HELP!! New puppy has bad sleep habits!
 

Hello! I am a new owner of an adorable little yorkie boy named Bentley. He is a pretty low-key puppy who loves to play, explore and cuddle. My fiance and I tried to crate train him and kept his crate by the bed in our room the first 2 nights. He whined, cried, and barked for hours, and we got barely any sleep. On the 3rd night we decided to open the crate door and put his puppy patch outside his crate for him to use as he pleased. He did EXCELLENT the first 2 nights we tried this, peed on the patch and slept fine. Then on night 3 he went CRAZY. Barked at us, whined, tried to get on the bed, peed all over the floor, etc. Now we feel like he should be confined until he is potty trained, but he will just bark and whine and cry all night again. I would just ignore it until it stopped, but we live in an apartment and I don't want neighbors complaining. I need HELP and advice!! Do we try going back to shuting him in the crate? Do we keep it the way it is and let him have some freedom? Should we move him to the other room in his x-pen to sleep? (he barks when put in there also)

Thanks for the advice!!

I would try putting his xpen next to your bed where he can see your face, like where a nightstand would normally be. Put his potty patch or a piddle pad in one corner, and a bed in the other.

Also, wear him out before bedtime. Make sure he gets plenty of exercise to drain his energy. Play vigorous games of fetch or whatever he likes to do.

i put our new puppy next to our bed also but I covered his crate with a throw. That really had a calming effect. When he started to shuffle we sushed him and he quieted down. It been a month now and he sleeps like a log but he does get up at 5:30 or so. He has an occasional crate accident and when that happens we cut down the size of the crate for a few nights and he gets the message. He is 9 months old. I dont know the age of your puppy.

Wow, that sounds like my first few nights with Giz. What helped with him is that he had liter mates, so we went out and bought a large dog stuffed animal toy that was basically bigger then him and placed it in his crate. Also, we moved the crate from the kitchen into a place that we play alot and that he can see outside, so it's in the living room.

I know it's discouraging, in fact I bet you can find my thread from last week, when I was losing my mind. However, he's basically needs to be able to trust that you are in fact coming back to him and not leaving him in the crate. It's trusting issues combined with typical puppy separation anxiety.

If you and your neighbors can stand it, let him whine. However, be sure to take him out every 2-3 hours to go potty so that the crate is not punishment and that he makes it his den. He will soon learn, it took Giz 4 days, that you are in fact going to come back and not leave him in the crate.


Good luck! I know it seems bad right now, but this too shall pass.
Also, I kept a log on when I put Giz to bed, how long he whined , and when I took him out, and put him back in the crate, and how long he whined then. You'll be amazed a week from now, if you stick to it, how much he has improved.

Love,
Gizmo's Mommy

We had Hot Rod in his crate at first until we got an expen. He's been in that ever since. He did whine the first 2 nights and it broke my heart but he settled down. Once we got the expen he seemed sooo much happier. We put his crate, pad, water and food and toys in their with him. The crate and the expen are in our family room downstairs.

:yeahthat:

Thank you for all of the responses! Lots of good advice on here!! We decided to put him in his crate last night, and we decided to put the crate on the bed with us. He whined for about 30 minutes, but when we told him no to barking he would stop. He slept from 10-3:30, got up to go potty, then woke up again at 6 to go potty and then got up at 7 when we got up for the day. He did WAY better than he ever has, and we are hoping tonight we can gradually move him next to our bed, then farther and farther away until he is in the spot that we want him to sleep! Thanks for the advice, and keep it coming! I love hearing new ideas!

I'm glad this worked for you. I had the same problem as you and I put Max's crate on a nightstand next to my bed. When I rollover on my right side the crate is literally in my face:p Max is now 9 months old and relaxes in my bed and gets tummy rubs at bedtime and then willingly goes into his crate to sleep. This has worked perfectly for us.

my ella did the same thing but then we went out and bought a stuff teddy bear that they sell at walmart in the infant department and when you turn the teddy bear on it has a heart beat this helped her alot and she slept in its lap for like the first 6 months now its just her toy bear

That bear looks like a good idea, I thought of getting Bentley some sort of animal with a heartbeat, I heard that is soothing. Your puppy is adorable too!! I need to figure out how to get pictures on here!!

By the way, what was the name of the bear? I want to see if Walmart still carries it.

I just wanted to say Hello. I have a Bentley too. We call him Monkey because he climbed out of his xpen actually. Good luck with figuring out that nightly routine. I do agree with the previous poster... make sure he is nice and worn out before bedtime. It will help.

i dont quite remember the name of the bear becasue that was two years ago when we got it my ella is now 2 lol but it is really soothing and i tihnk its nurturing to them expecially when they are used to being with other puppies their litter mates but thanks for telling how cute she as she was so tiny back then!!

ps when tshe got older we had to cut out part of the bear becasue she tore it apart and was eating the Velcro thingy on it!

i think this is the one we got i lied it dsont make a heartbeat sounds it makes a sound of being in a womb
Amazon.com: dexbaby Womb Sounds Bear Audio...