Hello everyone. I have a 3 month old puppy, had him for 3+ weeks, since he was 10 weeks old, now he is 13. We have sleep issues and i am so sleep deprived and depressed i can't even think straight. Here it goes. First night home: dog bed next to out bed in the bedroom, no crate. Puppy wandered all night in the bedroom, very little sleep on everybody, as we were too stressed to clean up messes and supervise not to chew on things. Second night home up until yesterday, so for approx 2 and a half weeks the same schedule: Puppy in playpen, with his dog bed and a puppy pee pad right next to our bed, in our bedroom. Had 2 ok nights, the rest of them being interrupted several times during the night with loud barking, howling, whining, the lot. This scene kept repeating every hour or at two hours max, with the barking up to half hour each time. It seemed to be getting a lot worse, not better. Puppy is not housetrained yet, he hasnt completed his vaccination set yet. In the past couple of days of this arangement, me and husband got up at night to move to the guest room, as the barking stopped when we were not in the room sooner, it seemed. We also have a child so the loud barking and howling is really disrupting. Last night home, yesterday: We took puppy playpen and set it up in the kitchen, downstairs so we could catch up on our zzzs. He obviously barked some, but then seemed to stop and not completely certain because i cant hear him so good, but seamed to actually sleep ok-ish up until 6ish in the morning when i heard him bark so i went and took him out for the day. During the day he is free, allowed on sofa to sleep and relax, and i do have guilt over being crated at night. But our bed is very high up and he is not housebroken so i figured these things have to be met for him to be able to sleep upstairs with us in bed or in our child's room. But i am depressed and feel so guilty of isolating him like this. Also i am dead tired. And to top it off, he seamed more anxious during the day, more clingy, but maybe it is just a phase until he adjusts? Sorry for the long post, and the whining and howling on my behalf but i need support and encouragement. I am in my puppy blues smack on. Feeling also guilty about it. Send thoughts please. Thank you!
I feel you. It is very taxing on the body. Have you gotten the Happy Puppy book yet? It talks about crate training - not sure if it is allowed where you are? @pippa@labforumHQ talks about stopping food intake 4 hours before bedtime and water 1-2 hours. When you set your alarm every 3 hours you want to just take puppy out pee (puppy should not be awake yet). Then again another 3 hours repeat. No praise, no talk, no lights or activity (uneventful). I made crate very positive thing by doing puzzles, hiding treats in the blankets, using kongs (power of association). I can't imagine how you are feeling. I did it for 3 days due to vax reaction and it was madness for me. Sending you gentle hugs should you want them. You aren't alone and this will pass. Loads of support here.
Welcome to the forum, Olga! Sleep deprivation is the worst, isn't it It's very common for puppies to wake up in the night, fortunately it shouldn't last too long if you adjust your routine a bit. Check out this article for details on how to get back those valuable hours of shut-eye!
