Puppy not going through the night??? - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans

gbscri · #1 January 13th, 2009, 09:04 AM

Hello everyone!! need some tips or advice on how to train my puppy to go through the night. both my friends have puppies that are a month older and they both tell my she should be going through the night. She is almost 4 months old and is completely potty trained. When we are home she goes outside when we are at work she goes on the paper. She is amazing but she still wakes us up 1-2 times each night sometimes it is to go out other times its to play. Any help or tips?

BenMax · #2 January 13th, 2009, 09:13 AM

One word "routine". Some dogs are easier than others but establishing a routine is the key. Routine should be stuck to (including weekends).

What time, and how many times does the puppy go outside during the day and night? Is the pup crated during the day and/or night.

Please advise.

gbscri · #3 January 13th, 2009, 09:19 AM

OK so we both work days. she is home alone and she only goes on the newspaper during the day. She is not in a crate, she almost has free range of the house except the living room is boarded up during the day. When we get home i say she goes out at least 4-5 times in the evening. Not sure if she always does something as she likes to play in the snow LOL. during the night she wakes up 1-2 times. so what kind of routine should i be sticking to?

breeze · #4 January 13th, 2009, 09:33 AM

Not all pups are the same. sometimes it takes longer than other pups to sleep through the night. a month makes a HUGE difference in a lot of things especially potty training.
what kind of pup is it?? a male or female??

do you limit the pups intake on water after a certain time of the night?

gbscri · #5 January 13th, 2009, 09:57 AM

Yes i know a month is a huge difference but both pups were going through the night when they were my pups age. She is a chocolate lab, and i was just a bit concerned as my friend has a female black lab. We talked about it this morning on taking away her water at a certain time? Not sure what time is suitable as i don't want her to be thirsty the house is very dry this time of year. If we go to sleep at 10pm when would you cut off water?

tenderfoot · #6 January 13th, 2009, 10:09 AM

You should try to feed her in the late afternoon so she has plenty of opportunities to soil before bedtime.

Then you should take the water up at about 7ish. Let her pee before bedtime and if you are concerned about the dryness she could have a quick drink when she comes in - just enough to feel like she had a drink but not enough to fill her tank.

Right now her internal clock is waking her up whether for a good reason or not - so I would give her a chance to pee on the first wake up but then try to get her to go back to sleep on the others. When she gets up to pee make sure it is all business - no playing, no loving - go pee and right back to bed. She needs to learn that night time is for sleeping.

You should be learning the difference between 'I have to pee' cries and 'I want to play' cries. If you get up for all of them then she learns that it works and she will just keep crying.

She will typically wake at sunrise and be ready for the day - as time goes by you can help her stretch that out and get up 15 minutes later each morning until it matches the time you want to get up.

gbscri · #7 January 13th, 2009, 10:16 AM

Thanks for the tips! we can't feed her early afternoon as we are both at work. She doesn't really cry at night she just jumps up on the side of the bed to get your attention. If she is really serious it will turn into a bark. so maybe we should just ignore it until she barks? We will try putting her water up around tonight and see what happens. Thanks again for the tips, heres hoping!

tenderfoot · #8 January 13th, 2009, 10:53 AM

Ignoring 'attention getting behavior' is a great first choice. But if she escalates then you have the right to correct her. Simply tell her 'off' or 'quit' or 'quiet' in a firm tone and lay back down. You will typically have to repeat this a few times as dogs are hard wired to challenge 3-5 times before they submit. It would be really good to crate her at night so you don't have her jumping up at you and crate training is a great tool for teaching night time routines. But the crate should be in your bedroom so that you can hear her if she is desperate to get out and you can tend to her real needs.

I actually suggested LATE afternoon feeding - even 5 or 6 pm. But don't wait until 8 pm if you can help it.

gbscri · #9 January 13th, 2009, 11:10 AM

Thanks for the advice!! we do feed her between 5:30-6pm although she doesn't always eat it all until 8-9. She is not one to sit there and eat it all at one time. She goes back and forth. Although yesterday she was better when i put some water on it as i think her teething is causing her to just pick at it when she is truely hungary. Someone suggested puting some water on her food so that its not so hard for her. It worked yesterday as she ate most of it in one sitting. we will try some of the new things tonight and stick to it and see what happens.

tenderfoot · #10 January 13th, 2009, 11:46 AM

New topic - When you feed her (and water on the food is fine to help her want to eat more) the food should only be down for 10-15 minutes.

This is important for a couple of reasons.

1. The only one to own the food is the leader - so if she sees that it comes from you and it leaves with you then you must be the leader.

2. Dogs are not built to graze like cows - they eat the whole mouse or rabbit at once and then fast until the next meal runs by.

3. If we leave the food down for her to come and go as she pleases then she thinks the food is hers and she might be the leader. She also can become a picky eater - come and get a bite, take it into the next room, crunch a few bits, go back for more when shes ready. This can lead to problems when she is ill and not eating well - it will be tougher to get her appetite back if she isn't a good eater to start with.

4. Picky eating can also make house training harder. Instead of one meal going in and 1-2 meals coming out within 20 minutes (so you can learn how to schedule her potty), she has lots of little meals going in and lots of little meals coming out at random times - harder for you to predict her habits and set her on a schedule.

5.Teething isn't really painful - When human babies teethe it is painful because their teeth are cutting though gums and it hurts. But when puppies transition from baby teeth to adult teeth - the adult tooth comes in through the same hole the baby tooth is leaving from. The adult tooth actually dissolves the baby tooth's roots and the little tooth gently falls out and the adult tooth easily slips in.

Hope that helps.

gbscri · #11 January 13th, 2009, 11:53 AM

oh boy now i'm even more confused!! She has always just ate whenever she felt like it. there are times she eats it all at once and times her food is still in her dish when i come home. Ok so how do i get her to eat it all at once. I was told it was her teeth so thats why i haven't really worried about it, now i'm concerned. So i feed her before we go to work and then when we come home. most of the time her bowl is empty when we come home but sometimes its half full or even sometimes its like she didn't eat at all. We did just switch her food last week, but she has been doing this with her previous food too. Which is why we switched her as we were advised the old food we were giving her was not good. Now she still does the same thing? So what do you advise we do to make her eat her food all at once??

tenderfoot · #12 January 13th, 2009, 12:20 PM

Do not be concerned.

She might get bored easily and like a child who refuses to eat their waffles we make something new for them so they learn that refusing to eat will bring new goodies.

Try to make her food more interesting with broth, veggies, yogurt - good foods that are good for her.

It can take up to 3 days to get her set on a good eating habit. Offer the food if it is not eaten in 10-15 mintues pick it up - I promise you she will not starve and she will be hungrier at each meal.

danam314 · #13 January 13th, 2009, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbscri

So what do you advise we do to make her eat her food all at once??

Some great suggestions here. Tenderfoot answered this question for you: " the food should only be down for 10-15 minutes"

You pup will learn that it's feeding time (dinner/breakfast) and she'll learn pretty fast that she better eat or it will be leaving with you. She wont starve, she will will eat. Give her a good treat before you leave for work, but I wouldn't leave her food down all day. Leave yourself enough time in the morning to give food, wait 15 mins and take it back.

PS - Pictures Please

gbscri · #14 January 13th, 2009, 12:29 PM

great ideas!! thanks so much..
I'm just so scared that she will starve all day which is why i leave it there.
So tomorrow morning i should put her food down and if she doesn't eat it in 15min. put it up and leave for work? And the same thing at night?
I guess putting yogurt and things will make her want the food more, but will she come into a pattern where she will only eat her dry food with something mixed in?

gbscri · #15 January 13th, 2009, 12:31 PM

sorry i just added a couple pictures to my album. i'll have to add some newer ones tonight!!

danam314 · #16 January 13th, 2009, 12:41 PM

Such a beautiful girl you have there!!!

Yep, leave the food down for 15 mins and then take it back. You can leave her with some treats for the day, but put them in something like a Kong so they are a challenge for her to get out. You can also try putting a few treats in a kong, stuff it with peanut butter and freeze it overnight. Then give it to her before you leave. She wont starve. She'll just be ready for dinner when you get home! This way her poop times will be more manageable and predictable.

It wont take long before she will eat it all in 1 sitting. She'll learn quickly that it's not a buffet, but instead a meal. Take it or leave it

The yogurt, or whatever you may add (1 tbsp of pure pumpkin is good too), is healthy for her, but she'll see it as a treat.

gbscri · #17 January 13th, 2009, 12:55 PM

Ya she is a cutie!! just love her to pieces!! LOL
Thanks for the advice. I will try it out tonight. Can you recommend other things i can add to her food besides broth and yogurt? I will start putting treats in her kong too. She just never seems to actually get it out LOL
Thanks again you guys have been really helpful!

gbscri · #18 January 13th, 2009, 01:08 PM

Just a quick question. i was just telling the hubby about this and he came up with a good question. So tomorrow morning if she doesn't eat do we give her the breakfast serving with her dinner or just her dinner?

breeze · #19 January 13th, 2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbscri

Just a quick question. i was just telling the hubby about this and he came up with a good question. So tomorrow morning if she doesn't eat do we give her the breakfast serving with her dinner or just her dinner?

just her dinner.

tenderfoot · #20 January 13th, 2009, 01:39 PM

Never double up on a meal - just think if you weren't hungry for lunch do you try to stuff in twice as much at dinner? Hopefully not.

danam314 - your dog is gorgeous - what is he or she?

gbscri · #21 January 13th, 2009, 01:40 PM

Thank you i thought so but just needed to double check.

heres hoping this works!

danam314 · #22 January 13th, 2009, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenderfoot

danam314 - your dog is gorgeous - what is he or she?

Thank you so much. He is a border collie samoyed cross.

gbscri - I'm not sure of a whole 'list' of foods you can add to her meal. Personally, I add 1 tbsp of yogurt (for the good bacteria) and 1-2 tbsp of pure pumpkin for keeping regular. I add this to 1 meal. The fiber will also help keep her feel full. You could try feeding this extra bit in the morning. The night is easier to get through (hunger wise) because sleeping passes the time

gbscri · #23 January 13th, 2009, 02:40 PM

Thanks again for the help. I'll update you guys in a couple days and let you know how she is doing.

breeze · #24 January 13th, 2009, 02:50 PM

just remember it might not happen over night and it may take a few days.

good luck

gbscri · #25 January 14th, 2009, 08:54 AM

AMAZING!!! last night and this morning i added some yogurt and she ate her food in under 5 min. Which is extremely rare. Thanks for the tips on putting that in her food she just loved it!

danam314 · #26 January 14th, 2009, 11:55 AM

Very glad to hear she's making progress!

Keep us posted on how the nights go.

that you get a full night sleep soon

gbscri · #27 January 14th, 2009, 12:13 PM

ya here is hoping soon we will have no interuptions during the night. Although i do have to say hubby is a sweetheart as he usually is the one to get up with her

She woke up 2 times last night but i'll give it a week in this new eating routine and see if there are improvements. Also after eating her food with yogurt or wet food will she ever just eat her dry food plain?

tenderfoot · #28 January 14th, 2009, 07:43 PM

Yes, she will. I would continue for a bit as she learns to have a good appetite. Then you can go dry, or add stuff as your fridge dictates. I often add whatever leftovers I might have (provided they aren't too rich for a dog) and keep things interesting. But our dogs are fed a variety of dry and raw anyway so they are used to frequent changes.

allymack · #29 January 15th, 2009, 07:28 AM

[QUOTE=gbscri;731217] Can you recommend other things i can add to her food besides broth and yogurt? I will start putting treats in her kong too. She just never seems to actually get it out LOL
QUOTE]

I add lots of things to Enzo's food. You can try about 2 tsp of olive oil on top of it, it is really good for their coat. you could add an egg, raw or boiled, they are also great for their coat. There is a 'sauce' you can buy to put on their food, but i wouldnt give it to them very often, or put very much on their food, it gave Enzo the runs when he was a pup, but he is fine with it now. Also canned wet food is a big hit with Enzo, he gobbles it up very quickly.

[QUOTE=tenderfoot;731951]. Then you can go dry, or add stuff as your fridge dictates. I often add whatever leftovers I might have (provided they aren't too rich for a dog) and keep things interesting. [QUOTE]

I do this too, he loves it after a turkey dinner, i usually put a bit of turkey in, gravy a little bit of potatos and some veggies.. i pull back on his kibble these nights so he doesnt become a porker

Also, about the original problem, would it be possible to cate her at night? also trying playing with her for 20 mins or so before her last pee and bed.