As per Pippa's recommendation in her book, we're planning on having the puppy in our room at night for the first few days or so until he feels safe and settled in the house. I don't want to leave him whining and upset downstairs so he might feel safer if we are nearby. Also we will hear him shuffling about when he needs to go to the toilet. Pippa says about using a box or something next to our bed but we were thinking of using his (24") crate and just moving it up and down the stairs until he's sleeping downstairs at night. At least then when he's used to going in the crate in the kitchen for small times in the daytime he might then feel happier when it comes to sleeping there overnight. Do you think this sounds okay?
Thanks. Do you find that they're definitely more settled if they know you are nearby? Got some vetbet in the crate. Do I put anything else in with him in the crate at bedtime, a toy or chewy or just him?
Yes, sounds great. I always have a soft crate all ready ON my bed in case the pup is distressed in the night. None have been at all, I stand by the pen until they dose off - then I promise myself I'll wait 15 minutes if they start shouting, but none have. I have the same idea if they cry in the night - 15 minutes maximum. So far only one out of four has cried at all and only for 10 minutes or so ...
Yes, they are definitely more settled when you are nearby. We had Quinn's crate in our bedroom, but at the bottom of the bed so she couldn't actually see us. For weeks after we brought her home she was waking at night and/or very early in the morning and looking for us (did not need to go out) and if I crouched down by her crate or talked to her, she would fall back asleep. We kept her blanket and toy from the breeder in her crate with her at night and a stuffed animal. When she was having trouble settling down after late night pee trips, a friend told me to put an old shirt that smelled like me in her crate - we did this when we started leaving her alone and it seemed to help - she put her head on it to sleep.
Do they generally go to bed when you go to bed? Aww how cute. Do they not chew soft toys up? I guess I'll just put some in and see if he does?
When they are tiny OH does the late shift (about 11:30pm and I go to bed at 10am) I do the early shift - starting at 6am but moving to normal getting up time, 7am after two weeks. But this time OH was away so I did late and early shifts. They don't chew soft toys up when tiny, then it depends on the dog. Gypsy never chewed any toys up, Twiglet became a toy destroyer by 7 months. Tatze is selective but, if she likes a soft toy she EATS it -erk! Kara left me at 12 weeks so time will tell with her, they are all different. But they toys are certainly safe for a week or two.
I'm probably not the best to provide advice on getting a pup out of the bedroom! We actually still have Quinn's crate in our bedroom as it fits best in there. We de-crated her once she was consistently sleeping through the night (12.5 weeks) and she sleeps in our bedroom with us with our door closed so she can't wander - her choice of our bed, her dog bed or her crate with door open. We started allowing her in our bed as OH wanted the dog allowed in bed and I agreed because she would sleep until we got up in the morning instead of the 5am wakeup call! She is 8 months now and still will rarely jump off the bed and will cry if she wants down or needs to go out! However, she prefers to sleep in her crate or dog bed and sometimes even the floor.
Okay great thanks, I'll pop a few soft toys in. Husband gets up at 6 and me about half 6 and usually similar at the weekends because of the small ones. I generally go to bed around 9pm as I need more sleep but hubby is usually later around 10-10:30. We were going to take pup out about 2 ish for toilet and see how we get on doing that and change if necessary. My youngest child didn't sleep through for nearly 2 years, and woke every hour for the first 6 months of her life so nothing we're not used to hehe. What do you mean Kara left you at 12 weeks but time will tell with her?
Fair enough. My old family dog Patch used to sleep in bedrooms too. I'm sure ours will end up doing the same eventually especially if DH is working away haha
All my dog rules were broken once she came home...they are so cute! When OH gets up very early for work, Quinn jumps up in bed with me for a few hours - it's the best (and also the only thing close to cuddly she gets - she is not very affectionate!)
We had Xena in the crate in our bedroom for exactly one week. Then she went in the living room which is just a few metres down the hall. That first week was awful, I was up and down like a yoyo, but by 8.5 weeks (we got her at 7 weeks) she was doing a solid 6.5 hour stretch, and it was easy to gradually extend that out. We still had lots of accidents that first week just because she was so young, but the beauty of the vet bed is that at least they're not sleeping in wet blankets.
My pen experience has been different than most. The first 2 nights were awful but then I remembered I had Dozers old stuff teddy (Humpy) stored away. I threw that in there and he cuddled right up to it instantly and went to sleep. When I have to leave early I peek in on him to see how he's doing and he'd be fast asleep cuddled up to it until I take him out. Only time he ever makes any noise now is if he has to go potty in the middle of the night. He tricked my last night and was crying so I got up half asleep, opened the door on his pen then opened the side door so he could go out and go potty and sat in my chair out there until he came in. I was so tired after sitting out there for 30 minutes, the little guy was dreaming and not needing to go out. He didn't even notice me opening the door to his pen.
I put Betsy in her pen, where I had played with her and fed her during the day, waited a bit (I was planning on sleeping with her if she was upset) but she just got in her puppy bed and started snoring, so I went to bed! Not all pups struggle with the first night alone....
I wish we'd brought Stanley upstairs those first few nights. We kept him downstairs and he cried a lot which broke my heart and caused a lot more sleepless nights than required. Now he sleeps for about 9 hours no problem though X
We started off with Harley in her crate downstairs but she howled, whined and cried for ages!! After 2 weeks of me sleeping in the living room I gave up and put her on her bed on the floor next to my bed.......she slept 8 hours straight! Within a few weeks she progressed to being on our bed and slept from 11pm-10/11am! Even now at 3 years old she often comes to bed with us around 11pm (if she's really tired she takes herself up to bed earlier!), and will often sleep until around 10am on weekends. I broke all the dog rules that I set within 1 month
I put my puppy into a cardboard box beside the bed and dangled my hand in so that he knew I was nearby. The crate was downstairs and I popped him in there when he was sleepy during the day and eventually he slept at night in the crate.
I'm a puppy walker for Guide Dogs, I get a new puppy every year. I looked after Kara for five weeks until she went on to her 'proper' puppy walker who is new and couldn't start until then. Kara is young yet, so we won't know if she's a toy chewer for a while yet. 'My' new puppy will be arriving in October - I can't wait!
