Puppy barking at night

[Minder]

Hi there

We have just welcomed a cocker spaniel puppy to our home that we have fallen in love with. During the day she is great, fun and affectionate if a little mischievous (which is to be expected!).

The one thing we are struggling with is night times. She sleeps in a crate which she does like and spends time in during the day. Everything is fine when we put her to bed, the problem comes when she wakes during the night and cries and barks. I have been told that we should leave her which we haven't done as we live in a terraced house with thin wall and we know the dog is waking them. What we do is go down, show no affection but sit with her until she falls back asleep. Then we go back to bed. The problem is that going down to comfort her 2-3 times a night is really breaking up our sleep and leading us to both be quite tired.

In terms of timeline we picked her up on Thursday 8th April so have had her a week and a half, she was absolutely silent through the night for the first 4-5 days but has been crying since then. Is the only solution to let her cry or is that cruel? I guess I'm probably overthinking it and it's normal puppy behaviour but I just worry we are setting ourselves up for weeks of broken sleep and tiredness. Is there anything else we can do, I've read about training her to be left alone, has anyone had any success with that?

Thanks in advance

Thanks in advance

 

[JoanneF]

. I have been told that we should leave her which we haven't done

I'm glad you haven't done that, that is actually quite old fashioned advice which we now know does more harm than good.

You will find the resources here helpful, particularly Your new puppy: the first few nights, and Kidnapped from Planet Dog. But please come back with any questions.

Useful Links & Recommended Reading

 

[Ash2021]

Hi and welcome I too am new to this forum, but not working cockers

I got our Ash (now 12 weeks) at 8 weeks old. We put her in her crate for bed at 10pmish then someone let her out for toilet about 1am and again at 4 am and then we got up around 6.30 / 7am

we did this for the first week and slowly moved the 4am to 3.30am etc. We now put her to bed at 10pm ish she gets taken out about 12.15am at the moment and sleeps through then until 6.30 / 7 am

we will slowly move the 12.15am slot so that she will go from 10.30pm until we get up at 6.30am / 7am

you have to remember their bladders need to grow with them - we haven’t had any barking crying over night bar the first few nights when she cried when put in the crate for bed

we feed her all her meals in the crate and never use it as a time out (if we need a time out then she is shut out of the kitchen, which is where her crate is. Then it’s only for a minute if that)

hope that is of some use and wishing you all the best with your new addition

 

[Finsky]

Having a puppy is TIREING....VERY much so. Just like with human baby, letting them cry/bark until they shut up would not only cause stress for them, but for you and your neighbours as well. During the day there is more sounds and things happening around it, so your little one will be more distracted and it won't feel 'lonely'. But during night, well....all the new but little more familiar sounds have all gone....the house is quiet and it feels like it has been left all alone.So getting up and sitting it all down, just giving company and reassurance is good action. During the day time, if the pup is happy in its own company, it is equally good to let it be without disturbing it and go about with your own daily routines. That way it gets to learn to be independent, confident and comfortable without you/family stuck on its side all the time.
Although it all seems like your pups is comfortable in its new surroundings...it will take quite some time yet before it is truly 'there'. You'll see..give another week or two and things are starting to look different...

 

[JudyN]

A good survival tool I've found is for just one of you to be 'on duty' on alternate nights, so each of you know you'll get a decent night's sleep every one night in two.

 

[Minder]

Thanks for all your helpful advice. We had another tough night last night and I suppose you can spend a lot of time overthinking. I am pretty sure she is happy during the day so we will just have to be there for her at night and hope it gets better! I think the alternate nights are a good idea but it is tough to sleep when you know the other person is tending to the pup! Early days I guess, I'm sure it will all be worth it though

 

[Finsky]

Thanks for all your helpful advice. We had another tough night last night and I suppose you can spend a lot of time overthinking. I am pretty sure she is happy during the day so we will just have to be there for her at night and hope it gets better! I think the alternate nights are a good idea but it is tough to sleep when you know the other person is tending to the pup! Early days I guess, I'm sure it will all be worth it though

Oh it does get better, it 'just' takes some time. You don't have to do anything else but letting it have its toilet break(s) during the night and then settle down to sleep somewhere near the pup, so that it can hear your presence. Eventually you will be able to stretch these break times and even not having to sleep in same room during the night.

 

[JudyN]

I think the alternate nights are a good idea but it is tough to sleep when you know the other person is tending to the pup!

There's another advantage to at least one of you getting a decent night's sleep - back when I had human babies, hubby wasn't much use at night because they'd only settle on the breast, and I was a light sleeper whereas he could sleep through a thunderstorm, I found it helpful to know that he'd had a decent night's sleep so I didn't feel guilty about being crabby and snappy all day! Or looked at from the other side, it's easier for the well-slept partner to support and make allowances for the the sleep-deprived one