puppy won't sleep at night

[eedwards]

So I'm still crate training my 3 month old puppy but he seems to have taken a turn for the worse. we've had him for 3 weeks now. The first week he cried in the crate all night every night. So we moved the crate in our bedroom. The second week he did better but got on the schedule of barking and subsequently being walked at 2:30 in the morning and 6:30 in the morning. Should we ignore him at 2:30 to get him to make it through the night? Is it a good idea to have the crate in our room? He seems to cry about the same amount either way... the only difference is we hear him more and sleep less when he's in our room.

[adunphy]

Crying at night is a difficult thing for any owner. You want your sleep and if you respond to the puppy, they often stop whining. Unfortunately when you do that you are reinforcing the behavior and making it more likely to happen again! I would say you have two options, and either of which is fine to choose - its just up to you what you feel comfortable with.

1. Ignore him completely until whatever time you are ready to get up. You can even move him into another part of the house if you need to.

2. Set the alarm for 2am if he wakes up at 2:30. that way you are eliminating the possibility that he needs to go potty and the barking. What you can do is over time, increase what time he gets up by 15-20 minutes per night. For a few more weeks until you are ready for him to sleep all night.

Its hard to say if he can hold it or not, it depends a lot on breed and size, and what time he last had water. Let me know if you have questions and I'd be happy to help!

Amy Dunphy CPDT