Cute puppy turns to shrieking demon at 3 AM. Advice?

[StunnedMonkey]

The basics:

Puppy is nine weeks old. We just completed night 5 here last night, each night a little worse than the one before. Puppy sleeps in a crate in the kitchen. The wife is a light sleeper and could never tolerate having the crate in the bedroom. I've been sleeping in a chair about 20 feet from the crate so the puppy can see me, and I can hear her.

The first two nights she went outside for the last time at 10 PM then into her crate. (I'd rather we put it off until 11, but by 10 every night she's literally falling over dead.) She made no fuss. She woke between 1 and 1:30, no crying or whining but I heard her shuffling around in the crate so I took her outside to do some business. She went back to the crate and awoke calmly around 6 AM. That was the 1st two nights.

Starting on night 3 she didn't awaken in her crate until 3:00-3:30, and we went out to do our business. This time when putting her back in her crate, she yelped, whined, cried, and shrieked for TWO SOLID HOURS. Not little sobs, but full on freakout stuff, climbing the crate walls and wailing loudly. I ignored her and pretended to be asleep, though obviously I wasn't. She quieted about 5 AM, and woke up calmly at 6 AM. Night 4 was a virtual repeat of night 3. Last night was the same, except this time she literally never calmed down after the 3 AM trip outside and just went nuts until 6 AM, when I had no choice but to get her out to start the day. At this point I was considering having a nice Wasabi Puppy stir fry for dinner, but then she put her dumb fuzzy little head in my lap and fell asleep, and I decided to spare her.

So, I'm guessing that this isn't completely unusual, but what should I do? My choices seem to be:

1. Just continue what I'm doing. She'll get over it.

2. Continue the same schedule, but quit sleeping where she can see me. Maybe if I'm not visible she'll not spend so long trying to get my attention.

3. Don't wait until she wakes on her own after 3 to take her out. Get up at 1 or 1:30 and wake her up for a potty trip. Maybe if she's not so rested she'll be more inclined to settle back in like she did the first two days.

4. Don't take her out at all. Leave her in the crate and see what happens. She's never messed in the crate so who knows how long she can go?

5. Hire a professional dog trainer to move in and handle this while I take the wife on a long cruise. Return in 6 months when this has blown over. (If suggesting this option, please feel free to make a PayPal deposit into my account in amounts of $500 or more.)

Which one (or combination) would be the best course? I'm inclined to try either 2 or 3 (or 2 AND 3). What would you do?

 

[girlbuffalo1]

What kind of puppy is she? With Wrigley (we got him at 10 weeks) The first week we only got up once to let him out during the night--mid way through. (his crate is way on the other side of the house). After that he didn't get out during the night unless he let out a cry for potty--and then it was right out and right back in again.

He only tried to cry twice without it being valid (in other words we took him out and no potty)--and we just ignored him, turned off the lights and left the room---he never tried it again.

I would not sleep where she can see you...

At 11 weeks Wrigley could hold it 8 hrs no problem.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

She's a wheaten terrier. This is clearly a "let me out to play" cry, since she'salways just been out to relieve herself. I'm guessing that after 5 hours (10 PM to 3 AM) she feels rested enough to play and isn't wanting to be put back into the crate. Can a 9 week old wheaten hold it for 8 hours in a crate at night?

 

[Herschel]

This might sound ridiculous to a lot of people on here but we had Herschel crate trained within days and house trained (reliable alone) by 4 months. And he's a small breed.

Herschel would pass out around 9 so we would put him in his crate. Then, I would let him out around 11:30 or 12 to go to the bathroom. I brought him inside and had a brief "middle of the night" training session with him. For 15 minutes, we would practice sit, down, and come. By the end of the session, he was exhausted so I took him back outside to go to the bathroom one more time and brought him back inside.

He went in the crate around 12-12:30 and slept until 6. Other than the first night or two, we never woke up in the middle of the night. The crate is in our bedroom.

Wheaten Terriers love people. If you put her that far out of site at night she is going to scream until her head explodes. Some friends of ours tried it with their Wheaten and it delayed house- and crate-training for a long time.

I say no to #2, and possibly to #3.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Wheaten Terriers love people. If you put her that far out of site at night she is going to scream until her head explodes. Some friends of ours tried it with their Wheaten and it delayed house- and crate-training for a long time.

I say no to #2, and possibly to #3.

Well, except I have no intention of sleeping in a living room chair for 6 months. And she's not going to be allowed to sleep back in the bedroom, so we're at am impasse there. At some point in the not very distant future she's going to have to remain crated at night without me being visible.

I guess maybe I just have to get her outside much earlier (like you did...12 or so) and then keep her crated the last 6 hours.

She has no problem with her crate the rest of the time. I can crate her during the day to run an errand and she doesn't pitch a fit before I leave, and doesn't seem at all agitated when I return. It's only in the middle of the night that she goes nuts.

 

[Herschel]

Well, except I have no intention of sleeping in a living room chair for 6 months. And she's not going to be allowed to sleep back in the bedroom, so we're at am impasse there. At some point in the not very distant future she's going to have to remain crated at night without me being visible.

OK. It may or may not make things harder for you. It really depends on the dog. Just make sure the crate is a comfortable place with a soft blanket, a couple of toys, and a treat every time she is in there.

I guess maybe I just have to get her outside much earlier (like you did...12 or so) and then keep her crated the last 6 hours.

My trick was that Herschel was exhausted mentally (from the late training session) and physically (from the long day) so he was ready to sleep for 6 hours straight.

If you wake her up, take her outside, and try to put her back into her crate without playing with her or training her I guarantee you she will throw a fit.

She has no problem with her crate the rest of the time. I can crate her during the day to run an errand and she doesn't pitch a fit before I leave, and doesn't seem at all agitated when I return. It's only in the middle of the night that she goes nuts.

Puppies, like kids, get lonely and scared at night. Some dogs are OK with it, others flip out. If you would like her to get used to it, just shut the door to your bedroom and ignore it as best you can.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

My trick was that Herschel was exhausted mentally (from the late training session) and physically (from the long day) so he was ready to sleep for 6 hours straight.

Part of the problem is that this puppy sleeps A LOT during the day. Heck, she's sleeping in front of my office chair right now. (I work from home, and have significant freedom to interact with the puppy all day long.) I try to engage her in activities, but after a short spell she just curls up and ZZZZZZZZ. She has a very active period early in the morning, and early in the evening, but she's like a zombie much of the rest of the time. Do you think she could be getting too much sleep during the day? How much does a 9 week old puppy usually sleep?

 

[juliefurry]

We are dealing with the same thing with our 11 week old golden puppy. He hates his crate regardless of what time it is. He doesn't really sleep during the day though he's always out and doing something. We sleep with the crate in our room though and we just pull it up along side the bed so he can still see us and just let him let loose all his yelping and barking and crate digging. He eventually settles down (sometimes though it does take awhile).

The trick is to keep your puppy active and maybe like Herschel said when she goes out for potty in the middle of the night don't put her right back into her crate spend 15 minutes or so training her. Our puppy basically sleeps all night though now since the second night we had him. The first night he went out for potty 2 times and the second night I got paranoid and let him out once but today he slept from 2-10 in the morning no problem without needing to go out and he probably would have slept longer if 10 wasn't his breakfast time.

I would try more mental stimulation (short 10-15 minute training sessions) our golden does 3 ten minute sessions a day and the rest of the day he is constantly doing something or playing.

Your puppy will get better but some puppies are just stubborn pains in the butt for awhile !

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Morning has broken.

So I ended up crating her at 10 PM, as she was already falling asleep on the floor. I proceeded to watch a couple of episodes of "House" on the TIVO. At 11:45 I roused her and took her out for a pee. When we came back in I was ready for a few minutes of training or other interaction, but she shuffled straight to her crate and climbed in. She slept calmly until about 4:30 when she let out a few yelps which quickly subsided. At 5:30 she was up shuffling around, so I decided to end it on a good note before any whining started and uncrated her.

Better than the last 3 nights. Now I guess starting with that we work on getting her to stay in calmly until 6, then start pushing that last outside trip back from 12 until we've achieved a nice 10-6 run. Don't know how long that might take.

 

[Bomgardner]

Our solution: Put an opaque blanket over the crate and wear earplugs. Schedule a 2am potty. Make sure to get a nice pair of those earplugs for your wife. That worked for us until Snickers ate the earplugs one day...

Anyways, I'm no dog expert, but when we kept to a reasonable schedule that agreed with his bladder and ignored the crying at other times, he learned that screaming = does not work. Also make sure your pup gets plenty of exercise during the day. Hope that's helpful

 

[Spiritus]

It sounds like you had a good night, but if she does revert back to her screaming, try putting her back in after the middle of the night potty with a stuffed kong. Stuff a kong with some really good things (kibble mixed with peanut butter, tidbits of meat from supper, yougurt, whatever), put it in the freezer, and after the middle of the night pee-break, put her back in the crate with the kong. Working on getting the frozen goodies out of the kong will tire her out.

 

[YellowLabMom]

too optimistic

I think you are too optimistic in thinking that your puppy can be crated for 8 hours straight. When our lab puppy, Max, first came to us at 7 weeks my husband would stay up with him until 3 or 4 in the morning and he would want out again by 9 am. We worked it out so I would go to bed early while my husband stayed up late then I would get up early while my husband slept in. I bet Max was at least 4 months old before he would stay in his crate for more than 6 hours at night.

We also tried to put the crate in the kitchen when we first got Max, but he would howl most of the night. We ended up putting the crate in our bedroom and then he would fuss a little for about 5 or 10 minutes then he would settle down and sleep. We only had the crate in our bedroom for a week or so then we moved it across the hall so he could still see into our bedroom but was not actual in the same room. He is now 6 months old and only spends time in his crate when we are not home.

You could also try putting a radio next to the crate with the volume low or leave a tv on so the puppy has constant noise. The consistency helps some dogs stay calm when they are crated. Most important of all, make sure there are toys in the crate that the puppy likes to chew on. Dogs don't sleep for large spans of time like people do so having something to do when they wake up in the middle of the night helps them stay quiet.