I just got my 8 week old shih tzu on Sunday evening. He is very well behaved. The first night he slept soundly in his crate... not a peep and no accidents. We put him in around 11:30-midnight and took him out around 7am.

The next night, he went to bed fine, but woke up at 130am and cried for about 15 minutes and then went back to sleep. Then he woke up around 550 and cried until i got up and took him out, but he didn't pee. Then i realized he had peed in his crate over night at some point...
Then last night, he cried for 10 mins when we put him to bed around 11pm, then woke up at 250 and proceeded to cry until 650am.

Our vet advised us to ignore him in the middle of the night, and if he messes in his crate, clean it up and proceed as normal. He said he is too young to realize that he needs to go out to pee, so ignoring him is out best bet. He is a very good pup otherwise, loves attention and affection (which makes me think he is just lonely in the middle of the night). He does not have many accidents indoors during the day. We take him out every couple of hours and he usually goes, no problem.

He has also been whining when in his crate at all. We have been trying to make the crate a safe and nice place for him, even moving his food in there etc. I try to put him in there while i am in the room as well so he can get used to it, but he cries when he cant see me or my husband.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am really looking for reassurance that we should continue to ignore him in the middle of the night as our vet suggested... I have read so much that says the contrary. Has anyone else done this with their pup and it worked out successfully?

Thank you

Yes, ignoring him in the night is the best option. Some people will tell you to go down and let him out at, say, 1am and 5am but I think it's pointless unless he is already awake. Why bother waking up quiet sleeping baby!

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But what if he not sleeping? What if he is up whining?

I had my 2nd lhasa at 8 weeks old but she had company from the other dog who was already full grown.

The crying could be because he's wet or dirtied his bed, if so this is what needs addressing not the crying.
What time do you give last feed and water ? Even at 8 weeks old, it's not to soon to start raising the food and water at say 8pm. Then keep putting him outside for his toilet needs regularly and praise him when he does it outside. Do same thing as soon as you wake up, put him out, once he's done his business, praise and reward. He'll soon get the message

When any of mine cry at night as sometimes they will if one of the dogs isn't with them for whatever reason, I just ignore it, they soon quieten down and go to sleep

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ShazaLhasa
My fabulous furry friends

If he is whining at night then I would let him out for a pee because otherwise you are encouraging him to pee in his bed.
It will be far quicker to toilet train if there are no oppurtunities to have accidents

x

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I agree with this, for the first week we had Bella i got up with her when she cried and she always wee'd and then went back to sleep. Now she sleeps straight through and has never had an accident in her crate. He is still a baby, you wouldnt expect a new baby to sleep at night without a nappy and stay dry.

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Hannah..... Mummy to a mini schnauzer - Bella!!

There really is 2 camps - neither of which you could say is right or wrong.
It really boils down to what you are happy doing.
Personally I think it is really distressing for a puppy to mess in their bed - mum would of told them this is a big no no.
I never left my children to cry all night and lie in their own mess so why would I leave a puppy to do the same?
This is what I did and it worked brilliantly.
I put the crate next to my bed, if they woke I took them out into the garden without any talking, eye contact or cuddles. Then as soon as they've been put them straight back into the crate and ignored them.
I had to do this for a couple of weeks, after a while they could go through the night so I moved the crate to the end of my bed, once they were ok with out I moved it to the landing etc until they were sleeping through the night in the lounge as I wanted.
They've never woken up in the night since and the whole process took less than a month.
Good Luck

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A dog Possesses Beauty without Vanity,Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.

Well, IMHO, when I was a child, my parents never knew I wet the bed until the morning!!! Your pup is so young & will inevitably need the loo through the night at some point & it's a really good sign that your pup comes to tell you "hey I need wee wees". You just need to recognise the help me signs. Normally it's a big "lick - get up & let me out", & if you don't respond it'll be a cry or a wee on the floor. Pups can't always do it without your help at that age :-)

i did the complete 'wrong' text book thing with mil....

your suppsed to ignore them but i got mil at 6 weeks old...(i had good reason so no slaming pls) we had her crate etc... she hated it

i managed the first night leaving her to it.... 2nd night she was really crying so i came in from work about 1am,, picked her up and put her in my bed with me....

she was dry at night from 6 weeks old... she slept in my bed with an airbed and cussions underneath just in case (she fell off) but she never cried again!

worked for my dog but reccomend leaving them too it unless they guilt trip you as much as mine did

Hi,

I have to say, your vets advice is a little harsh.

I've just replied to another post on here regarding crate training, toilet training, so rather than type it out again, I'll give the link:

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-training-behaviour/54009-toilet-crate-training-night-2.html#post870421

Hope this helps

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