# 12 Week pup only sleeps for 1 hour



## Molly's Mom (Jan 1, 2007)

Oh no, I feel your pain. Have you tried covering the crate with a blanket once he's down for the night? Sometimes that will calm them down.


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## Katiesmommy (Sep 10, 2006)

a month of no sleep - ahhhh I feel your pain. Still there. Once you get a puppy your life will NEVER be the same again. Theres no boring moment in this house anymore and we LOVE it ((most of the time)) Katie for example went out last night at monight, 2:30 am and then at 6:30 am and shes 4 months old. I wish you luck. It does get better with time


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## KatzNK9 (Feb 27, 2007)

I just went through just about the same thing. My pup is now 11 months old & it is almost a distant memory but I didn't think I'd ever sleep again.

The good thing is that pups develop the ability to "hold it" around 12 weeks of age, so you're likely to be crossing that bridge to a little more sleep very soon. It will still take awhile until you're able to sleep through the whole night though but things should start improving from this point forward.


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## deyjason (Mar 6, 2007)

I just don't understand the loose stool. Fecal returns nothing. He will only poop one maybe twice during the day but 3 to 5 times at night. The other thing is that he "Bullet" can go 4 hours during the day without going to the bathroom, but obviously he doesn't do this at night.


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## Rocky (Dec 28, 2006)

I feel your pain I was there. Rocky is 4 1/2 months now and sleeps for 9 hours at night and that is because that is how long we sleep.

Questions......
Where is the crate?
Do you go and take her out every time?
Have you tried to just let her cry all night?

Here's what we did...
At first we were letting him out every time. Then the vet said that if you do that they will expect it forever. So, we started to just let him cry it out (I am sure there is a post from me with this same problem on this forum). It did get better, but he was still waking and crying 2-3 times a night, but would settle himself down and eventually go back to sleep, but once he did wake once, he woke up frequently after that. Then the miracle happened! We put the crate in our bedroom and from day one he slept all night. He just wanted to be by us
Putting a sheet over it is a good idea as well.
Hope this helps.


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## deyjason (Mar 6, 2007)

Initially we had him in our room by our bed, however I was thinking that maybe he heard me moving around at night so we moved it to the living room. One night he did sleep for 6 hours but has never occurred again. I am thinking about moving it back to our bedroom and coving it with a sheet to see what happens...........Keep in mind he does not whine or bark when going in the crate only after about an hour does he start. He goes to the bathroom everytime I take him out so I didn't want to not take him out,,, maybe i need to just let him bark and only take him out every 2 or 3 hours.......that is just difficult because I have a 7 month old baby and don't want the pup keeping him up as well......I am just going to have to try to experiment more I guess and tough it out!


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

deyjason said:


> I just don't understand the loose stool. Fecal returns nothing. He will only poop one maybe twice during the day but 3 to 5 times at night. The other thing is that he "Bullet" can go 4 hours during the day without going to the bathroom, but obviously he doesn't do this at night.



Puppies poop a lot. Augie would poop after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner, before bed, and in the middle of the night : Since your pup is skipping all the daytime pooping, that's the reason he is going all night (what goes in, must come out...). I would guess that the stools are loose because he is passing a bunch every hour or two at night. Normally if there is 4 or 5 hours between pooping episodes, the intestines have a chance to absorb some of the water from the stools, thus making them firmer. What kind of feeding/bathroom schedule do you have your pup on? Maybe that is part of the problem?

I wouldn't ignore your puppy's crying during the night because that is obviously his time to go. He's not being bratty; he really has to poop. So I think fixing his bathroom habits is the key to getting him to sleep all night.


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## deyjason (Mar 6, 2007)

LaurJen said:


> I would guess that the stools are loose because he is passing a bunch every hour or two at night. Normally if there is 4 or 5 hours between pooping episodes, the intestines have a chance to absorb some of the water from the stools, thus making them firmer. What kind of feeding/bathroom schedule do you have your pup on? Maybe that is part of the problem?
> 
> 
> We were feeding IAM's large breed puppy food as that is what the breeder was feeding him, I have been switching him over to Purina One Large Breed puppy food to see if it would help...... he normally eats a 1 to 1/4 cups of food around 8am and about the same amount around 430 pm. He does not go in the house very often, maybe once a day if that, we take him out whenever he goes to the door... At night, whenever he wakes up barking... Any suggestions is definitely welcomed


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

deyjason,

I cut this from another post I did just recently, so it might be a bit out of context, but still useful. The loose stools are not normal, this is what I suggested to someone else:

One other suggestion I might make, is to have your vet perform a fecal loop, rather then you bringing a sample in a jar. Sometimes parasites show up in a fecal loop, but not a hand-carried sample because of two reasons. First, the sample comes from deeper within the large colon, and second, the sample is fresh. Many of the more troublesome parasites do not show up in a hand-carried sample, because they die long before they get to the vet’s office. Plus, many times, the vet will dissolve the sample from a fecal loop in a bed of nutrients, which makes the parasites more active, and therefore easier to spot.

Many parasites only respond to specific antibiotics. So, if they are there, it is important that they be identified before prescibing a treatment.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

deyjason said:


> LaurJen said:
> 
> 
> > I would guess that the stools are loose because he is passing a bunch every hour or two at night. Normally if there is 4 or 5 hours between pooping episodes, the intestines have a chance to absorb some of the water from the stools, thus making them firmer. What kind of feeding/bathroom schedule do you have your pup on? Maybe that is part of the problem?
> ...


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## Rocky (Dec 28, 2006)

Is he pooping every time you take him out at night or just peeing? 
Anytime I have taken Rocky out, he always pees. So, of course if you take him out of his crate at night and take him outside he would pee. I didn't realize that he was pooping everytime at night, too.
What did your vet say to do?
Puppies are just like kids, if you go in everytime they whine, they know that you will know that all they have to do is start whining and they will be let out.
Just my opinion.

Kudos to you for having a puppy and a baby! You have a lot on your hands. Good luck.


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## Abbydabbydo (Jan 31, 2007)

I agree with Vrocco- Abbey had loose stools until a dose of Panacur at 6 months, I wish I had pressed for more tests earlier. Is puppy getting any exercise? Started on a leash? I don't know your feelings about immunities, but even if you can walk her around the back yard, that might wear puppy out a bit, to sleep better. 

I don't think you should ignore puppy at night, but don't get a baby monitor, either. Great story about my youngest daughter, now 20, when she was about 6 weeks old I commented to my husband how well she was sleeping through the night. He said, she was crying but went back to sleep, you just didn't hear her cause all the fans were on (It was July and we didn't have air conditioning, believe it or not). Point being, they do need to learn to settle themselves, like babies, but you need to judge if they are achieving this. (I did ask my husband if it ever occurred to him to get up with her and he said no ) If they gotto go, they gotta go! Do you work all day? 

I'm not sure switching from Iam's to Purina is much of a change, did you compare contents?


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## deyjason (Mar 6, 2007)

Had a fecal loop twice with negative result.. Think I will try the 3 feedings a day and take him out afterward.... what LaraJen says about pooping makes sense to me. When I mention this to the vet they didn't seem to concern, have another appointment on friday and am going to demand they give it more consideration and/or recommendation..... I am no expert here, I'm willing to try anything that is safe and not cruel.. this is my first pet since I was a child so it is a learning experience.... thanks for all of the advice so far


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## deyjason (Mar 6, 2007)

Abbydabbydo said:


> Is puppy getting any exercise? Started on a leash? I don't know your feelings about immunities, but even if you can walk her around the back yard, that might wear puppy out a bit, to sleep better.
> 
> We play with him in the house. Normally my wife takes him for a walk everyday with the neighbors dogs and afterwards lets him loose in the backyard with the other dogs to play for awhile.... I think he is getting enough exercise.


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## Rocky (Dec 28, 2006)

Does he sleep a lot during the day? I wonder if he has his days and nights confused? Just a thought?
And of course, I didn't mean to totally ignore him all night. Use your judgement, but, in some cases if they know you will come and get them when they whine, they will whine to get out a lot more. At some point, you should be able to tell the type of whining.....one type for having to go potty and another to get attention.
I know this can be frustrating. Just keep trying and being consistent and eventually he will be sleeping through the night.


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## Thor's Mom (Feb 25, 2007)

I agree with the suggestion of a 3rd meal - at lunchtime. Puppies need to eat more often. What goes in, as they say . . . should come out - and fairly quickly. Try putting him on a regular routine of eat/drink/pee/poop. 

When do you go to sleep? I'd suggest a last walk right before you turn in, crate the pup, and then lights out everywhere. If you crate him earlier in the evening, get him up before you turn in for that final walk. Thor had 2:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. bladder. DH and I alternated whose turn it was to take him out for what seemed like an eternity at the time, but was only a few weeks. The first time he slept til 5:30 we thought someting was wrong. LOL We've used Iams LBP and there were no issues with his stools. You may want to pursue the stool issue with the vet again.


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## deyjason (Mar 6, 2007)

Yesterday I increased it to 3 meals a day and he did poop a little earlier than normal and 3 times between 530 and 930 pm. Once again loose stool though, I put a blanket over his crate. He woke up every hour and pooped I think every time. When I got up this morning he started barking, I finished brushing my teeth and put clothes on, by this time he had pooped all in his crate and had it all over himself. Once again Fecal Scoop returned nothing, I'm going back to the vet....maybe blood work?...maybe try lamb based food..... once again he's only 12 weeks and a very good and smart pup, If I can ever resolve the stool issues I think he and I would sleep much better and not have to go out as often.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

deyjason said:


> Yesterday I increased it to 3 meals a day and he did poop a little earlier than normal and 3 times between 530 and 930 pm. Once again loose stool though, I put a blanket over his crate. He woke up every hour and pooped I think every time. When I got up this morning he started barking, I finished brushing my teeth and put clothes on, by this time he had pooped all in his crate and had it all over himself. Once again Fecal Scoop returned nothing, I'm going back to the vet....maybe blood work?...maybe try lamb based food..... once again he's only 12 weeks and a very good and smart pup, If I can ever resolve the stool issues I think he and I would sleep much better and not have to go out as often.



OK, that's not normal to be pooping that much. From your earlier posts it sounded like he just wasn't on a good eating-pooping schedule, but now it does seem like something is wrong with him. Make sure you impress upon the vet that he is pooping all night long. Poor little guy!


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## deyjason (Mar 6, 2007)

Any suggetions on trying a new food that isn't poultry based. Does it have to been specifically designed for large breeds?


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