8 week old pup.HELP, crate training

[Dee Dee & "Bentley"]

Just got 8 week old pup. I intend to crate train ,but he cried all night in crate ( I had crate in my bedroom) If I put im in separate room so I can't hear cries, is'nt that crule for puppy? Also, very important, how often do I get up during the night to let 8 week old pup outside to potty? Every few hours? or mid way through night...??Or just in morning when I get up. I go to bed at 9pm, and I get up at 5am. How long typically can a little put be left in crate during day 2 hours at a time?

[kristine & Auggie]

We were lucky, our puppy at 10  weeks was already crate trained and he was already sleeping through the night.  At 10 weeks he was sleeping around 8 hours.  Hang in there, he will get used to the crate and sleep really well in there..

[DJ & Chance]

It is so very important to remember that you have a baby under your charge.  An 8-week-old pup will probably need to be taken out to potty at night every 2-3 hours.  

Your baby puppy also misses its mother and littermates.  You might try tossing a t-shirt with your scent on it in the crate. My breeder sent my puppy home with a soft toy full of littermate scents, and I put the toy in the crate with my puppy.

 I found that being able to touch me comforted my puppy, and so I put the crate right next to my bed and dangled my arm down for the pup to lick.  It only took 10 minutes or so before he would fall asleep after a nighttime potty outing.  I do not recommend putting the puppy in a room so that you can't hear it.  The puppy needs to be near you at this time in its life.

There is lots of information on potty training on this site--do a search and you will find many discussions on potty training within this group.  The information I've given here is far from comprehensive, but it might help you to get through the night.

[J&J]

Also very important is pulling up any food or water at least 1-2h before you plan to go to bed. That will make potty training through the night easier!! (We were also lucky bc our breeder crate trained the puppies before sending them to their forever homes, but she emphasized the key to a good before bed routine which involved settling down with the puppy, making the crate a positive experience throughout the day (treats, toys, etc... And never ever punishment), taking up food and water before bed and of course a potty break right before bedtime). She did that regularly starting around 5-6weeks. By 8-9weeks, our pup could reliably hold it from 10pm-6am. (But at 6am sharp he would wake up and cry until around 16wks!) As for the crying in the crate, we left our crate downstairs in the family room from 10wks to 5months when he transitioned to a crate in our room overnight and gradually no crate at bedtime. He cried for a few minutes the first couple of nights home until he realized this was his new home! It seems so hard to just let him cry it out. Once I realized that he could actually hold his potty for 8h if i followed the routine above, it became easier not to jump up frantically and let him out everytime he let out a cry! Good luck!

[Katrine]

Hi Dee Dee,

Guidelines for crate training during the day from a breeder. 

KENNEL DURATION GUIDELINES

Puppy's Age - Provide A break For Your Puppy After:

8-10 Weeks - Approx. 30-60 minutes

11-14 Weeks - Approx. 1-3 hours

15-16 Weeks - Approx. 3-4 hours

17 + Weeks - Approx. 4+ (6 hours maximum)

[BettyAnn, Holmes & Lucy]

Hey Dee Dee. I totally empathize. Is it getting better, I hope? I would love to hear your pup's progress and compare notes because mine is the same age.

We got Holmes about 2 weeks ago and the first few nights were sleep-less for all of us! He had never been crate trained and missed his pack so he cried, loud, plus I was taking him out every 1 to 2 hours to potty. Fast forward a week and he's doing much better. He sometimes goes into his crate during the day now when he wants to nap. He's not sleeping through the night yet but for the last 2 nights he's slept for 4.5 hours- wonderful for me.

Good luck and I would love to hear an update on the potty training and biting- the 2 things I can't wait to get over with.

[Dee Dee & "Bentley"]

Hi, Thanks for the encouragement!

I have gotten him on a feeding schedule and it's better. I don't give food or water about hour or two prior to bed. He did great night before last , slept all night... but I think he was worn out with all the love he was getting. Last night he woke up a couple of times and I took him out to potty.  I have crate in my room and I hear every single movement ...so I probably will move soon.

That's wonderful  Holmes goes in his crate on his own to nap. We are not there yet..  :)

The biting just started, I have to read up on that for sure.  NIght time is getting better slowly.... hang in there we can do it!

 

[Hollidoodle]

At 8 weeks I was getting up 3X night to take our pup out the first 2 weeks, then 2X night the next week and 1X night since. She was in her crate by our bed, and 90% of the time when she cried, she really needed to go out. The other 10% she just wanted me. I don't talk or play, just 'good potty' outside and back in. She is 14 weeks now. Over the last 2 weeks she has been sleeping with us, and a couple times she would wake me up to take her out by licking my face, but 2 nights ago she didn't (or maybe she tried and I didn't wake up, who knows) and she had an accident on my bed! So...back in the crate she went last night. She slept from 11-5:30 straight through. I think we will keep her in the crate from now on! As much as I like to snuggle with her, I'm afraid I won't wake up with her in the bed with us if she needs to go. She never goes to her crate to nap, she always goes to my closet or laundry room and finds some dirty clothes to lay on. Sweatshirts and fleece jackets are her favorite napping spot ♥

[BettyAnn, Holmes & Lucy]

Hollidoodle-- is your pup still in a crate next to your bed? So now I'm fixated on the 14 week age to get a full night's sleep :) Does your pup have any accidents during the day?

Holmes is doing much better at night, only needing to go potty once/night now. But since his crate is next to me, I hear everything, even when he's talking in his sleep :) and it wakes me up. I'm not sure about putting his crate out yet because I'm not sure I'd hear him at night. Let me know when you do, Dee Dee- I'll copy you!!! haha  Thanks for the encouragement too, we CAN do this! 

Been trying to be much more consistant with redirecting his biting. Yesterday I got a bag of bison bones, raw & frozen-- he loves them! between that and all the chew toys, I make sure I have something else for him to bite on other than human body parts. 

Do you plan on doing any puppy training? I would love to get a trainer to do home sessions since Holmes isn't fully vaccinated yet... but not sure thats in the budget. Thankfully lots of good advice here plus reading lots of books on puppies too.

[Hollidoodle]

Yes, the crate is right next to my bed. After getting to sleep with us for the last couple weeks, she did cry last night for about 5 minutes in the crate at first and then was out like a light. 

We were doing soooo well with potty training (she is potty bell trained and took to it really fast) but then we got 2 foot of snow dumped on us last week which kind of threw us all for a loop. We dug out a potty spot in the snow but she is not too keen on going out there, and has had some accidents this week- boo! We had gotten so used to her going to the door and ringing the bell that we got out of the habit of watching for signs that she has to go and making sure she goes out like when she was tiny. So we are kind of starting all over now :( 

[BettyAnn, Holmes & Lucy]

Ugh! I am not a snow person so can't even imagine potty training in the stuff! I was just thinking at 3:00 am that potty training in the summer is a much better idea, and I'm in a warmer state than you!

I hope this 2nd round of potty training goes quick since she knows the drill already. I think I confused Holmes because I introduced a 2nd door to go out to potty and he had accidents one after the other. So back to square 1 for us too.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Dee Dee,

When I got Kona at 8 weeks, I put a partition in the big wire crate that I got him and had the crate in the corner of my bedroom.  He cried several times the first night at my house and I just took him out each time.  The second and 3rd night, he howled and whined like a baby for the ENTIRE night, and I thought I was going to die (and lose my job) from the sleep exhaustion.  After researching night time crating, I realized that his crate was still much too big and still too far away from me, so I went out and bought a MUCH smaller plastic travel kennel from PetSmart, stuffed my pajamas in it, and pulled it up right next to the head of my bed.  He fell asleep within 2 minutes and didn't make a sound until I woke him up 7 hours later!  And he has slept throught the night ever since!  (Except on the night that he FINALLY outgrew his smaller crate at 4 AM.  It was so funny to see him stretch out when I let him out, that I took photos of it). I put him into a bigger version of the plastic travel kennel, and he did well for another few weeks, then fussed again one night.  I moved him to the first big wire crate into the kitchen after that, and not another peep until I let him out at 6:30 AM every day.

 

So for me....the key was to put him into a much smaller cozy kennel for over a month.