to his pen for the next week. He's taken to crying the house down at various times too. The more we ignore him the quicker he settles each time. Do you take him out to toilet in the middle of the night? Could he be crying because he needs to go outside to the toilet? For the first few weeks, no matter what time he went to bed or last had water, Bundy would be awake for a loo break at 1am.

[Linda K]

no advice but I feel your pain, I thought training my kids was hard enough to sleep through the night, Good luck, and hopefully it won't be too long, and the neighbours understand

[W Sibs]

First off.. awww.. what a cutie!!!

Do you try tiring him out before going to sleep?

Emmy use to wake up at 2.30am, then again at 5am. She doesn't sleep through the night.. it drove me insane. Although, she didn't cry or whinge, she will stratch the door or she will go under the bed and play under there.

So, I've learn that if I do a training session with Emmy and play fetch with her, it gets her tired or calm enough that she will settle. Also, routine is a huge thing too.

Every night on a week night, about 10.30pm, I tell my 2 it's bedtime. We go into the bedroom, Emmy goes to the bed on the floor and waits for her pig ear or a treat (right now it's ice cubes in a sock.. she's teething and finds this comforting), and she lays there for an hour while I shower and get ready for bed. About 11.30pm, it's lights out, that's when she jumps on the bed and stretches out to go to bed. We HAVE to do this, or else she won't settle.

On weekends, we don't have that.. but once the lights gets turned off, she knows she has to go on the bed.

Good luck, hope you find something that works soon for you and Oscar, so everyone can get a peaceful night sleep!

[CareyJ]

Could he be cold? Leila is 18 months old now and still wakes up sometimes at night (she is crated). she is also not in our bedroom. I have figured out that she either needs to go to the toilet, is cold (not so much now she has a coat and a puppy wheat bag with the crate in a warm spot) or she has messed up her blankets and isnt comfortable!!! This happened last weekend - I had to get up so she could go to the toilet at 1am, then she was crying again at 2 - she refused to go outside because it was too cold when I went to put her back in the crate I noticed one of her blankets was all scrunched up - I fixed it, she climbed in and slept though until 8:30!!

It still must be a bit scary for a little puppy to wake up alone though.

[Bundyburger]

It still must be a bit scary for a little puppy to wake up alone though.

Agree with this too. Our boy started off in the lounge, and he refused to sleep through, moved him to the bedroom, and he slept through. When he got bigger, again he went to the lounge.. nope, same problem.. so back in the bedroom for him The exception being this week when he can't fit thru his crate door with the cone on his head It was very much a comfort thing, he *MUST* be close to us always..

Edited August 6, 2010 by Bundy's Mum

[Genabee]

I really feel your pain. So much so, I am pretty sure I have post puppy depression, purely from the lack of sleep. I had a thread going recently and lots of people offered some great suggestions. We don't cry - we scratch the crap out of the doors and pace!

I too, have pup in another room (the laundry). She has taken to waking up several times a night to play - she has her days and nights back to front. I don't want her in our room either, though I did try it for about 4 or 5 nights to no change - she went straight back into the laundry!

I have managed to get her to sleep through to about 6.30am - 7am now by doing the following:

- feeding her evening kibble meal out of a drink bottle (it takes her ages and helps to wear her out a bit)

- spend about 15 minutes doing trick/obedience work. Even something as simple as putting the lead on and taking it off again while she sits still. She has to think sooooo hard! I also bought a trick book to try new ones on her.

- we have started weekly obedience classes. Sundays are fan-bloody-tastic! She comes home exhausted and sleeps all day and all night! It's also good for giving new things to practice at home (and gives me time to clean the house!!!!).

- she gets a hot water bottle when she goes to bed. If she stirs in the night to go to the toilet (occasionally happens), I make her another hot water bottle. I want her to associate the dark with night time and sleep and as far as I am concerned, if it is still dark at 6.30am, it is still sleep time!

- try to keep her awake until I am ready to go to bed. If she has her way, she sleeps in my lap for an hour or so before going to bed. I usually just talk to her, or get up and walk around during the ad breaks!

- make sure you toilet pup just before going to bed.

It may also help to give pup something with your scent on it. Leading up to her coming home, I had a pile of polarfleece puppy blankets. I put one in our bed for about a week before she came home (just left it in there when I made the bed). That way it is something I could give her with our scent on it. There is always one in our bed - we get it before she does (after they have been washed!) - so she constantly has our scent on something in her crate. An old jumper or pair of jimmies will do the same thing. Another thing to try may be a little ticking clock...

Good luck and I hope you get some sleep soon!

[VJB]

Could he be crying because he needs to go outside to the toilet? For the first few weeks, no matter what time he went to bed or last had water, Bundy would be awake for a loo break at 1am.

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe needing the toilet. Some dogs need to be taken out to the toilet for a number of weeks once home.... some even months...

[aussielover]

He is so cute!

I went thru the exact same thing with my 10 week old lab. after 2 weeks of being fantastic, she all of a sudden started barking/howling etc for upto 2 hrs at a time!

after trying things such as tiring her out before bed, heater in the laundary, clothing, ticking clock, radio etc I finally decided to move her into my room. I haven't had a problem since then and she is able to sleep in the laundary now without a problem.

why don't you try having him in your room (it may not make a diffrerence)? you can always move them back out when they become more settled- i found this to be around 14 weeks old.

He may need to toilet as others have mentioned.

Interatcing with him like that could have made things worse if he was actually attention seeking. Did you toilet him?

Other than that i really can't think of anything else to help you. If you stick it out i'm sure he'll become better as he gets older, but yes, the neighbours may complain. Perhaps you'll just have to ask them nicely to be patient!