Hi All We have only just found this wonderful site and Pippa's book both of which are proving invaluable. Our latest pup is very different to our last boy who only cried for about five minutes on his first night with us, I now understand how lucky we were! I have just read the advise provided on this site regards having the pup in his crate with us at night (I always assumed this was a bad thing to do!) Having not done this for his first 5 nights with us and had very little sleep I was wondering if anyone had experience of introducing the option late i.e. not from pups first night in his new home? If so did it work and were you eventually able to move pup out of your room?
Hi Stevie, welcome to the forum It's great to hear that you're enjoying Pippa's work! Keeping a puppy next to your bed for the first few nights serves a few purposes, one of which is giving them a chance to form a secure attachment to you. This then gives them the confidence to feel safe sleeping apart from you later. (Also it's really convenient, and helps with night time toilet training!) I don't think it's ever too late to bring your puppy into your room, and give them that chance to build a sense of safety and security. It sounds like he's very frightened at night at the moment, and bringing him into your room is your best chance of overcoming that. Good luck - I hope you get some quiet nights soon!
Thank you for your email Sarah, we had Freddie in our room for the first time last night. He went of to sleep immediately and would have gone right through to 7.00am had I not woken him at 4am insisting he needed a wee (he didnt!) not bad for a 9 week old! Thanks for the very sound advice it works, anyone else out there who has also endured many sleepless nights should try this. Kind regards Steve