Question re: overnight pup age

[cJw314]

My wife asked me tonight, in preparation for our possible pup next week, how long it would be before we didn't have a whining pup overnights, comparing it to a newborn.

I know a pup can be very similar, but I think she was mainly concerned about the length of time, as she doesn't have any rough idea, even... yet.

I didn't have a good answer for her; I've read a lot of material in the last few years and would guess 15-16 weeks-ish? Obviously it would vary a _lot_... but regardless, what's your experience?

How long did you keep the pup sleeping near your bed, if you did that is...

Thanks in advance; cheers to puppies.

 

[Barb04]

If you use a wire crate near your bed, place a blanket over the top & 3 sides which helps the pup feel more secure.

My one dog didn't like the wire crate and loved the vari kennel to feel enclosed.

For some reason, doing the above stopped the crying very quickly.

Our dogs still sleep in our bedroom so the crate was used until not needed.

 

[Maxy24]

Tucker never cried overnight, he was happy so long as someone was near him (crate is next to the bed). He will sleep in my parents bedroom for as long as he needs the crate because if he is in the crate and someone is not around he goes insane crying, barking, screaming, digging, etc.

However I think his quiet crate behavior has to do with being kept in a crate for three days on his ride up from TN. He got all the screaming out on that journey and had given up by the time he got here.

 

[Shai]

Depends on the dog...

Kim was ~12 weeks when we got her and had never been in a crate before...she slept through the first night with barely a whimper and was fine.

Mira was 10 weeks when we got her, had also never been in a crate except for the ride home, and she screamed bloody murder for 5-6 hours a night for the first three weeks whether she was next to the bed or in another room, whether I was on the floor next to the crate or not, covered or not...could hear her howls and screams from the sidewalk on the street, even if she was in a covered crate in the basement...it took about a month before she would settle quietly right away, and two months before I didn't get up to give her a potty break in the middle of the night...the last two weeks she may not have needed it but I didn't want her to feel the need to start screaming again so to play it safe I kept taking her out on my alarm a bit longer...

Good luck

 

[lizzybeth727]

My puppy had been introduced to the crate by the breeder, although he didn't sleep in it overnight until I got him at 8 weeks old. The first night, I just tired him out so much that when I was ready for him to go to bed, he just collapsed in the crate and fell asleep. I didn't even close the crate door until he'd been asleep a few minutes, and the crate was right next to my bed so I could see him. From then on, he's usually quiet in the crate as long as I'm in the room; if I left the room he'd cry, but after about 2 or 3 weeks that has pretty much stopped. He woke me up in the night to go potty for about 2 weeks - not even every night - but now he sleeps about 8 hours without needing to go out. I've had him 4 weeks now. Now, he's a collie, and generally speaking the larger breeds are easier to potty train, so it'll probably be longer than that with a small dog.

 

[*blackrose]

Chloe was never crated (I had her gated off between my bed and the wall, so it was effectively a crate without a roof) and she slept through the first night without a peep, no accidents or me getting up with her at 2 in the morning. It has been like that ever since.

Sadie, we slept with downstairs next to her crate for...oh...two weeks? She was seven weeks old and was asking to go out two or three times a night. We started off sleeping right by her crate on the floor, and then gradually moved to the couch, and then when her times of having to go out to potty decreased we started going upstairs after the last nighttime potty break when she fell back asleep (around three). Then when she could hold it over night she was used to us not being in the room and we just slept upstairs and she downstairs without any fuss at all.

 

[cJw314]

Awesome... thanks for the ideas and experience; here's to hoping the pup adjusts well to his new sleeping arrangements.

Tomorrow night's the first meeting!