Bringing home your new pup for the first time is a great feeling and a day of major excitement. Getting through the first night with your little one can be a different story altogether. Having a new puppy in the house can be quite chaotic and the most trying time is those first few nights when you won’t get a full 8 hours regardless of what you do. The easiest way to handle this, and cut back the chaos as much as possible, is to be prepared and have some good tricks up your sleeve.
If you’ve been reading about housebreaking and caring for a new puppy, you will no doubt have read about the importance of crate training from the 1st day you bring your pup into the house. If you have taken the time to introduce the dog to its crate and have made it a comfortable, positive place for the puppy, this should make the nights much easier.
Your new pup will have little bladder control and this amounts to a lot of the disturbances you will get in the middle of the night from your puppy. You can expect that your dog will have to go out to the toilet once every 2-4 hours for the initial few weeks. There are ways in which you can cut back on the number of times needed to take out your puppy in the night and eliminate accidents.
Some tips to get you more sleep:
Keep your dog active and awake for the last 2 hours before going to bed. If your dog has been asleep and lounging around all evening, they will be raring to go and full of energy while you’re trying to sleep.
If possible, do not let your dog drink or eat past about 7pm unless they need water because of warm conditions. This may give you a better opportunity to rest for a couple of hours before having to take pup out for a pit stop.
Take puppy out to the toilet just before bed. Pay attention to make sure your dog actually eliminates and doesn’t just sprinkle, then go back inside. You do not want to make this a wasted trip, and you particularly don’t want to get up in the following half hour to do it again.
Be ready to get up every few hours to take your pup out to the yard. Set your alarm for every 2-3 hours and take your puppy outside. You could have to wake your dog up, but it’s way better to form your own timetable to take them outside. If you wait until they tell you they need out, they’re going to learn that barking and whining wakes you up and this may form future habits.
Keep your puppy near you at night. If at all possible, have them in their crate in the bedroom with you. You may have the puppy in the bed with you if you want but consider carefully the implications;
the puppy may soil the bed,
the pup will get used to the bed and it has got to be an all or nothing proposition – you can’t decide to allow them in the bed sometimes and not others,
the dog will grow up and you’ll have a full-size dog on your bed eventually
If the puppy isn’t ready to spend a full night in its crate, you might think about tethering the dog in the bedroom. To do that use a short tether, giving the pup a bit of room to move about, but not enough that they’ll want to eliminate within the area.
If it is not possible to have the pup in the bedroom with you, you may have the dog spend the night in another room. To make the dog more comfortable isolated in another room, try leaving soft music on, a fan, or white noise of some sort to help soothe it. You’re going to need to be extra vigilant in ensuring the dog gets out to the yard at regular intervals in the night since you won’t be well placed to hear the dog whine to get out.
Have everything that you need to take your puppy out for a pit stop ready and accessible. Having these things prepared and laid out will make getting up in the middle of the night much easier. Have something to wear,eg a housecoat and slippers, a leash if you use one, and waste bags handy.
When you bring your young puppy out in the middle of the night, especially if you had to wake him or her, the puppy could be so sleepy that they sit right down and try and fall back to sleep. Gently encourage pup to move around and stay awake. Chances are they still have to go to the bathroom but may be too knackered to realize it immediately.
Keep overnite pit stops as brief as feasible and stick to the business to hand. Playing with your pup will only teach them that if they wake you up in the night they are going to get to have a play date. Be certain to keep everything calm and serene. Still be certain to praise the puppy for doing its thing.
Following these tips and being prepared for what’s ahead should make your first few nights with your new pup run a lot smoother. Having mentioned that, there’s always unexpected complications. Try hard not to get frustrated with your puppy, these first few days are all about welcoming the dog and getting it used to its new home and family.
Pamela Noble writes articles on pets and pet products for Dogfolks.com. You can find more information on pet products and crates on the Dog Folks website.