# Schedule advice



## katsdog (Aug 14, 2017)

Hello all, katsdog's hubby here  

We've had Ollie for two weeks as of today and he's turned into quite the character. Even when he's naughty it's hard to stay annoyed with him when he's as cute as he is. That being said, I'd really love to hear your thoughts on our current setup and schedule, with the main goal of getting a little more sleep at night!

Ollie currently lives on the main floor of our house, which contains a living room, dining room, and kitchen. We have a gate from the kitchen to the hallway, and his ex-pen is located in the living room area. We also have a wire crate in that room, but early attempts at the crates didn't go so well. Whenever we notice Ollie starting to doze off we lift him up and place him in his pen, in which he'll happily nap for a few hours in the morning and afternoon. Potty training has been going mostly well - a couple small accidents, but we try to get him outside frequently, and reward him with praise when he goes.

Nights are proving to be the sticky point. While we've had a couple nights where he slept from 11 - 5:30 without whimpering, most nights are like last night - up at 3am, then 6am, at which point he's determined to stay awake. I would normally be up around 6:30 myself, so if we could get him to stay until then I'd be a much happier dad.

Our feeding schedule hasn't been very fixed, which, from what I've been reading, could be part of our problem. His last meal last night was at 10pm, and he pooped when I took him out at 11. When he whimpered at 3am I saw that he had peed on his paper in his pen and was actually back in his bed, but he saw me so I thought I'd take him out just to be sure. Got him back to bed without much issue, but I find it hard to fall right back to sleep. When he woke at 6am I took him out and he did both jobs, with a follow up poop at 8:30am.

So, all that to say I'd really like a little feedback on our current arrangement and what you feel we should start to change to get our nights a little more organized. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the lengthy post!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I think a lot of people would say that set meal times are important, three for puppies, and two for adult dogs. They say you put the meal down for a half hour, and if the puppy doesn't eat the meal then, s/he gets another shot at the next meal time. They say regular meal times lead to regular potty habits, and they say regular meal times are best for an emergency situation where the puppy gets into something and the vet says, "When is the last time s/he ate?" All that said, we are terrible for set meal times. We put Shama's breakfast out in the morning, then she eats it at some point before suppertime. Then we give her her supper around 6 PM, and she eats it at some point before breakfast the next day. It's arguably not the best feeding method, but it works for us. (We also don't offer a meal when I'm going to be taking her to obedience or agility class as we want her to be hungry for her training treats. I mix her kibble in with her training treats so keep her regular, however . . .) Shama generally sleeps through the night, from 9 or 10 PM until 5:30 AM or so.

In Ollie's case, I would really try to NOT feed him in the evening. You want him to not need to poop during the night. We have never withheld water from Shama, but I'm guessing some people might suggest you also avoid giving water to Ollie in the evening too, to help him sleep through the night.

Are you not able to put his crate in the ex pen? Here's a link to a thread which contains photos of Shama's current set-up. When she was a puppy, we had a training tray where her fluffy bed is now. After she got spayed, she started sleeping mostly in her fluffy bed instead of in her crate.

http://www.havaneseforum.com/8-puppy-area/122313-baby-loves-her-ex-pen.html

Another idea is to make sure Ollie has had a very busy day before putting him to bed for the night. Be sure he gets to run, run, run, either in your fenced-in yard, or around your house. If he's exhausted from fun (yet not too strenuous - you don't want to overwalk a puppy) activity, it might be easier for him to sleep through the night.

Good luck!


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## katsdog (Aug 14, 2017)

Well, I've stuck to a morning, noon, and 6pm feeding schedule for today so we'll see how it goes! He's currently napping (7:13pm) and he usually stirs around 8ish. I'll take him out and we'll play with him for a bit, then he tends to start dozing off around 9:30. I'll take him for his last trip outside around 11, and keep my fingers crossed for a nice, quiet night!

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for your advice


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

How old is he? They do tend to need a time to go outside in the middle of the night when they're really young but as they get older they start being able to hold it longer and you can start skipping it. At this point from your description it sounds like when he's whining he really needs to go (not just bored and wants you up too). I would definitely recommend not feedback too late - get that end of day poop done before bed time (at least until he's able to hold it til morning). If you moisten the food, I would also not worry too much about picking up the water at a certain time. Perry has been on crate rest for a long time now because of an injured leg, and we don't have a crate bottle - so he's spending significant parts of the day without water, but when I do have him hanging out with me in the kitchen with free access to water, even after not having it all night, he's not super bothered about it.


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## chocohavapup (Apr 18, 2019)

Melissa Brill said:


> How old is he? They do tend to need a time to go outside in the middle of the night when they're really young but as they get older they start being able to hold it longer and you can start skipping it. At this point from your description it sounds like when he's whining he really needs to go (not just bored and wants you up too). I would definitely recommend not feedback too late - get that end of day poop done before bed time (at least until he's able to hold it til morning). If you moisten the food, I would also not worry too much about picking up the water at a certain time. Perry has been on crate rest for a long time now because of an injured leg, and we don't have a crate bottle - so he's spending significant parts of the day without water, but when I do have him hanging out with me in the kitchen with free access to water, even after not having it all night, he's not super bothered about it.


We just had our first night w/ our little Ferdie so just picking up tips here and there. Some other thread, people were deathly against taking water away. Were they specifically just referencing during the day? Somebody wanted to control when they offered their pup water so they could predict potty times. We just listened to a podcast where a trainer suggested to do the same. But people wanted to rip that guy's head off!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I don’t think controlling access to water makes much of a difference. Puppies are going to pee often even if they don’t drink. I think of all the times my puppy peed a tiny bit and it’s not because his bladder was full and he had to go right that second. They learn faster if they have opportunities to pee where you want more often, as annoying as it can be. Picking up food after a scheduled amount of time is much more important to potty training in my opinion. My dog still poops on a predictable schedule. Puppies are more susceptible to dehydration. 

It is sad, though, that people were ripping the guy’s head off about it. Seems like even if they’re right, the person isn’t going to listen.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

We did water kind of weird at night. Our puppy sleeps in our room so I kept his water where I could hear it he got up to get a drink. Then I would know that if he woke up early I should take him out. But I’m a light sleeper, and I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew I should give him access to water. Since our puppy started sleeping through the night very quickly, it really wasn’t a problem. It’s really dry where I live and at 1 1/2 he often wakes up at 6 or so for water and goes back to sleep.


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

You have a potty pad in the crate. Apparently it is separate from Ollie's bed. That's great that he uses it. I wouldn't worry about taking him out unless he asks to go. You want Ollie to learn to use a potty pad or potty tray or go outside. Either one is a good choice. Peeing on the floor or on his bed is NOT what you want. He doesn't have water in the crate, there's no reason to take away water any other time. 

You do need a regular feeding schedule. Dogs get hungry just like people and we all have regular eating times. The last feeding probably should be in the early evening. Puppies poop and pee all the time. I actually never figured out a schedule when Patti was a few weeks or months old. 

If you have a potty pad in the crate, when Ollie wakes at 6 a.m. ignore him. He has a place to go potty and he'll eventually figure out the schedule. The later you can keep the puppy up the later he'll sleep. 

My dog is indoor-house broken and I didn't have a problem with her sleeping to 6 or 6:30. If she needed to go, she went to her potty tray. Then we installed a fence and she now likes to go outside to potty and to check things out around the yard. She is now getting up at 4:40 or 5:15 a.m. She sits on our bed and ...very quietly ...but persistently says: Awf! Awf! Awf! I think, she'll grow out of this. Grrrr!


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