New puppy owner, need advice/reassurance

julesh

I am on my second night with an 8.5 week old Brittany puppy. The first night was pretty good, but she was probably just exhausted from the experience of coming to a new home. Tonight, I've discovered a problem

I'm crate training, but I figure at this age if she wakes up every two hours, it's because she needs to go potty. So I put her in the crate at about 11:20 when she was starting to fall asleep. She woke me at about 1:15 so I took her out to go potty. She did not want to go and wanted to run around. I had to continually pick her up and put her in the right spot/move her away from distractions. She finally went after five minutes so we went back inside. The problem is, she decided it was time to wake up now and not go back in her crate and go to sleep. I put her back and and she whined endlessly.

Now, tell me if I'm handling this right. I am sitting next to the crate so she can see that I'm here, but not looking at her or paying attention. This gets to her to at least quiet down her whining so I don't have to worry about waking the neighbors. But I've done this twice now and then gone back to bed, and both times she's woken. I'm currently waiting here giving her more time to really get to sleep before moving.

So, am I handling this correctly? Or am I supposed to allow her to play for a while before going back to sleep? I don't think I would be able to handle that if I am supposed to do that.

Also, how long will waking every two hours last? When should I start making her wait longer? Or will she just naturally sleep for longer intervals?

Xeph

First of all, the potty issue. If she's going to wake up at 1:15 in the morning and you're going to take her potty, she needs to be on leash. She shouldn't be allowed to run around until she's done her business.

#1 You'll never train her to go in the right spot if you don't confine her to it. #2 Why should she pee when she can run around NOW and pee later? #3 You're likely to end up with a dog that never pees on leash because you're not making her do it now (seriously, it happens) #4 When you're out there, it should be all about business right now. She can be free when she's gone potty, otherwise, she's leashed up.

After she's gone potty, at that time of night, I wouldn't play with her, but I would sit with her for a minute or two and allow her to be out of her kennel so she knows that going potty outside = freedom. After you've sat with her for a few minutes, back in the kennel she goes with a kong or a chewbone to keep her occupied.

During the day after she's gone potty, let her loose (but keep an eye on her).

As for how long to wait, right now when she's up, you need to get up because chances are she DOES have to pee, and better safe than sorry. As you start putting her to bed, when she goes to sleep she'll stay asleep longer and longer because she'll be learning how to hold her bladder better.

For the sake of housetraining, it is best to treat every cry as an emergency (mostly when she's in her crate) and to take her out potty, but make it clear it's about going potty, and not about playing. You will learn to differentiate between the "Lemme out dammit!" whine and the "Maaaaaaaaaaaa, I gotta gooooooooooo!!!!!" whine.

julesh

Thank you for your help. The advice about the leash worked great. I had tried putting her collar on before and she was bothered by it, but just putting it on for going potty works for now. I'll give her a chance to get used to it later.

As for the rest, she decided to get up five times last night. I would cuddle her for a few minutes, but as soon as she went back in the crate, she was miserable. She would even be playing with her toy and whining. So while she was getting up every hour to hour and a half, it would take me half an hour before I could go back to sleep. So I'm left with almost no sleep at all. Is there a reason why she would be getting up so often? Could she be uncomfortable in some way? The AC keeps the room pretty cold (and this is an old unit where the only options are on or off, so no way to regulate the temperature very well). Could she be too cold and that wakes her?

wendyd27

Have you tried putting a shirt that you have worn in with her. The way she will be able to smell you and won't feel so alone.

DogsforMe

Some say to have the crate next to your bed so they know you're there. You can also put a cover over the crate to make it more like a den.

Puppy & Dog Forums

 

briteday

I would set an alarm for every 2 hours and wake HER up. No lights, no talking, no fun...just outside to potty, food reward, a bit of quiet praise and then right back into the crate. Repeat every two hours.

Rule of thumb for potty training puppies...# of hours they can reasonably hold it = age in months...8 weeks=2months=2 hours

If you go a whole week and she is dry at the 2 hour intervals I would start increasing the alarm time by 15 minutes maybe every 4-7 days. Anytime you find she cannot stay dry for the alloted time then you need to go back 15 minutes.

I keep puppy crates next to the bed for convenience. It is just easier to pop the door open at night and scoop the pup out to go. We have plastic crates. But even then sometimes I need to put a light blanket over the crate to get them to settle down, especially foster dogs. If the noise is just too much I move them out to the family room at the other end of the house, and for real howlers their crates may end up out in the heated garage.

Lastly I would try to play a bit with the puppy before bedtime so that it is really tired. This will become more important as the puppy gets older and has more stamina. Remember to pick up the water bowl 2 hours before bedtime. Three meals of high quality food and regular exercise will get a good elimination pattern established.

Good luck!

Squeeker

Hi, juliesh!

I have an 8-month old Brittany, and we brought her home at 12 weeks. We also crate trained her, and the first few nights were stressful for everyone (our first dog, she was in a new home, etc). We kept her crate in the living room, and at first she was miserable being in the crate too. The first few nights I layed on the floor near her crate with a pillow until she settled down and began to doze (~15 mins), and then went to bed. As hard as it was, if she started to cry and we knew she didn't have to go, we ignored her completely. Within only a few days, when the alarm would wake us for a middle-of-the-night pee, we would go downstairs and she wouldn't want to leave the crate because she was so sleepy! It doesn't take long to get them into routine.

Also, as Briteday said, be sure to give your pup a lot of exercise before bedtime. We got our pup in the winter, so the walks were a bit shorter, but we'd play a lot of fetch and tug in the house. Also, things that make them use their minds tire them out quickly, too. It's never too early to start teaching them eye contact, sit, down, etc. Our pup is ready for bed every night by 8:00 because we wear her out so much in the evening!

dre2142

This is what I did with out 9 week old sheltie.

We started off letting him cry....the first few nights, he would cry for about 20, 25 minutes, and then be quiet. We would just ignore him until he went to sleep.
Every night he would cry for a little less time. His crate is also downstairs, one level below us. We have a towel over his crate as well as music playing. (no more music with him now though)

About a week or two after we brought him home we started waking him up, and then stretching out the intervals.

He is 4.5 months old now, and we put him in his crate at about 9pm, and hes going through the night until about 730. The 2nd night that we had him was the only time he has messed in his crate, and he has only peed twice in the house, which was during the first month at home. We have been very fortunate.

A firm "QUIET" when he is making noise in his crate makes him go quiet now.
He also goes right to the crate when we say "CRATE". And knows that he has to sit before leaving the house and entering the house.

If your pup cries for 2 hours, and you go get him, he'll know that he can cry for two hours and youll come free him. (be it, hes not crying because he has to go potty or is hurt.) It can be really hard to just let him cry, but you dont want to get him in that habit....bad habit.

Also make sure to restrict water for a while before bed.

Now if only I could get my young daughter out of our bed....my wife doesnt have enough will power to just let her cry in her crib, lol.

Puppy & Dog Forums