Help me get my 17 week puppy to sleep through the night!

[Christina Vieira da Rosa]

Nala is 17 weeks old. She sleeps next to my bed in her crate - I hope to eventually move it to the living room but was planning on waiting until she is able to sleep through the night, as right now she wakes me up by whining when she needs to go out. The problem is, she wakes up a couple times a night. I take her out and she does go pee, but it seems like at this age she should be able to hold it longer. She gets her water taken away around 6:30pm and we are usually in bed by 9:30pm. She wakes up around midnight every night to go out, and sometimes will wake up at 3 or 4 as well. We are up by 5 most mornings. 

She has slept through the night, 7-8 hours maybe 3 or 4 times so I know she's capable. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't necessarily expect her to make it 9:30-5 but it seems like waking up maybe 2 or 3 times is a lot. 

Any tips?

[Diane and Alma]

I have a "4 am friend" as I like to call my doodle when she wakes me up to go do her business most nights.  She's going on 9 and has done this for years.  It's just who she is.  We let her out at 10 pm when we go to bed, never restrict water, and she gets plenty of exercise.  After reading Laurie's comment, I might start making my daughter's lunch while I wait for my pup to come back inside.  What a great idea.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am glad to see someone else gets up in the middle of the night with their dog :) Vern is eight and he has been doing this for years, too. Thanks for the support :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

 I love you, Laurie. Will you pack me a lunch?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Nancy, I love you too, BUT NO :) I hate packing that darn lunch. In fact, for most birthdays and anniversaries I ask for him to pack his own lunch for a week. That's all I want. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

I'm thinking that both Vern AND John have you very well-trained -- just sayin'!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

LOL....I think you are right!

[Ginny Nightingale]

HA! Good for you!! My dogs never move all night unless they have an emergency issue--very rarely--thank goodness!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would consider that she has a UTI simply because that is fairly common and causes frequent peeing.

[Wendy and Myla]

I agree!  We had the opposite problem when Myla was young - she would sleep through the night but would go outside regularly during the day and then as soon as she came in the house she would pee!  I figured there was no way it could be a UTI as she slept through the night but when I brought her to the vet, she did!  She went on antibiotics and as soon as that happened, she never went in the house again.  It's a simple test and a simple fix if it is and then you know for sure and can train accordingly.  Good luck!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Well, this is a thoroughly fun thread! I am in the cover the crate with a blanket camp. I always covered their crates with the door area left uncovered. I think the den-thing was my motivations and to eliminate more stimulation. I'm afraid if your puppy is waking every night at midnight you may be training her or she may be training you to get up at that time every night. You might want to try the shushing. Good luck. Just know with puppies things can feel like an eternity and then suddenly there will be something new about them and the last trouble will have mysteriously ended. DoodleKisses to your sweet pup! 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Now that I think of it, Ned might not have slept through the night at 17  weeks.  We got him at 12 weeks and I got up with him for a few weeks.  After that, we got up really early - luckily for me the Tour de France then the Olympics were on and there was lots to watch on TV early in the mornings and it was summer vacation.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Here are a few thoughts.

#1  It is not bad to take up the water at least four-five hours before bedtime until they are no longer little. If she is really thirsty give her an ice cube or two.

#2  We had one dog that woke us well me (DH has been known to sleep through a 6 point earthquake) every night for 7months to go poop in the middle of the night.  So it does happen, because....

#3 Years and years later I met a professional trainer who was on month 5 with a Malinois he was training for police work that was still getting him up every night to poop!

#4 Make sure she is in a small enough crate and follow all the advice others gave you about getting her to sleep through. Noise, distance from you, sheets over crate etc.  She should definitely be able to actually make it from 9:30 to 5 by now, so don't bolt out of bed to take her out.  Give her time to settle again. 

With patience and a little "tough love" this can stop.