# First Night Strategies



## Donnajeff (Jul 27, 2012)

We are bringing our 9 week old Lucy home Monday and I am getting mixed info on whether she should spend her first night/s in her crate or cuddled up with us in bed. We are all in for crate training as needed but want her first nights to be as calm as possible. Advice???


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

Ruby slept in our bed the first night (after yelping in her crate till 4 a.m.) and 5 weeks later she is still sleeping with us. Unless you want her to sleep with you forever, keep her in the crate. Buy earplugs!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

I'm with Lilyloo, if you start with pup in bed, expect that to continue. Having said that, mine sleep with me and I wouldn't want it any other way!!!


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

It wasn't easy for us. First week my partner slept with her in the living room on the sofa, then I slept with her in the second week. She would not want to stay in her crate for too long and kept coming up on the sofa to sleep with us. It's quite hard to refuse a soft, wrinkly faced 8 week old vizsla to cuddle up with you! 
The third week my partner went back to work (nightshift) and I stayed alone with Elza. Put her crate in front of our bedroom and left her. She slept for a while then woke up... Since I was on my own (my partner is not very patient...) I just left her crying. Checked the clock and she cried for about 46 minutes then she realised she doesn't get any response so she went back to sleep. Never cried again!  
Have to say though that we didn't close the crate on her. We are lucky to have a corridor with doors to all rooms and that's where she was/is when alone. 

She's not allowed in our bedroom, it's the only room actually she cannot come in. It was a decision we made before we got Elza. 
We do have the experience with her in the bed (on holiday she didn't want to sleep in her bed...) and I have to say its everything but comfortable. It was a huge bed so we had plenty space but she likes to sleep ON us or should say on me. I mostly ended up with her arse ??? in my face or her paws scratching my skin. Puppy paws are nice and soft but those will soon become tough and ruff and hard. So having that I'm happy for her to sleep in her own bed outside of our bedroom. 

I'm sure you will chose what's best for all of you. It will be a few hard nights but eventually she will settle in. 

Ps. after the holiday she was sleeping again on her own (as before) and she was just fine. So I think even if you let her sleep with you as we did when we got her and then later on, she should be still ok to sleep alone.


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## pippa31 (Aug 2, 2011)

The first 3 nights we had Pippa we slept with her on an air mattress near her crate (in our kitchen/family room area). She snuggled right up to us and slept through the whole night!! Then, during the day, we got her "used" to her crate (lots of treats in the crate, feeding in the crate, etc.) for shorter intervals. We transitioned her to her crate on the fourth night. She cried and screamed for about 15 minutes and then slept through the whole night 

She was actually better in the crate at night then she was during the day. But that was just our experience...


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## veifera (Apr 25, 2012)

My puppy sleeps in a crate (by our bed) since the first day we brought her home. She has never been on our bed. 

The day we brought here home, we got in around 3 pm, so she had a chance to get used to the crate in the living room first, perhaps for an hour or so. Cried for a little while but soon went to sleep. This made the first night much easier for us because she only cried for a few minutes - the crate wasn't an unfamiliar place for her anymore (we carried the crate from room to room until we got tired and just got a second one). And even at bedtime, she could still see us (my arms/hands, to be more specific). She would cry in the middle of the night to go pee the first few nights and very early in the morning. 

And another thing I did that helped *a lot* was to get on all fours, crawl into the crate with her and kiss and cuddle for a few minutes at bedtime. I did the same when she woke up - and still do it sometimes, almost 6 months later. You could _really see that it makes her feel so relaxed_ and at bedtime she would just drift off to sleep in a couple of minutes.

Most of these tips came from this forum. We didn't get as much screaming as we were anticipating, but we soon learned that screaming came when the puppy couldn't see us. There was a post here from someone about how to get them to stay quiet in a crate without seeing you for longer and longer time - I can't remember who wrote it but I had it printed and on the fridge because hearing her scream when she couldn't see me was heart-breaking. It was a great help, that post, and I'm so grateful.

I made a mistake of trying to keep my puppy zipped in the soft crate on the way from the breeder's to the airport (even in the cab!) instead of holding her in my arms and letting her look around. What a fool I was to do that. Looking back I realize that letting the puppy see you is really important to prevent panic, especially the first few days and the same applies to the crate, in my opinion. 

I'm not a pro, but I think subjecting the puppy to too many changes (sleeping with a person, without a person, on a sofa, on the floor, in the crate) is maybe counterproductive in the first few days in a new home, when absolutely everything is unfamiliar and stressful. 

So I think the best way to handle the first night is to make it as similar as possible to the way you expect her to sleep in the next 10 years, with very small adjustments (such as making her feel good in the crate and being able to "check in" with you visually in the beginning). 

So, to summarize (sorry, it's a really long post), what worked for me was 3 things:

- introduce the crate the first time during the day so that bedtime becomes the second or even third opportunity to sleep in it. And using it during the day for naps, every day, will mean much less crying at night, too.
- make sure the puppy can see/hear you, so it doesn't panic
- kisses/cuddles when going to bed in the crate will relax the puppy

Good luck!


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## Donnajeff (Jul 27, 2012)

OK, thanks for all the great advice. In the past, my three other Vs always slept in bed with us and I expect Lucy will as well. I have two more questions: 1) If she sleeps in bed at night, can we still use the crate during the day?, and 2) How often do I need to take her out during the night? Do I have to worry about her going in my bed? Thanks!


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

Donnajeff said:


> OK, thanks for all the great advice. In the past, my three other Vs always slept in bed with us and I expect Lucy will as well. I have two more questions: 1) If she sleeps in bed at night, can we still use the crate during the day?, and 2) How often do I need to take her out during the night? Do I have to worry about her going in my bed? Thanks!


We have ours in her crate during the day but in our bed at night and she is fine. She did have a couple days of adjustment and crying but that soon passed.

As for peeing in your bed, wasn't ever a problem for us. Ruby sleeps cuddled to me, and I am a light sleeper. As soon as she started to stir and get restless I took her out. She would go in 4 or 5 hour stretches between potty breaks at 8 weeks. I think some pups need to go out every 2 hours though. She started sleeping fully through (10 p.m. till 6 or 7 a.m.) around 9 weeks.


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## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

The very first night my Darcy came home to us we were full of great ideas of what we were going to do...unfortunately my Wife was on nights and I was alone with this tiny little creature aged 6 weeks with big sad eyes and ears to match...I was in my bed, and Darcy was by my side on the floor but in her lovely new bed looking up so sadly at me.........15 months down the line Darcy is very happily sleeping between Me and my wife......strangely she goes into her crate during the day when we have to go out..


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## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

Donnajeff said:


> OK, thanks for all the great advice. In the past, my three other Vs always slept in bed with us and I expect Lucy will as well. I have two more questions: 1) If she sleeps in bed at night, can we still use the crate during the day?, and 2) How often do I need to take her out during the night? Do I have to worry about her going in my bed? Thanks!


 good evening new member...welcome to the forum...our Vizsla sleeps in our bed at night, and we know it's wrong...but during the day when i have to go to work and when she is on her own Darcy loves going in her crate, she has all her toys and her bed in there, and she also has her food placed in her crate. she spends no longer than a few hours in it...


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## BirdWatcher (Jun 12, 2012)

Hi Donnajeff,

My puppy 'Burdy' is 13 weeks old (and the last month has been a whirlwind so this is the 1st time I have checked into the forum. Thanks for your kind messages all those I then ignored). I read Cesar Millan cover to cover. People seem to love or hate him but I feel that Burdy is calmer, house-trained and sleeping through the night because of the advice in his books. When the puppy comes home don't overwhelm it with love and attention. Try to give it dog-like responses. I hardly spoke to Burdy verbally. Instead I tried to communicate a calm 'rock like' sense of safety and I limited the number of rooms she could go in. I think the worst thing is to overwhem them with affection and then expect them to suddenly adapt to a night on their own. I could go on and on about my little treasure and I have a feeling I may also be lucky in having a puppy who is quite calm although VERY active. I think it is fine to have the puppy in your bed if that's what you want for the next 15 years. But be very clear about what you want, and gently insist on that behaviour.


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