# Crate Training through the night



## stanleyboy (Jan 30, 2013)

Stanley is almost 10 weeks. We brought him home at 8 weeks. We put him in the crate at night (in the bedroom next to our bed). He goes in pretty easily but seems like every 60-90 minutes he wakes us with small whines. We get up to take him out to potty which he does, however it's usually a very small potty. We praise him but it seems like he just wants out of the crate. We keep him in the crate throughout the night, however when first light comes in morning around 6am we take him out to potty (he whines to wake us) then we let him up in the bed for about an hour in the morning. He sleeps like an angel in the bed. We thought this was consistent enough to keep him in the crate throughout the night but now were afraid we are giving him mixed messages as he wants up in the bed a lot. He can't jump up to the bed on his own (yet) but if he could he would. Any thoughts on this? We'd like to limit our potty breaks at night, but were having trouble distinguishing whether his whines are real potty break whines or just "hey I want up on the bed whines".... Is bringing him up on the bed for just a small amount of time in the morning a really bad idea?


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Well, I don't think it's a bad idea at all... but then, I have always let my dogs sleep on the bed. The fact is, you probably ARE sending him mixed messages. You will find that, in training your pup, consistency is key. They are creatures of habit, and you are just now forming his future habits.


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

Is always a bit of guesswork working out what your pup is thinking but my guess is that he is thinking 'if I keep whining at regular intervals I get some attention and if I keep it up long enough I hit the jackpot and get to sleep with my other pack members'.

Crate training can be really tough but the only way to get what you want is to persevere and try and cope with the sleep deprevation. Your puppy shouldn't need to get up every 60-90 minutes either, once in the night should be enough, certainly no more than twice. Your pup is whining to get attention not because he needs to potty that often and you need to start ignoring him or you will never get a nights sleep. 

We were really lucky in this respect. Lyra is also created in our bedroom but from day one settled without any problems. By about week13 she was going through the night. 

There are lots of threads about crate training on the forum so make sure you search for them.


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We were told by our breeder to take away food and water 2 hrs before bed, give the pup a final pee break before bed, then don't take him out of the crate for 4 hours in the night even if he cries as their bladders at 10 weeks can make it this long. It's hard the first few nights, we would take Miles out, tell him to go potty, then right back into the crate. He slept through the night after about 2 weeks. 

Once trained to sleep in the crate through the night nothing wrong if you want him in bed, but I think the crate is a good potty training tool for night time and will be a good resource to have if you travel and he needs to be in a crate overnight.


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## stanleyboy (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks for responses. Very much appreciate your wisdom on the subject. This forum is really great - I love that it's specific to Vs because there is so much fluff out there on the internet that really doesn't seem relevant to our breed. 

We did the ignore him thing last night and it seemed to work. Only took him out twice (once at midnight, then again at 3:30). He whined a little bit in the night, but it was very soft and we just ignored it instead of jumping up to see how we could help. So this looks promising! thanks!


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Keep it up! They learn so fast! Do you try to keep him awake for at least an hour before you go to bed? We made the mistake of letting Miles sleep when he wanted at night, and I think the night time wake up calls would have ended earlier if we had started keeping him up purposefully earlier on.


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## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

It sounds like you are doing well now but I would definitely avoid the cuddle in bed straight after letting him out of the crate. Especially if he has been whining. If you make sure he is quiet before letting him out and then take him for a wee then cuddles in bed he will know that being quiet means getting let out.


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## mjohnsonsf (Jan 23, 2013)

We were crate training our puppy at night and during the day. The crate was in the kitchen.

At night, she would start winning like clockwork at 2:30am. We would let her out and put her back in the crate. Then at 4:30am (like clockwork again) she would wine, but this time was just to play.

This went on for 2 months.

Then we boarded her for a week. This cycle of 2:30am waking up was broken during the week.

We now have her sleeping in a dog bed on the floor at the foot of the bed. She sleeps the entire evening.

We are determined not to have her sleep in the bed, because it does send mixed signals. But we are happy she is staying on her dog bed in our bedroom the entire evening.

With her winning, she just wants attention and giving in to her winning will maker her the boss...


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