Hello all, I'm new to this page so please bear with me. Plus I'm really tired! So Nala is 13 weeks old in week 11 she was sleeping through from 10.30pm til 6.30am she did this for about 5 nights since we have moved her onto 3 feeds a day from 4, she still goes down at 10.30-10.45pm after going out for wee and poo. Then at between 4.30 and 5am she will wake for a wee, then when we put her back in her crate she will howl and bark until we come down again and then she has a poo. After that there is no chance of her going back to sleep. She cries, barks tries to get out of her crate. We have tried ignoring her but after an half an hour and hour its pointless.Then after shes seen us she takes herself back to her crate until breakfast at 7am. She is great at being left on her own in the daytime. This lack of sleep is really taking its toll. Any ideas welcome. Thanks A very tired labrador lover Zoe
Hmmmm sadly we don't want to encourage her upstairs. Though we do love a sofa cuddle. I don't want to establish behavior that will mean when she howls and barks shes rewarding with things like that.
Definitely not, but I meant before she howled. So, she'd have her poo and then you'd take her straight up to bed for morning cuddles. But, if you don't want her in the bedroom, I'd either give her a frozen kong after her poo to keep her occupied for a bit, or I'd snooze on the sofa next to her until she's settled, then go back to bed. You're right that you don't want to be rewarding the noise, but don't worry about these other things becoming habit - she'll grow out of needing to get up in the night, so they will no longer be an issue.
when Stanley was little he would screech in his crate unless he went in by choice. If it was the middle of the night or really early I would sit behind the baby gate to the kitchen on the couch, in the dark, silently but it was comforting to him, and wait for him to realise nothing good was happening so he might as well go back to bed. After a week or so he realised nighttime mummy was a rubbish mummy so after he'd toiletted he'd just go back to bed.
Sleep on the floor with her next to her crate until she settles. I do this with all mine . I have medical equipment upstairs so they can't go up there. I sleep on next to the crate sometimes with my hand in them and slowly build it up. I go at the pups pace some go to sleep and don't cry after a few nights some take longer. After a few nights I move to the sofa then sneak of to bed once the gave a good sleep routine. I don't play or interact at night I'm very boring i just lie down and pretend to sleep
We've tried that one morning it worked. I slept on the sofa next to her and she went straight off but this morning she just howled and was jumping to get out. by the time she does settle its time for her breakfast at 7am. We are also concerned about our neighbours we can cope with the barking and crying as we realise its part of the process but the anxiety of her waking others makes us go to her sooner. Shes fast asleep now which as you can imagine is infuriating!
When Tatze was little I took her out for her morning poo then we both snoozed on the sofa until a 'decent' getting up time. All four of my subsequent pups have happily gone back to bed after their early poo, I'm glad to say! I have a pup every year and all that lack of sleep would do me in Mollie (eight months old) still wakes a bit earlier than I'd like - 6:30am and I still go to bed for that last important half hour lol .
I really sympathise! We had a similar problem with Bramble. How we addressed this may help you. This is our schedule at 4 months old and onward... My husband would stay up until 11.30/12 o'clock, when he would take her out for her last wee.I went to bed early, and set my alarm for 5.00 am,(it was a bit earlier when she was younger ) and would get up quietly, pop downstairs and take her out. No fuss. Then I would give her a frozen kong and sit downstairs, but in a different room, no interaction. After a while of doing this I was able to nip back upstairs, but usually I just called it a night and stayed up. The next step was to set my alarm forward by 5 mins every few days, my aim was to get downstairs before she kicked off. At about 5 months she was sleeping through until just before 6am. Now at 17 months old she will sleep through to when we usually get up..around 7am. It does take time, and patience, having a set schedule does help. Personally I don't like to leave pups crying, but admit it is a fine line between not leaving them to cry and a reinforcing habit when they do get your attention.
Take your neighbours a bottle of wine and your apologies, tell them how you're approaching it and that you're training her to be quiet. If you had a new human baby in the house, they'd have to deal with that, so try to get them onnside and let them know it won't last forever. I think most people get a bit frustrated overhearing neighbours' noise, but if you can explain that you're working on it, it helps to keep the peace.
Thanks everyone. Some good advice there. We will try the early morning frozen kong and the setting alarm idea. See how it goes. Fingers crossed. WE NEED SLEEP!!!!
We are in much the same boat... Merlin sleeps from 10 pm to about 4:30, when he wakes and needs a pee. He goes back into his pen and settles happily, but wakes again 30 minutes later and barks... I usually go to him and just firmly say "go to sleep", which seems to work and he then settles back down until 6:00 or 6:30. I don't mind the 4:30 waking, as he needs to pee, it's the 5:00 am one I wish he'd stop! It's definitely become a habit, as he doesn't need anything, he just wants to know if we might want to get up yet... No Merly, we really wouldn't!!!
Luna slept in this morning!! Until SEVEN! Then, she got up for a wee, but it was raining and so she decided that maybe a lazy morning wasn't too bad an idea, and curled back up with us while we watched some awful TV Sometimes it feels like there's no end in sight (Luna has been a bit of a nightmare, to be honest, compared to my other two), but you do come out the other side - eventually
Just a quick update if anyone is interested! We have reverted to waking before she does and preempting her cries. First night a 4am and then increasing the time by 15 minutes each night. Tonight we will progress to 5am fingers crossed and so far this is working well she goes out in my arms does her business and then settles down with a kong (as suggested) until approx 6.15. Then when my partner leaves for work after breakfast so goes back off to sleep til 9.45!!! Its small gains but I feel like we are winning. Thank you all for your advise we couldnt have got through this week without it all.
We are making progress too - Merlin slept until 05:20 this morning, had a pee outside, then grumbled in his pen until 06:00. Then breakfast and a poo outside, then he cuddled in bed with OH while I took Poppy out for her morning walk. I think it's my turn to have the puppy-cuddles-in-bed morning tomorrow...
Nelly is 7 months now and fortunately sleeps from 10:30/11:00 - 7:30 (sometimes 8:00!!) the big thing that helped Nelly was making sure I fed her about half an hour after waking up rather than as soon as she woke up. Once she realised she wasn't necessarily waking up just for food, she started going back to sleep which was a blessing. Maybe try that. Good luck x
Just a thought. After the wee, have you considered keeping her outside for a few more minutes, to see if the poo comes too?
