# How can I keep him awake until bedtime?



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

For my puppies at that age, I would wake them up at 9, take them outside to potty and then wake them again around 11 to 11:30 pm - then let them sleep. I found that this was really the only way to train them to sleep until at least 5:30 am - but it takes a couple weeks.


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## -ALBUS- (May 5, 2016)

Hey! We had some similar concerns at first. We wanted Albus' bedtime to be around 10:00/10:30, and we were worried that if napped for a while before that, he wouldn't want to go to bed.

After about a week, we settled into a routine where we feed him his last meal around 6:00, wait a little bit, then take a car ride to a nearby field (10-15 minutes away) where he can take a leisurely walk. I usually let these go on a little longer than a traditional walk down the street, since he's kind of stopping to sniff things and roll around and it's generally not very vigorous. (Though lately I have been busting out a toy and doing two or three tosses/fetches in the middle of the trip, which can take a lot of energy out of him.)

By the time we get home, it's usually 7:30 and depending on how tired he is, he either passes out or plays with toys (or chews a nylabone or fake stick) in the kitchen until he inevitably passes out at 8/8:30. Keep in mind that by this point he's been awake since around 5:30, so he's usually quite tired. I actually usually put him in his crate for this nap, since it's difficult for me to sit in the kitchen supervising him for the duration of this 2+ hour nap in case he wakes up and need to go potty.

So, I gently move him to his crate (he doesn't protest at all, and quickly passes out), then I wake him up around 10:15 for "last out." (For this, I make sure everything is off downstairs - TV, lights, sounds, etc. - and wake him up quietly. I don't want him to get TOO awake, since he's going to have to go back to bed in a few minutes. I also make sure all of his toys are put away so he doesn't get the wrong idea.) After about 10 minutes outside, I bring him back in, quickly check him for ticks since we're in a wooded area, then put him back in the crate. He generally doesn't protest at all, and after a few minutes, he's sleeping again.

We then get him up around 6:15 in the AM, and after the first 7 days we had him, he hasn't woken us up in the middle of the night a single time, and has never had an accident in his crate, so he seems to be sleeping through the night with no issue, even after the long evening nap. He's usually still asleep in the morning when we wake up.

Sorry, this ended up getting long, but the point I'm trying to make is that I also worried that we were essentially putting him to bed at 7:30/8:00 with one bathroom break at 10:30 and that he'd be spending a lot of time in his crate until 6:30 the next morning, but this has been going on for 2~3 weeks and it seems to be working out well for all parties involved...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

When they are very little - I don't have a problem with getting up 2 times a night while potty training. As I remember I was getting them up and outside at midnight, 3AM, and then getting up to feed them at 6AM (I left for work shortly after). As they get older, you can start setting the alarm, but seeing how long they go before waking you up to take them out. My dogs slept in bed with me as puppies and very soon they learned that the best way to wake me up to take them outside for potty was making snuffling and fussing sounds. 

They nap all over the place during the day. I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure you are waking them up to go potty as late as possible, and then bringing back to bed. And while their bladders are so small and they are being potty trained, you are popping up at least once in the night for a routine potty trip. <= I found with my dogs they really wanted to sleep and it was very easy getting them so they slept through the night completely AND were potty trained.


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## Krissi2197 (Apr 23, 2016)

Thank you for your responses!

Last night was the best yet out of the four nights I've had him. He only woke up twice; both times I took him outside to potty, and when he was done, he went right back into his crate and was asleep within minutes. He woke up again a few times just to get my attention, but after about 20-30 seconds of whining, he settled down and eventually went back to sleep.

He was asleep until about 7:10 this morning! I was really surprised. He woke up crying at 6, but went back to sleep at around 6:10, so I assume he didn't have to pee and just wanted attention. 

I got a good solid 5-6 hours of sleep last night all together, which is more than the past three nights. He's certainly going in the right direction.


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