Sleep. Or lack thereof.

[Leanne]

This is more for my ramblings... so don’t worry I’m not offended if no one replies

So Maslow is 14 weeks tomorrow... he came home at 8 weeks and aside from a teeny bit of whining slept in his crate - I woke him twice a night and he went back to sleep. I had the ideal puppy and was ridiculously smug about it. I even posted advice for others who were struggling (yes I was that up my own arse)

Then we hit 10 weeks.. and he did his 3am wee, went back to sleep... woke up at 7... if at all possible the smugness increased.

Then we hit 12 weeks and it all went to shit! We didn’t wake at 3am for our wee anymore, we slept though till 5am... bliss.... only the little no longer went back to sleep - it’s 5am, it’s PLAYTIME!

No it is not. It is bloody 5am.

So we tried the ‘wake him at 3am’ idea... cue playtime starting at 3am and in order to save my 14 year old from failing her end of year exams I sat next to the crate which at least stopped the howling.

We are now at 14 weeks.. the night before last Maslow screamed from 4.15am.. till 6:30 (With me sitting next to the crate) which is my designated ‘fine, get up’ time.

Added to this my 12yo has ASD so the noise of my screaming banshee is an issue for him.

Last night the games started at 11:30.. hitting my ‘oh fuck no’ button meant that I took him out for a wee (which meant he joyfully pranced around going ‘ooh hi mummy’) whilst I ignored him (frankly it was not hard ) then I put him back in his crate... 5 minutes later he started barking and then he barked... oh and barked... there may also have been some barking.

I played the utter shite that is ‘puppy relaxation music’ and wished myself deaf. Weirdly my children slept through it (duck knows how!) OH was raging, I had lots of helpful advice thrown at me such as ‘let him sleep out of the crate, tell him to shut up and my personal favourite, does he know what time it is?

At 1.30am he finally gave up and went to sleep. I was sitting on the stairs posting frantically on the Facebook group in order to stay sane (of which you are all my saviours) at 6am I came downstairs (ok I dragged myself down the stairs looking like something out of the walking dead) and he was wide awake but QUIET.

Which takes us up to tonight. I’ve had a constant headache for a week, I swear I’ve got more grey hairs today than I did yesterday.

He is currently snoozing at my feet on the sofa, he’s had 2 decent sized naps in his crate today (with no barking and one of which he put himself in the crate).

Anyone want to place a bet how tonight is going to go? I’m utterly determined that the barking needs to stop now, no more sitting by the crate stroking his paw (judge all you want, I would have sold my own children for a couple of hours sleep by that point).

So game on young Maslow - here we go

 

[Natalie]

Ummmmm, I know you're not keen but I'd still be going for the sleeping on your bed option, for your health and sanity. Doesn't have to be that way forever(though you mentioned sleeping on your son's bed in time?) Having a dog on your bed isn't always conducive to a full night's sleep, but it's lovely to wake in the night and reach out and stroke lovely velvety ears and feel them snuggle up close to you .?

 

[SwampDonkey]

This is more for my ramblings... so don’t worry I’m not offended if no one replies

So Maslow is 14 weeks tomorrow... he came home at 8 weeks and aside from a teeny bit of whining slept in his crate - I woke him twice a night and he went back to sleep. I had the ideal puppy and was ridiculously smug about it. I even posted advice for others who were struggling (yes I was that up my own arse)

Then we hit 10 weeks.. and he did his 3am wee, went back to sleep... woke up at 7... if at all possible the smugness increased.

Then we hit 12 weeks and it all went to shit! We didn’t wake at 3am for our wee anymore, we slept though till 5am... bliss.... only the little no longer went back to sleep - it’s 5am, it’s PLAYTIME!

No it is not. It is bloody 5am.

So we tried the ‘wake him at 3am’ idea... cue playtime starting at 3am and in order to save my 14 year old from failing her end of year exams I sat next to the crate which at least stopped the howling.

We are now at 14 weeks.. the night before last Maslow screamed from 4.15am.. till 6:30 (With me sitting next to the crate) which is my designated ‘fine, get up’ time.

Added to this my 12yo has ASD so the noise of my screaming banshee is an issue for him.

Last night the games started at 11:30.. hitting my ‘oh fuck no’ button meant that I took him out for a wee (which meant he joyfully pranced around going ‘ooh hi mummy’) whilst I ignored him (frankly it was not hard ) then I put him back in his crate... 5 minutes later he started barking and then he barked... oh and barked... there may also have been some barking.

I played the utter shite that is ‘puppy relaxation music’ and wished myself deaf. Weirdly my children slept through it (duck knows how!) OH was raging, I had lots of helpful advice thrown at me such as ‘let him sleep out of the crate, tell him to shut up and my personal favourite, does he know what time it is?

At 1.30am he finally gave up and went to sleep. I was sitting on the stairs posting frantically on the Facebook group in order to stay sane (of which you are all my saviours) at 6am I came downstairs (ok I dragged myself down the stairs looking like something out of the walking dead) and he was wide awake but QUIET.

Which takes us up to tonight. I’ve had a constant headache for a week, I swear I’ve got more grey hairs today than I did yesterday.

He is currently snoozing at my feet on the sofa, he’s had 2 decent sized naps in his crate today (with no barking and one of which he put himself in the crate).

Anyone want to place a bet how tonight is going to go? I’m utterly determined that the barking needs to stop now, no more sitting by the crate stroking his paw (judge all you want, I would have sold my own children for a couple of hours sleep by that point).

So game on young Maslow - here we go

No one will judge you I sleep next to my pups on the floor by their crates with my hand on their page until they no longer need me.not all pups like crates and it's been so hot he's just feeling playful when it's cool. Your just exhausted. I also have a nap when they do if I can.

 

[Naya]

I went through exactly the same with Harley, but she started the whining / barking from day 1. Within 3 weeks of persevering I gave in and put her on her bed on the floor next to my bed. She slept from 12am-9am! This carried on for weeks and at times I had to wake her up at 10/11am!
When she was about 16 weeks old the OH was playing with her on our bed at bedtime and she fell asleep. He didn’t want to move her so she stayed and has been there ever since. If she’s too hot she goes on the landing or the spare bedroom.
I always said no to being upstairs as I thought she would wee everywhere but it never happened.
Fingers crossed for tonight x

 

[kateincornwall]

Sam slept by our bed , in his own bed but within touching distance , not a peep until 6.30/7 a.m. He suddenly decided , at around six months old, that he was grown up enough to stay in the sitting room where he laid claim to the sofa ! x

 

[Jen]

I stuck to it with Stanley. It took 9 weeks (of HELL) but we cracked it and he’s been fine ever since.

I guess it depends how determined you are about him sleeping downstairs. If your long term plan is to have him upstairs I’d just bring him up now.

I had it easier than you in the sense that I had no kids, so I could allow the barking a bit more. But I had an OH who put ear plugs in and slept like a log - whereas I was on about 4 hours sleep. I never sat with him though, I used to sit on the couch in the dark, behind the baby gate and once he realised mummy was no fun at all he went back to bed. If I tried to put him in his crate he’d boot right off!

I don’t think the ridiculously light mornings help either - the suns up so they’re up x

 

[snowbunny]

*tries not to say anything about Squidge not sleeping through the night until she was well over a year old*

*fails*



In all seriousness, every puppy is different and so all you will get are “this worked for me, maybe it will for you” comments, some which will make you want to tear your hair out.

When Squidge was a baby puppy, she was in a crate-in-pen arrangement. It was a disaster. She found it hard to settle, would wee and poo, roll in it and then shout. When I had cleaned up and wanted her to sleep, she would shout. I slept on a dog mattress next to her pen for too long to think about.
When I moved to a different property, when she was about 11 or 12 weeks, the house was “upside down”, so I chose to have her in a crate in my bedroom, which had direct access to the garden. It was instant relief for both of us. I could hear if she stirred and took her out straight away. She didn’t mess her crate at all. She fell asleep easily. It was comparative heaven. Ok, she still needed to wee and poo in the small hours until she was over a year, but that was just her taking an inordinate amount of time to mature.

Shadow incidentally had a barking issue in the small hours when he was about five months. Out of nowhere, he started waking and barking about 4 or 5 am. If I went in and “put him back to bed”, by getting him out of the crate and then “bed time!”, he would settle down again. He didn’t need to toilet, he just wanted attention. I gave him the minimum amount to shut him up and tell him it wasn’t waking up time yet.

Different dogs, different things worked. You just have to find the thing that works for yours. Or just try to be patient because he will grow out of it eventually. If you haven’t murdered him by then!

 

[Leanne]

Ummmmm, I know you're not keen but I'd still be going for the sleeping on your bed option, for your health and sanity. Doesn't have to be that way forever(though you mentioned sleeping on your son's bed in time?) Having a dog on your bed isn't always conducive to a full night's sleep, but it's lovely to wake in the night and reach out and stroke lovely velvety ears and feel them snuggle up close to you .?

Sleeping on the bed is not an option. I have no desire at all to sleep next to the little munchkin as lovely as he is lol

 

[Ashley]

Once she slept through the night around 12 weeks, I stopped with the crate for my own sanity...her crate was in our room so we left the door open and bought another dog bed. I also allowed her up with us in bed early mornings and she slept hours longer after we stopped trying to force the crate. We had zero issues with waking, chewing or wandering. Not for everyone, but OH always wanted her to sleep with us anyway, so he won that round.

 

[Leanne]

Am I literally the only person who doesn’t want dog hair on the bed? I’m fine with being covered in it on a daily basis.. but beds are... for sleep! What do you do with them when you want a *cuddle* ??!!

 

[Leanne]

I guess it depends how determined you are about him sleeping downstairs. If your long term plan is to have him upstairs I’d just bring him up now.

I don’t think it would make any difference unless I was willing to have him actually sleep in the bed with us even when I’m sitting right next to him stroking his paw he still goes off his head.

He doesn’t want to be in the same room he wants to be next to us, preferably on us. If it was a temp measure I might be able to do it but I really really don’t want to be sharing my bed with a 35kg dog who snores worse than the OH

 

[Ashley]

Am I literally the only person who doesn’t want dog hair on the bed? I’m fine with being covered in it on a daily basis.. but beds are... for sleep! What do you do with them when you want a *cuddle* ??!!

Well, she only gets on the bed after 1am, sometimes not at all. As a puppy she only came up around 5am to help her sleep another couple of hours.

 

[SwampDonkey]

It depends if you want a cheer leader or not?
I don't have my dogs upstairs because my husband would find it hard and I have medical equipment which helps me breath at night. Too many nice plastic tubes and wires for pups. I also keep my medication upstairs out of harm's way. I do sleep all over the house and do sleep about 4 hours anyway . Crazy pup sleeping is just something you find away though.

He will mature he will get better it just a baby puppy stuff and nonsense. I have really low standards there's fur everywhere .?

 

[Jen]

Am I literally the only person who doesn’t want dog hair on the bed? I’m fine with being covered in it on a daily basis.. but beds are... for sleep! What do you do with them when you want a *cuddle* ??!!

Stanley isn’t allowed in my bed and it’s still covered in dog hair. There’s nowhere it doesn’t get

 

[Natalie]

this worked for me, maybe it will for you” comments

It's funny you should say that, but I actually did the opposite of what I said above. We had a crate and pen arrangement which for toilet training wasn't that bad at all( Monty didn't do a Squidge), but I'd read some books on just ignoring all crying at all times and that's what we did for more than 2 weeks.

Now I feel I was heartless and selfish looking back, so I definitely wouldn't do what I did before (which isn't at all what Leanne is doing anyway so no comparison there)

As he ended up on the bed anyway 18 months later, to come and go as he chooses, I would do it differently next time and I still feel racked with bad puppy-mum guilt.

 

[Jacqui-S]

Stanley isn’t allowed in my bed and it’s still covered in dog hair. There’s nowhere it doesn’t get

Totally.
It travels from you to the bed.
There's no escape.

 

[SteffiS]

Am I literally the only person who doesn’t want dog hair on the bed? I’m fine with being covered in it on a daily basis.. but beds are... for sleep! What do you do with them when you want a *cuddle* ??!!

I don't have dogs or cats upstairs and definitely not on the bed. When our dogs were small OH slept downstairs if they were making a noise. Now OH has a cpap machine for breathing at night so I suspect it would now be my turn at sleeping downstairs if we had a puppy.

 

[Pepper]

Pepper hates his crate, to the point that we’ve now given up on it! He sleeps in his bed next to us and mostly sleeps through to 6-6:30am.

It’s not what we’d planned but as he knows we’re in the same room he seems comfortable.

 

[Emily]

Ella slept at the end of the hallway, behind a baby gate, when she was a puppy. She sleeps on her bed in our room now but, I'm not going to lie, most mornings I wake up to find her snuggled in between us.

I did crate train Ella at about 18months but it was easy at that age. I think she was happy in there after a couple of days. We have the crate (soft) in the house as it gives her somewhere to escape from the toddler, plus I use it when at dog training or trials.

What do you do with them when you want a *cuddle* ??!

Well, given that we have a 2 year old, there is no such thing as spontaneity in our house. If needed, I just say "crate" to Ella and she'll trot off to her crate in the lounge room

 

[Granca]

Pepper hates his crate, to the point that we’ve now given up on it! He sleeps in his bed next to us and mostly sleeps through to 6-6:30am.

It’s not what we’d planned but as he knows we’re in the same room he seems comfortable.

If it works and helps you (and him!) sleep through the night, that’s fine!

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve not had a problem with puppies and crates since I started using a crate (about four dogs ago), but then there’s also been an older dog sleeping downstairs in the same room. I don’t even remember losing much sleep... but that could be down to failing memory or rose-coloured specs!

I can’t help wondering, though, how much longer Pepper will be sleeping in his bed...