Potty Training...In the wee hours..ha ha
Isabella has been doing really well with the potty training...as much as a 13-week old baby can be! My question is about night time...Normally, she goes to bed between 9-10pm and I'll get up in 3 or 4 hours to take her out to pee. It's always fun getting a sleeping puppy to stay on her feet long enough to pee! She's been great about going right back to bed and to sleep. Until now, she hasn't asked to go out, I just take her. The last few nights I've tried to stretch the time out a little longer and both times she has barked to go out. Fine, I got a bit more sleep, but I worry that she'll learn the bark will get her out. Actually, going to bed at 10 and barking at 3 to go out isn't bad, and she goes right back to sleep...but, the problem is that she's been waking up again at 4:45 ready to face the day! Ugh. At that point, should I ignore or let her out again and put her right back in the crate? I read conflicting info...let them sleep as long as they can and then go out, or continue the forced outside time (get her up before she askes) and continue stretching out the time...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Molly and Isabella on
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When potty training...do you wake the puppy to go out at night or do you let the puppy wake you?
Last night she slept from 9:30 to 4:30, barked, no accidents and I took her outside...I'm happy, 7 hours is a long time for a puppy...One more hour would have been perfect, though. She would NOT go back to sleep in her crate. I caved, let her out of the crate and went back to sleep on the couch for an hour...
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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I personally would let her sleep through the night as long as possible. Usually we go to bed around 11pm and get up between 6-7 am, and Luke (he's ~15 weeks old) will sleep through the entire night. Occasionally he will whine to go out and I will take him, but ONLY potty, no playing or cuddling, etc. Then back into the crate. Sometimes he whines for a few minutes but he settles down eventually and goes back to sleep.
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Thanks so much, Jane. I will continue letting her sleep as long as possible. I love my sleep! I'd be happy as a clam with 9 or 10 hours a night! I've been staying up later than I normally do just so she doesn't have to go to bed so early and to help her with a later wake up time. When she'd go to bed at 9:30 and wake at 2-3 or so I'd be out to take her potty and back to bed in 5 minutes! We don't mess around! I was happy she slept a longer stretch last night, but poor thing, she'd slept 7 hours and was ready to roll at 4:30 a.m.! She probably thought I was nuts trying to make her go back to sleep for another hour unitl my husband gets up. I just think 7 hours of sleep total must be her limit right now. I know it is me who is not being fair, not her! I think I need to learn to stay up later. OK, who's training who here anyway? :o)
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OK, I'm compelled to revisit this issue! I did stop waking Isabella to go out and she continues to wake/bark once between 2:00 am - 3:00 am. I take her outside to pee and then right back to her crate. I had hoped she'd start sleeping longer. Not yet! Now what I'm having a problem with is when I put her back in the crate she'll be quiet maybe an hour, but usually much less and then bark again. I wised up and DO NOT take her out again..the most I will do is thump on her crate and tell her "quiet!". This seems to be very effective, yet as soon as I tiptoe out of the room (I can be out of her view, just listening/waiting, in total darkness), she'll bark/whine again! She's too darn smart! Her crate is downstairs so tonight I'm moving her upstairs into our room...maybe that will help? She's 15 weeks now and I'm totally jealous of those of you whose puppies sleep at least 8 hours uninterrupted! At this rate I wonder if we'll ever get there!
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I have Luke's crate right next to my bed...it's like a very fashionable night stand...right? haha
I would definitely try putting the crate in your room and see if that helps her sleep longer. All puppies are different but I think she should be able to sleep through the night most of the time by now. Does she always go potty when you take her out in the middle of the night?
I would make sure she's getting lots of exercise before bed, maybe a vigorous game of fetch or a nice walk to tire her out. You could try also try limiting the amount of water she gets before bed, it might help.
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Thanks, Jane. It's kind of funny becuase I thought she was doing better because she was waking up only once, but at random times...not the same each night even with same routine and bedtime. Now she's slipped into the waking up a second time. Once is no biggy...twice is not so nice! I'm sure I'm to blame because I'd recognize her the second time she woke up...granted, I wouldn't take her out again, but she knew I was there. Ugh! Kicking myself now!
Yes, she ALWAYS potties when I take her out. Usually it's pee and poo, so I feel good that I've taken her out. She'll go right away, too. No waiting around. Until last night, she'd go and come right back to me to go inside. Last night, she did her thing and found a stick. NO! It isn't playtime. I had to do a little bribing...
She gets to run and play like crazy before bed. She usually flops right before I put her to bed, so I know she's good and tired. As for food/water, she eats dinner at 6:30...I do need to remember to pick the water up earlier. I try to pick it up by 8pm, but sometimes I forget...getting that under control should help a little.
We'll see how she does next to the bed tonight. Hey, at least if she wakes up a second time I can reach down and thump it instead of heading back downstairs! Wish us luck!
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Report on first night of new routine...Last play and potty about 9pm...Settled down and in crate in our room at 9:30. Pant, pant, pant! Man, she was loud! I thought she'd be calmed down by then. Note to self - even though I need to pick up the water early, I think she needs a least a small drink before bed! I then moved her crate to the hallway. The heavy breathing was disruptive to my husband's sleep...She slept until 2am, no barking or whining, just a scratch at the door. I took her out, she went pee right away and then I let her get a drink. I felt bad about the panting at bedtime! She drank and drank and drank. Back to bed like a good girl. NO noise at all! When our alarm clock went off my husband got her up and took her outside...Happy Happy! Fingers crossed that tonight goes even better...working toward no 2-3 am outside time....It'll happen, right?
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