Morning all, I'm in need of some help. Recently bought a new puppy. The first week he was good as gold, wined for maybe 20minutes before he settled down for the night (a good 7-8 hours sleep). The last 3 night's he wakes up at 2:30 barking crying non stop. So we come down let him do his business, with minimal fuss or attention try to go back upstairs to bed the barking starts all over again. I have resulted in sleeping on the sofa just save the sanity of my partner and neighbours
This is the worry isn’t it, they whine, so you worry about neighbours and family members getting sleep, so you try to minimise it, but then you inevitably reinforce the whining by going in, or sleeping with them etc, it’s really hard. Is he in a crate? We put buddy in for every nap, and obviously at night, and he only whined a couple of times the first night and sleeps through fine now. He whines the odd time during the day but this is where it helps to practice. It’s easier to let them whine during the day, so then they know they won’t get let out or whatever, and then they know bedtime is bedtime, and give up whining and just go to sleep.
I'm thinking you live in a two story so my question is this - if after you no longer need to crate him, will he be allowed to sleep upstairs with you or will he need to remain downstairs? I ask because we live in a two story and have two crates for our puppies (current one will be 12 weeks on Tuesday). One crate is upstairs for nighttime and the other is downstairs for daytime naps and for when we leave the house. I typically sleep down on the couch with the puppies until they are sleeping through the night which Roamin' did by 9 weeks. (11 to 4 a.m. being our "night - but he is popped back in the crate until 7 a.m.). Then we all sleep upstairs - he in his crate and I in our bed. Labradors are people dogs; they want to be where we are and what you are experiencing with your puppy may be simply that he wants to be upstairs with you. However, we must "start as we want it to go" so if he will not be allowed upstairs once the crate is put away, then a second crate up there is not the proper solution for you.
