# A good night's sleep possible?



## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

I kinda cheated when Oakly was a pup and had a very small crate that I put right on the bed beside me and could stick my hand in the crate which seemed to settle him. It took a week to ten days before I could put the crate on the floor and have a full nights sleep. Good luck to you.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I'm sure there's a crate training thread or two on here....

First off, never let him out for screaming - unless that's what you'd like him to do. Sounds like he is training you for sure. I put puppy in crate, shut the door and it's goodnight. If they make a fuss I give a low growly 'hey'. If they really fuss I might thunk on the top of the crate and tell them to knock it off. I have the crate next to the bed so I don't have to get up too far. If they wake in the middle of the night and seem to have to go, I wait till they've been quiet for a few seconds or more, then leash them, take them outside quickly, then back into the crate. No treats, no water, no play. Bathroom and back to bed, thank you. Usually after a few nights they settle into bedtime and are fine.

You can also make naptime happen in the crate, when you notice puppy is tired put him in his crate to sleep. Usually I have them on a routine so I'm not spending the entire day chasing after a puppy, so they go in their crates for sleeping during the day, or to have a bone to chew. 

Good luck, I'm sure he'll get over it if you're firm with him.

Lana


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## Olddog (Mar 24, 2009)

Bender said:


> I'm sure there's a crate training thread or two on here....
> 
> First off, never let him out for screaming - unless that's what you'd like him to do. Sounds like he is training you for sure. I put puppy in crate, shut the door and it's goodnight. If they make a fuss I give a low growly 'hey'. If they really fuss I might thunk on the top of the crate and tell them to knock it off. I have the crate next to the bed so I don't have to get up too far. If they wake in the middle of the night and seem to have to go, I wait till they've been quiet for a few seconds or more, then leash them, take them outside quickly, then back into the crate. No treats, no water, no play. Bathroom and back to bed, thank you. Usually after a few nights they settle into bedtime and are fine.
> 
> ...


Thanks. We will get the small crate and put it in the room with us. That way he will at least be able to see us. Hopefully this will do some good. I get what you mean by not letting him out when screaming. Will report to see how the night went, whether it's an extra scoop of coffee day or not. It's off to bed.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Good luck with the no screaming tonight. It is hard to hear them whining but it will get better. Maybe the smaller crate in your room will help.


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## 3SweetGoldens (Feb 28, 2007)

Wishing you a good nights sleep.  It is really hard at first when they whine and fuss. I was pretty lucky with Lexi and Klondike. I also, set the crate next to my bed, and would cover the crate. If they cried, I would first put my fingers through the crate to quiet them. If that didn't work, I would tap on top of the crate telling them NO. In a week's time, both of them settled into a pretty good routine. It is just so important not to let them back out for crying and whining. A whole different thing, if they have to potty, which you can usually tell. A whole different cry for wanting out to do their business. Can't wait to see some pictures of your little Riley! :smooch:


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## Traz (Jan 19, 2009)

I have a few safe toys that are crate only. A kong & a marrow bone. She can only have them in the crate.


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## Olddog (Mar 24, 2009)

Well, I tried two differentthings,,I changed the blanket from an old blue and red plaid picnic blanket to a plain white towel,,and put him back in the small plastic carrier and moved it into the bedroom and put it so he could see the bed. I am a heavy breather when I sleep and he could also hear me. This was at 11:00 last night. It's now 5:40 the next morning and the little guy is still sawing logs without a peep all night. Maybe he was just lonely. I will have to get a picture of the little fella as soon as I get a good one. Soon gonna wake him, I'm sure he has to go by now. Thanks to all for the tips. I found this place last night on the assumption that there are pretty much forums from building a tank to tieing your shoes.


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

Hi and welcome to the forum!! I used a crate next to the bed for Hershey and Sasha #1 and it worked like a charm. Dogs are not programed for being by themselves so they do much better if they have company. Having the crate next to you at night will also speed up the bonding process. Good luck and we would love to see some pictures of your new little one.


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

Well, _*my system surely isn't for everyone*_, and isn't without it's pitfalls. But it works for me...

First, I usually only sleep about 6 hours a night and usually have to get up myself once or twice during that period.

I don't crate. Puppy sleeps on the bed from night one. He even has his own steps he uses to get up and down. I do have a door-gate in the bedroom door to keep him contained in the bedroom.

When I have to get up, he goes out as well. He's too small for the doggy door, so I just open up the sliding door and let him out into the kennel, then call him back in after I'm done.

Gilmour has been home for 3 weeks and there has been exactly one accident in the bedroom, and that was his first night home.

I work at home, so I let him out whenever I get up to stretch my legs during the day.

He is now 95% housebroken. The only time there is an accident, which is rare, is when I get caught up in work and forget to let him out and his tanks get full.

He is getting very good at letting me know if he needs to go out now.

I figure it will be about another 3 weeks before he has the muscle mass and size needed to use the doggy door on his own. He knows where it is, and what it's for (the breeder changes the pups to a pen with a dog-door to a kennel at 6 weeks of age, so they are pre-trained for a doggy door). My dog door is a large, heavy-duty wall model that has heavy dual-flaps. It's designed for a large dog, and he's not quite there yet.

I do have an Ex-Pen he stays in, for his safety, if I need to step out. He eats every meal in there, and that's how I got him used to it. He often goes in there and lies down on his Cooleroo bed on his own. Feeding him in there also keeps the evil Chow-Thief Dakota away 

I've raised three puppies this way since 1992. The major milestone for us is the day the little fella shoves open that big double-flap doggy door and lets himself out


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## Olddog (Mar 24, 2009)

That seemed work again,,6 hours straight,,then had to go out for a poop and back to sleep. Wonderful. Thanks everyone.


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## rictic (Feb 16, 2009)

the mutt was being a real pain last night.
we had progressed from his pen to staying with the cats on the bedroom floor and he was quite happy with that and slept through.

we had acclimatised him to his crate but never really used it.

well last night in he went lol. gave him a couple of his fave toys and removed his collar.

5 mins of looking doe eyed a few little cries and then he was asleep till 6.30 this morning.
not a whimper. got him out for a pee and that and he is right as rain.

he is a good little pup really i just like to tell tales about him and get a bit of humour in there.
if it was something serious i would be serious.

but he is still a MUTT!!!!!


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## ohdilly (Feb 23, 2009)

Here's what I did:

I made sure the crate was not too big, just enough for him to turn, stand and lie down. I covered it with a blanket and then placed it right next to me in my bed. For the first few nights I had to stay on the floor with him for 10-15 mins and kinda talk him to sleep. Kinda like reading a bedtime story to a kid. Then I slowly crept into bed when he was sleeping. If he makes a little fuss, I keep talking to him and stick my finger in the crate to make him know I'm there beside him. At first I had the crate face the bed so he could see me but then I noticed he would whine whenever I move or hear a noise. So I turned his crate towards my feet at that worked for him.

Good luck!


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## Olddog (Mar 24, 2009)

All went well last night and the night before, but today I noticed some stains on the towel in his crate. I pulled it out to get a better look and noticed that it was pee. The crate is like mentioned above,,just big enough for him to stand, turn around, and stretch out. Is this unusual for him to pee in the crate on his blanky?


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## Riley2009 (Feb 7, 2009)

We crate trained from day 1.... the 1st couple of night are a bit rough.... after that Riley has slept from 10 until 7am without a peep. We cover the crate at night or anytime we put her in for a nap. That is the signal that it is night time. 1 important thing we were told was when it is nap time to always put them in their crate even if they fall asleep next to you - pick them up and crate them for their nap. As Riley has grown older (17 weeks today) she will actually go in her crate by command and lay down and go to sleep. The important thing is to keep doing it day after day and ignore any whining. Tougher than it sounds I know....!!


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Sam never acclimated to his crate (one night he cried and howled for over 4 hours straight.. NOT an exaggeration).. we did not have any nights with good sleep until he was about 10 weeks old and we decided to let him sleep on the floor of our bedroom. He slept the entire night through with no accidents and didn't wake up once (I'm a light sleeper so I would have heard him). Definitely not something that works for everyone, and crating is certainly a popular and good method to try, but just thought I'd throw out the alternative which worked awesomely for us.


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## Riley2009 (Feb 7, 2009)

missmarstar is certainly correct - there are many different ways that work. I guess the key is finding the one that works for you and sticking to it.


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## agfang (Mar 3, 2009)

Here's what we did..Our puppy Echo is now 11 weeks old. We got her 3 weeks ago. We bought large wire crate that has divider..set it up in the dining room..close to kitchen and back door. We also bought an xpen..also set that up in dining room. Night 1: slept on our bed..didn't go well..up and down stairs to potty..whining etc. Night 2: CRATE..I slept on sleeping bag by crate..she made it thru night till 4:30 a.m. I slept for a few more nights by crate and put my hand in there every time she whined and she would go right back to sleep. Week 2: I slept in my bed upstairs and set alarm for 4:30 a.m. to come and let her out..big mistake..then she was ready to play. Week 2 and 1/2: DIDNT set alarm..she slept thru to 5:30 or 6:00 and then whined and yowled to get us up..peed, pooped, and breakfast! We feed her in her crate..I throw goodies in there for her to find. She gets lots of chewies that we buy at her vets to work on and keep her busy in there..as well as kong toys stuffed with goodies. So if she wakes up at night she has things to keep herself busy with. The playpen has also helped out so much for during the day when we're here but can't watch her.


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## BJSalz (Mar 24, 2009)

Is a playpen or crate best during the day when we're at work?

He will only be left alone a short time - my husband's job allows him to go home to let him outside and I work just 6 hours a day.


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## ohdilly (Feb 23, 2009)

It depends. Try it out if he feels comfortable being left there and you know for sure he wont go potty. Also make sure its big enough for them not to jump out. My pup jump out of his pen before luckilly nothing was destroyed around the living room. But yeah, I'm sure he'd like it better in the pen rather than in his crate with nothing to do.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

A smaller crate or smaller crate space may help a lot. When we got Teddi we only had BIG crates (Belle's is great dane size) We bought another but we based it on Teddi's possible adult size. So we put a box inside the crate, leaving her only a small space at the front. We filled that with towels/blankets she could nest in. She slept through the night, every single night. She is the FIRST pup I had this with, and the only thing I could think of was the tight secure crate. As she grew we cut the box down and when we felt she was ready we took it out. She was the EASIEST dog overnight I have ever had. 

Maxine was the worst though. By the third night of ABSOLUTE SCREAMING non stop, my DH could not take it any more. He put a baby gate on our bedroom door, opened her crate, she curled up with our lab fell asleep and from that day forward slept through the night too. She never had an overnight accident. She saw our bedroom as her "crate". 

This time does not last too long. It is the hardest time but so worth it!


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

missmarstar said:


> Sam never acclimated to his crate (one night he cried and howled for over 4 hours straight.. NOT an exaggeration).. we did not have any nights with good sleep until he was about 10 weeks old and we decided to let him sleep on the floor of our bedroom. He slept the entire night through with no accidents and didn't wake up once (I'm a light sleeper so I would have heard him). Definitely not something that works for everyone, and crating is certainly a popular and good method to try, but just thought I'd throw out the alternative which worked awesomely for us.


Yup, that's what we eventually did with Flora. I had had enough poopy crates for one lifetime, so I finally gave up and let her sleep upstairs in my room with me (on the floor). She's an angel. Usually sleeps from 9-6:30 no problem, very little movement, and never gets into trouble. 

We still crate her during the day and she's okay with it, but I look forward to when I won't have to crate her anymore.


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## chloe920 (Apr 5, 2009)

we're getting our pup this weekend (hopefully)...thanks for all the advice.

L.


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