Helloo pet lovers!

So last night was our first with our first puppy, we have named her Cashew.

So last night she slept in her crate next to our bed, the three cats on the end of the bed just stared at her all night. She slept for 2 hours at a time, waking me up to take her out to the loo! Bonus! But she was really hungry so at 4am i gave her some food and she ate the lot.

Now the last thing i want is to be feeding her at 4am. So can anyone give me an idea of a time table for feeding her? So that she can go all night without waking me to eat. She was VERY active last night to, wanted to play, growling and pulling at her toys, so i let her out for a good run and play round the bedroom just to tire her out. She has now slept for most of the day, and as much as i love to play with her, just not at 4am!!

I work from home so im watching her all day long to get her into a routine of some kind.

Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated

Meowwoof x

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Sounds like you are doing great - well done to you and pup! Try to wear her out as much as possible before bed - lots of games and training, and then a brief settling down period before bed - you don't want 4am play (or meals!) to become something she expects

How old is she? If under 12 weeks then she'll need feeding four times a day - I stuck to 7am, 12 noon, 5pm and 9pm (a small light meal), when mine were pups. After 12 weeks, I dropped to 3 meals at 7, 12 and 5, with a snack before bed, and then down to two (morn and eve) at 6 months.

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''Dogs are like chocolates, you can never have just one!''

I would simply set times to get up and take her out for the toilet in the night. I started getting uo twice during the night, reduced to once within a week and not at all within about 10 days. Put her on the lead, no touch, talking, interaction at all bar leading her out and praising when she goes to the toilet. Then lead her back to the crate. If she tries to engage you in play, ignore her - hard as it seems.

How do you know she was hungry at 4 am? I also definitely wouldn't feed then either.

If you get up every time she wants to play or you think she may be hungry you'll have a very demanding little puppy with no idea of routines or boundaries and will regret it in the long run I suspect!!

Just set a routine in the early days and stick to it - I fed at about 6, 10, 2 and 6 when Kilo needed 4 meals a day which is what I presume Cashew is on.

Just one other thing; where are the photos? .

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When you get her up in the night dont give her any interaction

Just take her for a wee and then bk to bed

No toys nothing we dont even talk to lola

As for feeding at 4am your the boss if you dont offer her it she wont know any diffrent

We tend to do first feed at 7am but then every dog is diffrent

We try and keep Lola awake from 8pm till 10.30 /11pm

Then put her in her crate we take her for a wee when we go to bed and thats her for night

As your pup is so little if she dosnt wake in night set your alarm for halfway thro night to wee her

We only leave lolas teddy in her crate they soon learn bedtime isnt playtime

Good luck with your new pup im sure others will be along with more advice

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I've just taken on a new retreiver pup, (14 wks. old now. ) His last meal is around 6.30 pm with a few biscuits at around nine p.m. We then take him out for half an hour, about ten o' clock and settle him down. He sleeps through 'till 6 a.m or thereabouts. I have to say though, that he's out with me all day and is ready for bed by then. I think the rule of thumb with a pup is that it takes about an hour for what goes in one end to come out the other.......
Good luck with the youngster. Pete.

She should be on 4 meals a day, ideally the breeder should have given you a diet sheet with details of how much she is fed and what her meal times were so you can continue. I would split 3 meals evenly spaced as you can from when she first gets up, and give her the 4th meal as late as you can at night but an hour or so before you want to finally settle her down for the night. Hopefully that may carry her through better.

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Hi,

Thanks She is 8 weeks exactly. Shes sat next to me now barking in her sleep lol.

Thanks for the advice, I think that routine would fit in nicely with us actually. Our cats seem to prefer going to her food rather then their own!!

I have to say im really pleased with her, thought she would be howling all night long, but she has been really good. Cant wait till shes old enough to take out for walks now!!

Meowwoof x

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She sounds sweet; love it when they bark in their sleep. Things do get much better once you can take them out for walks too .

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Aww bless her, she sounds like a sweetie

What are you feeding her on, just out of interest?

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''Dogs are like chocolates, you can never have just one!''

Hi there - congrats on new pup

OK so I can just give you advice on what I did with Florence, my chocolate Lab from 8 weeks and it worked for me. But ultimately everyone tries something different and you need to work it around you and puppy...

I would feed Florence at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm when she was on 4 meals a day. Her 7pm meal, we worked out eventually was just the right time because it meant that her last poo was at about 11pm, just as we were going to bed.

In terms of night time, now this can be a difficult one and it, again, is really up to each individual to decide what works for them. She had a crate from the day we brought her home BUT it took her a long time to get used to it. She slept in the utility room, with the crate door open, and up until around 9 weeks (so a week after we got her) she was pooing overnight. Not ideal BUT I am not one for getting up in the middle of the night. So we left her and every morning, I cleaned up a poo and a couple of wees. At 9 weeks, she stopped pooing overnight. At 10 weeks, she went from midnight to 7am with no accidents whatsoever and at 11 weeks we finally shut the crate door as by then she was completely at ease with sleeping in it.

So this is what worked for me. Lots and lots of people get up during the night and if puppy is waking you up to go to the toilet then that's good. BUT the main issue is that at 4am it's light and puppy is thinking "oooh the day has started! Let's have fun!!" and of course you're thinking "oh god. It's 4am! Let's go back to bed!!" That's why we also left Florence alone over night, safe in the utility room. Nowadays she sleeps in our bedroom so it was never intended to be a permenent arrangement in the utility room. But it is good to get some space from puppy during those initial weeks as they, as I'm sure you're discovering, can be very demanding and take up alot of time, which is fine in the day but you have to get your sleep too.

Good luck with it all