# Night times getting me down...



## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

I'm really confused about what we should be doing on a night time. On the first night we had Betty we got up with her at 3.30 in the morning, she did a wee then nothing else. She was then wide awake and traumatised about going back in her crate. In the morning we got up at 6 and there was poo everywhere. 

The last 4 nights we haven't got up with her until 6 and she has had to have a little bath every morning as there has been poo all over. 

She has very few accidents in the day so I think she knows where to go but can't hold it for long enough. 

I'm scared to get up in the night as people have warned they won't break this routine but I'm wondering how long pooing in her crate will go on for. Any advice!? 

Thanks


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

does she cry in the middle of the night?? she is probably telling you that she has to go our to poop.

But what time is her last meal, how many times a day do you feed her?
WHat time do you put her in her crate for bed?


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Is her crate in your bedroom or in another room? If she cries at night can you hear her? I had Molly in my room by my bed so if at night she cried really loud I knew she had to go and would take her out then put her back in. She would wimper for a bit and then settle. This only happened the first few nights then she would sleep til 5am.

I would give her her last meal at 5pm and made sure she did her jobs before going to bed at 10pm. If you feed them too late at night then they will have to go during the night. This is what worked for me. Good luck with your puppy hope things get better!


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## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

She gets her last meal of 4 at around 5.30 to 6pm. She sleeps in the kitchen which is her room and it is at the other side of the house to our bedroom (old house so thick walls) we only hear her if she cries loudly which she hasn't done since the first 2 nights. 

She does her last poo at about 9.30 and I keep taking her out until 11 which is when I put her to bed but she never does anything.

I really have no idea what to do


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Maybe her crate is too big?? I had Molly in a tiny one where she could lie down, stand, turn around and sit. If it's too big they will use part of it as their toilet.


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## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

It is quite big, bigger than I expected, I'm wondering if I could use something to block part of it off, I have some card board boxes but she might just chew it?


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Faybee said:


> It is quite big, bigger than I expected, I'm wondering if I could use something to block part of it off, I have some card board boxes but she might just chew it?


Boxes would work you could cover them with a towel or something that way she won't really know they are there.


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## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

Will try that, I don want her to just get used to pooing in her crate as it really soesnt seem to distress her at all!


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## SamRinde (Jun 10, 2013)

Oh my. That must be so frustrating. Stay with it.

The first nights can be very nervous for the little ones. We had Frankie sleep in our bed because we didn't want him sleeping in a crate (we knew he'd be in crate while we are at work from 8am-12pm, and 1pm-5pm) and he wasn't able to jump off so he couldn't go around the floor chewing/eating things (which is what he would have done if he was on the ground.) I think he felt comfortable sleeping with us and only had one accident (after he drank more chicken stock than my fiancee realized). 

Does she not like the crate? Does she fall asleep when you put her in there? 

I'd suggest playing a few treat games with the crate so she starts to associate it with good times. I'd also, if possible, move the crate into your bedroom if you can't hear her whine for a potty break. The local trainer told us that she starts with the crate ON her bed (crazy, but she did it) and then slowly moved it to the ground and then further away after that. 

Like I said, keep with it. This puppy stage is so cute but can get so frustrating. I'd be fooling you if I said that my fiancee and I haven't had our fair share of meltdowns and "this was a terrible idea" moments. I find comfort in others saying it will pass as long as we are continuing doing the right things and being consistent with training and rules.


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## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

Thanks for the advice, I can't tell whether she likes the crate or not, I put her in it if I go out (longest an hour) and sometimes she cries and other times not. She has stopped crying when we out her in it at night. But she has a soft bed out of the crate that she sleeps in in the day, she never gets in her crate voluntarily and prefers to curl up in her bed, which I move between the kitchen and the living room. 

If I need 5 mins peace in the day I just lock her in the kitchen, as long as her soft bed is in there she doesn't cry. I. Still worried that when I go back to work she won't be able to cope :s

Everyone I speak to says don't let her sleep in your bedroom :s


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Why do they tell you not to put her in your bedroom?? I have had Molly in the bedroom in her crate not on the bed. She is still now at 10 months in my bedroom in her crate and she is fine there


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## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

My auntie and uncle had two cocker spaniels who they had in the their room from day one, they always had to get up with them and they never learnt to sleep through the night. They also became too dependent on them and they couldn't leave them for more than 3 hours at a time even when they got older. 

I think some people think you will just end up having to get up with them forever. I have no idea, I'm willing to try anything right now


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## rellek (Jun 12, 2013)

I would try letting her out a little later in the morning, perhaps 4 am or 4:30, if she's not pooing when you get up for her. Don't give her much attention when you let her out, don't act like you missed her, etc. Keep it strictly business.

If keeping the crate in your room for now is helpful, go for it. Dogs can adjust to things, if after a few days/weeks you move it back to where it is, she'll get used to it. By then she'll also have more bladder/bowel control anyway and you won't have to get up for her during the night.

As far as her getting used to the routine, try taking her out a little later, and then keep pushing the time back until you stop taking her out during the night at all. I was going to stop taking our pup out, but I hear him whining around 4:30 so I still am. I'm hoping in a week or two I can keep pushing it back and then stop letting him out.


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## SamRinde (Jun 10, 2013)

Frankie sleeps in our bed and also sleeps while in the crate when we are at work (8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm.) without a single whine. (we have a webcam sorta thing set up so I can watch him on the internet. Kinda fun) We were lucky enough to each take a week off when we got him at 9.5 weeks, so at about 12 weeks, he was in the crate for 4 hours at a time. The first week, on Wednesday, he cried and cried all morning. When I got home at 12:15pm, he had weed in his crate and had 3 little diarrhea poos. His tummy hurt and my fiancee, Meg, was able to come home and be with him. That was the only whine and only crate accident. We got very lucky with sleeping through the night and housetraining. (unfortunately, we did not get lucky with biting...)

I think others have given great advice (waking up later, moving crate to room).


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## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

Thank ou so much for your advice! My partner said I'm thinking too much into everything with Betty. I'm training to be a teacher in September so have all summer to spend with her (good in some ways) but it does mean I have the time to think everything over and she's already becoming so used to me being around, I go away in just under 3 weeks and I'm already think she is just going to cry all day when no one is there,


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## AliAlfie (Jul 29, 2013)

*Hang in there!*

Hi Fay,

it really is a hard one to call, but my advice is to go with whatever suits YOU and your Poo! If you want her in your room, then go for it, if not, try something else.

It may not help, but here's what we do:

1) Our crate arrived and was bigger than we expected, so we block off half of it at night so its cosier (we use a plastic laundry basket covered in a blanket as that fits nicely, but whatever you use I would cover it so your poo doesn't see it as a toy to chew!)
2) Cover the top so it feels cosier inside, like a safe-haven doggy-den!
4) We feed last meal at 5.30pm and take out for toilet about 10.30pm, just before bed.
5) We use a baby monitor to listen for them to wake up...they are downstairs and we are upstairs: they tend to wake once about 2-3am, we whizz them outside for a loo-stop then straight back to the crate. If they whine after that, we leave them and they settle quickly.
6) We are up around 7-7.30am and they go straight out for a toilet stop.

So far...(we are only on day 5!!!) no accidents in the crate. Now I realise we may well be one of the lucky ones, AND that there being 2 of them is probably helping them to settle as they aren't alone, but if we just had 1 I think I'd try the hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket and ticking clock method (a reminder of mum?)

I'm sorry you're struggling with night times, it always seems worse having to deal with things at night, especially if there's poop involved (I hate it when we human babies are ill at night, I feel so much more anxious than if its during the day.)
Hang in there, you'll probably find it just 'clicks' with her and suddenly stops...keep us up to date, and I'll keep my fingers crossed.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Don't know that I could offer any more advice, we've been lucky in that Nina our new addition has slept from 11-7.15 since we got her home with no accidents in her crate. 

With our first cockapoo Lola however, we did get up through the night with her. Toilet at 11, toilet at 3am, toilet at 6.30 until 10 weeks old. At about 10 weeks we forgot to get up for her and in the morning she was fine. Lola was quite good and didn't have any crate accidents during this time. Then at around 14 weeks she had two nights in a row that she woke and cried and we went down and she had wet the crate, it never happened again, not sure why or what was up either. 
With feeding, we feed Nina 3 times per day. I don't know what others do but by 8 weeks 3 times per day should be sufficient. Maybe you could try 3 times, which would reduce the amount of times she needs to go. Usually puppies will want to poo after eating then again in approx 3 hours. So Betty may just not be getting rid of everything. We set up our crates without a toilet area, add a ticking clock, a puppy warm toy (like a litter mate to snuggle up to), am item from mum or her bed from the breeder and a piece of your clothing, then a light blanket over the crate (still allowing air to circulate). Water need not be provided after 8pm. Puppy's and dogs are clever and will take the water they need when it's available through the day. There's lots of things to try. I'm a really light sleeper so I couldn't have the dogs in my room, as I wouldn't sleep if they moved etc, so that's not an option for me. We've been lucky, now Lola sleeps in her own room and nina will join her in a couple of months when she's fully housetrained.


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

I agree with Ruth Molly never had 4 meals a day she only had 3 and then shortly after it was down to 2. Maybe she is having too much food??


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

It helped when I logged their eating, drinking, playing, sleeping, peeing, pooing for a couple of days to get an idea of when to expect the next bathroom visit. Then I adjusted their feeding time to minimize pooping at night. And I slept near them so I could hear if they needed to go. I know some pick up water but it is hot and dry here so always had water available. But it wasn't until I brought them into the bed that they started sleeping thru the night.


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

Loads of us on this forum have our poos sleep in our rooms. We have contented relaxed poos who sleep through the night without disturbing us and let us have lie-ins at weekends. Cockapoos are a breed that crave human company. If you are leaving her all day to be a teacher then it would seem right that she can be with you at night and not left on her own again. Believe me it works and I am teacher too!


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## Faybee (Jul 30, 2013)

Thankfully we had our first dry night! No poo's! 

My OH got up at 6 let her out to go pee then she came back to bed with me and slept for a few more hours. I woke up to her licking my nose, lovely. 

We didn't do anything different, think it was just perserverance! 

Hopefully won't just be a one off! 

Now to stop the biting!


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## Lottierachel (Mar 3, 2013)

Hooray! Well dne Betty! She must be starting to feel happier in her crate  

Morning puppy cuddles are amazing, lovely bonding time  well done for being patient and consistent x


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

:jumping: that is great news!!! She will learn she is still a baby!


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## AliAlfie (Jul 29, 2013)

:whoo::congrats: Betty! And you too of course Fay!  I hope you manage to get a few more nights like the last one, and those first few awful nights will seem like a dim, distant memory.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

One night without an accident is 100% improvement from the previous night. And one more closer to your final goal!


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## Jayded (Apr 5, 2013)

Regarding sleeping in bedroom. I had Ringo in a crate in my bedroom, I took him out when he whined, every few days he whined less often until he slept through the night after maybe two weeks. 

Sent from my Galaxy S ll


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