Please Help! 3 Month Old Pup Sleeping Less Instead Of More.

[UltimatePup]

Hi

I would so very much value your wise input on this dilemma please: My 3 month old pup is gradually sleeping shorter hours through the night instead of longer. She is also training us to respond to her night time and early morning protestations...

Initially she slept indoors in her bed, in a pen, near the deck door. She did well there, sleeping 6.5 to 7.5 hrs per night at just 10 weeks of age. In the morning she would gently whimper to be let out to pee. This worked well. We could even put her back in her pen for a few hours without issue.

However, my partner wants her to be an outside sleeping dog. I thinks it's much too unnatural and unnecessary to expect a dog to sleep isolated from its pack BUT he is very insistent. For household peace, I am trying to support a transition to outdoor sleeping. If she's happy with it, I don't mind.

We had some early success. We put her bed in a kennel, in a pen, on the deck, just 3m from her previous indoor spot. The deck door is open so we can still hear her at night, but inevitably it takes more for her to wake us up in the morning so she upped the ante, barking instead of quietly whining.

After about 10 days of this we left her pen door open at night so she could get herself up in the morning. This quickly backfired. As soon as she could get to the deck doors she started to bark to be let in - or let herself in, having learned to open the screen doors. Then when she realised the pen door was not being shut at night she would not go to bed at all and would bark. So we have gone back to keeping the pen door shut at night, which works better.

The problems now are...

1. She now will not go back in her pen after her morning pee/poo, but will bark to be let inside the house. We are not in a position to ignore this and ride it out, as it is grossly inconsiderate to neighbours. If I let her inside immediately after pee/poo she is FINE - completely quiet. We can sleep in for another 3 hours if we want. No mess, no chewing, no noise. She doesn't even attempt to come upstairs; she just sleeps in the living room.

2. She is waking earlier and earlier. It used to be 7.30am. Now we're lucky if she goes to 6.30am. We've had 5.30am and 4.30am waking in the past week. I can't get up at 4.30am for the rest of her life! And really, what is the measureable advantage of having a sleeping dog outside for 5 hours, versus having a sleeping dog inside for 5 hours?!

3. We have had some recent nights where she will not go to sleep. Initially she was a wonderful sleeper, putting herself to bed when we went to bed - very cute, and great for us. Now if she's not absolutely exhausted at the time we go to bed, she will protest and bark. To my horror, my partner responds to this repeatedly - he interacts with her to try to get her quiet, and gets very angry at me when I tell him what an intensely bad 'no win' idea this is, expecting me to come up with a better solution. I fear that this has trained her in the first few rounds to bark to bring our attention and presence, and that this can perhaps never be undone. It is true, however, that we simply CANNOT ignore barking that will wake up three sets of neighbours. That is not an option.

I would prefer to give up for now and let her be where she is obviously happy - indoors. She is house-trained and we can leave the door open enough for her to self-manage nightly emergencies. It's open anyway when she's outside, so we can hear her. But my partner will not accept this. Can you brilliant doggy people PLEASE guide us with a training protocol that will enable her to learn to become a peaceful outdoor sleeping doggy? Ideally, I'd like her to be flexible eventually - happy indoors or out.

(Note: She is a large healthy dog, our climate is mild and the area is very sheltered, so physiologically I see no problem. The garden is fenced. It's just the psychological challenge of getting a very friendly, cuddly dog to be on her own peacefully outside at night.)

Edited January 19, 2011 by UltimatePup

[poodlefan]

Personally I think its your partner that needs the trainng, not the dog.

Put a pup outside and what you're reaping is one possible consequence. What he's doing is reinforcing the undesireable behaviour.

I suggest a compromise - dog sleeping inside crated in the living room. My guess is your neighbours will be very grateful.

The only way you will get the dog to accept being outside is to ignore any and all behaviour that seeks your attention to let her in. As I said, you wont' have happy neighbours.

Edited January 19, 2011 by poodlefan

[Pretty Miss Emma]

These are my quick thoughts.

3 months - such a tiny baby still and you've turned her world upside down!! Is there really any reason that she can't sleep in a crate inside and then make a transition to outside later when she's more established in her new home? I'm a bit of a believer of start them where you want them (so if you want them inside then let them there from the start, I've never wanted my dog outside so I'm not sure if you'd start them there that young but you're asking her to change what she she knows and loves there's going to be some trauma with that!). My young girl is now more than happy to sleep outside but she was always trained to sleep inside.

If she won't go back to her pen once you've been up but she does just go back to sleep inside in the morning is there anything wrong with this? My older dog used to like sleeping outside in summer, and I'd wake up with the light but then go back to bed and this was her special time to come inside and sleep with me - like a treat. But again I don't have a problem with the dogs sleeping inside.

But maybe more importanly in training terms. If I were going to train my dog to sleep outside I would probably start by making sure they were happy and calm being outside on their own while I was inside and doing things (so getting them used to having alone time while the rest of the family does other things - they naturally want to be with their group). And the other thing I would do would be making sure that my pup was thoroughly exhausted so that all they want to do is sleep, which may mean a bit of focus and effort from the family to ensure that she is totally worn out, but if she's like most other pups I've met once they're worn out they just sleep where they are!

In terms of ignoring the barking/whining. If you don't ignore you just reinforce that as a behaviour that will get attention. Maybe have a chat/letterbox drop your neighbours and tell them what you are doing and that they may hear some noise (better to go and see them face to face and maybe even take pup with you so they can be awestruck by her cuteness!!!) and give them updates about how she is going. But if you don't ignore it you run the risk of making the behaviour occur more frequently.

In terms of working with your partner to do all these things. Can I suggest sit down together, make a plan, lay out some rules. That way at least everyone is being consistent and the pup is not getting mixed messages (when I cry he comes to talk to me but she doesn't????).

But remeber she's just a tiny baby and something that you see as a small change she may see as her whole world turning upside down.

Good luck, planning and persistence will get you there!

[persephone]

Hope your partner gets to read this .....

I think she is doing SO well.. at 12 weeks- to be letting herself out to toilet, and sleeping quietly in the living room!! Why would you want to change that and create chaos?

[W Sibs]

Hope your partner gets to read this .....

I think she is doing SO well.. at 12 weeks- to be letting herself out to toilet, and sleeping quietly in the living room!! Why would you want to change that and create chaos?

Agree

[dogfan]

Hope your partner gets to read this .....

I think she is doing SO well.. at 12 weeks- to be letting herself out to toilet, and sleeping quietly in the living room!! Why would you want to change that and create chaos?

Agree

Ditto

[lappiemum]

LOL Sorry but your puppy is smarter than your partner!

All the advice here is very good. Crating is something that will ensure your puppy is confined at night, helps with toilet training routines, and keeps the neighbours happy. Don't forget - if left outside your puppy will be up when the sun is up! So before 6.30am sounds right - and ofcourse, there will be all sorts of interesting things to bark at during the night, like bats, cats, possums and stars LOL

Get your OH to read this thread. There is a wealth of knowledge from very experienced dog breeders and owners here on DOL. You could also look at getting someone to visit you who knows about dog behaviour - they will give you advice on what you are doing right (and wrong!) - and that may help in training.

Your puppy sounds like she is a very smart and clever girl. But she is still a baby, and has left the comfort of a litter with siblings and mum, and is now out in the scary back yard of a strange place by herself. Thats why she is upset - and why she wants to be with you.

Edited January 20, 2011 by lappiemum

[BCPuppy]

Agree with all these comments. Your girl sounds very clever but she is still a baby even though she is doing so well with her training and wants to be close to you. Big changes are scary for her, make them more slowly and give her time to adjust to each move.

My experience is all I can offer as the are all different. My girl slept beside me in her bed for the first couple of months, then slowly moved herself to her bed in the living room, - I am ashamed to say I was devastated the first time she didnt sleep by me But she is an independant miss, by the time she was about 10 months old, during winter, she enjoyed sleeping outside on a tramp bed or her favourite chair, and for a time would be up with the birds at 4.30 jumping on us to say good morning and wanting to play, and then would take herself off for anouther couple of hours sleep

Now it is summer here and still very hot at night (still 28 at 1am) she is in the bedroom in the airconditioning, but I have no doubt that she will take herself back outside as soon as it is cool enough. She still goes out between 4 and 5 for a pee and says good morning when she comes back and then settles in for another snooze. My OH jokes he has never known a dog with so many beds!

I will say that we tried our best to make our home puppy friendly and she was never destructive or a chewer. Your girl sounds very clever, but little steps will make things easier for her to adjust to where you eventually want her to sleep.

Sounds like your biggest problem is educating your OH

Good luck with both of them.

[Bundyburger]

I know we're all devoted dog owners who like our dogs inside.. but this is making me wonder what those who have outside dogs do??? How would they deal with this and make sure it all settled down???

[persephone]

We have outside dogs... they are brought up from day one outside..and so there is usually no problem after the first noisy night or two in a new pen.

Hamlet started off an outside puppy .. he slept in a little shed for the first weeks .... he had a very cosy bed (it was Winter) a source of heat (hot bricks) ..and lots of soft bedding .... no problems.

[sheena]

Put your partner outside... Your pup is still just a baby & I sure your partner wouldn't want his baby to sleep outside. Sounds like maybe you should have discussed this with him before you got a pup

[poodlefan]

I know we're all devoted dog owners who like our dogs inside.. but this is making me wonder what those who have outside dogs do??? How would they deal with this and make sure it all settled down???

Put them out and tough it out.. its the only way I know of.

[persephone]

Put them out and tough it out.. its the only way I know of.

and be STRONG. Dogs are resilient and sensible ..and will not pursue a lost cause (usually)

[poodlefan]

Put them out and tough it out.. its the only way I know of.

and be STRONG. Dogs are resilient and sensible ..and will not pursue a lost cause (usually)

Although the OP could suggest to her partner that we said that he should pitch a tent and sleep outside with the pup for at least a month.

Edited January 20, 2011 by poodlefan

[Nekhbet]

Put your partner outside... Your pup is still just a baby & I sure your partner wouldn't want his baby to sleep outside.

A dog is not a child.

Your pup is protesting because you've given it a set routine now you've completely turned it over so it's screaming. They all do it because they dont understand why.

Keep the dog up as long as possible, feed it outside, do most fun things outside and then put it to bed as late as you can. Dont allow naps if you can, if you see the pup dozing try and wake it up until it's so exhusted it will fall asleep. Shut the puppy pen/crate so it feels secure and doesnt wander. Dark and noises outside can worry pups not used to it and now all alone hence the barking.

[Montage]

I agree that a crate is an ideal option. You can start off crating in the living room and then move the crate somewhere like the laundry and eventually outside.

[Chiwogabull*]

During the hot summer my dog prefered to sleep outside but because it was used to the crate

it would take some time to wind down ...

I purchased a dog run not huge just for sleeping keeping the dog confined

And that dog loved it!!! like a crate it was secure but outside