Help, we need sleep

[karan]

Just brought our first pup, a little brindle girl, home 3 nights ago at just over 7 weeks old. I know that's a little young, but it just worked out best for us and we got the vets okay. Anyway, she's great: very affectionate, playful, eats good, loves car rides and is doing pretty good at housetraining. We're crate training her, and she's fine during the day, going into the crate by herself. Sometimes we leave the door open, sometimes closed. She's been sleeping a lot during the day and then wants to be up at night. It's hard to keep a sleepy pup awake. We've been taking her out 3-4 times at night but when we return her to her crate, in our bedroom, she cries and tries to get out for a long time. Finally we take her out again. Sometimes she goes potty, sometimes not. We are tired. Would love suggestions on what has worked for you. Also, is it okay to give her rawhide bones at such a young age as long as we watch them carefully. She's starting to chew on everything. We have lots of toys but she loses interest after a while. Thanks for your help.

karan

 

[Betty's mom]

Get used to it sister! Just kidding.

We brought Betty home at 7 weeks also. We had SEVERAL nights of little sleep. We finally moved her kennel to another room of the house because we were not only waking her up but she was waking us up. I think we did that move about 3-4 weeks after we brought her home.

Try to keep her up as late as possible by playing. Also, take her water bowl up at about 7:30 - 8pm.

It's going to be a rough couple of weeks, but you'll live through it. Betty is just now sleeping thru the night at 6 months - but she knows that when she cries @ 3am we'll go get her and she gets in our bed and sleeps the rest of the night with us..

As far as the raw hides go I would wait. You might want to try Bitter Apple. We used that on Betty when she was trying to chew on the coffee table and some of the chairs in the den. Works great. Also, we found that Betty responded more to interactive playtime when it came to chewing. She much prefers us to be on the floor with her while she's awake. We have alot of sheep skin toys which she LOVES! If you do decide to get the rawhides you REALLY need to watch her because the hide will get soft and mushy and she can choke on it.

I know I have spoiled Betty (we still get on the floor with her) but for whatever reason it worked best with us. Betty's brother (littermate) was less trouble than Betty. He slept thru the night almost immediately - we were very jealous!

In no time at all you'll be looking back and thinking it was no big deal!

Good luck!

 

[JustTaffy]

I guess that's one of the joy's of adopting an older Boxer...Jas, at 2'ish, is perfectly content to sleep all night long!

 

[Eddie's mom]

We had to take our Eddie's crate out of our room for while when he was a puppy because he was keeping us up. After about 3 weeks I think (it was awhile ago)he got used to the crate, then we put it back in our room. He did still get up around 4 a.m for a "pee" for awhile longer though.

 

[karan]

Thanks Susan:
I kind of figured we'd be dealing with this for a while, but not that long. Guess we'd better get used to it. I wonder, too, if it's okay to just ignore the crying much of the time, though ignoring it is not easy either. I'd like to take her out just once during the night. How long can a pup that young hold it? Also, thanks for the info on the rawhide bones. What treats are good for them this young while I'm trying to teach the basics?
karan

 

[bigfoot]

My little brindle did the same thing. When tried to put her into another room, but boy can she whelp. We finally started putting her into the bed with us....not the best thing I know, but for 1 nights sleep I'd make the sacifice. She eventually got used to the crate, our house and her new surroundings now we're just one big happy family.

 

[Betty's mom]

Originally posted by karan
Thanks Susan:
I kind of figured we'd be dealing with this for a while, but not that long. Guess we'd better get used to it. I wonder, too, if it's okay to just ignore the crying much of the time, though ignoring it is not easy either. I'd like to take her out just once during the night. How long can a pup that young hold it? Also, thanks for the info on the rawhide bones. What treats are good for them this young while I'm trying to teach the basics?
karan

your welcome Karan!

It is hard to determine what the crying is for: is it because she has to pee, poop or want attention? That will be your call. It took us awhile to figure it out - we're a little slow! everytime Betty cried we took her outside and then she went right back in her kennel. We did not love on her or talk to her except to say 'go potty'.
If your pup cries 30 minutes after you just took her out a safe bet would be that she just wants attention. You need to ignore the crying - it's just a matter of which cry do you ignore!
I think the rule of thumb is 1 hour for every month. So in theory your pup can hold it about 1 1/2 hours. And Betty should hold it for 6 hours.

We feed Betty Biljac (i think that's how you spell it?) and Iams puppy biscuits. She has a sensitive stomach and the vet told us no red or yellow dye in her food. So we read the labels and we found that she likes those the best.

 

[RamsesMom]

If anyone understands what you are going through right now, it's me. I just brought home a 6 week old a week ago and now she is almost 8 weeks old. She's is a mess. I cannot crate her because my husband is completly against it, so she sleeps in the bed with me and daddy and big brother (boy will that be fun when she gets big) She wakes up about 4-6 times a night and has to go to the bathroom. She used to jump down and go in the floor, but now she is pretty pottytrained and she whines to go out and we have to get up and take her out. Both me and my husband go to work and my mother comes over and babysits them during the day. We are exhausted. I think she is getting a little better though. She only woke up 2 times last night. I don't feed her after 7:30 now. Good luck to you and TAKE A NAP!

 

[ElizabethH]

Although I havenot experienced Puppydom yet, both boys would wake us up for a while when we first got them. Although sometimes it is to for a potty break, some was just the "where am I" lets play" whimper
version. I ended up giving them an article of clothing (usually a tshirt) that was headed to the laundry anyway. I think that the people smell helped comfort them. I noticed that when I am gone, they tend to "find" items that I have recently worn and sleep on it.
This may be absolutely ridiculous but it seemed to work.
Congrats on your new baby....

 

[uno]

Ramses Mom,

Is your husband against crating for a particular reason? Does he think it's cruel? It couldn't be more natural. By nature, dogs are an animal that dens. A crate becomes the dogs den and, from what I've read, they look at it as their own space. Now not all are going to go for it. Lord knows my Dempsey didn't. We tried for two years, and he never really treated it as his space. He would go in it only when put in it, but never on his own. I'm envious of other members of the board whose dogs go into their crates on their own.