Sleepless Night

Forlorn · #1 1st June 2010, 08:39 AM

So, yesterday, I took my little girl Farah home. She's 8 weeks old and as cute as a button. For a good part of the day, she was fine. I'd take her out every hour or so to do business and she'd play and jump around with the other other two dogs (Bowser, a 6 year old lab and Princess, a 2 year old black lab/German short hair/black lab). At first I was worried that the bigger dogs would hurt her but they've been really gentle with her. It's funny, Farah runs up to Princess and starts trying to nurse on her. I don't know whether to be amused or worried. Anyways, come around midnight I take her in from her last potty break for the night, put her in her crate and turn off the lights. 30 minutes later, she's up again and whining to get out. So I humor her and play with her for a bit and then put her back in. Then 30 minutes later she wakes up again and does the same thing. Repeat this for the whole darn night! 0_0; The longest she slept was for an hour from 5 to 6 am and is probably the only real shut eye I got lol. Needless to say, I don't want to go through this forever. Is this just something little puppies do for a while or is there something I can do to help her sleep more through the night.

Sansal · #2 1st June 2010, 09:21 AM

Where is the crate located? I would put the crate into the bedroom, right next to you so she can see and smell you. If she starts whining don't take her out to play. Carry her outside if you think she needs a potty break and then put her right back in the crate. If she just went potty and is just whining to get your attention I wouldn't take her out. If the crate is right next to the bed you can even stick your hand in the crate and being able to touch you might calm her down. The first nights are the hardest ones. Once she is more comfortabe in her crate she will sleep for loger periods of time. Right now she is probably just very anxious, being seperated from her mum and litter mates for the first time.

Althea · #3 1st June 2010, 10:56 AM

Sansal is right on target. She learned that if she whines, you will come get her.

Don't worry - it does get better. My big little stinker is now sleeping through the night and still knows how to get me wound around her little stub. :sighs: Love that little girl.

Forlorn · #4 1st June 2010, 02:28 PM

I have the crate in my bedroom but not at a spot where she can easily see me. I'll try moving it to right by the bed tonight and see how that works. I know I shouldn't take her out and play every time she whines but it's so hard to ignore my baby. I feel like I'm a bad mum if I don't give her the attention she wants. Y'know? Last night she was mostly pining for me to be by her. She'd quiet down the second I'd come and pet her. The only time she needed to go was at 3 am and I let her relieve herself on the puppy pad (It's kind of cold here at night). I think I'm rather fortunate so far though. No accidents on the carpet which is good.
I have another question however. How many times a day should I be feeding her? And at what times? My family has always had outside dogs and they've just kept a food bowl out there all day. Obviously that's not a good idea for an inside pet since that just gives them more chances to go in the house.

Sansal · #5 1st June 2010, 08:04 PM

Instead of taking her out of the crate maybe you can try to just stickyour hand in there. That might calm her down enough for her to go back to sleep. I know how you feel though, my boxer puppy ended up sleeping in the bed with us pretty fast

and I don't think she will ever consider sleeping anywhere else

Feeding 3 or 4 times a day would be good. You could feed early in the moring, after she wakes up, then maybe around noon or early afternoon and another time around 6-7pm. What do you feed?

Forlorn · #6 2nd June 2010, 12:22 PM

Woo! I survived another night! In all honesty, she was much better last night. I put her in at 11 pm and she was pretty much quiet until 7:30 am. I only had to take her out twice during that time to let her outside. So, I think having her right by the bed helped and also she is probably getting more used to being away from her mom.

Umm, I've been feeding her what the breeder had her on which is a Science Diet puppy mix. But I'm thinking of switching her to something else soon. It's just so confusing to find which brand food is the best for her. Any suggestions?

Althea · #7 2nd June 2010, 12:36 PM

I had Suki on Wellness Puppy, then switched her to Natural Balance Limited Ingredient, which she loves -- actually, all my guys do.

Sansal · #8 2nd June 2010, 03:06 PM

Glad you had a better night

Check out Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble. I feed Taste of the Wild and Evo red meat, both are grain free and recommended for all life stages. My older dog gets Wellness core which is also grain free but not recommended for puppies under 1 year.

Tootss · #9 2nd June 2010, 07:47 PM

I know how you feel!! Toots ended up sleeping with us very quickly. She sleeps in her crate at night very rarely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sansal

Instead of taking her out of the crate maybe you can try to just stickyour hand in there. That might calm her down enough for her to go back to sleep. I know how you feel though, my boxer puppy ended up sleeping in the bed with us pretty fast

and I don't think she will ever consider sleeping anywhere else

Feeding 3 or 4 times a day would be good. You could feed early in the moring, after she wakes up, then maybe around noon or early afternoon and another time around 6-7pm. What do you feed?

Kilby'sMum · #10 2nd June 2010, 11:23 PM

If you don't want to be playing at night-time when she's grown, don't start now!!

We didn't crate either of our girls so not sure about that aspect of it (they have beds in our rooms) but I would be inclined to ignore it. It's only her first few days with you, it might just take her a bit to get used to.

As for the potty training, with Kilby we just had a set schedule and would wake her up to take her out so she'd potty and because she was still sleepy, she'd quickly go back to sleep. My husband however took primary responsibility for taking Kona out during the night and would often cuddle and play with her... she's nearly 2 now and at 4:15 this morning she was trying to get Kilby to play with her. Drives me nuts!!

If I were you, I'd also brave the cold and take her out to potty at night because using the pads at one time and outside in another might be confusing?

Sansal · #11 3rd June 2010, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kilby'sMum

If I were you, I'd also brave the cold and take her out to potty at night because using the pads at one time and outside in another might be confusing?

I agree, better to teach her right from the start that the only right place to relieve herself is outside. That will make housetraining much easier for you later on!

Forlorn · #12 4th June 2010, 10:14 AM

Thanks for the replies! :3 I don't know what I'd do without your guys help. Go crazy I guess..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sansal

Glad you had a better night

Check out Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble. I feed Taste of the Wild and Evo red meat, both are grain free and recommended for all life stages. My older dog gets Wellness core which is also grain free but not recommended for puppies under 1 year.

Great site! I checked out the brand that my parents feed the family dogs (Purina Beneficial) and it was only 2 stars. That's not good. Couldn't find a review for the food the breeder gave me though. I'll see if I can find something on the site and I also want to ask the vet's opinion on the matter when I take Farah to get another round of shots next week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kilby'sMum

If you don't want to be playing at night-time when she's grown, don't start now!!

We didn't crate either of our girls so not sure about that aspect of it (they have beds in our rooms) but I would be inclined to ignore it. It's only her first few days with you, it might just take her a bit to get used to.

As for the potty training, with Kilby we just had a set schedule and would wake her up to take her out so she'd potty and because she was still sleepy, she'd quickly go back to sleep. My husband however took primary responsibility for taking Kona out during the night and would often cuddle and play with her... she's nearly 2 now and at 4:15 this morning she was trying to get Kilby to play with her. Drives me nuts!!

If I were you, I'd also brave the cold and take her out to potty at night because using the pads at one time and outside in another might be confusing?

lol, you're absolutely right. I shouldn't be encouraging playtime during the wee hours of the morning right now. It'll only cause problems later down the road. I've also been trying to discourage her from biting and jumping on people. It may be cute now but it won't be when she gets bigger.

Yeah, now that I've spent 4 nights with her, I've started developing a schedule. I take her out around 11 pm just before hitting the hay, then at 3 am and finally at 6 am. It seems to be working ok. No accidents so far (Knock on wood..). And I haven't used the puppy pads since the first day. So far, so good. Boy, she's a handful though. Cute but a handful. I end each day absolutely worn out and tired. X3