# Sleeping through the night?



## LuckyMe2G (Nov 19, 2015)

When did your pup start sleeping through the night?

Roxy has shown some improvement over the last week and a half with regards to her crate and crying at night. I'm taking her out once at night to potty and in addition to that she's waking up a couple of other times and crying.

So that my husband and kids can sleep I'm still going to the crate to calm and quiet her but I don't let her out of the crate. At least I don't have to sleep on the floor all night like the first few nights!

Does this sound about right? She's 9 weeks old so I don't expect her to be able to make it all night without a potty break for a while yet.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

At 9 weeks she probably needs at least one midnight outside time per night. Hold back her water after 8 or so and it will easier on her bladder. Can you put the crate in your bedroom? They usually sleep better near you. Also you can cover the crate so random lights don't bother the pup and wake it up at night. If you go to the crate every time she makes noise she will play you knowing she can get attention that way. Be careful with that. It is better to ignore noises unless the pup needs to go out side and you should be able to tell that whine. With the crate covered and if you ignore the whining for attention she will quiet much faster.


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## Coleen (Sep 18, 2015)

Do you have a bed or blanket in the crate? Try removing it and don't use anything. I found that Tasha likes to sleep on a cold floor cause it's cooler for her, she likes her crate with nothing in it to sleep on. She just has a few toys and that's it. She slept thru the night after 2 nights. I got her at 8 weeks, she's now 12 weeks. Good luck, it will get better!


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## Stonemoore (Oct 16, 2014)

My guy slept in his crate from 8 weeks. I took up his water about 8 pm, put him out last thing before I went to bed and he was fine til morning. I put the crate at the farthest end of the house from the people sleeping. I think going to the crate when they fuss just teaches them they get attention for fussing.
Oh, and he never had an accident in his crate, either.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

Mine wanted a yard break in the middle of the night until she was...6 months old maybe? Some of that was just to go outside and check out the yard, not to relieve herself. (That sucked because my husband is a super light sleeper, and while I'm a fan of "cry it out" unless we hear the bark that says, "Hey, I need something," he didn't like the noise and would make me go deal with it even though it was counterproductive.)

She finally started sleeping through the night pretty reliably when she hit about 6 months, though.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

3 months was the magic number for us.


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## LuckyMe2G (Nov 19, 2015)

"cry it out" hasn't been working for us. I've tried it a few times and she will get herself really worked up. She can go on literally for hours. So while I definitely don't want to encourage that behavior I can't really just let her howl and cry all night long. 

For example today I needed to run to the store. Before I left I wore her out with some play time, took her out, then put her in the crate. The whining had already started before I made it out of the house. I came back an hour later and she was crying so loud I could hear it from the garage, she was panting, and gave herself the hiccups. Now she is napping because she wore herself out so much.

I don't know for sure that she cried the whole time I was gone, but I suspect so because when I've tried this during the day while I'm home (for training purposes) she will not stop crying and howling. 

Luckily she hasn't been having accidents in her crate and she's not hesitant to go in. She just wants me in her sight, preferably touching her. At all times.


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## Rolisaac (Apr 16, 2015)

The first few nights my dh slept on the floor with our pup. . .and then she was on her own. She was fine though and didn't cry. She would get let out about twice a night for the first two weeks. Now I let her out each night when our youngest child wakes me to go to the bathroom. She's 16 weeks now and probably doesn't need me to take her out, actually she gives me a look like I'm nuts and yawns at me.
We were told to cover her crate and not crate her until we were all going to bed. She would be able to hear if we were awake.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

As long as the crate was in my bedroom right beside my bed, I have few problems from the start.

To keep a bad habit from starting I set my alarm clock for the first few weeks to whatever the 'middle' of my night is. Then wake, grab the puppy from the crate to go outside for a piddle (the puppy, not me  ) then go back to the crate/bed for the remainder of the night.

As long as I restrict water before bedtime, all my puppies lasted for the 3 to 4 hours this gives them between potty times and they never messed in their crates. Or tried to wake me up cause they did have to potty.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> As long as the crate was in my bedroom right beside my bed, I have few problems from the start.
> 
> To keep a bad habit from starting I set my alarm clock for the first few weeks to whatever the 'middle' of my night is. Then wake, grab the puppy from the crate to go outside for a piddle (the puppy, not me  ) then go back to the crate/bed for the remainder of the night.
> 
> As long as I restrict water before bedtime, all my puppies lasted for the 3 to 4 hours this gives them between potty times and they never messed in their crates. Or tried to wake me up cause they did have to potty.


We have two crates, one is right next to my side of the bed.

Unfortunately that did not work. I had high hopes for that approach. She did not settle well right next to me. There was an element of "out of sight, out of mind" that came into play. We all got more sleep when she was crated upstairs with NPR. I'd actually rather she was right next to me in case we needed to exit the house in the middle of the night, though, so it may be that I'll try it again.


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## Moriah (May 20, 2014)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> As long as the crate was in my bedroom right beside my bed, I have few problems from the start.
> 
> To keep a bad habit from starting I set my alarm clock for the first few weeks to whatever the 'middle' of my night is. Then wake, grab the puppy from the crate to go outside for a piddle (the puppy, not me  ) then go back to the crate/bed for the remainder of the night.
> 
> As long as I restrict water before bedtime, all my puppies lasted for the 3 to 4 hours this gives them between potty times and they never messed in their crates. Or tried to wake me up cause they did have to potty.


I also set the alarm so that the puppy did not equate crying with getting out of crate. I read about that on the forum. My guy has always been great in a crate. No fussing. I tried limiting his water and he would cry at the water bowl so I let him drink whenever as a 9 week old pup--I still only got up once a night. Boy, I remember those days--it was like having a human baby again--so tired!!

It does pass and you get your sleep back  GSD puppies grow in front of your eyes!


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

Reading all these stories... man... you guys have had it _eeassssyyyyyy_. Puppyhood was a nightmare on this end.


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## LuckyMe2G (Nov 19, 2015)

yuriy said:


> Reading all these stories... man... you guys have had it _eeassssyyyyyy_. Puppyhood was a nightmare on this end.


This actually makes me feel better! Between the lack of sleep, potty training, and Roxy constantly trying to eat me it has been a rough week.


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## Zack23434 (Nov 30, 2015)

At 9 weeks my puppy can make it from 9pm to 5am


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