Crating 9 Week Old Puppy Overnight

[samoyedman]

Ive been reading up on this and the theory goes a puppy can hold its bladder for its age in months + 1.

Therefore, theoretically I have to wake up approximately every 3 hours throughout the night and take my pup out of its crate to 'wee wees'?

My question is, if I keep doing this, won't the puppy begin to expect it to happen every few hours and get "trained" into a routine of regular overnight toilet breaks when I want the opposite to happen (less toilket breaks)?

How long before he can hold for 4-6 hours and I can awake at a reasonable hour to toilet him?

[*Heidi*]

We crate trained out new puppy when bringing her home, you will find it is a huge help with toliet training

I go to bed late anyway, we would not give puppy water late in the evening and take her out about 10-11pm straight before bed, then half way through the night I got up once or twice depending on when i woke up, or heard her awake

I took her out and told her "wee wees" and she soon got the idea but it was not long (a month or so, will depend on the breed etc also) and i thought she could last longer and i would get up about 4am or so and then when we got up, we never to this day have had a accident in the crate (she is now 8 months) and sleeps all night in there.

I dont think it teaches them to go regularly at night, it is just until the bladder can hold more till morning, the other thing is dont make the crate to big to start with so she/he can wee in there and still sleep comfortably, even if you get a large crate to start with block it off so it is smaller to start with, as we did, so you dont need buy different sized ones as they grow

this might help

http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

[samoyedman]

We crate trained out new puppy when bringing her home, you will find it is a huge help with toliet training

I go to bed late anyway, we would not give puppy water late in the evening and take her out about 10-11pm straight before bed, then half way through the night I got up once or twice depending on when i woke up, or heard her awake

I took her out and told her "wee wees" and she soon got the idea but it was not long (a month or so, will depend on the breed etc also) and i thought she could last longer and i would get up about 4am or so and then when we got up, we never to this day have had a accident in the crate (she is now 8 months) and sleeps all night in there.

I dont think it teaches them to go regularly at night, it is just until the bladder can hold more till morning, the other thing is dont make the crate to big to start with so she/he can wee in there and still sleep comfortably, even if you get a large crate to start with block it off so it is smaller to start with, as we did, so you dont need buy different sized ones as they grow

this might help

http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

Thanks thats precisely what I'm doing re crate size. Did you put toys in for the dog at night?

So assuming you still go to bed around 11pm, how long is your puppy lasting now before you toilet him each morning?

Edited October 4, 2006 by samoyedman

[*Heidi*]

To start with I put in one or 2 small toys at night (ones that dont make noise!LOL),

now she goes to bed with her favourite toy of the day, hubby works different shifts so if he gets up for morning shift she

goes to bed about 9.30-10, if he is on nights, like now, it is about 11, tonight she is staying up!

but once she is in there, ( I always still take her out just before bed) she is happy to be in the until we let her out, which is normally about 7.30am, she will sit there waiting if we sleep in, no problems like on weekends till 8.30-9am but she has normally gone to bed late the night before. She has been sleeping through the night now without loo breaks since about 4 and a half months, but for a month or so after that, whenever hubby was on day shift I would let her out also about 6am and put her straight back into bed for another hour and a half, just because i was awake but she would have held on. Even now she will get up in the morning and i put her straight out but she likes to greet everyone first so she is never busting to go. It does not take them to long to work it out, i think picking the water up at night helps.

The main thing is not to give in to the heartbreaking crys the first few nights, if you give in then your in trouble

Edited October 4, 2006 by *Heidi*

[SkyesongTollrz]

Yup SM, for the first little while you will have to get up every few hours and take your pup out for a wee walk. Not much fun, but still much more fun than having a mess to clean up . Most puppies are fairly easy to toilet train if you put the effort into it. Think about a young baby, and ask if you would expect them to not hold their bladders for eight hours when they are only a few months old? Like children, puppies need to learn to control their bladders, and that does take some time. By taking them out in the middle of the night means that they learn success, rather than failure. It gives you the opportunity to praise them for doing the right thing, and you can then start to increase the time they hold their bladders. Three hours one night, three hours and five minutes the next night. And so on. Take your pup outside and put them on the ground, and then praise when they do their business (yup, even if you have to stand outside in your pjs for thirty minutes - you wait until they've gone). No games, no cuddles, no talking, just hold their lead and wait it out. As soon as they go, heap on the praise and make a big fuss of them. Won't take them long to figure it out.

My latest addition came to live here at 7 weeks of age. For the first few nights I set the alarm and got up at 4am to let her out (I usually go to bed about 1am, and wake about 7am), and within five days I abandoned the alarm as she would whine and whack her paw on the side of the crate (which was next to the bed) when she needed to go out. By 12 weeks she was sleeping through the night (to 7am), and by 16 weeks she slept loose in the bedroom, and now at 6 months she sleeps right through and doesn't even wake me when I have my rare chances to have a late sleep in. Very occasionally she'll get up on the bed and whine in my face, then I know she really needs out.

As Heidi says, don't let the heartbreaking cries get to you. You will quickly learn the difference between a sympathy cry and a 'I need to pee' cry.

Bear in mind that that hard work of having to get up in the middle of the night now will pay off down the track. It sucks for a while, but you'll quickly forget about it when you have a housetrained pup that sleeps through the night.

[Akitaowner]

i have run this practive with my older boy and now my new pup who is turning 14 weeks this w/e.

yes it involves getting up a couple of time in the night and quite early in the morning. This is what i have done and it has been fine:

when pup came home - i let out at 10pm before i go to bed then at 1am and 4am and i get up at 7am. do this for a week or so until pup is reliable - i have never had a pup that took more than about 2 days to toilet train (of course this depends on the individual pup too).

gradually over the following weeks you can extend the time left i work towards having 1 break at 2/3am and then once this is ok SLOWLY move this break thru to the morning but around a hour a week or so.

My girl is 14 weeks and can hold it through the night if left, but she is a large breed pup which personally i think makes a difference.

if they have an accidient it is not their fault - its yours - go back a few steps and try again taking it slower this time.

This has worked very well for my 2 and works quickly

Means your tired tho!!!

[samoyedman]

Again thanks for replies.

One qustion I forgot. Why do some people put a towel or blanket over the crate?

[Sezy]

I like to cover the metal ones as it is then more of a cave for them so that they feel save, however my boy does have a habbit of pulling what ever is on the crate into it!

[Kavik]

I cover the crate when they are little. I find they tend to be quieter if they can't see out. Kaos does pull the sheet into his crate too if he really wants out before I let him

[Maile]

You need to bring your young pup outside to relieve itself at least once middle of the night. I don't think that it can hold it bladder for long.

Unless you sleep at 3 am and wake up at 8 am then you could probably just leave it in the crate. However, if you sleep early, you do need to wake up once at night to bring it outside so that it can learn not to soil its crate inside.

Hope everthing turns out fine for you!

Good luck!

[samoyedman]

lol he's not keen on the crate...I put him in and pat him but he soons come straight out. Ive tried putting in toys/treats but no luck so far.

I think I'll lock him in for a couple of minutes...let him whine...ignore, let him out, repeat for longer period and so on and so forth. Wish me luck ;-)

[Livi]

Take some pics while he is in there we need pics !!!!!!

[samoyedman]

No camera yet sorry.

First night crating went like a dream. He whined for all of 1 minute in the crate then went to sleep. I weed him at 4am, took him back to crate and he slept fine.

He ate a bit more this morning...this guy is really placid. Ive never seen a Samoyed like him. He isnt eating much and loves his sleep :-)

[samoyedman]

Took these shockers with my webcam. Will add decent ones later.

[Livi]

Awwwwww he is soooooo cute !!!!!

Bright eyed little man, I think he is going to keep you very busy once he settles in

[Akitaowner]

very cute - im sure youll go fine with the crate training - i leave the door open to my crate in the kitchen and my girl has started going in of her own accord for a snooze or to see if there are any treats inside - i also like to feed meals in there - now my girl will go and sit in hers and wait til ive finished preparing her bowl!! - i was amazed when she first did it!!!

[samoyedman]

doing very well here. He's even entering the crate of his own accord now and claimed it as his own lol.

I've figured out one thing about his little whines; he gets thirsty. Is it bad to put a small plate of water in his crate? It would mean he's more comfortable and he'll still be going to the loo every 3 hours anyway.

Any feedback appreciated.

[Akitaowner]

Yep i leave mine with a small bowl of water altho more often than not they trip it over and have wet blankets!

i wouldnt leave a big breed pup without water....they need so much when growing - 1 have 3 big bowls i am filling daily.

My girl - now 14 weeks - also has a play pen around her crate now so she has more room - she still sleeps in the crate with the door open but has a bit more room if she wakes up, she hasnt peed in it at all ;)

So ive started putting a bigger bowl of water in the pen instead of the crate.

Actually it was funny - i tried removing the pen to give her the whole room for the night - as i think shes well behaved enough and she started crying when i left her?? weird so she got the pen back - i think she sees it as a security thing!? Anyway i'll try again sometime!

[SwaY]

:rolleyes: I have a question now.

Our Great Dane girl is 8 weeks and difficult to carry outside at night, how else can i get her to walk out side?

We have only had her for 24hours, so everything is still new to her and she gets sidetracked.

I call her she looks at me tilts her head to the side, and goes narrh im going that way and pees before i even get to her.

[samoyedman]

:rolleyes: I have a question now.

Our Great Dane girl is 8 weeks and difficult to carry outside at night, how else can i get her to walk out side?

We have only had her for 24hours, so everything is still new to her and she gets sidetracked.

I call her she looks at me tilts her head to the side, and goes narrh im going that way and pees before i even get to her.

well based on my limited (but successful so far) experience carrying to the elimination area is best. That way you're in control more. I couldnt have got to where I am now with the distraction of a leash (plus back yard steps) for my puppy.