4 month old Puppy sleeping issues

[andrew payne]

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So we have a gorgeous 4-month-old Sheepadoodle puppy called Peggy. She will go to bed fine but at 4.30am she will wake, whine, bark and not stop. When she goes quiet I go down and let her out, but this is after an hour or so. We got her at 14 weeks old she slept the first 4 nights in a cage in the bedroom and cried, we then we got a playpen with a bed in it in the living room, as that was what she had at the breeders.

In a morning we let her upstairs and she has a fuss over everyone then will lay and chew a toy.

We ignore her till about 6 am then go and get her, I make sure i always make a drink before even going into the living room and she isn't allowed out until she sits down. She will then come out of her playpen and sit by the stairgate waiting to go up.

She isn't desperate for a wee because I let her straight out and she doesn't bother so she isn't crying for a wee. She has plenty in her playpen to keep her amused.

We know it's our own fault as we allow her upstairs in a morning to have a fuss on the bed and be part of the morning.

However, we need to kerb this as she gets louder and louder. I won't go to her until she is quiet. We are contemplating allowing her to sleep on the landing but should we be just sticking to our guns and ignoring her until we are ready to get up.

We know it's our fault for letting her upstairs and on the bed, but any advice as to extra things we could do other than ignoring her to help get her to amuse herself when she wakes up would be great. She has toys etc in her playpen so she does have things to do?​

 

[lynyona]

So we have a gorgeous 4-month-old Sheepadoodle puppy called Peggy. She will go to bed fine but at 4.30am she will wake, whine, bark and not stop. When she goes quiet I go down and let her out, but this is after an hour or so. We got her at 14 weeks old she slept the first 4 nights in a cage in the bedroom and cried, we then we got a playpen with a bed in it in the living room, as that was what she had at the breeders.

In a morning we let her upstairs and she has a fuss over everyone then will lay and chew a toy.

We ignore her till about 6 am then go and get her, I make sure i always make a drink before even going into the living room and she isn't allowed out until she sits down. She will then come out of her playpen and sit by the stairgate waiting to go up.

She isn't desperate for a wee because I let her straight out and she doesn't bother so she isn't crying for a wee. She has plenty in her playpen to keep her amused.

We know it's our own fault as we allow her upstairs in a morning to have a fuss on the bed and be part of the morning.

However, we need to kerb this as she gets louder and louder. I won't go to her until she is quiet. We are contemplating allowing her to sleep on the landing but should we be just sticking to our guns and ignoring her until we are ready to get up.

We know it's our fault for letting her upstairs and on the bed, but any advice as to extra things we could do other than ignoring her to help get her to amuse herself when she wakes up would be great. Ses has toys etc in her playpen so she does have things to do?​

Some dogs just like your company when I got my previous dog he was 8 weeks old and no matter what we did he didn't settle there were no crates then .He slept in our bedroom right up until we had to have him put to sleep when he was 15 that was 6 years ago .When my youngest son bought me my puppy who is 10 weeks old now I said I wasn't going to make the same mistakes with her. Got her a crate and all the toys one dog can use she wont sleep in the crate she whined and whined no matter what I tried she ll go in it downstairs to have her meals and chew her toys but no way will she sleep in it so got her a bed on our bedroom floor but that is it an miss sometimes she ll sleep on it sometimes she sleeps on the end of the bed. I hope someone as some ideas for you and maybe I could try as well

 

[JudyN]

There's no reason you shouldn't let her sleep in your bedroom, unless this is something you particularly want to avoid, and this is likely to be the easiest way for you all to get a good night's sleep. This doesn't have to be on your bed but again, if you're happy with her on the bed that's a reasonable option too. So the first question really is, would you be happy for her to sleep in your room if it's the simplest solution?

 

[JoanneF]

I am not a fan of leaving dogs to cry for any length of time. Apart from them being distressed, I wouldn't like everyone else to be disturbed. So my suggestion would be to let her sleep on the landing; if that's all it takes for a peaceful life then it's great for everyone.

It is also possible she is being woken early by wildlife, birds etc. so alongside letting her sleep on the landing, you might want to train a 'settle' so she learns that when humans sleep, she sleeps too. The brilliant trainer Emily Larlham, who has many training videos on on YouTube under the name of Kikopup, has this one for going (back) to bed -

And this one for calm behaviour -

 

[hollysh]

It's down to the individual as regards to whether you let them sleep on the bed or not. I'm a dog sitter and I love them to sleep on my bed, if they are small dogs and don't take up too much room I have a lab and a pug at the moment they are settled in the living room. It all depends on the personality of the dog ie how needy they are, do they need to be cuddled all the time or are they happy to have their own space and time to themselves when they sleep. I judge the situation with every dog as an individual. The most important thing to me is that they are happy. But a puppy might be different. Is she house trained?

I'm guessing that as you let her up in the morning on the bed you don't have any huge qualms about her sleeping on it. So perhaps loosening the boundaries a little bit would make her feel more at ease. But it sounds like your doing a good job with training her. Could perhaps consult a trainer.

 

[andrew payne]

There's no reason you shouldn't let her sleep in your bedroom, unless this is something you particularly want to avoid, and this is likely to be the easiest way for you all to get a good night's sleep. This doesn't have to be on your bed but again, if you're happy with her on the bed that's a reasonable option too. So the first question really is, would you be happy for her to sleep in your room if it's the simplest solution?

We tried that but she just jumped on the bed and wouldnt go on her own bed so we took her back downstairs and she slept till 5am. She is good but some nights she will wake at 2am. I want to be training her not the other way round. After half an hour of whining am fed up so give in, but only when she is quiet and not making a noise. I dont even go in until she has shut up for a few mins.

 

[andrew payne]

I am not a fan of leaving dogs to cry for any length of time. Apart from them being distressed, I wouldn't like everyone else to be disturbed. So my suggestion would be to let her sleep on the landing; if that's all it takes for a peaceful life then it's great for everyone.

It is also possible she is being woken early by wildlife, birds etc. so alongside letting her sleep on the landing, you might want to train a 'settle' so she learns that when humans sleep, she sleeps too. The brilliant trainer Emily Larlham, who has many training videos on on YouTube under the name of Kikopup, has this one for going (back) to bed -

And this one for calm behaviour -

Great info thankyou i have watched them and will be trying these out.

 

[JoanneF]

She has something like 350 videos on YouTube covering loads of training tips. So worth a look for other advice too.

 

[andrew payne]

It's down to the individual as regards to whether you let them sleep on the bed or not. I'm a dog sitter and I love them to sleep on my bed, if they are small dogs and don't take up too much room I have a lab and a pug at the moment they are settled in the living room. It all depends on the personality of the dog ie how needy they are, do they need to be cuddled all the time or are they happy to have their own space and time to themselves when they sleep. I judge the situation with every dog as an individual. The most important thing to me is that they are happy. But a puppy might be different. Is she house trained?

I'm guessing that as you let her up in the morning on the bed you don't have any huge qualms about her sleeping on it. So perhaps loosening the boundaries a little bit would make her feel more at ease. But it sounds like your doing a good job with training her. Could perhaps consult a trainer.

I think she knows she gets to be upstairs when she whines, so will be persistent, she defo doesn't need a wee so it is an attention thing.

 

[JudyN]

The thing is, though, that puppies are babies, used to sleeping in groups. So it's not so much attention/company she wants, as attention/company that she needs. She is genuinely suffering when she cries for attention, just as a human baby would be (we no longer regard it acceptable to leave a human baby to cry on their own for hours). This need is just as strong and as real to her as the need to wee.

So yes, by 'giving in' to the whining you will encourage her to whine to get what she wants, which is why the best solution is to find a method whereby she feels safe and secure in the first place. In her mind she's not manipulating you, she's just trying to get her needs met.

If you're making progress and are happy with your method, that's fine - I just want to make the point that she is not 'just attention seeking' but that her whining is just as justified and understandable as if she was whining to go out or from hunger.

 

[Nanny71]

I would love to have Dudley on my bed but my husband is really against it. He aways settled well at night but he wasn't permanently with us until 6 months. He cried for 2 or 3 minutes for a couple of nights. After that he was fine. I expect the sheepadoodle is a lot bigger than him he slept in a cat igloo until he was a year old. When he got too big for it he slept on the sofa, despite his bed being in the living room.
I bought a dog cam and watched him on and off for several nights. He just sleeps.
The first pic is of him when he was very small, as you can see he slept with my daughter's dog, cat and kittens
The other pic is when he came to us and slept in the cat igloo.

 

[arealhuman]

I would love to have Dudley on my bed but my husband is really against it.

We had this in our house when our dog arrived, my wife said he wasn't going on the bed. Whilst he sleeps in his bed at night and goes there willingly, after his morning walk my wife gets upset if he doesn't lie on the bed next to her!