Morning, Its still a few weeks until we collect our pup, but im trying to find advice on night time toilet trips....my partner is adamant we are going to ignore the pup if he cries in his crate at night and not to go down to him AT ALL until morning - he doesn't want the pup to associate crying/barking with attention, and have prolonged nights of crying/barking if we cave in. HOWEVER i have read that puppies cant hold their bladders all night and will need toilet trips throughout the night which i want to do rather than have an anxious or upset pup. My partner said we'll just put puppy pads in the crate, but i don't want pup to associate that its ok to toilet in his crate. The breeder even said dont do night toilet visits as she never has and pups just gradually are able to hold it as they get older, and we just clean up any night accidents. I am determined to do the night time toilet visits as i think its mean not to, but would like advice on this - if pup is crying/barking i obviously dont want to go down to him and show he is getting attention, but what if his barking is because he needs the toilet....how do i know the difference?! I have read that people have set alarms in the night for taking their pup out, so am i to hope that he will be asleep by this time so i just gently wake him up, take him out then put him back again without any fuss? My fear is that he will cry and bark all night and i wont know which is for attention and which is dire toilet needs! Secondly, how do you wean off the night toilet visits? Is it just that you keep taking them out until they dont 'go' anymore at that time and then you simply dont get up at that time again, or is it more to do with their age, once they are so many weeks old they can hold it longer so you make the toilet alarms gradually later and later in the night (move from 2am to 3am etc) until its not too much longer until its time to get up. As i think i will be doing this part alone against my partners idea, id like to get it right! Thank you
You are right, they can't hold their bladders all night. Some can - but very, very few. It's not a behaviour thing it's about bladder maturity. My Keir was holding his by 12 weeks (he's 17 weeks now) but Mollie needed a night time wee until she was 5 months old. I have a puppy pen so they can wee at the other end and not wet their bed - that's the theory - but four of my seven pups have all shouted to go out for a wee, only three were happy to wee in the pen (I raise Guide Dog pups so have one a year lol) The night time toilet visits resolve themselves, the pup simply stops asking to go. All pups are different but you soon learn to differentiate between 'I need a wee now' barking and attention barking. I have never done the alarm thing, waking a pup up doesn't make sense to me. So, when the pup is tiny, I have the doors open so I can hear them. I end up sleeping really lightly for the first few days - and I go to them at the first whine/woof. No lights, no sound, no talking, no fuss - just wee and back to bed. Keir shouted for a few minutes when put back to bed but soon stopped (after a day or two). After a week or so I shut the doors, once I'm tuned in I wake as soon as I hear their paws on the pen gate.
Hi they cant hold their bladders at all for long when they are so little. So its not very kind to expect them too and then end up having to sleep in their mess. So either as Mags says get a playpen attached so they can go away from their bed or set an alarm and get up. I got up, have done with all 5 of mine over the years. They just grow out of it with no problems and I drank a lot of coffee....good luck and cant wait to see some photos
Ive had three dogs from puppies (plus one adult rescue) and all have slept through the night once past puppyhood - indeed Molly is a real lazy-bones in the morning! In each case, if the puppy cried / barked I went to them and reassured them. I don’t think you should ignore a puppy making a noise at night - yes it’s for attention - but they are babies, they need attention - they are scared and lonely. I had each of mine in my bedroom in the early days, in their own bed but able to move away to toilet, with the bedroom floor covered with newspaper. I didn’t set alarms and ignored wees (cleaned up in the morning), although I did get up to clean up poo because of the smell! None of my pups took longer than a few nights to sleep through (though I was willing to call 5.30 am morning) and each moved downstairs after a few weeks, once settled.
I have two labs - the 10 year old came to us at 5 months so was already house trained day and night. This year we got an eight week old puppy. My DH was very much a believer you don’t go down to them at night. Our puppy additionally didn't make any sound to indicate she needed to go outside. Every morning for the first few weeks was a clean up operation of her crate. I got very upset and a bad case of the puppy blues. I then found this forum so a lot of my experience is documented on here. I started to set the alarm and for several weeks I went to her twice at night - took her out quickly and with no fuss or attention. She would just go back in her crate and settle down. I had to decide when those times would be as she didn’t bark or whine but I quickly got in tune with her and judged it right. DH was prepared to take his turn but I sleep badly anyway and felt there was no point us both being awake! Eventually we got down to once a night, then by 18 weeks she was sleeping all night and completely toilet trained. It did seem like an eternity at the time but was definitely the best thing to do. As regards the weaning off - I would set the alarm 15 minutes later each night, if all was ok. I’d then keep lengthening out the times. A couple of times, I got it wrong but just bought forward the times or kept the times the same for a bit. I wish I had gone with my gut instincts from the start and I feel sad she had those accidents. DH had more experience of dogs than me so I thought he knew best. It did cause tension between us at the time but he would be the first to acknowledge he was wrong .
My pup had a crate at night (in the kitchen behind a gate) but I left the door open so she could leave the crate to wee/poo. I left newspaper by the back door. I'd go to bed at 11ish and wake about 6.30. She whined/howled on night two only, once for about 20 mins, the second time about 10 mins, and I ignored her. She didn't make a sound after that night. And she never messed in her crate. She was dry and clean by 12 ish weeks so then I locked the crate door. I think you should do what you feel most happy doing and if that means going to your pup in the night then that's what you should do. There is good advice here about how best to go about it.
My pup is now 16 weeks. We kept him in our room next to the bed in a cardboard box. As soon as he let out the first whimper we took him straight out to potty and back into the box. If he fussed after that we could reach an arm down to comfort him and he went right back to sleep. If he continued to fuss we took him back out- he usually needed to poo and put him right back. By taking him at the first whimper he didn't have time to get worked up and noisy so now he never does. I also bought a Smart Pet Love Snuggle Puppy from Amazon that has a heartbeat and also warming packs. We rubbed this and his blanket and bedding over mom and litter mates when we picked him up so he would have their scent. The snuggle puppy helped tremendously because it was like snuggling with a littermate. He transitioned to his crate after a week just fine and the middle of the night trips got less frequent quickly. By 12 weeks he slept through the night. Our older dog once messed in her crate and she got hysterical so I wouldn't recommend letting her mess in the crate. Middle of the night trips don't last long and potty training goes much quicker when they are never allowed to potty in the house. Congrats on your new pup!
So, as you see @Giggalon, we all have different ways of dealing with the early days - but all get there in the end. It depends on the pup, on how much sleep you can cope with losing, on how much you can tolerate a puppy shouting (it's an awful sound which tugs at the heart strings far more than a baby crying!). But as long as you realise it won't be easy and are ready for some hard work and broken nights, all will be fine Here is a great article - https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-first-days-at-home/ .
The puppy has left all the security he knew, his home, his Mother, his siblings and finds himself totally alone, no wonder he cries. I put a cardboard box beside my bed with the puppy in and dangled my hand in so he knew I was there. When he whimpered I took him outside for a wee and then back to bed in the box. They soon grow out of wanting to go to the loo and gain confidence in their new surroundings but until then, just think of them as lost little souls
We had Nibbler in a crate in kitchen with the crate door open and a puppy pad next to a gate over kitchen door . First night he slept right through but that was just too much excitement - try and get a blanket or something that smells of the mum from breeder - that helps. Never really got up and peed during the night but did need immediately when he got up about six ish and used pad before I was able to get through to him. Needed to go a lot during the day until about 16 weeks though.Good luck.
I think it's a good idea to pick up the puppy as early in the day as possible so that he/she has all day to get used to their surroundings. I picked Cassie up at 8.30 am, and she only had a few miles to travel. By the time night came she was ready to crash out (so was I ), and the blanket that came with her was obviously a comfort. It is, as others have said, a massively scary time for such little babies. She did cry a little bit one night but soon settled. I got up at six and cleaned up the wee's and poo's, by 12 weeks she was clean and dry and I gradually got up later. She had a crate with the door left open at night. Now she's 17 months and it's all a distant memory.
Thank you all for your replies, were definitely going to use a crate, we've been given one which is rather large 91cm so I'm looking for a divider for it but struggling. We're also looking for a car crate to bring him home in..... would that be suitable for it to sleep in as well until it is big enough to move into the larger crate? We went to chose our pup this morning....hardest decision ever, they were all so cute and had such different little personalities!
One more vote for taking your pup out at night. By 10 or 12 weeks they can probably go all night but at 7 or 8 weeks almost none of them can. It is a lot easier to toilet train pups when you crate them and take them out often enough that they almost never soil their crates. I won't take too many weeks before they can go all night. We have a dog door to the back yard, and once the pups are not crated or confined to a play pen (in the day) they have free access to the back yard anytime. Cuts accidents almost to Zero.
Emphasising that young pups should be left alone as little as possible and that the crate or pen is for night times/unsupervised times only. .
I have a black lab, she is 8 weeks. She has slept in her crate all night with no fuss, she has a larger crate and I put a pad down for her. I once tried getting up in the middle of the night and it was the worst thing I could of done, she went out done her business but then would not go to sleep lol. It was such a bad day! That being said she hardly ever using her pad as we take her out around 11 and we are up at 7
Hi and congratulations on your new pup - have you chosen a name yet? I was one of the rare lucky ones with a pup that slept through all night from day - that said I slept so badly the first week as I kept waking up to check on him that both my OH and Bailey (my pup) were fed up with me poking the pup at night to check he was ok . Bailey was in a crate next to our bed from the first night and went in without any issues from the get go - but only at night, he hated it during the day! After the hour long journey home where he howled the whole way, he didn't cry again once we got home, so long as he was near us that was. Go with what you feel is right for your pup - but I was fully prepared to get up in the night if needed as their little bladders simply can't (as a rule) go all night without needing a pee break (my sisters boy was like that, he needed two or three trips out each night).
Another thing that we have found seems to help pups settle is before we collect the pup to let the breeder have something that smells of us (usually an old towel or bit of blanket that we have kept in our bed for a few nights) The item ends up smelling of us and of the pup's litter mates and comes home to your house when the puppy does. Joy, who has been with us since 14/6/17 still carries her's around a lot and often sleeps with it. I have always let my pups out at night and yes, you do get to learn to understand the difference between wanting to play and wanting to poo. You'll end up being fluent in Dog! Enjoy your lovely pup.
Thank you! I've seen a lot of people who recommend having the pup next to their bed for the first few nights, not sure the partner would agree to that one haha! We still haven't picked a name yet though... We chose him at the weekend and our favourite name idea changes daily..... so far we have Moss, Reddington, Hank, Penfold and Groot!
It doesn’t work for us - our pups are too bold and confident and simply scrabble to try and get out and join us! I wait by the crate until they fall asleep for the first few nights, some whimper a bit but not for long .
