# Sleeping thru the night???



## kabs996 (Apr 6, 2011)

My puppy is a Shih Poo and is 10 weeks old. I have been putting him in the crate at about 10pm and letting him out to potty at about 2am. I put him back in the crate and he cries for a while so I have to put his crate in the basement(finished basement) so the rest of us can get some sleep. I do not want him in my bedroom so that is not an option. How can I get him to stay in without a huge tantrum??? He goes in no problem at 10pm and stays quiet. hwell:
Thanks so much


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

When Tobi was a baby we had his kennel in our room while he was adjusting... i would keep my hand in the kennel so that something somewhat familiar was there, and it stopped the crying completely on the first night, and i fell asleep that way no big deal, i know you don't want to put the pup in the room but maybe you can stay down there with him, he is scared he's a baby its not fair to think that he will automatically feel safe in a new place with nobody around.

He probably cries after he potty's because he is wide awake, he may be sleepy at 10 when you put him in there.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

I'm sure others will have different ways but the way I did it was I just ignored it. The boy did very well in his crate. He cried a little bit and after about 5 minutes, that was the end of it. He has never complained again about being in the crate.

The girl? You would think I cut her legs off at the kneecaps the way she carried on. And on. AND ON! AND ON!!! She flung herself against the sides, she scratched at the tray, she howled and cried and screamed at the top of her lungs. I was concerned that my neighbors would a) hate me forever and/or b) call the cops on me because it sounded like she was being killed, slowly.

It went on for hours and days. (I didn't keep her in there for days, I mean for days, when I would put her in there, she would do this.) EVENTUALLY, her tantrums got a little quieter. She still loathes the crate. She can't stand it...except when I throw her food in there...then it's the best place on earth and she can't wait to get in there...but the second, and I mean the millisecond she is done eating? She's throwing a fit again. But, I ignore. Her fits aren't nearly as they used to be and aren't nearly as long. She'll scratch at the door, whine a bit and then get the picture that she's not going to get her way. She'll quiet down. I haven't worked up to a long period of time just yet...I want her to be successful and build that time...so right now it's only at about 3 minutes tops that she'll shut UP and behave before I let her out. In time, this will go longer but she knows that acting like a screaming banshee is going to get her the exact opposite of what she wants.

So...ignore it. Your pup is 10 weeks old. They will learn, eventually.


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## kabs996 (Apr 6, 2011)

Ok so is it cruel that I move his crate into the basement so we can sleep?? Otherwise his screaming will keep the whole house up.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

I don't think it's cruel. I have two crates, one for each and they were both out in my living room when we first started this whole thing.


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## Boxers&Pom's Mom (Jan 17, 2011)

My Phoebe is 13 weeks old. I had her in my room until last night. She was waking up every time that my husband or myself going to the bathroom or get in or out of the room. So, last night since my grandson was staying over and her crying will wake up him up and it is not fun a five years old wants to go and watch tv at 5AM. So, I decided to let her sleep in her crate in the family room with the other dogs. 
I came down at Midnight and took her out. Everyone slept so well until 6:30 AM that everyone wants to go out. So finally I had a good night sleep in the last 6 weeks.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I've raised a WHOLE lot of puppies. First, I never once got up in the middle of the night to take them out (including the Lhasa's , so that includes small dogs). The puppies can hold it thru the night just fine. Take them out once as late as possible, then get them up first thing in the morning. My puppies could start out sleeping from about 11pm to 6pm (at 8 weeks) but in a week they would sleep longer. 

Second, they all slept in the kitchen with a fan or an air cleaner turned on to make some kind of 'white noise' in the background. This seems to keep them happy and also keeps them from hearing every other little sound in the house and waking up. (This also works on human babies!!). They each had a teddy bear to snuggle up with, also. You can get stuffed toys at the thrift stores for $.25 so any stuffed toy will be fine as long as it doesn't have removable eyes that they can swallow. 

When we got Shade at 4 years old, he would howl in his crate. I kept an air cleaner on next to him and just ignored his howls. It took about a week and then he totally stopped making any noise until i went in to get him up. Now he runs into his crate as soon as I say 'bed time'. 

Hope this helps. Just remember, they really aren't dying in the crate when they cry!!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

My mother probably did that to me, because to this day I can't sleep without a fan on.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

kabs996 said:


> Ok so is it cruel that I move his crate into the basement so we can sleep??


I think it is. It's hardwired in his little brain. In the wild, wolf pups are never left alone anytime until they are much older. This little pup knows that are are all kinds of creatures that roam the night and can kill them.

Put his crate in your room, on the floor right next to your bed. He will know he's not alone. He can smell you and hear you breathe and move. It will be a great comfort to him and cause the night crying to end much sooner. If you hear him stirring and/or whining in the middle of the night, take him out and let him do his business. Don't get him excited. Don't play with him. Don't even talk to him. As soon as he's finished, without any fanfare, bring him back and put him in his crate. This is not going to last long. Be patient.



> Otherwise his screaming will keep the whole house up.


The whole house will have to get used to it for a little while. It's all part of owning puppies.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Putting the crate next to my parents bed kept Tucker quiet the whole night. The first few days he whined a little and mom would put her hand down, he'd sniff her and go back to sleep. I set my alarm to take him out every night around 2-3 am (it moved forward by about 15 minutes every 3 days or so). I wanted to get him BEFORE he might start whining to go out as I didn't want him to learn whining got him out of the crate. I almost always had to wake him up to take him out. I'd keep everything really low key. I'd carry him outside and place him in his potty spot, give him a treat for going, then carry him inside. I'd take a handful of small training treats and sprinkle them in his crate, then put him back inside and leave. I always made sure he was eating the treats before I walked away because SEEING me leave sometimes started him crying. I think keeping the whole thing very quiet and calm is important, you don't really want to wake him up or he'll want to play. So just barely wake him up, don't talk to him much, don't play with him, and don't let him run around. You may also want to have a frozen kong prepared (put plain yogurt or wet dog food in it) so you can grab it out of the freezer when you bring him back in and put him back in the crate with it. It might keep him occupied so he forgets about getting out.

We did this for about three weeks (we got him at ten weeks, so he was 13 weeks old when we stopped). Then he had no problems sleeping until 6am when my dad got up for work. Honestly he probably could have held it the whole night through from the day we got him, but I didn't want to risk him learning to whine to wake us if he couldn't actually hold it. So three weeks of waking and he's a perfect sleeper. The crate needs to be near someone though, if he were crated away from us I'm sure he'd scream for hours.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Ironically it is only now my pup is 12 mo (will have to stop calling her a pup soon) that we have started having issues with being segregated from me. We did the crate training thing a bit sideways as I did not initially want to use one. Eventually I was persuaded. The first night was the only night I took her out (7 wo) after that she was fine. The first 4 nights I slept in the room with her as my parter was not up for having the noise during some of her shifts. After that she was fine. 

She has though never liked the crate and I don't think she ever will. Last night was a prime example bed at 10.30 for me and her (now in the bedroom with no crate) my partner came back 12.30 woke the pup up and that was it she would not settle back again. So we put her into the crate and she fought like never before with the crate to get out!!!!

I wish you the best of luck with it and hope you get a good result


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

We kept Louis' crate in our room when we first got him at 12-13 weeks. He would whine and cry, but we just ignored it. I guess I was a paranoid mommy and didn't want to leave him alone. I also wanted to be nearby so I could hear him in case something happened. So you sacrifice some sleep...unfortunately it's all part of puppyhood, but they grow out of it a lot faster than you think. I actually get a little sad thinking about it...because he's all grown up now and believe it or not, I miss those days and the cute little sounds he made! I can't really remember how long it lasted, but probably after 2-3 weeks, his whining sessions decreased by a lot. I think after a month or two, when we brought him into the room and closed the bedroom door, he would sometimes just go into the crate himself. It's like he learned it was bedtime and that was the place he was supposed to go. The first time your puppy does that, it's the cutest thing! 

Now he doesn't sleep in his crate anymore. He outgrew his baby crate (plus he developed this annoying digging/scratching habit...but I think it had to do with him outgrowing it and not being able to get comfortable) and we just took it away one night when we could trust him not to pee. We still keep him crated during the day, but once in a blue moon, he will go in there all by himself to take a nap...which is really bizarre because Louis never really 'loved' his crate like some dogs do.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

I believe as many of the above posters do, that putting his crate in your room is by far the first thing that should be done. 
He is in a strange place and truly is a little baby. He needs to smell and hear you. At the very least, you should put a t-shirt or blanket that you have used in the crate with him. This alone will offer him comfort since he will be able to smell you.
As far as the commotion you are hearing when you come back in. If the crate is in your room, all that's usually needed is your hand placed on the door of the crate. No words, no getting angry, no banging the crate to quiet him down. It may take him a few minutes to settle down; but they are truly creatures of habit, and once he gets into a routine this will go away too. 
The bonds you are creating now, will help with your relationship in everything the two of you do together. Don't alienate him. 
This is not to say that you should give in to his every cry and tantrum. You will soon learn the difference between a cry to go outside and potty vs. a LET ME OUT cuz I don't want to be in here!
Hope this helps. Stay strong and don't give in just so he'll be quiet.
Just remember, this isn't forever. In a few weeks everyone will be back to sleeping through the night!


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

you could just let him sleep in bed with you!!! lol little man hasn't been in his crate all night since the second night we had him.. first night was to make sure he wasn't going to get up and go potty... after that he slept right through


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## kabs996 (Apr 6, 2011)

See....i wanted to avoid him sleeping in my bedroom or bed. I dont even want him to come upstairs to the bedrooms at all. Maybe I will sleep on the couch and put his crate next to me.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

at 10 weeks old i was taking my dog outside
every 2 hours. you have to work through the
crying. my puppy was whiney for 3 days. from the 4th night on he
was quiet. during the day i would crate him for 5 to 10 minutes
at a time. i did this many times throughout the day. i slowly
increased his crate time. sometimes i would be in the room
with him while he was crated. sometimes i would leave the room
or the house. everytime i crated my pup i would say
"go to your crate" as we were nearing the crate i would
say "go to your crate". i would sit the pup down
in front of the crate. as i was ushering him in the crate
i said "go to your crate". after he was in the crate
i praised and treated him. oneday (much later) i said go to your
crate and my dog got up and went to his crate. once that
happened i started telling him to "go to your crate" from
different parts of the house.



kabs996 said:


> My puppy is a Shih Poo and is 10 weeks old. I have been putting him in the crate at about 10pm and letting him out to potty at about 2am. I put him back in the crate and he cries for a while so I have to put his crate in the basement(finished basement) so the rest of us can get some sleep. I do not want him in my bedroom so that is not an option. How can I get him to stay in without a huge tantrum???
> 
> >>>>> He goes in no problem at 10pm and stays quiet. hwell:<<<<
> Thanks so much


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

kabs996 said:


> See....i wanted to avoid him sleeping in my bedroom or bed. I dont even want him to come upstairs to the bedrooms at all. Maybe I will sleep on the couch and put his crate next to me.


He is a baby... just bear that in mind. If there are places that you don't want him going invest in baby gates, and just be patient if anything give him a few days on the couch with you let him sleep on you so he can hear something your breathing, heartbeat, everything it will comfort him and help him cope. then start crate training a little at a time, start slowly with him during the day while you are in the room crate him for a bit so he can see you etc and just go from there for longer durations. start at 5 min and work your way up days at a time.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Hmm...is he your first dog? I was like that before I got Louis...told myself he would never be allowed onto the couch or bed, and would never know the taste of human food. Bahahaha, boy how things change when you grow to love them... :smile:


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

kabs996 said:


> See....i wanted to avoid him sleeping in my bedroom or bed. I dont even want him to come upstairs to the bedrooms at all. Maybe I will sleep on the couch and put his crate next to me.


My dogs do not sleep in our bedroom and we try to keep them out of our bedroom. I have a lot of allergies to pollen and no matter what, the dogs will track in pollen on their feet and fur.

Also, I let my first Lhasa sleep in our bedroom and then on our bed. When she got older, she could no longer get on and off by herself and I was really worried that she would hurt her back by jumping off during the night. When she got VERY old and started to have some accidents we had to start making her sleep in the kitchen. This was REALLY hard on her since she had spent 15 years sleeping in our bed and she had a lot of trouble adjusting to being sent to the kitchen.

I decide with Chelsy that she would start out from day one by sleeping in the kitchen in her own basket. She has never had a problem with it, and never once tries to come into our bedroom. This was a big advantage when she had her back surgery and was wearing a diaper and unable to move her legs for awhile. She had no problem being confined in the kitchen then, because it was her 'room'.

It might have helped that I always had more then one dog, so they all sleep in the same general area. The new puppies always get the kitchen and the older dogs get the run of the house. There's no way I would have 4 dogs all trying to sleep in my bed or bedroom.......Chows SNORE!!! Plus, they are suppose to be watch dogs so they all sleep by the front door and that's what they prefer anyway.


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## kabs996 (Apr 6, 2011)

schtuffy said:


> Hmm...is he your first dog? I was like that before I got Louis...told myself he would never be allowed onto the couch or bed, and would never know the taste of human food. Bahahaha, boy how things change when you grow to love them... :smile:


LOL....no not my first dog. I let my first dog do all the sleeping in my bed, eating human scraps, being spoiled stuff. This time i learned my lesson. I put him in his crate last night at 10pm and he did not make one peep. He woke me up for potty at 3:30am and then when I put him back in he cried for 2 hours until i finally came down stairs. Ugh!!!!!!!


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