Sleepless after being sick

[Karla Hintz]

Hi, Ella is 12 wk old, she had puppy vaginitis when I brought her home at 8wks. Vet gave her a douche, it got worse and had pee issues more. Vet put her on antibiotics, day she was done w meds, she started peeing and licking more, vet gave her another douche. That day she began crying to go outside to pee, would pee or try to pee 5-6 times, crying to go out every 5 minutes. That nite we were up every 30-60 minutes. The vet said it should get better...it has, she is now peeing normal etc. but my problem is, she is up every hour at nite....we let her out and she does her job, but after the 3rd time getting up she really would rather sniff outside( I question if she has to pee). I am wondering if she is just in the habit of getting up at nite. Finally at 4am I put in bed with us and she sleeps till 7:30-8. My question is, if I know she peed and pooped...do I let her cry in her crate and not let her out every hour or so? We are so tired, any suggestions would help!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Sounds like you have been through the wringer. I would position the crate right next to the bed and when she cries, put my fingers inside the bars to soothe her and croon a bit to her and see if she falls back asleep. Most puppies can't hold it all night in the beginning and I would hate to ignore her when she really has to go. If the crying escalates even after you try to soothe her a bit, I probably would take her out, but try and stretch the periods to longer each time. I would also exercise her before bedtime to try and wear her out, so she is tired before she goes in the crate. Finally, there is no hard and fast rule that you have to crate her at night. Maybe you would all get more sleep if she slept in bed with you, but make sure before you start it that it is something everyone agrees upon. Once you start not crating at night, it is harder to go back to it. I did not crate my dogs much at night and still had no problem crating them when we were out during the day. Good luck! Hopefully, this will all be a distant memory soon.

[Karla Hintz]

Thanks, her crate is right next to me...doesn't help, am afraid if she doesn't crate at night it will be hard for me during the day. We don't mind her in bed, but would rather wait till she is potty trained, our last dog it was about 6 months and then she slept on the floor next to us! Thanks for the info....so tired,

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Karla, I hope it gets better. I really had no trouble crating during the day without crating at night. Just a thought. Sleep deprivation is the worst. What if you just let her fuss a bit and stretch it out to a couple of hours each time. Good luck.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I wonder if you are taking her out at night on a leash, if not I would do that.  Just go out to potty only, if she doesnt go right away, go back inside to the crate.  No talking or playing.  Just business ;-0

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

We stopped night crate and never had a problem getting him into the crate when we left for work.  We would just hold up his stuffed kongs and in he went.  

[Karla Hintz]

With our last doodle we did the same, but she is only 13 weeks, afraid she will pee...how old was your puppy !
Thanks again