# Separation at Night



## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

I never did this, but I do know that some people have their puppies sleep next to their bed in their crate. I would imagine that you would need to consider this sleeping arrangement permanent--once he gets used to sleeping near you, he probably won't want to go back to the kitchen. Good luck!


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

We've always brought our dogs into our bedroom at night. The puppies sleep in kennels until they can be trusted. We've never had much of a problem with barking/whining at night. The few times it's happened, a quick reminder to hush is all we needed.


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## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

Well they say you should just let them bark, but I understand why you can't, and maybe don't want to.

We locked Clancy in the bathroom and I remember several night where one of us would take him and lie on the couch or lie with him on the bathroom floor until he was sleeping and try to sneek out. But we did often let him bark and after a few minutes he would often settle down. Once he was making it through the night without accidents he was allowed to sleep on the floor in our room, but that goes against many training principles. But you know what, he turmed out pretty good considering all the rules we broke.


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## jim n (Nov 12, 2005)

I agree with MegB. Bring him into the bedroom and put him in a crate next to your bed. Also if he has the run of the kitchen at night you'll never get him housetrained.


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## mojosmum (May 20, 2005)

I go for the bedroom at night in his crate. Worked well for us. Mojo is now sufficiently spoiled and rules the house! JUST KIDDING!!!!!

I agree with jim n about the kitchen. Hard to train for potty if they have too much room to defecate and then have a clean area to sleep.


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## FranH (May 8, 2005)

We have a bathroom connected to our bedroom. We put a barrier across the doorway and Holly would jump on the barrier when she needed to go potty. I would pick her up and take her outside. When she got a little larger, I would get her to follow me outside. After about a month, we took down the barrier, and she would jump up on my side of the bed to go out. I would always reward her with a treat (in the middle of the night).


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## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

Something funny...as I said before, I did not have Woody sleep by me when he was a puppy. Husband did not want to be awakened by a whining puppy, so I kept him in a room close to the bedroom in his crate. Now that he is house-trained and quiet through the night, I tried to get him to sleep in our room next to my side of the bed. I made him a little space and put his bed in there, and called him in when I went to bed. He laid down, tossed and turned, and eventually went back to his place in the other room! I would really like to have him in there with me, but I guess he is just more comfortable in the room he has been in all along.


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## Maria (Nov 14, 2005)

Thanks for all your replies - very helpful - my son slept downstairs with him last night and he was as quiet as a mouse, but left a nice little present for us on the living room carpet - my son slept through the whole thing - we will have to think again - I may let him sleep upstairs on the floor next to my bed - I am more in tune with him than anyone else in the family and will be aware if he wants to go out. thanks again.


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

What I have found is that if they get used to a crate and sleeping in it they will go crawl in the crate themselves when they are sleepy.. I have also found that covering the crate of a puppy with a sheet or somthing kinda works like it does for a parrot.. no kidding..try it.. if he whines during the night, go ahead and take him out.. but then right back in the crate.. the dog has to adapt to your schedule..not visa versa.. 
for the first couple weeks that i have a new pup in the house i put them in a covered up crate at night and i sleep by them on the couch.. by the end of that period (and usually sooner), they are sleeping through the whole night. 
dont use the crate as a punishment place.. only for sleeping..they soon feel that is their place and are very secure in it.. 
I'm no expert, but it has worked well for me on a long string of pups over the years...


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

We have always subscribed to the "let 'em cry themselves to sleep" method. This is how we solved this problem with everyone of our puppies in the past. When done properly (resist going to puppy no matter how much or how long he cries) this never takes more than maybe two nights... but those nights can be really long... and if you break and go to comfort the puppy, the next time will be twice as long and loud. The method works well if you can get away with letting puppy whine for what may be as long as a couple of hours... also it helps if you 'exercise' puppy (meaning 'play with') a lot just before bedtime and don't allow him to nap in the 3 hours right before bedtime.

After having said all that... I believe with our next puppy (whenever that might be) we will change the method... we will have him/her sleep in our bedroom with the crate right next to the bed with top opened so one of us can dangle a hand in for some comforting. After reading some other opinions on other websites, I've come to the conclusion that that would not be such a bad thing and I'm sure puppy will turn out just fine. So that is my suggestion to you... but you must really employ the use of a crate. If you are not familiar with crate training, I might suggest you do a site search and even a broader Internet search on crate training and see what miracles can be performed with the proper use of a crate.


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

I agree with all of this great advice.A friend of mine would wear a tee shirt for a day and then wrap up an old alarm clock with it.His clock was an wind up type that had a loud tick-tock.He would wrap it up and then put it in a used(unwashed) pillow case.This he would put with the puppies and they would all gather around it and sleep soundly.
If you can,I still like what monomer said about the open top crate,makes good sense to me.
Shane


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I finally got a crate for Lucky, and after walking over barricades, shooing him from the hot oven and yelling at him as he nipped my pants as I cooked supper and dealing with the morning mess....I'm in heaven. I wish I could fit this thing in my room, but the kitchen is the only option. If you don't want to deal with the crying (or your nieghbors dont), then put the crate in your room. It makes such the diff and Lucky loves it.


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## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

Like the others, I too suggest you use a crate. They make all kinds of training very simple, especially housetraining and sleeping through the night.

My method was sort of a combination of what poeple here have already said. At bedtime, I let Woody outside, then put him in his crate. I put him in with a t-shirt I had worn wrapped around a heat pack that I had warmed a little in the microwave (I made sure it was very well wrapped in case he decided to chew it, although he never did). I also covered his crate partway with a sheet. Then I left him, he may have whined a little, but then he quieted down. Later, if he started whining, I took him out, but quickly. Just let him do his business, and right back into the crate, no playtime. It is just like with kids--the first few times, you will be up a lot, but they learn quickly. Like Greg said, Woody learned to love his crate, and I would catch him snoozing in there a lot during the day. 

I don't know how you could keep a puppy from making messes at night, except to keep them in a crate. They are worth every cent and more.


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## Chloe's Mum (Jan 1, 2006)

I just wanted to give you some hope - Chloe did exactly the same! My husband and I took it in turns to sleep on the sofa for about 2/3 weeks, then we finally realised what she hated! It was the kitchen door being closed! So we bought a baby/stairgate and she was fine after that!


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## Goldndust (Jul 30, 2005)

I always put the crate by my bed at night and would dangle my fingers in the crate to help them go to sleep at night, they like being close too you. 

I also used a cover for the crate, as well as put some of there favorite toys in with them to play with.


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## Maria (Nov 14, 2005)

Dear Chloe's Mum - this is exactly what we have done and it has worked - Casper sleeps right through the night now with no problems. It has been approximately 4 weeks now and he is also clean so I think we have may have cracked it. Chloe looks georgous and remarkably like Casper (very light in colour). I will get a photo soon and post it up. Best wishes.


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## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

Congratulations Maria! Sleeping through the night is quite a milestone!


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