New puppy - Sleeping at night

[Cindy-Lou Who]

How do we get our puppy to sleep on her own at night?

We've just got a new 8 week old, cockerpoo puppy. We've set her up downstairs with her bed, puppy pads, kept a lamp on for her and she's out of danger from things she can hurt herself on/chew, but she will not sleep on her own or stop crying and scratching the door in the night. Are we supposed to let her cry or keep going down and settling her in the middle of the night?

We also have a cat who has taken to sleeping upstairs away from her, so don't want to bring the puppy into our bedroom.

We understand that she will be feeling lost from be moved away from her mum and her pack but I'm not sure if we're doing the right thing. The past few nights we've tried to leave her until she cries for us in the night and then have taken to sleeping downstairs with her (she's on her bed and one of us are on the couch). Are we making it worse for ourselves in the long run by going down to her? Should we be letting her 'self soothe'?

Help we're all knackered

 

[Mrs Cucumber]

We used to use a ticking clock wrapped in a blanket, always helped our golden retriever settle when we first got him!

She is beautiful

 

[KitKat2000]

Try leaving a radio on in the same room as her to see if that helps, hopefully it's just the settling in period!

 

[spiderpig]

No use as I caved and let both of ours come upstairs as soon as they cried.
A clock is supposed to help or an Alexa with white noise / radio. Have you tried a crate? I know some people are against them but they are a form of comfort for some dogs x

 

[Poptart]

I recommend crate training. My dog is 10 months and he has always slept so well at night in his crate. My previous dog loved his as a pup too. There's some good videos on YouTube to help with the Dos and don'ts.

 

[101d]

You need to get a crate for her. Just big enough for her bed to fit in. She will cry, she's a baby, but it's just part of the process. You could try leaving the radio on low for her too (we used to put BBC 4 on as it's just talking)

She's absolutely lovely. My first pup was an absolute dream, so we got a second and he was a nightmare But they do grow out of the crying stage.

 

[Saddlesoap]

100% crate training

 

[Kim Mild]

When my dog was a pup it cried and I would go down and check on it , but my checks would become less frequent and less affectionate. They need to know they haven't been abandoned, but consistency is the key.

 

[Cindy-Lou Who]

If we get her a crate, do you put puppy pads in there or do you set an alarm and go down every couple of hours to let her out?

We did all the reading up on this but feel like I've not got a clue what we're doing and dont want to end up making things worse in the future.

 

[Former_Antelopee]

I also recommend crate training. My dog slept in a downstairs in a crate for years, now he sleeps downstairs not locked in. We never had to force him in he would walk in wagging his tail. He chooses to sleep in there a lot now he is not locked in, often he will start the night on the chair but in the morning he’ll be in his crate. Also it’s like a safety thing for him for example he doesn’t like his teeth being brushed and as soon as he sees the toothbrush he’ll run into his crate. I tried to sleep with my dogs a few times and I just can’t do it, they move around too much and take up too much space so I’m glad they sleep downstairs. We just let our dog self soothe and it didn’t take long for him not cry.

I also want to add crate training could help in the future. Say a dog (hopefully not) gets injured or needs surgery and they need to be on strict rest then being used to a crate could prevent stress and possibly further harm. I’m all for crates if they are used correctly.

 

[Nebbymoo]

Only thing that worked for our puppy was letting him upstairs. He has such severe anxiety that he just couldnt be on his own. He destroyed the crate and the house so we gave him a night upstairs and he was a dream. No noise no accidents. Changed literally over night

 

[alex650]

If we get her a crate, do you put puppy pads in there or do you set an alarm and go down every couple of hours to let her out?

We did all the reading up on this but feel like I've not got a clue what we're doing and dont want to end up making things worse in the future.

We put our pup in a crate with one of our t shirts and put the radio on, let him out every couple of hours for a wee (which was HORRIBLE and we were both so tired but it was definitely worth it) after a few days we left the gaps a little longer and he slept through the night (11-6) after around 2 weeks! To get him used to the crate we would put a bit of his food in it without him seeing so he would find it and associate it with good things. We have a blanket covering the crate as well to make it more like a den. Ours is 9 months now, I’m definitely no pro but if you’ve got any questions just ask as I remember how hard I found it at the beginning! Xx

 

[101d]

If we get her a crate, do you put puppy pads in there or do you set an alarm and go down every couple of hours to let her out?

We did all the reading up on this but feel like I've not got a clue what we're doing and dont want to end up making things worse in the future.

I would lay puppy pads down but also get up to take them out. Gradually wake up half an hour later each week or so. We did that with my first pup who is an ANGEL. My second we didn't, and he's a lil tit lol. There are no right answers though, whatever works for you!

ETA I personally would NOT let pup sleep in your bed/upstairs unless you want them up there forever. We do it as a treat once every now and again

 

[Hinchhater1442]

Have a routine. Wee, bed, lock the cage, lights off, take yourselves upstairs and don’t go back down. She will cry, turn the tv up and down her out(it’s sad to listen to). Within a week our pup was sleeping through the night. We slowly removed the cage when he slept through by shutting the door but not locking for a month. then leaving the door a tiny bit cracked for a month, then leaving the door more open etc etc before finally taking the cage away when he was about 8 months old.
it’s tempting to give in if you look at their little face and listen to their cries. But in the long run you’ll be doing both of yourselves a favour.

 

[Cindy-Lou Who]

I've just realised I never came back and thanked everyone for their advice.

We had a couple of bad nights with the crate at first but we now have a happy puppy who sleeps the night without a sound.

I think we were running on fumes when I opened this thread, wondering what we had done to ourselves and when we would get a full night's sleep again. So thank you all for your help and advice