Puppy sleep

[RubyRed1979]

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Hiya..

We have a 3 month old French bulldog. We live in a one bed flat on a noisy road so we have him in his crate next to our bed at night. I'm wondering about a couple of things about how we're handling his sleep and would be interested in suggestions/opinions.

• He snoozes a lot during the day and although he is fine when we close him in the crate at say 10-11pm he tends to wake up at 5-6am (as well as in the night). Should we be gently waking him up during the day to ensure better sleep at night (for us and for him)? Or is this just typical of his age? Will he eventually sleep later than this? God I hope so.
• I've read a couple of puppy books and they suggest taking him outside at night to have a wee when he wakes up and then putting him back in his crate. This has mixed success because he either wees in his crate anyway or thinks I'm letting him out to play and then whines when he has to go back. Is there any point taking him out during the night, or should I just put my earplugs in, get some sleep and let him out when we're ready?

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[gypsysmum2]

Firstly, dogs should not wee in their crates. It is against their instincts to soil where they sleep. Having said that I have known of dog pups that seem to defy this rule. I would fill his crate so that he cannot move off his bed in order to wee. If the crate is very large then get a smaller one so that he just has enough room to stand up, turn around and lie down with his bed in it.

Next I would check that he really is understanding his house training by going back to basics and rewarding his toilets outside with high value rewards immediately he toilets. He should not approach you for the treat as he will be confused as to why he got it. It must arrive as he finishes his toilet.

If he is sleeping in his smaller space beside your bed then you will know when he needs to go out as he should whine. Get him out, be very boring, just out - toilet - back in crate. No fussing him or talking to him. He should not look forward to meeting you in the middle of the night.

A dog's instinct is to leave the "nest" at dawn and find a place to relieve themselves. There may be signals that tell him it is dawn, such as more traffic/ bird/people noise. If you can make his crate dark and muffle all noises then he may sleep beyond his idea of dawn. I have used a radio on low to drown out the dawn chorus with some success.

Your over riding goal at this stage should be toilet training. I am afraid that loss of sleep is the penalty you will have to pay. His bladder will get bigger and you will get more sleep eventually. If he is sleeping during the day because he is bored then some extra training and play might help with his night time sleep. Puppies do, however, need lots of sleep when they are growing.

Even if he sleeps a little later, do not make a huge fuss when he wakes up. You do not want him to think that early mornings are play times even if they are later than at present. He should not anticipate a fuss or a game on waking.

 

[dogmatize]

Absolutely do not waken up your sleeping puppy during the day. He needs his sleep. He is a growing baby!

I think that if he sleeps from 11 to 6 am. you are doing well to have him last for so long.

If he is clearly asking out overnight i would take him out to the garden on an extending lead. It seems madness to me to spend time teaching him to ask out during the day, but then not let him out when he asks in the very way you taught him just because it's inconvenient. I think he'll become confused about what you want him to do.

If there is room in his crate for an area of newspaper - there should be- and you are happy for him to use it then that could be a compromise.

As he gets older he will be able to hold all night but it's just too much for him just yet. Also make sure he is warm enough as sometimes being too cold will wake them up.

I have whippets -new puppies sleep in the bed with us and sleep all njght 11ish -7.

 

[dogmatize]

Sorry gypsys mum if i contradicted what you have said. I seem to have been posting at the same time as you.

 

[gypsysmum2]

We are thinking along the same lines Dogmatize except for our opinions on crates. Allowing the use of paper in the crate can be counter productive to house training so I hesitate to recommend it. People can become complacent and just "allow" the puppy to toilet indoors, because it is on paper, making house training take much longer and sometimes fail all together.

 

[RubyRed1979]

Helpful input, thank you.. the crate is big enough for a bed and an area of newspaper. We have two crates the same size, one for the bedroom and one for my partner's van, and we won't be buying more at this point.

We are doing all the other things you said, although as we're so tired now we don't always wake up when he whines (unless he's getting up quietly and weeing without making other noise, I guess). How can I be sure he's actually asking to go out though - he might just be saying he wants to be let out to play?

 

[gypsysmum2]

You have to be tuned in to the tone of whining I am afraid. An anxious whine means he needs to go out and an excited whine means he wants attention. The best thing to do if you are not sure is to take him out anyway but be very boring. No eye contact not talking to him, just shepherd him out, reward the toileting, back to bed.