# First night problems - need advice



## mct (May 9, 2012)

Rough night last night for Comet's first night... Went to bed at 11 and he cried as expected. He eventually calmed down and went to sleep (yay!) - tried to have him pee at 2am with no luck. He fell asleep again and at 3:30 he woke up crying so I got him out and he had peed his bed in his crate. Thought we were not supposed to wake a sleeping puppy, but man do I wish I had now . 

We gave him a quick bath of his underbelly and sides (do we know how to have fun at 3:30am or what?). I then brought him downstairs and placed him in his xpen where he fell asleep in his xpen bed from 4:30am-7am with no issues (I slept on my recliner in the same room as the xpen just to make sure we were not going to have any more problems even though the ugodog is in the xpen as well).

Obviously we feel awful and like complete failures to have this happen on the very first night. Everything we have read says NEVER let our puppy pee in his crate and we are kinda freaked out now over what longterm damage we have done here??

So far today he has peed and pooped on both the ugodog AND outside (at least that is a positive).

We bought a new bed insert this morning for his crate and are not going to use the peed one again to make sure there is no urine smell.

Going forward, I think we are going to take him out every 3 hours after he goes to bed, regardless if he is asleep or not, in hopes to not have a repeat performance. If he doesn't pee, I think we will then just try every 15 minutes until he goes. Does that sound like a good idea? Open to ideas at this point. Sure hope we didn't cause something that can't be corrected now .


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I'd let him sleep. Make sure he has pottied before he goes to bed. Put his crate on a chair or something right beside your side of the bed.


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## mct (May 9, 2012)

Tom King said:


> I'd let him sleep. Make sure he has pottied before he goes to bed. Put his crate on a chair or something right beside your side of the bed.


Yeah his crate is on our night table next to the bed. He peed at 11 before we put him in. Just worried if we let him sleep again we have a repeat incident like last night.


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## Jplatthy (Jan 16, 2011)

I know this is controversial but my vet advised me and I did it to restrict water after 8 or 9 at night which I did..she suggested putting an ice cube or two in the bowl so if they were thirsty they could lick the cube but weren't drinking a lot.....when mine were younger I fed at 6am and 6pm and they only had 30 minutes to eat. It was picked up after that. I never had one pee in their crate but they did whine and I was up and got them out the door. 

The good news is that they do learn really quickly and unless there is a medical condition will be able to hold it all night which for me usually happened around 6-7 months of age.

I would be afraid if I woke him up constantly during the night he would start being conditioned to wake up to go at those times......mine are pretty much like clockwork.....5:30.....11:30 and again at 5:30 or 6...and of course lol sometimes they just want out to play! 

Good luck and don't be so hard on yourself....it's an adjustment and learning experience for all involved!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mct said:


> Yeah his crate is on our night table next to the bed. He peed at 11 before we put him in. Just worried if we let him sleep again we have a repeat incident like last night.


Tom know more about raising puppies than anyone I know. I'd go with his recommendation about letting him sleep.

It could be that he was so exhausted by all the excitement of moving to his new home that he fell so hard asleep that he peed without waking up. Mistakes happen. The important thing is that you completely clean up his bed so that he remains used to sleeping in clean surroundings. If he doesn't get enough sleep because you are getting him up every 15 minutes because he hasn't peed, I think you could end up with different problems, with a cranky, over-tired puppy.

I know how you feel, because I took it as a personal failure on my part when Kodi had an accident. Often it WAS my fault because I had mis-read the signs, or mis-judged his readiness to handle more space. The fact of the matter is that as long as you keep at it, set him up for success as much as possible and MINIMIZE mistakes as much as possible, he WILL eventually get potty trained. 

I don't think I'd be using nice, commercially made, padded crate pads at this point, just because accidents happen, and you don't want any lingering odor. Put your nice pads away until he's a bit older, and more reliable, and give him some soft, old towels that are easily laundered for now. I found that old (VERY old!!!!:biggrin1 flannel receiving blankets from my kids as babies made wonderful puppy bedding.

In training, we say, once is a mistake, twice is a warning and three times is a habit. So don't make TOO big a deal out of this one mistake. If it happens again, try your best to change something to prevent it happening again. If it happens a THIRD time, you really have to look at the situation carefully and see what can be done to remedy the problem.


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## mct (May 9, 2012)

Thanks so much for the replies. Definitely makes me feel a little better. We will let him sleep and see how it goes . Good idea on the bedding - those suckers are not cheap!


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

Personally I wouldn't wake a sleepy puppy.What I did find was when I got up in the night to go to the bathroom,Nellie would wake and I would pick her up and take her outside usually she would do a wee straight away and then I would pick her up and straight back to bed,I didn't let her run around or have any fun,so she didn't think it was fun and games time.When she came home it was summer time and warm.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Lot's of different views on this. I like the idea of waking them up in the middle of the night a couple of times and taking them out. Your dog obviously didn't let you know he needed relief, so I would give him an out at least a couple of times a night. When a dog is crated he has no options, and if he simply eliminates with no vocal warning ,it can become problematic. I like Ian's take on this. http://dogtime.com/housetraining-through-the-night-dunbar.html# I had great success with the every hour principle and three times a night initially ,principle. I'tsn not easy for a couple of months but it worked for me. The only other safe method is the xpen with an available potty. . Don't overestimate holding capacity. myth no. 1 http://dogtrainer.quickanddirtytips.com/housetraining-your-puppy.aspx


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## mct (May 9, 2012)

Dave,
I was just thinking about the xpen for sleeping in with his ugodog. At least that is a last resort option.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

mct said:


> Dave,
> I was just thinking about the xpen for sleeping in with his ugodog. At least that is a last resort option.


That's fine. The crate beside the bed for the first week just makes it easier on the separation anixiety. See how it goes. But rule no. one, give them an out, ie. a chance to do it in an approprite place.


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## Tuss (Apr 22, 2012)

Don't worry, i was ready to pack my puppy up and ship her back to the breeder after the first night. The second night was much much better.

Few thoughts:

How big is the crate? The crate shouldn't be much bigger than the puppy. If it is too large then they will find a corner to pee.

I restrict water right before bed. You wouldn't give a child that wets the bed a big glass of water right at bedtime right? 

I would put the crate within earshot, but not right next to your bed. You don't want to wake up every time the dog squeeks and you don't want him to wake up every time you roll over. My dog is now 6 months old and will sleep for 8 hours (she did 10 this weekend, but it was a long exhausting day playing with my 2 nieces).

Remember this is his first night away from his mother and brothers and sisters. He is going to be confused, scared, etc. he will quickly identify you as his family and relax.


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## mct (May 9, 2012)

Tuss said:


> Don't worry, i was ready to pack my puppy up and ship her back to the breeder after the first night. The second night was much much better.


lol - my wife and I were completely spent today and asking ourselves what we got ourselves into, so this is good to hear we were not the only ones with issues on the first night .



Tuss said:


> How big is the crate? The crate shouldn't be much bigger than the puppy. If it is too large then they will find a corner to pee.
> 
> I restrict water right before bed. You wouldn't give a child that wets the bed a big glass of water right at bedtime right?
> 
> I would put the crate within earshot, but not right next to your bed.


The crate is the Midwest Select Triple-Door 24x18x19 inch crate. Seems to fit him well without too much extra space (so I think, but honestly what do I know lol).

Excellent idea on picking up water early before bed - implementing that tonight to see how that goes .

We put the crate on our night stand which is on the wall across from the bed (about 3 or 4 feet away from the bed).

One thing we tried tonight was to put him in the crate around 7:45pm for 30 minutes just to get him used to being in there (he spends his day downstairs in his xpen so not too much time as been spent in the crate upstairs). We took him out after 30 minutes and put him back downstairs and he immediately went pee on the ugodog.

Today during the day he has been great. No accidents (peed/pooped on ugodog and outside only). He did bark/whine a few times when we were not in the same exact room, but that is expected, I assume. Here he is during one of his naps:










Praying that tonight goes well.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

awww!


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## Tuss (Apr 22, 2012)

Adorable! You will find lots of varying opinions on crate training, i'll share some of mine.

I like to put them in the crate during the day for short periods of time. Always wait until they stop whining for a few minutes and when they are quiet let them out and lots of treats and praise. You want them to be happy and quiet in the crate, not feel like they are locked in a cage. I put mine in when I know they are sleepy and due for a long nap, then let them out before they ask to come out. I also like them to get used to being alone in a crate, so that when i'm not home they won't freak out. I purposely put the crate away from the bedroom so that she is okay being alone. the first 2 weeks were tough, but after that she sleeps thru the night and does overnight trips without any incident. My pup is 6 months old now. I just got back from a weekend visiting my sister and the dog slept thru the night without any whining (and didn't wake my sister's kids which is a major plus because otherwise we woudn't be invitied back).


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Yay Comet is home and very cute I must add! I know it's exhausting, been there done that, and asked myself may times, "What was I thinking?" Now even after all those frustrating, exhausting days, I wouldn't change a thing. Timmy has been such an awesome addition to our family and this forum is invaluable to vent and know you aren't the only one out there dealing with all the puppy stuff. Deep breathing and count to 10! :biggrin1:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mct said:


> Dave,
> I was just thinking about the xpen for sleeping in with his ugodog. At least that is a last resort option.


It shouldn't necessarily be a last resort option... When Kodi was little, we put his little crate inside the ex-pen with his litter box, so it was always available. When he outgrew the little crate, we attached his "grown-up" crate to the outside of his ex-pen, and he STILL has a litter box avaiable to him at night. He doesn't absolutely need this... When we are on vacation, or when we stay in a hotel for a show, he does fine sleeping in his crate all night without needing to pee. But at home, I do find wet spots in the ex-pen litter box from time to time, so he does use it occasionally.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> That's fine. The crate beside the bed for the first week just makes it easier on the separation anixiety. See how it goes. But rule no. one, give them an out, ie. a chance to do it in an approprite place.


For the first week, either I or my son slept on the couch, next to the ex-pen for the same reason. Kodi never made a peep from the first night, but the breeder had also already introduced the pups to sleeping in separate crates at night before they went home.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

_Comet sure is cute during his napping._


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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

Love Comet napping...such a cutey


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## BennyBoy (Apr 25, 2012)

Never wake a sleeping ANYTHING!


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## mamacjt (Aug 23, 2011)

Your "baby" is darling! Hang in there......the first few months aren't easy, but so well worth all the effort and frustration, believe me!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Hopefully, its not anxiety derived peeing. I have a friend who's hav' would always pee in his crate when they left and he'd cry and always pee. I don't think he slept in the crate at night, but it seemed like more of an anxiety act than a potty training issue.

I would've also replaced the bottom, you may even want to forgo the crate inserts and stick with an old towel for now, you can put a small pillow under it and/ or even a piece of vinyl tablecloth over the cushion to protect it until he is reliable, must easier to get the smell off of vinyl than a porous fabric.

The best way to handle the night peeing is to pick up the water a few hours before bed, and if he does cry, just take him out to see if he has to go.

I remember when Gucci was a puppy she'd lick my face to let me know she needed to go out (slept in bed) and when she was awake, she'd always get this surprised look on her face and jerk and turn her head and look at me (I suppose that was the reaction to the funny feeling of having to pee/poop, lol) and I'd rush her out side or to a pee pad, but it took me a few weeks to learn what her 'sign' to go was.

Bells hanging on the door are a god send to us housebreaking. she is not a barker and didn't know how to let me know, a lot of havanese aren't big 'barkers', so bells work great for the quiet one.

Congrats and :welcome:

Kara


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Maddie spent the first week in her crate right next to me with no accidents. She would wake me up in the middle of the night. It didn't last long before she was just in bed with me. I would leave her for short periods of time in her crate during the day. When she was about 5 mo old she peed in her crate while I was gone. That was the last time I created her with the exception of car travel. I made a small area with a x pin and a potty area it worked in tell she climbed over the x pin she injured herself. So what I really needed was a large kennel in the house I had to barricade an area with large paintings and furniture it looked really bad but worked.
Zoey was never crated started right off in bed she had a few accidents. I had a pad in the bathroom so when I would get up in the middle of the night she and I would go at the same time. I guess our schedules coordinated well.


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## mct (May 9, 2012)

Thanks SOOOO much gang for the feedback, tips and moral support!!

Last night was much better due to us making some changes. We picked up food by 7pm and water by 7:30/8pm and instead of letting him sleep at 8pm like the night before, we forced him to stay awake and played with him to tire him out. We did put him in his crate at 8pm for 30 minutes just to get used to it a bit.

He went pee at 10:30pm and brought him to his crate for the night. He only cried for 5 minutes before passing out. I set my alarm for 1:30am to see if he wanted to go pee, but he was sound asleep so we let him sleep instead of disturbing him.

At 4am he woke up and my wife took him to the ugodog in our upstairs bathroom and he peed and then went back to sleep in his crate for 2 more hours until 6am when we brought him downstairs to his xpen and he peed on his ugodog downstairs (it was raining pretty hard this morning and we chose not to bring him outside).

So far today, another great day with no accidents so far . He is a bit vocal when we are not able to play with him, so that will be the next item we are working on in addition to his bite inhibition, but other than that, no huge issues.

Let's pray that tonight goes as well as last night!!


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Glad night 2 went better for ya!


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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

I'm glad for you. Sounding great! I'll be bugging you around the first of July after I've had my first night!!ound:


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## angiern2004 (Apr 24, 2011)

lise said:


> I'm glad for you. Sounding great! I'll be bugging you around the first of July after I've had my first night!!ound:


Which July is just right around the corner, ya know? Lol


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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

Oh don't I know it. I'm sooo prepared. I'm sure everything will go wrong because I was too prepared!:crazy:


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Good job!! When he cries for attention, you have to ignore him. Ignore him means not only no talking, and absolutely no baby talk, but even your heartrate can't go up. You have to have no anxiety. I don't mean show no anxiety. I mean have no anxiety. They can tell the difference. He will learn quickly with no response to him. Few people really understand how complete the "no" part of no response has to be.

We walk past the puppies' expens multiple times a day giving absolutely no input, just so they can learn.


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## Jplatthy (Jan 16, 2011)

Congrats! Glad to her the 2nd night went so well...keep us posted.......


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## mct (May 9, 2012)

Thanks guys! Night 3 went VERY well. Not a peep out of him once we put him in his crate at 10pm. We really tired him out beforehand by having visitors come over around 7:30pm and play with him (we are doing the "introduce 100 new people by 12 weeks" thing - 7 down over past 2 days; 93 more to go lol).

I set my alarm for 1:45am and he peed on the ugodog and went right back to sleep without any crying (yay!). We tried again at 4:45am since he woke up but he didn't have to go yet. He went back to sleep for another hour and at 5:45 I took him outside and he went pee and poop (yay!). By then he was ready to start the day with breakfast and playtime lol.

Looks like he is at around a 4 hour bladder interval at night it would seem. I guess after a couple more nights of logging everything we will hopefully see a pattern to help predict things going forward.

Thanks again for all your feedback and ideas - they really help!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mct said:


> Thanks guys! Night 3 went VERY well. Not a peep out of him once we put him in his crate at 10pm. We really tired him out beforehand by having visitors come over around 7:30pm and play with him (we are doing the "introduce 100 new people by 12 weeks" thing - 7 down over past 2 days; 93 more to go lol).
> 
> I set my alarm for 1:45am and he peed on the ugodog and went right back to sleep without any crying (yay!). We tried again at 4:45am since he woke up but he didn't have to go yet. He went back to sleep for another hour and at 5:45 I took him outside and he went pee and poop (yay!). By then he was ready to start the day with breakfast and playtime lol.
> 
> ...


It sounds like he is settling in great! I think you will find that his bladder will mature quickly over the next few weeks. Many puppies are able to make it through the night by 12 weeks, most of them can by 16 weeks. They really do grow up quickly!


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## mct (May 9, 2012)

Just a quick update and big thank you for all the good advice . Last night Comet slept from 10:30pm to 5am!!!! WHOO WHOO!!! Never did I think 5am would be considered "sleeping in" lol.

The key seems to be getting him TIRED OUT before bed. The night before, my wife let him rest before bed and it was not that great of a night lol. Lesson learned!


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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

Noted!


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