Just the beginning - overnight concerns

[Stacey Schiffman]

I'm doing some research about puppies (as I hope to get a goldendoodle soon)
 and wondered what your experiences were in a couple areas:

1.  Where to put the crate with puppy for the first sleep overnight as
well as that week, weeks or months after (I've heard both ways - that it
should or should not be in same room where I sleep.)

2. How did you get through the evening/overnight whining
and yelping process?  Did you get up to comfort the puppy,
let it cry, something else? How long is this whining phase?

Still preparing for puppy so thanks for passing along your wisdom & experiences. 

(posted from iPhone) - Stacey

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We put the crate in the bedroom, right next to our bed.  During the night I could reach down and put my finders through the crate so the puppies always knew I was right there.  My guys only whined a little on that first night, and we did not take them out of their crates.  It was difficult, but it only lasted one night.  The puppies stayed right in our room at night until they were old enough to not need crating....then they moved to beds where the crates had been placed.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

My experience was almost exactly like Jane's. We put Tara's crate next to the bed in our room. The first night she whined a little and I put my fingers down where she could smell them and she went right back to sleep. No further whining or problems during the night.  She has always slept in our room either in her crate or on her bed.

 

We chose to keep her close to us because we realized that she had probably never been alone before and it would be quite terrifying for her. The breeder also gave us some toys and items with her mom's scent on them and we put those in the crate with her.  So that probably helped some too.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Sedona's crate has always been right next to our bed - she's 2 and still sleeps in her crate each night.  She seems to prefer it that way.  The first few nights we had her, I lay on a blanket right next to the crate so I was really close.  As soon as she went to sleep, I moved back to the bed.  After night-time potty breaks I was back on the blanket.  She really didn't whine too much, but sleep was rough for a week or so.  After the first two nights, my husband and I took turns - one "slept" in the room with Sedona, the other really slept in the guest room.  Having a Snuggle Puppy with her litter-mates' scents and one of my husband's old t-shirts in the crate seemed to comfort her.  Now Sedona is a great sleeper!!

[Anna and Achilles]

Ditto to everything Jane said. They need to be near you. They are used to their sibling and Mothers warmth.

[Joanne and Tucker Gilbert]

Tucker is only 14 weeks old so it wasnt too long ago I did this stuff.We crated him right beside my side of the bed....I did take him outside on lead when he whined incase he needed to do his business.First night he went to bed at 11pm and I was up at 3am and then at 7am....I took him for an early morning walk and then he ate...did his business and usually snoozed for a couple of hours.

I umbilical leash trained him as I was on vacation and he had to go everywhere I did....so I did not use puppy pads or papers...July was rainy here so I spent a lot of time outside in the rain!! He only had a couple of accidents in the house the first couple of weeks.

The first 2 weeks I was tired because I did have broken sleep but after that he started sleeping through the night.Tucker was a little young when I got him at 7 weeks of age so his ability to hold urine for too long was short.

My children who are both teens took over the umbilical leash training after my vacation was over....they broke it up into one would do the morning and the other would do the afternoon....then I would take over when I got home.After 5 weeks I could take him off lead and he would stay with me.Even when we went to the beach he would stay by our side no matter what dog or child would walk by when we were walking the length of the beach.

Now Tucker doesnt sleep in his crate....he has advanced to a dog bed in our bedroom and he had no accidents through the night....he has access to my room....the hallway and the kitchen.Our house is three levels so we baby gate off the rest.

Our challenge comes this week when the kids go back to school...he will have more alone time.We will use trial and error and see what works best for our furbaby.To crate or not to crate....my DH will be home everyday at lunch to let him out and kids will be home by three.

 

A new puppy is tons of work....but you reap many rewards...it is worth all the work you put into them:)

Good luck and i hope you find a wonderful breeder and have yourself and awesome new goldendoodle:)

Joanne:)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

 For the first few nights we put the crate right beside our bed.  We would put our fingers through the crate to comfort her ONLY immediately after she STOPPED whining.  We would then say "go to sleep".  This encouraged her to stop whining instead of rewarding whining with comforting.  Within about a week she was sleeping non-stop through the night with no complaints.

 

She now sleeps in our bedroom (door closed so she can't go wandering), but her crate is open and she has a bed.  She usually sleeps on the bed when we are home, but if we're away during the day she sleeps in the crate (door open).

[Liana & Jindi]

When I picked Jindi up from the breeder I took an old towel with me & the breeder rubbed it all over Mum, Dad & the siblings. I also had a comfort cat ( that is the only one the store had ) with a ticking heart beat in it. I put them both in his crate with him for awhile & the crate was just outside my bedroom. Not saying all puppies are the same but I never had any problems with Jindi, the only time he cried was when he needed to go to the toilet. Hope this helps :-)

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

We put Daisy's crate right next to Mommy in the bedroom that way if she cried I could say "mommy is here Daisy, nite nite time. She cried once the first night and that was it. I think they need to feel they are not all alone.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

For the first few nights, I slept on the couch and put the crate right by my head and took Murphy out to potty a few times a night if he whimpered and then right back into the crate. If he woke up I just put my hand by the door. In a few nights he was sleeping through the night without a sound and within about 2 weeks sleeping in bed with us at the foot of our bed. Never had one accident ever. I used a ticking clock right outside the crate, lots of blankets inside and covered the crate with a towel  for darkness. He's 2 yrs 9 months old and is still sleeping at the foot of our bed.

Bella was in a crate even for less time and hardly made a peep either. She has been sleeping out of her crate since about the 2nd night with us and just sleeps on the floor in our bedroom. She slept through the night really soon, but she was 10 weeks old when we got her, I do remember being really tired the first few weeks, but more from the really frequent potty breaks all day than from not sleeping at night.

I think they are so scared and lonely when they first leave their mother and litter that I just tried to minimize that as much as possible. I would think they would cry and whimper more if they were all alone so it just made sense to me to keep them nearby. I never really read anything that said they shouldn't be in the same room, but I guess there are opinoins either way, Just do what your instincts tell you to do. Good luck and enjoy that precious puppy breath.

 

 

[Katie, John & Parker pup]

We got Parker in march and have a very tiny bedroom so we had his crate in the living room...when we brought him home, it was already later in the evening so he kind of fell asleep and I put him on a bed in the crate and we all went to bed....an hour or so later he woke up and wouldn't stop wining but we couldn't fit the giant crate in the bedroom so I took a wee wee pad and stuck him on it in between us on the bed (luckily he never used the wee wee pad though!). We ended up getting a smaller crate for the bedroom because the little monkey wouldn't let us sleep unless he could see us from his bed! He has now graduated from a crate because he is potty trained so he is free to roam the bedroom and sleep where he pleases! This is normal for me though, I have always felt comforted with my dogs in my bedroom with me...it is a nice feeling to stick my hand over the bed and feel my furry baby lying there!

[shelly]

Tori selpt in her crate in my son's room.   When we had our first dog years ago, we put him in the bathroom alone... NOT good!   He cried all night.  We decided that we would keep tori close to us as dogs are 'pack animals' and prefer to be with their "pack" who is now you!   She did very well!  We put the clothes we all wore that day around the outside of her crate so she could smell us as she slept.  I don't know if we just lucked out, or if that really helped as much as I thought, but she remained quiet through the night and only whined when she had to go out.... good luck!  this is such an exciting time!  Kind of like ' the calm before the storm" lol

[Trudy Harlow]

We put Paddy's crate up on chairs the first few nights so he was level with us and I could put my fingers through the side for him.  He hardly woke up all night and still doesn't, except when he's been sick.  He loves his crate and will seek it out when he's really tired.  We still close him up in it at night because he wants that, he finds it reassuring.  We always give him a treat at night when we close the crate door, and he loves this routine. This routine has been terrific when we've traveled with him because he always has the security of his crate, no matter where we are.

Paddy adjusted to being away from his family right away.  The breeder gave us a receiving blanket that she'd put in the puppies' box with them and their mother, and we put this in the box we brought him home in as well as the crate.  It really eased the transition.