# When will they sleep for long stretches???



## TnTWalter (May 9, 2007)

Last out is around 10:30 pm. He wakes me around 1:30 and then 4:30 [I keep hoping he'll make it it 5 because that's when I wake for the day]. On a few rare occasions he has skipped the 1:30 time.

He is 4 months. How many more months do I have to look forward to? I'm also wondering if he just wants out of the crate?? The other night I let him out of the crate after the 1:30 session and he slept better [although I kept waking up and checking on him]. He's not a fan of the crate.

Blurry-eyed Trish


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Trish, wow , that is frustrating. Do you take his water away at a certain point. We alway removed water at 7pm, so once Logan did his nightly pee, he was pretty much done for the night. When he came home at 9 weeks, the first few nights he slept in bed with me and slept thru the night, then I slowly moved him to a crate on a chair next to me, and every few days I moved it further and further away - to eventually be with his sisters on the other side of the room. At 4 months I would think that he should be making it a lot longer than 3 hours at night. If he wakes at 1:30 - if you shush him, will he go back to sleep? He may just be getting used to you taking him out so he figures why not?? I would try removing the water at 7pm and then shushing him in the middle of the night & see what happens.
Laurie


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Trish,
Well Dora was good at about 8 months for the night... 8 hour stretch. At 2 years, I usually have to drag her out of bed in the morning. My maltese really can only go about 7 hours before needing to go out. When she wakes up, she needs to go! She comes up and rolls around your head and then usually goes potty a few feet from the porch! Once in a great while I might get 9 hours in! My husband and I have a take turn rule on the weekends when we want to sleep in. But there have been days when I carry Dora down the stairs. She is such a lazy butt about getting out of bed! But once you wake her up.... like this morning, she wants to run around and play with toys!

Amanda


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## Sunnygirl (Jun 1, 2007)

Nico is 16 weeks. Up until a couple weeks ago, he was getting up at 3:30 and then again at 5:30 or 6:00, and I was exhausted. I thought he was old enough to hold it for longer than 5 hours at night, so I started telling him quiet when he whined to get out at 3:30. I figured he'd keep whining if he REALLY had to go potty. We stretched it out gradually over a couple week period and now he doesn't get up until 5:00 or 5:30. Every now and then he'll whine earlier than that (anywhere from 2:00 to 4:30 or so, but when I tell him quiet he settles down. I've realized that not every whine means he has to go potty. Of course, it helps that Nico does like his crate. If he didn't like the crate I might not be having much success with this.


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## TnTWalter (May 9, 2007)

Winston scratches and scratches at the gate once he awakens. He just doesn't like it. I've never punished him and put him in there or anything.

Now when we leave during the day we keep him in the laundry room. He barks and barks in there [I leave for gym before 5 am and DH doesn't get up until 6 and he hears him barking almost the whole time]. UGH.

I tried at 1:30 telling him to go back to bed, be quiet, shhh, shut #@@# up! LOL. Nada. UGH.

Trish


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Trish,
Have you tried the snuggle puppy with the heart beat? It worked with all my guys. I got it with my second because he would not sleep at night and would whine. My friend recommended it and it worked right off the bat! He slept thru the night. I used it with my 3rd right away and he slept thru the night, he was 8.5 weeks when I got him. If you don;t have a store that carries it, might be worth overnighting it fed ex!!


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## radar_jones (May 6, 2007)

Wow it's a tough thing to have two potty breaks in the middle of the night. When we first gor Radar he was going for last potty break at 10:45-11:00 p.m. We had his water gone 2-3 hours before that and he would get up for one potty break in the middle of the night at 3:30 a.m. After a few weeks to a month or so at the age of maybe 4 months or earlier Radar was sleeping right through the night and getting up at 6 a.m. and then going potty then. He's amazing at holding his bladder now...we had him in the car for eight hours before with all the movement of the car and he's held it...he's done it for even longer before. They condition themselves to eventually hold it fore as long as they need to.

Just be patient it'll come to you.

Derek


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

I can't address this because Izzy sleeps with us....if she wakes earlier than 5 or 5:30, we just ignore her and tell her lie down. She usually goes 8 hours without a problem at night. We did use the crate in the beginning and after the first week or so, she would sleep through the night (at 4 months). (OK, I admit it was only 4 months ago, but I can't remember exactly what she did, LOL...I can't remember what I did yesterday....)


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## LuvMyHavanese (Apr 13, 2007)

radar_jones said:


> He's amazing at holding his bladder now...we had him in the car for eight hours before with all the movement of the car and he's held it...he's done it for even longer before.
> Derek


WOW!! I wish i could hold it for that long!!

You all are very lucky! My newest pup Jax is NOT waking me up in the middle of the night to go pee. He is sleeping 6 inches from my face & he just goes & then lays in it. I removed the padding & didnt help. So now i am setting my alarm for approx 1-2 a.m to wake him up to go. I know he can hold it all night-he has done it before......so we will see how it goes!

I am having a real hard time to get him to use pee pads.We had a real bad storm last night so they wouldnt go outside to pee. I need an alternative place for him to go when its bad weather. Dreamer & Tripp use litter, so they are ok. But Its a real struggle.


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## radar_jones (May 6, 2007)

Funny Stuff Judy.....I enjoyed the "I can't remember what I did yesterday" phrase....I feel like that sometimes....LOL Yeah I can see Radar being in bed with My Wife and I eventually although I would like to add some steps leading up to the bed. I put out the thread for the steps I saw at the Petsmart and I saw them yesterday when I went to the store looking for the old litter I used to buy for Radar. Well they didn't have the litter by the way so I will have to order it online from them...they are in London, Ont. The steps I saw were way to low for Radar to get on and then onto the bed. Perhaps when he's older he'll be able to get up.

Derek


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Does he really NEED to eliminate two times during the night or is he just conditioned? I start crate training when my puppies are between five & six weeks old. By eight weeks of age, they can sleep through the whole night, but it's rough at first.

Trish, do you have children? Your situation with Winston reminds me of when we had to break one of our kids from waking up in the middle of the night every night. It makes for a few difficult nights to get through that process, but afterwards, it is so much nicer.


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## TnTWalter (May 9, 2007)

*THREE human kids here...*

so I've been there done that. I guess I thought he was too little to hold it [everyone always says how their bladders are so small...yada yada].

So if I take away water at 7. Potty at 10:30, I should be able to let him whine it out and not get him until 5 am?? He won't have soiled the crate??

I'll try it.

Regarding the heartbeat puppy. Darn, I had a teddy that had a heart beat for the kids when they were babes, but I sold it at a garage sale last year.
I've spent enough money right now on the munchkin so I'm holding off. LOL.

Trish


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Beamer has been good at holding it since the 1st day we got him. On most nights last call is at 1am or so, and we wake up for the morning at 7:30am. I have to actually fight with him to get him out of his crate to go potty in the morning.. He is SOOO LAZY at 7:30am.. lol.. As soon as we get outside, he just lays down....lol.. but he is learning that the quicker he goes potty the quicker he will be back in bes sleeping.. haha.. So now I can get him to go #1 and #2 within 2 minutes.


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Trish - that sounds like a good plan! Take the water away at 7pm, when you take him out to potty at 10:30 let him either go for a walk or walk around a lot so he may poop before bed. Then he should be good to go for most of the night. If you shush him and he quiets down, you will know he didnt have to go out, just wanted attention. Like children, you eventually learn the sound of their whines and what they want. Granted, there may be nights when he really does have to go in the middle of the night! It is really trial and error but I am sure he can hold it a lot longer than he has been. He just wants Mommy to take him out of his crate!! Stinker
Laurie


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

I agree with Laurie and the others. That little cutie should be sleeping through by now. Biscuit slept through 8 hrs at 12 weeks when we first got him. I always removed the water by 6 or 7 pm. I would ignore Winston's little wake-ups, just give a brief verbal reassurance, and see what happens. Hopefully it will resolve and he should sleep through after a couple of nights.


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Hi Trish,

Why do you think he is waking up at night? Is it because he really needs to go potty, or he wants to play (is just awake) or is he hungry?

My puppy Scout was waking up every morning at 5 am and it was crazy-making. I moved his dinner to 6:30 (instead of 5) and he wakes up later now. I think he was just really hungry. I remember reading in a human parenting book that eating and sleeping cycles are tied to each other (I don't know if that also applies to dogs, but I was desperate for a few more hours of shut-eye!) 

If he's wanting to play, maybe you can try keeping him awake more in the daytime/evening when he napping so he'll be more "worn out" by bedtime 

Good luck. Sleep deprivation is just awful!


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## EMarie (Apr 11, 2007)

Sounds like you have created a BAD habbit... if you can stand it try ignoring him at 1:30...it might take a couple of days but he will get it. We had a client once who's dog trained her to think that he needed to get up every 3 hours and he was 1 1/2 yrs old. When we told her to try to ignore him she didn't think it was going to work. A few days later she had her first night of sleep in 1 1/2 yrs. My 4 month old has been sleeping through the night since he was 14 weeks old.


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## TnTWalter (May 9, 2007)

*Well he made it...*

until 4:30 this morning. I stopped water before 8 [gave him a wee bit because we went on a walk after 8]. Took him out an extra last time at 11pm.

Woo Hoo!!! We're getting there....thanks for all the advice!!

Trish


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Yeah Trish and Winston!!!


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Yay - good job everyone. Each night should get easier and easier.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Yea! I'm glad that last night was better.


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