Dog
How to Stop Your Puppy Crying at Night
The majority of puppies will find being separated from their family or pack distressing, and so you may have some sleepless nights ahead of you. We’ve put together some handy tips to help calm your puppy during those tough few nights while they adjust to their new home.
- Don’t punish them, This behavior is completely normal and to be expected. In the wild, puppies would cry when left alone in order to attract attention and protection from predators.
- Think about letting your new puppy sleep with you in your bedroom. Having your presence will help have a calming effect on them.
- Make sure your bedroom is secure so they have little chance of wandering off and putting themselves in danger.
- An indoor crate with the door left open is a great place for your puppy to sleep, place a sheet over the top and back so that they feel secure and protected.
- Think about combining the crate with a puppy pen, which will keep them in a certain area of your bedroom.
- Be sure to put newspaper down, but not in their crate, as this makes them think it is OK to defecate where they should be sleeping.
- The key is to ignore the puppy when they cry, as if you come to them they will see their crying as acceptable behavior to get your attention. Though, it is important to come to the puppy’s aid if it is so distressing that it’s harming itself.
- It might be a good idea to feed puppy treats in the area where you want them to sleep. This re-enforces the area as being related to positive things.
- Don’t let your puppy sleep too much during the evening, as this will keep them energized during the night, wanting to play. Instead, keep them busy and tire them out just before bedtime.
- You shouldn’t feed or water them before you go to bed. As this will cause them to wake up and go to the toilet often.
- Get into the habit of setting an alarm in the middle of the night to take them to go toilet. You want to wake up before the puppy does it by itself, and starts crying for you to take them.
- When taking them to the toilet in the middle of the night, don’t play or talk with them much. Toilet time in the middle of the night shouldn’t be rewarding. Otherwise, they’ll think waking up in the middle of the night is a good thing.
- Set a defined sleeping schedule so that your puppy doesn’t become distressed by constant changes to their routine.
- If your puppy has woken you up with crying and clearly needs to go to the toilet. Simply wait until there is a break in the whining so that you’re not re-enforcing their behavior.
We hope this guide comes in useful to help stop your puppy whining at night. Looking for more puppy advice? Why not read our guide to the best dog food for puppies. For anything else, feel free to contact us on 01492 542662 and we’ll be happy to help!
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