Nighttime

[Rufini]

So (carrying on from another thread) Vincent has been really struggling with seperation, at night and when we've gone out for an hour or so. I know it's still only the first week but he's really getting upset when we put him to bed.
He howls and whines all night, so loudly that it wakes us up upstairs. We're starting to worry about the neighbours (we're in a semi), I've already had a few evil eyes from them!
We've tried to put things in with him to keep him entertained but that only works for a very short time.

To be honest me and my boyfriend disagree on the bed set up.... my boyfriend wants him to be in an open pen, with a doggy bed. I want him to have his doggy bed inside a crate. Last night we put the crate in the pen but left the door open because he's been pooping and weeing in the night, although NOT in his bed. We put some newspaper in the pen and he poops and wees on that which we're pretty happy about at this stage.
Should be allow him to have access to the pen so if he does wake in the night to need a poop and wee (which has been the case every night) or should we close him in the crate so he's not allowed to do his business?

HELP!!

[wellerfeller]

At this stage he is still too young to not need to empty over night. He is doing well using the newspaper, briliiant at this stage. I too used newspaper as weller just used to eat the pads!! Just moved it closer to the backdoor and eventually outside. I did end up spending a couple of nights on the sofa when he first came home but then had to do the ignoring thing.....tough, very tough but he should catch on quite quickley. It soon passes :) Talk to your neighbour if you can and just apologise and hopefully will only be short lived?? Wine and chocs are good suggestions on here:D

[Mogdog]

Yes I agree, put crate in pen so he has access to newspaper, sounds like he's doing well. He's only a baby so understandable he's crying in the night ... it soon passes. Good luck!

[Rufini]

Thanks for the good advice :) Although my boyfriend might rub it in a little because he's right :O

We've spent today trying to get him used to the crate, everytime he has a snooze we put him in with the door open so he can hop out once he wakes up. We want him to realise it's a nice comfy place to sleep and not a scary lonely place.

[ali-s.j.]

That sounds like just the ticket :)

[Rufini]

He's doing great! (I secretly think he's a genius :P) He's sleeping in there now AND the washing machine is on! Doesn't phase him at all :)

[Hfd]

We have had Billy home nearly 3 weeks and we have him in the crate with the door shut on a night - puppy pad at front of the crate ( which he very rarely uses). If we go out at all during the day he has a pen round his crate which has the door left open so he has access to water / toys.
This has worked well, he whined for the first 3 nights on and off which we ignored and now he sleeps 11pm till 7.30am.
Good luck! x

[PipE]

We have had Billy home nearly 3 weeks and we have him in the crate with the door shut on a night - puppy pad at front of the crate ( which he very rarely uses). If we go out at all during the day he has a pen round his crate which has the door left open so he has access to water / toys.
This has worked well, he whined for the first 3 nights on and off which we ignored and now he sleeps 11pm till 7.30am.
Good luck! x
Hi Helen,
Could you give me the details of the pen you've got please? One of my biggest worries is the guilt I feel leaving her in her crate while I go to work for a couple of hours and I'm thinking a pen would be good so that she can have a bit more space.
Thanks
Pip X

[Rufini]

Hi Helen,
Could you give me the details of the pen you've got please? One of my biggest worries is the guilt I feel leaving her in her crate while I go to work for a couple of hours and I'm thinking a pen would be good so that she can have a bit more space.
Thanks
Pip X

Our pen is from Pets at Home, it was about £50 I think. We got the small dog one, but tbh it's pretty big. It fits the crate in as well as having walking space and an area Vincent can poop/pee in :)

[Rufini]

oh my gosh! I don't know what happened but Vincent was quiet from 9:30pm until 6:00am :D
I did play with him last night for 3 hours non stop, and made sure he didn't snooze. Phew!

Lots of poop and pee but all on the newspaper :D although some of his toys got a little poopified.... washing machine time!!

[tessybear]

Can you puppy proof a room before you go to work to give him more space? I could never bring myself to leave Dexter in his crate during the day even for short spells. He slept happily in it at night but during the day was always fine in my puppy proofed kitchen when I left him. Now I leave him the run of the house when I go out or to work. He has never chewed anything when I'm out.

[PipE]

oh my gosh! I don't know what happened but Vincent was quiet from 9:30pm until 6:00am :D
I did play with him last night for 3 hours non stop, and made sure he didn't snooze. Phew!

Lots of poop and pee but all on the newspaper :D although some of his toys got a little poopified.... washing machine time!!

That's brilliant!!! You must feel so much better for some sleep!!!
I bought a puppy pen off eBay last night- off to Southampton to collect it today. Should make me feel less guilty about leaving her during the day. Just hope she can't jump that high yet!!
Hope Vincent carries on with his good nighttime behaviour and manages to hold on a bit longer with his poops- great progress! :)


Pip X

[Hfd]

Hi Pip, we got our pen off eBay too - bargain! Ours is 8 panels which are 2 ft high and he would have no chance of getting over it at the moment. When he gets bigger we will use it as a partition in the kitchen so he can have a bit more space.
We felt really guilty when we first started leaving him but he seems to be totally fine for a couple of hours!
Let us know how you get on. Helen x

[Rufini]

That's brilliant!!! You must feel so much better for some sleep!!!
I bought a puppy pen off eBay last night- off to Southampton to collect it today. Should make me feel less guilty about leaving her during the day. Just hope she can't jump that high yet!!
Hope Vincent carries on with his good nighttime behaviour and manages to hold on a bit longer with his poops- great progress! :)


Pip X

Oh my goodness yes xD a good nights sleep and I feel like a million dollars!

Although trying not to count my chickens just yet.... we'll see how he is tonight!

[Rufini]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! He slept all the way through the night. My alarm went off at 6:30 and there was no sound from him.... went down and he was curled up in his basket chewing on his favourite toy :D

One thing, we found that putting BBC radio 4 on really helps xD

[ali-s.j.]

Great news :)

[Hfd]

That's Brill! x

[tracy weston]

Hi. My names Tracy and my goegoeus little cockapoo is called Ozzy and is just over 8 weeks old. Your threads on sleep and nighttimes as helped me realise, (i think!) that Ozzy is normal.
We have had him nearly a week now, and he was a surprise present from my partner. He is house trainig well, and he will go to the door for wee's and poo's, although we have to be vigilant for him doing this. I did initially start training him with pads however, as we live in a bungalow, it was easier to take him outside. He is an active and sociable ball of fluff who like playing with toys and chewing my slippers!
However, the one little issue we have been having is that he wakes up between 5.30- 6am every morning and whines and cries, and wont go back to sleep. We have tried letting him out to use the toilet and putting him back in his crate, to no avail. After reading these threads im thinking of moving his crate into the kitchen, which is still near our bedroom, and not letting him nap in the evening. His crate is medium size so he as enough space to sleep etc and do his toiletting in the other side. However, i do think he woke up at 5 this morning as he needed the toilet and would not do it in his crate.
Does anyone have any advice or is what im suggesting the right way to go about things? :)

[Rufini]

I think the main thing is perseverance. We felt like giving up after a few completley sleepless nights but we decided that no matter how much he cries at night we wouldn't go down to him until at least 06:00.
The past few night, in which he's not made a sound, I've made sure that he doesn't snooze after 19:00 and then we put him to bed at 21:30. Plus putting the radio on really helps!

Good luck!!

[Rufini]

p.s Tracey I think Vincent and Ozzy are brothers! Did your partner get him from Sarah near Gainsborough?

[strof51]

With my two Ive tried both methods.
Poppy had a pen at first then she was left in the kitchen, lots of noise when she was left alone, and she took an age to house train. She only made a mess when left in the kitchen but she did do it on the puppy pads. She had a crate but if you shut the door she just cried none stop, but put the crate in the car and not a sound. She now has the run of the ground floor of the house, and can be left and she doesn't make a sound.
When we got Rosie the breeder had started to crate train her, so from day one she has slept and has been left in her crate when we go out. We did try her in the pen but she would rip up the puppy pad, stand in her water bowl and make a right mess. So she is now left in her crate and is no bother. It is hard leaving them in a crate but out of the two options the crate has given us a better result she has not had an accident in the house for weeks. we've even staid in a hotel and both of them slept in the same crate with the door closed, a first for Poppy.

[Rufini]

Still going well! :D He pees pretty much every night but no poops for 3 nights :D And as soon as we open his pen he runs straight to the back door (after the ususal puppy excitement of seeing us after a night xD He is so happy!!) and goes for a poop outside :D

[Kirsty]

We've been so lucky with Cara ... Took her crate away this week so she has the kitchen and hall as her bedroom now.

Watch the amount and time She drinks and eats as this will affect pee and poo time.

They are babies really so bedtime can be scary. With our last dog I wore a fleece sweatshirt for a couple of days so it smelled of me and kept it with my hubby and I on the sofa. I then filled a hot water bottle up ( not too hot just warm) and wrapped the sweatshirt around it. Put it to bed with puppy and he slept through.

Worth a try, sometimes they just need a bit more of a snuggle.

K xx

[Bini]

Can you puppy proof a room before you go to work to give him more space? I could never bring myself to leave Dexter in his crate during the day even for short spells. He slept happily in it at night but during the day was always fine in my puppy proofed kitchen when I left him. Now I leave him the run of the house when I go out or to work. He has never chewed anything when I'm out.

Wow, you are brave! Cider is close to 5 months as well and I am considering it as well to give him the run of all downstairs, but I am not quite there yet. But he had always excess of puppy proof kitchen with open crate to sleep in. Hopefully not long now ;)

[Bini]

I guess it works for everyone different. I remember wondering about the same situation. For us it worked for letting Cider the run of the square kitchen and an open crate for him to go and sleep in. I just couldn't bear going down at night to let him out for wees or poos. He now still has one big wee, when we come downstairs, but he goes outside for his first poo of the day. I guess he would go through the night if he would stay in crate, but we are just happy how it is and I am sure we get there with the first wee as well soon. There are no more excidents during the day in the house. Great to hear, that everything is falling into place for you already anyway :)