How to stop puppy from waking through the night

[Amazetl]

I’m starting to become a little desperate. Pretty much every night around 2 or 3 am my 8 month old pup will wake up crying and barking. They sleep in the other room but can see my bedroom with the door open pretty easily. 

 

Seems to be waking up hungry as she leads me to the laundry door where her food is stored. First I make sure she goes outside to toilet which can be difficult as she is clearly not busting. She wants hugs usually when I go out there with her. Usually I will come back inside while she’s still out there and I guess she does end up going toilet because she comes back herself a few mins later. 

 

I have tried different things. Feeding her later in the evening, giving her a top up, making sure she goes out right before bed, doing extra play before bed to wear her out. I thought it worked initially as she did sleep through a couple times when I did this but it doesn’t work anymore. 

 

I don’t know what else to do. The problem is she wakes up my elderly dog and he gets very upset about it. He will cry and bark and whine loudly and nothing seems to settle him. 

 

So I stay up with two dogs crying and barking and being very loud. My older dog being the loudest that I simply cannot let him bark and cry out like that due to neighbours. Her bark is also getting louder now too. 

 

I tried sending him back to bed and going back to bed myself but then it all starts again when she barks etc. Then he does and won’t settle. 

 

Is there something else that I haven’t thought of? I don’t crate and won’t do as last time I tried using the crate she wouldn’t go in (despite how she seemed to like going in when she was a baby puppy) but I have thought about bringing her into the bedroom somehow to see if that helps. I’m really at a loss. I don’t think she’s getting cold or too hot. 

 

The only thing that settles her is when I can’t stand it anymore I give her and all the dogs their breaky early. Then they go outside and all go back to bed and sleep soundly. So it seems to indicate to me that it’s around food. But she shouldn’t be hungry and if I wait it out it’s hours of this and no sleep for me. 

 

I think the best thing to do would be ignore and wait it out but I just can’t do that due to noise level. Would giving a Kong be advisable? I worry that anything I do will become a habit and I just want her to sleep through. 

 

Thanks for reading. 

 

I should add, she’s not lonely as my other dog sleeps out there with her and doesn’t do the whole barking and crying, just tries to sleep through. But I do wonder if she wants to be closer to me or if she woke initially and saw me right there sleeping that maybe she’d snuggle and go back to sleep. However I don’t want to start that habit. 

Edited October 13, 2022 by Amazetl

[jemappelle]

I'd be giving them separate sleeping arrangements.  When I got my 2nd cattle dog, he and my old girl would play at first light.  Their play involved lots of high-pitched barking!  Bringing one into my bedroom and having the other in the room adjacent with a baby gate up meant settled nights for me and the neighbours!

[Amazetl]

That is sort of what I do, my elderly dog is in the bedroom with me, a baby gate set up where the others sleep outside the bedroom but it’s in a second room so a small area between my door and the gate. There are three dogs, one dog is out with her and she sleeps through all the noise, doesn’t make a sound and doesn’t really move around either but opens her eyes here and there with a look of ‘really?’ Then my older dog is in the bedroom with us and then my puppy is in the other room with the other dog. 

 

I am thinking of perhaps putting the baby gate on the bedroom door so she can if she wants be right there. I think my older dog initially barks because he’s been waken up and he’s a bit grumpy about it. But then he seems to get excited and starts running around and just barking etc when I go through the gate to pup. So I’ve tried just ignoring her and going back to bed with him but when she starts crying or barking again he will jump up and do it all over again. He won’t settle unless she is settled. Equally if he’s making a noise she won’t settle either. Also, if those two are together it’s playing and crazy loud sounds. 

 

It’s really tough to figure out what better I could do. I had dreams where she would be in the crate in my bedroom but she just doesn’t like it. I’ve never ever closed the door on her but she refuses to go in even with a really awesome chew. I feel like I could warm her up to it over several training sessions over weeks perhaps and maybe that’s what I should do. Not a quick fix but perhaps there’s no quick fix here. 

 

I can’t have them all in the bedroom loose because my second dog can sometimes be possessive over the bedroom and over me, plus older dog and pup play loud together. 

[coneye]

First thing i would do is worm her , if its a food thing she's waking for  ,   then i'd be giving the dog a very very stern NO  , start has you mean to go on ,,  dogs are like kids ,  dogs learning make a noise you will get fed up and   get up .   dogs ok though it will have a feed and just go in a corner and sleep when its tired , , Be firm ,

[jemappelle]

On 14/10/2022 at 11:27 AM, Amazetl said:

 

I can’t have them all in the bedroom loose because my second dog can sometimes be possessive over the bedroom and over me, plus older dog and pup play loud together. 

Have you thought about crating the older dog?  He/she would then have her own space and be unable to play with the pup.  I very easily crate trained a 13 year old Cavalier who really lived to please herself.

[DogsAndTheMob]

My dogs wake up thirsty in the night. They are thirstier if they’ve eaten kibble, which typically has > 1% salt, but they are thirsty even if they’ve had home-prepared raw food.

 

I hear the older dogs drinking and just listen until they settle again, but I need to take the pup out for water and a toilet stop.

[Amazetl]

Sometimes I hear the dogs drink through the night as they have 24 hours access to water but she doesn’t seem busting when I take her out through the night. It seems to be around food because if I give in and feed her she will then happily go back to sleep. I’ve tried feeding her later in the evening and even a late meal snack/top up. She is extremely active and doesn’t hold on any weight. The dogs are wormed so I don’t think it could be to do with that could it? 

 

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your thoughts and comments on the subject.