[jboboxer]

I have a female boxer puppy that's 3 months old. We've been putting her in the crate in our bedroom at night and closing the door. We've been doing this now for 2 weeks, but anytime from 3-5am she starts to cry for about 10 minutes, she of course makes it hard for me to get back to sleep.

When it gets closer to 6am, she starts to cry even more, which we feed her at 6:30am every day. We've been feeding her twice a day, once at 6:30am and once at 6:30pm. I give her one cup each time of wellness for puppies, since the bag recommends 2 cups a day.
I give her treats throughout the day if she goes outside to relieve herself. She never eats all of her food either.

I know we should probably feed her 3 times a day, but it's hard with my working schedule.

My main question is, when she is crying we've been ignoring her, but sometimes we've been waking up thinking she has to go outside. About 20% of the time if we take her outside she does pee, but 80% of the time you can tell she just wants out of her crate.

So we're trying to just ignore her when she's crying in the crate and barking. I'm not sure if we're doing the right thing or if we should yell at her and tell her NO!!! I was thinking even telling her No, shows her that she can get our attention.

We want to eventually take the crate out of the room, but right now we're just trying to work on getting her to sleep 8 hours a night.

 

[mandymmr]

at 3 months old she is only able to hold her bladder for 3 hours. When she wakes up crying she is telling you she has to go potty. I would stay outside with her till she goes! then bring her back in and put her back to bed!

 

[skelaki]

At this young age she needs a potty break (probably two) during the night. Instead of waiting for her to start whining and "yelling" or ignoring her, set your alarm for 3 hours and take her out for a potty break. Give her 15 minutes to do her business then straight back to the crate.

Having a young puppy is much like having a baby. Sleepless nights are part of the deal for the first few months.

 

[Corteo]

NEVER yell at a dog. It doesn't do any good at all. In fact, if you yell, the dog will only get louder. They think of us as dogs, so your dog will bark back.

 

[emily445455]

Puppies that young wake up and get bored....mine did it for awhile when they were pups until they were used to sleeping through the night. Now my puppy, Penny, only wakes my hubby up when she has to potty.

Sounds like regular puppy stuff to me.

 

[FourIsCompany]

I was thinking even telling her No, shows her that she can get our attention.

This is true, but there's never a good reason to yell at a dog. Puppy or not.

Get up at midnight or 2 AM and take her out, and then put her back to bed. She's a baby and it's what you signed up to do with you brought her home.

She will sleep through the night when she's a little older.

 

[BoxMeIn21]

I agree with the others - don't yell and set your alarm to get up with her during the night. It will make it easier on both of you.

 

[LilMissSunshine]

A tip: DO NOT PLAY WITH HER/GIVE HER ATTENTION when you let her out of her crate. crying in crate means POTTY TIME. if you take her out and she goes to the bathroom, maybe play tug with her a little etc..
If you take her out and she doesn't go.. march her little behind right back to the crate.

puppies/dogs quickly learn that its not even worth it to fake wanting to go to get out..since its no fun

and NO yelling isn't a good idea.

 

[moluno]

She's waking up to go potty. Bring her outside, give her some time to go, and then bring her right back to the crate. If she still cries after she's went potty, you just have to ignore it. Yelling won't do anything... except maybe get her more worked up.

It's frustrating and it might take some time, but she won't be this way forever.

 

[DKC]

Definitely do not give her affection, etc when you take her out. You might even try putting her immediately on a leash and keeping her on it until you bring her back in, so she gets the idea that this isn't playtime.

Also, take up her food and water about 2 hours before bedtime. I was having the exact same issue with my 4mo old puppy and I started doing this 3 days ago. Since then, she will bark for about 10 min when I first put her up for the night but will stay quiet until about 4:30. Your puppy may still require a potty break during the night, but this might still help a bit.

 

[andreangil]

I've had my puppy for a month now and he's three months old right now, so same age as your puppy. I don't have problems with him whining in the middle of the night unless its just potty time. Most of the time he sleeps through the night. Our schedule goes

6:30 ish--dinner, short walk and potty time immediately after, then rest or self amusement time
8:30 ish--long walk and potty time--once he pees, no more water.
9:00 ish--indoor playtime with puppy--usually fetch and we go until he loses interest because then we know he's pooped.
9:15 ish--ignore puppy, watch tv, get ready for bed
10:00 ish--put puppy in crate with his toys and bully sticks and I don't make a big deal out of it, he gets a "good boy" when he goes in and that's it.

After that its straight to bed, lights out. He might whine for a minute but we ignore it and he stays quiet and sleeps. Occasionally I'll hear him whine in the middle of the night, thats when Ill put a leash on him and take him outside. I don't talk to him or play with him, he gets a "good boy" for going and thats it. The long walk and playtime is important to us, because without that, he will let us know that he is not ready for bed and won't quiet down.