Help with Sleeping and Other Things

[Tara]

So we totally brought this upon ourselves but now I need suggestions on how to undo what we've done.  Seymour is 14 weeks today.  Since we brought him home, he has slept in our bed.  In the middle of the night he would actually try to kick my husband out to take over his spot.  So the last two nights we had him in our room and he would sleep in our bathroom.  He would then wake up around 4:30ish and either pee or poop in our room.  I would say he is 90-95% trained during the day.  So now I am thinking we should have done what we did from the beginning and that's crate him during the night.  But I know he won't like it and probably start to bark.  I have two young children so I don't want Seymour waking the kids.  Any suggestions on changing out nighttime routine?

In addition, when Seymour wakes at 4:30/5am he wants to eat.  So I end up giving him 1/2 his food at that time and the other half at 7ish.  Again, this is probably not the best habit.  Any suggestions for this?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Tara, Where do you have the crate? Could you try the crate right next to your bed so he can see you? Also, look into a Snuggle Puppy. It worked wonders with both our dogs. I would also advise you to make sure he is getting plenty of exercise so he is tired all night. As for the food, I think I would go to three feedings a day and up the food a bit as he seems hungry, but keep in mind I am a softie :) 

Finally, I did not crate my pups long at night, but only stopped crating when they seemed to be reliable during the night. I think he is still too little to hold it all night so you will probably need to take him out through the night to avoid the peeing and pooping inside.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

When we were crate training AnnaBelle we would give her about 5 or 6 little pieces of kibble when we put her in her crate at night.  She knew these were coming and learned to expect them very quickly.  I second putting the crate right by the bed and we had a snuggle puppy as well.   That way you are able to reach over and comfort him if needed.  For AnnaBelle if she awoke during the night I would just reach over and quietly tell her Shhhhhh, got to sleep.  If she didn't, I knew that she needed to go out to potty.  Only a few times did she need to go out.   I would make sure that when you are taking him out for his last potty that you are giving him the time he needs to both pee and poo.  He might even need to pee a couple times.  I'd take on leash so it isn't play time, it is potty time.    Also make sure he is getting plenty of exercise so he is really tired when he goes to bed.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yep, he has you trained all right.  But he is still young.  You can retrain.  I don't use crates in the house, but playpens have worked quite well for me.  You will probably have to get up at least once at night to take him out as he is still a puppy.  Good luck.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with everyone....you need to go back to the beginning and crate training.  Placing the crate next to your bed should help....but I would not take him out even if he does bark.  If you start that it will take much longer.  I would also not feed any dog (even a puppy) at 4:30AM.  I would give him a kibble snack when he goes into his crate at bedtime and then he should be okay to go until breakfast in the morning.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

If you have a crate, try it out.  You didn't do anything wrong.  He is going potty during the night when he is in your bathroom because he isn't in a place that discourages it - a crate or a bed. He needs to go out to go potty at that 4:30ish time apparently, but he really doesn't need to eat unless you want to get up at that time.  When Ned was that age, he was crated by our bed, but when he got obviously restless at about 4 or 430, I took him out and then re-crated him until about 6. After a few weeks he stretched it to 5 then later.

One of our dogs was not crated ever - he had anxiety it turned out and crating him just made it worse. He slept on our bed as a last resort and it was magic - sleeping all night.  He slept at my feet for his entire 12 years. I learned to sleep as a 'shorter' :-} person. 

[Kamela & Beckett]

LOL Nancy, "sleeping shorter"! I do that too, if Beck sleeps with us, as he seems to favor my side of the bed.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ain't it the truth!

[Tara]

Thanks everyone for the advice.  Seymour  had his vet appointment yesterday too and the vet said the same thing as everyone.  We upped his food (he is a growing boy) and we crated him last night.  I don't want to jinx myself but it went very well.  Not a peep out of him till 6am.  Last night I was with him until around 10pm, trying to wear him out.  I guess it worked!  We will see what happens tonight!

[Kamela & Beckett]

Congrats! It sounds like you've got a good plan. I second what other folks have said. Our pups get a high value treat when they go in their crates at night and it works like a charm. Our older dog races to her crate when we say "Go to your bed". Beckett, our 11 month old doodle, likes to hang out on our bed while my husband and I get ready for bed, brush teeth, etc. but jumps right down and gets in his crate when the treat container comes out. (Now that he is older, every once in a while on a weekend night, he'll sleep in bed with us. No treat if he sleeps in the people bed though and he has no problem going back to crate. But as he is older and is well established in the crate.) When he was younger, we also took him out on a leash and allowed enough time for pottying before bed or we'd occasionally have to take him back out. And of course you know, a tired pup will sleep much better. Good luck!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Hooray!  When we began crating Ned, we used the command, "Crate." every time we put him in.  It was an easy way for him to learn the command.

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

That's great! You may find that he actually feels more secure and settled being in his own space. Zuzu is almost 14 weeks old and she loves her crate. It's funny because even during the day she will often ask to go in there to sleep because I think she knows she can be completely undisturbed (we have an older dog who sometimes invades her space). So you never know, Seymour may come to love his special spot!