# Sleep through the night



## cawl001 (May 18, 2008)

So, Sarkozy is about 4.5 months old and he does splendid during the day when I'm at work. He is in the bathroom with a baby gate and his open door crate. He goes 4-6 hrs without soiling (i've never tried longer). But, when we go to bed at night, him in his crate, me in my bed (same room), he wants to go every 3 hrs. It's been a few weeks now, 4 and he's still not sleeping more than 4 hrs at most and usually 3. 
He'll bark once, waking me up, then I'll take him right outside (I live in a condo so it's an elevator ride and all) and then he'll piddle, we'll come back in and he'll go in his crate and me in bed. Then repeat in 3 hrs. We'll do this about 3 times before I finally have to get up for work. 
Any ideas on how to keep him sleeping through the night? When I'm home, we go out often, like every hour or two at most and he hasn't had any accidents in over a week. Any suggestions on helping me sleep through the night?


----------



## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Sounds like he has trained you really well. So he barks, you let him out, he barks, you let him out, he barks... do you see a pattern here? He doesn't NEED to go, he just wants you to let him out. Try ignoring him. He might raise a racket, but just say Shush go back to sleep. let him out after 8 hours of sleep or so and make sure he hasn't barked or anything. If he can hold it during the day, he can most certainly hold it at night. He will learn that he will go out on your schedule only.


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

I agree with Lina. Scooter is 4 1/2 months old and several weeks ago the vet laughed when I told her we were still taking him out at night. Her reply, "He's trained you well!" We stopped that night and told him to go night-night, hasn't gotten up since! Good luck!


----------



## eli104 (Dec 26, 2008)

OK... so this post is old but my reply is new. We brought Willy home at 10 weeks and started him sleeping in our room. Near the door, not near the bed.... He lounges with us until about 11pm, then I take him for his "last" pee and then up into the crate. 

For a while he slept through, even if one of us had to get up and walk past. Then a couple of weeks ago (he's just 5 months now) he started getting up around 1:30 or 2am. Whining and crying until someone, usually me, takes him out for another pee. 

thing is, I get up around 6:30 and sometimes he comes right out of the crate and wants to go out. More often than not, he will hang by his day-bed and wait until I have my breakfast before wanting to go out himself (and I usually have to suggest it).

So how do I break him of middle of the night breaks? Is it time to put him downstairs on his own and close our doors to the whining?! BTW - We have a 7 year old who we don't want to have awakened by the noise and no, there's no room in the laundry room for the crate.

Sleepless in CT....:couch2:


----------



## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I still stand by my old advice on this. If you are afraid of your 7 year old (or even you) being bothered by this, then buy some ear plugs and use them for a couple of nights until Willy is used to sleeping throughout. He will cry, you just have to ignore him.

Good luck!


----------



## eli104 (Dec 26, 2008)

OK... as of this morning, I agree and after New Years (Which will undoubtedly be late) we'll give it a cry (try).

You may have noticed my last post was from 2:20am... that's becuase Willy got me up at 2am to pee, and then I, with a cold, had a coughing fit that had me driking tea until 2:30. 

Yes, he did pee, but it was quick and then he went right back inside and met me at the stairs to go up to his crate. Could he have held it? For sure. had been less than 3 hours. then he next awoke at 7:10, so 5 hours there.

I hate to think of doing two things at once, but at 5 months it's time for Willy to be downstairs and get back to sleeping the night. Our only reticence on this LAST night was that we were away for a few days and had him with a sitter who has lots of dogs, so he was sleeping with the pack and apparently had a small accident in his crate one of the 3 nights we were gone.... But on my normal schedule, he'll only be asked to go ~7 hours at most.

Thanks for the advice... anyone else care to comment?


----------



## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

I agree with Lina. But just make sure the little guy gets no water after 7 PM or so, and one last out before it is time for bed.
By 5 AM or 6 AM I would expect some noise from him.

Looking forward to hearing how it works out.


----------



## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

My method worked: No food or fluid after 7PM my time, if he has a RLH between 8:30-9:30PM, I will let him take a little water. 

Dexter has about 3 outings (for pees and poos) between 7:30PM and 11:00PM. 

Dexter slept the entire night last night. Dexter is 10wks. He is tethered to the bed with a short leash next to my bed. Dexter sleeps in his bed (open) a soft bed (without crate). 

He fussed (soft whimper)for the first few nights when we had Dexter, with him wanting to go out every 1-2 hours on the first/second night.....depending on how many hours went by during the night, I would either take him out of just pet him to calm him down (he would go right back to sleep). Petting him less than 30 seconds, no talking.

His feeding is on a schedule 6-7am, 12-1pm, 6-7pm. Dexter is a nibbler. His food and water is taken up at night at least after 8pm. Taking him outside at least 3 times before bedtime (space the time at least 1 hr & 45 min.).

Outings during the day, I plan about every 2 hours.

I am very happy with Dexter. Oh! Also when we are out with peeing and pooing, I always say "good boy" during the act. And.......get in there a " Hurry up."

Stay strong, you can do it. Stay on a schedule.


----------



## eli104 (Dec 26, 2008)

OK... so the first night of trying was OK. We were puttering around going to bed so even though I had Willy out at 11:15, when he called after 12 we were still up. I took him out and he slept through until 7:30am.

Last night, not so good. Same scenario with him asking around midnight, but this time he was crying again around 3am. Not just crying, but starting to "talk" where you hear these sounds that are not quite barking but you swear he's saying "out"! So silly me, I got up and took him out and yes, he did pee (but mostly wanted out of his crate to lie on the floor). Went back to sleep and then was up again around 7:30. 

Now here's the rub(s):
1) We also have him downstairs on his own for the first time in the crate... he had previously been in our room, but every time someone moved, he was up and of course, looking to go out.

2) Yesterday we did leave him alone for a long day in the crate... went out around noon, came home before 5 to play a bit and feed him dinner, but then we were out again between 6 and 7:45pm. So his active times were limited quite a bit. 

He's 5 months old now, eating 2 meals a day... dinner being a bit after 5pm and water comes up around 7pm. But with all the snow outside, he's getting a few extra "licks" while he's out doing his thing later on. I don't think this is really the issue, but you never know.

The issue my wife is having is that I'm sure if we're gone for 5 hours during the day, he's probably whimpering and whining then too. We're just not around to hear it. Tonight, the doors will be closed a bit tighter and we'll see what happens. 

I know he gets it, but the extra changes might be adding to the mix. We're leaving a small radio on (news station) to keep him company overnight, same as we do in the daytime.

One other idea here... not sure if this would fly for us or Willy (especially since he's not Bell Trained yet). Any thoughts on NOT putting him in the crate at night? Most of the time when I come downstairs to him, even after he's been crying at 7:30am, all he really wants to do is stretch out on the floor! He's not that interested in going out until I get my 3 layers on and coax him into the harness. Then he's out to pee, poop and eat more snow.


----------



## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Since pup is alone during the day; Pup will need to be exercised a lot when you get home and probably again around 9pm. 

You want to wear him out, so he will sleep the entire night. 

Stop all foods after 7-8pm at latest, if you exercise after 9PM, give a little water, then another potty break. Stay out until he goes potty.

Just my 2 cents worth of info.


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

eli104
My thoughts are that in addition to the water/eating routine and ignoring his protests, maybe he's not getting enough interaction and play during the day. Puppies are very time consuming. Can you play with him in shifts when you are home, giving him lots of exercise? Long walks, RLHs, etc? He's awfully young yet to let run loose. I don't think I'd do that.


----------



## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I wouldn't leave a radio on during bed time, as he's supposed to be asleep. It's good to leave it on during the day, though. And I do think that you should ignore him from now on. He'll be fine. The only thing I would stress is to make sure he gets lots and lots of exercise, you don't want him to have too much energy during the night.

As far as letting him out of the crate, no I wouldn't do that. How big is the crate he's in right now? It's possible that it's too small... does he have some room in it? I know that when they're little they say that they should have JUST enough room to turn around but if you think he's safe enough not to pee in it anymore, I would say that you should go ahead and make the crate a little bigger for him.


----------

