Keep your puppy close but not too close.
Many new pet owners like to have their new puppy sleep in bed with them at night. While it is an admiral desire, it is not a practical one. Puppies just cannot hold their bladders for 8 hours.
If you try this method, you may wake up with a very wet bed and lots of clean-up work to do. The best thing to do when sleep training is to find the right method to help them sleep through the night.
Some people suggest crate training, but that may not work for all dog breeds or individual dogs. It may take several months of sleepless nights before your puppy can hold it in till morning.
Click here to learn 6 Critical Tips for Potty Training Puppy at Night.
How Long Does It Take To Sleep Train A Puppy?
This will depend a lot on your individual dog and not so much on its breed. All dogs respond differently, so you would have to judge the time according to your dog.
Generally, puppies need about 20 hours of sleep a day. This is only interrupted for potty and food breaks. If you can time their sleep habits to fit your sleeping schedule, you have a good chance of getting them to sleep through the night faster.
But in the end, many pet owners tend to lose some sleep at night because the puppy will wake up and want to go to the bathroom at the most inconvenient time. Since puppies cannot hold their bladder for very long, you are looking at about 4 months before they can hold it all night long.
When they get to that point, your sleep should be uninterrupted.
How Do You Get A Puppy To Stop Whining At Night?
The first step in this process is to figure out why they are whining in the first place. Here are the main reasons why your puppy will whine while you are trying to sleep:
- Needs to go potty
- Wants to play
- Is cold
- It isn’t used to silence
- Is lonely
- Is in a strange environment with new smells.
Once you figure out why they are whining, you can apply the right solution. For example, if it is cold, place a puppy blanket over their bodies. If it needs to go potty, take it to its pee pad or outside to its potty spot.
If it is whining because it is too quiet, place a ticking clock or some other quiet white noise device nearby to help it go back to sleep. Finding the source for the whining will also help you find the right solution.
Got a puppy, but you have to work? Click here to learn How to Train a Puppy to be Alone.
Should I Ignore My Puppy Crying at Night?
The answer to this question is both yes and no. There are times you should ignore the cries of your puppy, and those times are when it is bored, wants your attention, or just wants to play.
However, puppies do not always whine for those reasons. You need to be careful not to dismiss their cries because they may be hungry, need to go potty, or have some other problem only you can solve for them.
For the former reasons, you can ignore their crying, and soon the puppy will tire out and go to sleep. The latter will have you getting up and taking care of the problem. Once that is done, you can return to sleep yourself.
If it cries after taking care of the latter problems, then resort to the first solution and let it cry till it falls asleep
How To Get Your Puppy To Sleep Through The Night
1. When you bring it home, make a soft, comfortable bed for it near your bed. Also, make their bed nice and warm, so they feel secure and comfortable.
2. Try crate training, as puppies trained this way to have fewer nighttime potty accidents.
3. Provide a piece of cloth with its mother’s scent on it.
4. Use a ticking clock to imitate the mother’s or sibling’s heartbeat. Or use a sound machine.
5. Make just before bedtime, play or exercise time. A tired puppy sleeps longer and better.
6. Keep your puppy mentally stimulated during the day. If they sleep in the daytime, they won’t sleep at night.
7. Do not feed your pet less than 3 hours before bedtime.
8. Take them out for a potty break just before bedtime.
9. Provide a safe chew toy for your puppy to chew on when they are teething.
Want to know How to Train a Puppy with a Clicker? Click here to learn more.
Some Final Words
It will take some time to sleep train your puppy. But as they get older, they will be able to sleep through the night and give you some rest as well. There are different methods you can try to help train your puppy to sleep through the night.
Check them all out to find the right method for your dog.
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