Nightime puppy parenting

[Bridget and Lupin]

In order to keep Lupin from fussing when we put her in her soft crate for bedtime I lie down next to her crate for a little while to settle her and then leave my hoodie there after I get into bed (she's in our room).  I have to do this again after she goes out in the middle of the night (its only once).  First couple nights it was 20-30 mins that I camped out by her and the last two nights have been more like 10mins.  Is this an ok thing to do?  I don't like letting her cry but neither do I want to create a bigger behavioral problem.  We didn't let our kiddo cry it out, so I can't see letting a puppy do it either.....

Thanks in advance.

[Tait & Finn]

Our crate is in the living room and our bedrooms are upstairs. We let him cry it out. He yapped for maybe a half hour for 2-3 nights. It's been a month now and he's doing great. And sleeps thru the night from about 10pm - 6 am. And when my husband travels I can let him out at 6 and put him back in his crate til 8 (it's still dark at 6 so I just act like its still night time and say night, night when going back upstairs). Good luck!

[Suzanne Newman]

Bridget, we did something very similar with Whidbey.  We would kneel down and sweetly and softly talk to her.  You are doing the right thing from my perspective.  

At now 10 weeks old, she is great now- and feels secure in the nightly routine.  I do let her run around upstairs where in one of the rooms my husband has his man cave.  She loves to wear herself out visiting him, and then running back to her crate.  It is almost like a game to her.  Of course we go out on the upstairs balcony where she has a "tinkle turf" where she pottys before bed.

Now she goes by herself into her crate and by the time I come upstairs to bed, she is falling asleep and sleeps a good 6 hours or so.  It gets easier and easier, it really does!

[Christa Brangers]

I did the same thing, and it worked great! After a few nights, I didn't even have to lay down with her any more.

[Adina P]

That sounds fine :) However, regardless of whether you like cry it out for babies, remember that puppies don't look at us as parents or moms in the way babies do. They don't even look to their doggy moms the way babies look at human moms at this age. Just something to think about as you raise your puppy because i think it helps.

[Bridget and Lupin]

I know...I have to keep telling myself she's a baby DOG not a baby human!  :-)

[Doug, Micki, Dawson & Mya]

Blasphemy! She's a baby doodle!..... lol!

[Bridget and Lupin]

Glad to hear we're not the only ones doing this and that it won't take forever!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Guess I am lucky because we never had criers.  But I never used crates either, which is not acceptable to most puppy owners who have their puppies in the house.  I used baby playpens for my pups, because I really don't like the look of crates.  You can see the latest playpen on page 4 of my photos.  My pups were never able to be free roaming in the house until they were totally housebroken.  But they also weren't criers.  I first doodle even had a playpen with a vibrator on it.  Just turn on that vibrator (maybe there was some quiet music also) and he went right to sleep.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Daphne's crate was next to my bed. The first night she cried miserably. Then someone suggested putting a large towel or blanket over the crate so it was more "den" like and felt more cozy. She would whimper a little but settled down pretty quickly. She also had a snuggle puppy in the crate with her that has a heartbeat so she wouldnt feel so alone.

[BRADY GOOSE MOORE (Mini Doodle]

I had great success with Brady as a puppy from day 1. (Although he slept in my bed). After and having a big cuddle, I'd put him at the foot of bed, say "good night" then not say a word to him. If he woke up and whimpered (which he did the first few nights) I'd pick him up, not say a word to him, carry him to door, ring puppy bell lightly, take him out - "pee-pee" and wait til he did it, "good boy, good boy" - pick him up, (no talking) carry him back up to bed "good night". It was rather robotic but it worked perfectly. To this day (almost 2 years later) he is a perfect angel at night and always has been. He never even tried to 'engage' until I did. Good luck to you! I found this worked so well and was so easy - he never even tried crying at all as a pup at night.

[Hollidoodle]

This is exactly what I do, too! Works great. 

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

When we brought Hurley home I kept is crate by my bedside so he could see me.  He slept quietly all night.  For the first 2 weeks I kept his crate by the bed so he could see me. Then I gradually started moving the crate away from the bed but still where he could see me and finally where he could not see me at all.  He never cried at night except when he needed to go outside to do his business and that was only in the first month or so. After that he would sleep through the night.  Anyway, that is what worked for us.