[Rubynoodles]

I really hope that I dont come across really naive but could really do with some advice.

We are looking for a dog to add to our family. I have registered with several rescue homes as ideally I would like to give a forever home to an unwanted dog.

Because I have two young children (4 & 6) and because I want to train the dog well and volunteer as Pets for Therapy, I really would like a puppy or very young dog.

I am totally prepared to take the dog to ongoing training courses, am a stay at home mum so have plenty of time to be with it and am not bothered about cleaning up after it whilst its still young. However, I am a bit suprised (and yes probably naive!!) to see several articals etc online saying that puppies wake several times during the night for toileting and company etc.

I was prepared for this for the first week or so but can not see anywhere on average how long this would usually go on for. My daughter was a very bad sleeper and has only just started to sleep through the night during the last year or so. Am not sure if I want to have constant broken nights again:001_unsure:

Perhaps I would be better off with an older dog?! Any advice most welcome.

 

[new westie owner]

Not all puppies get up during night but maybe slighty older dog would be better good luck

 

[Fleur]

Some people are very lucky and get a puppy and it sleeps straight through (just the same as some people are very lucky with their human babies )

Some people use the leave to cry method and say after a week or so puppy settles.

Personally I think a puppy has just left all it knows and to be left alone all night has got to be pretty stressful plus I think it's unfair to expect such a young animal to be able to hold thier toilet all night.

What I did was crate train my pups/rescue (just like putting your human babies in a cot it's somewhere safe for them to sleep and a quiet place to go if the kids are a bit hyper)
I put the crate by my bed for the first few weeks - pups were comforted that I was there, if they woke I could immediately take them out to the toilet - no eye contact, no fuss - and put them straight back to bed, if they wouldn't settle I would reach down and put my fingers through the crate to comfort (again no noise)
Once they could 'hold' all night I moved the crate to the foot of the bed so they could hear/smell me but not see me
Once they were happy with that I moved the crate downstairs where I wanted them to sleep.

One of my pups took 3 months to be consitantly settled all night, she's a tiny girl and they can take longer to toilet train - the other pup was dry and settled all night by 14 weeks and my rescue aged 5 took 3 weeks to settle.

Like I say all pups are different just like our human babies and like anything everyone has a different opinion - you just need to think which method would suit you.

I will say though if something disturbs my dogs in the night they are not used to they will bark so even now we get the occasional disturbed night.

 

[Twiggy]

I've never had problems with puppies waking during the night but maybe I've been lucky.

I've had them from as young as 6 weeks old and usually start off taking them out to toilet at about 11.30pm and taking them out again at about 6.00am. After two/three weeks I increase the time from about 11.00pm to 6.30am until the normal time of 10.30pm until 7.00am.

 

[Phoolf]

Mine needed taking out until about 12 weeks old, after that she's always slept through. I don't think it necessarily would interrupt your daughters sleep. A lot of people (myself included) just set alarms twice throughout the night (say 1am, 4am or something) to take the pup out to toilet so you anticipate how long they can hold it and take them out before they make a fuss. There are lots of very young but already housetrained dogs in rescue which might suit you better. Also bear in mind with very young pups they will tear around and bite everything, including your children, and they have very sharp puppy teeth which really do hurt when they nip. It might be better to get a 6 month old or so so most their adult teeth are through and they can hold their bladder. I think any dog with a confident character would be a suitable candidate for you to do pets as therapy though, regardless of age. In fact if you get a young pup it's likely they may not be a candidate for a couple of years due to being young and excitable, I would imagine most therapy dogs are 3yrs+ because they have calmed down by then.

 

[Sarah+Hammies]

I have an 8 week old pup at the moment and she goes to bed around 11pm and wakes up around 4am to toilet then goes straight back to sleep until 7.30am. I'm hoping this doesn't last too long :laugh: My older pup pretty much did the same for 2 weeks when we got him then started to sleep all night through. I didn't get him until quite late though.

I think pups can be pretty hit and miss, some sleep right through others don't. It's a bit of a gamble. If you don't fancy night time waking then an older pup would suit you better. Young pups are like babies. Actually I'd say my pup, Alice is worse than all 3 of my children were as babies for waking and whingeing :lol:

 

[button50]

I had my pup at 8-9 weeks and i never had to get up with him in the night hes 11 months now, Think he enjoys his comfy bed too much to want to go out.

 

[Sled dog hotel]

I really hope that I dont come across really naive but could really do with some advice.

We are looking for a dog to add to our family. I have registered with several rescue homes as ideally I would like to give a forever home to an unwanted dog.

Because I have two young children (4 & 6) and because I want to train the dog well and volunteer as Pets for Therapy, I really would like a puppy or very young dog.

I am totally prepared to take the dog to ongoing training courses, am a stay at home mum so have plenty of time to be with it and am not bothered about cleaning up after it whilst its still young. However, I am a bit suprised (and yes probably naive!!) to see several articals etc online saying that puppies wake several times during the night for toileting and company etc.

I was prepared for this for the first week or so but can not see anywhere on average how long this would usually go on for. My daughter was a very bad sleeper and has only just started to sleep through the night during the last year or so. Am not sure if I want to have constant broken nights again:001_unsure:

Perhaps I would be better off with an older dog?! Any advice most welcome.

Personally I have slept downstairs with mine for the first couple of weeks, if they did wake or stir they usually needed to pee so I popped them out. This way it just occured if they woke and needed to go, I never had problems of getting them back to sleep again, as I didnt turn bright lights on, didnt interact and talk to them, just out, toilet, one word or praise quick treat and back to bed. I found over the next couple of weeks it got less and less until they didnt wake at all and went through until early morning.

Some pups may go through completely until early morning from the start. Its usually only the first couple of weeks before they do anyway. I just found that this worked for me, it was easier to get them out and didnt wake everyone else up. It also meant no messes if they did need to go.

If you got an older pup or dog they should be able to go through.

 

[Buzzard]

Our pup was a nightmare at night for the first 3 weeks until we crate trained him. Up until then he barked continuously! He is nearly 6 months old now and still barks for 5-15 mins every night after we put him to bed. However after that he sleeps through usually without a peep. I think you need to prepare yourself for a rough ride. They are like kids, I have two boys the eldest slept through the night from a baby but the youngest was a nightmare until he was 18 months old!

 

[BoredomBusters]

I really hope that I dont come across really naive but could really do with some advice.

We are looking for a dog to add to our family. I have registered with several rescue homes as ideally I would like to give a forever home to an unwanted dog.

Because I have two young children (4 & 6) and because I want to train the dog well and volunteer as Pets for Therapy, I really would like a puppy or very young dog.

I am totally prepared to take the dog to ongoing training courses, am a stay at home mum so have plenty of time to be with it and am not bothered about cleaning up after it whilst its still young. However, I am a bit suprised (and yes probably naive!!) to see several articals etc online saying that puppies wake several times during the night for toileting and company etc.

I was prepared for this for the first week or so but can not see anywhere on average how long this would usually go on for. My daughter was a very bad sleeper and has only just started to sleep through the night during the last year or so. Am not sure if I want to have constant broken nights again:001_unsure:

Perhaps I would be better off with an older dog?! Any advice most welcome.

There is no average - a lot depends on how the breeder sets the litter up. If they know about dog behaviour and learning and have it set up so mum can housetrain the litter the pups will be clean, quicker. Also if they allow mum to leave the pups and come and go as she pleases, they will find it easier to settle once they've moved because they will be somewhat used to being 'abandoned' by the one that cares for them but will have learned mum always comes back.

If you are home all day and pup is never alone, then yes the nights will be more difficult, but you can work with the pup so they learn to sleep and settle alone, on that first day, which makes the nights slighly easier. If pup never leaves people's laps all day long, then is deserted at night, well, I'd cry too!

And of course, each indivdidual pup is different too!

An older pup might be the answer, I got my pup at 14 weeks as a private rehome and he was clean overnight after the first night, although our dogs sleep upstairs, he didn't even wake to go to the loo.

 

[Cazcol]

We got up twice a night for the first 8 weeks, the once a week for approx 8 weeks and now I have to get up occasionally, but not often.

 

[Rylee]

my 12 week old can go 6 hours through the night before needing the toilet, i'm about to extend this by half an hour because i think she will be fine a little longer.