I just got a new puppy about a week ago today.

ever since we got her potty training has been hectic. when we're not here to watch her she's in her crate. it's only big enough for her to lay down in comfortably but she pee's in it anyway!

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also, she won't sleep at night. we crate her but as soon as we leave the room she starts squealing her head off! we can't take her into the bedroom, there's no where to put her crate and we can't let her sleep on the bed with us, as i said, she's not potty trained.

please, i really need help trying to get her to sleep at night. my boyfriend is a short tempered guy and i don't want him to regret getting her for me.

she adores him, and he loves her, but it takes at least 2 hours for her to stop crying and go to sleep at night. and then she wakes up and realizes she fell asleep and starts doggy screaming! it sounds like she's being tortured!

we actually had our only neighbor come over and ask about it. we had to show him, as soon as no one's in the room she starts screeching her head off. haha

"I promise sir, we're not beating her"

>_< please... i need to sleep. i can't use ear plugs 'cause it bothers my neighbor too, and i rely on my alarm clock to get me up in the morning.

any help is appriciated ^-^

btw, we already checked if it's because she's gotta go to the bathroom.

we walked her before bedtime and whenever she cried in the middle of the night but she didn't go. all she did was dance around my legs and try to lick my hands.

i don't get up to walk her in the middle of the night anymore. only before bed. i don't want her to get the idea that mommy is gonna come running whenever she cries but i need to figure out how to make her stop crying in the first place! >_<

How old is she? This will help determine how long she can hold it. They typically can only hold it for the same amount of hours as they are months old. So if she's 2 months old, then she can only hold it for two hours max.

When you put her in her crate, try stuffing a Kong and freezing it so it will take her a long time to finish it. This should keep her quiet, and slowly sneak out of the room. Also, what if you were able to put her crate near your doorway, so she can still see you for a while when you go to bed. Hopefully this can help.

Apparently she hasn't been properly introduced to her crate. The crate should not be used only for confinement. She should be be given the opportunity to look to the crate as her special place.

I always begin crate training by feeding a puppy in the crate with the door open. Since young puppies are fed 4 times a day, the training goes very quickly.

Young puppies play very hard and sleep very hard. When she shows signs of being ready to take a nap, give her a toy and leave her in the crate with the door open to take her nap. After she becomes comfortable with the crate you can begin closing the door while she naps.

When she wakes up, take her outside immediatly.
By doing this, you're getting her accustomed to the crate and housetraining her at the same time.

Do not get her overly excited when you take her from the crate. Just calmly walk outside with her. By doing this she will learn there is no need to fight the crate and scratch and claw to get out!

At night be sure she has had ample opportunity to relieve herself and then ignore her crying.

One thing that might help is to put the crate beside your bed or sleep on the couch for a night or two. When she starts to cry, place your hand close to the crate so she can sense your presence. With some pups, talking to them in a very quiet voice will calm them down. With others it makes it worse. You'll have to figure that out for yourself.

As far as the boyfriend goes' tell him to get real! She's a puppy; what did he expect??? If you don't give in to her, the crying will stop after a night or two or three!

I forgot to ask. How long is she in the crate at one time?

thanks for all the help, i'm glad i can understand her a little better.

she's only about 2 months old. =/

and to Applesmom:
we normally go to bed around 11pm and are up by 8. soo... wow, 10 hours maybe?

never thought of it that way.. but still, i'll try to get her used to her crate. make her feel better about it. hopefully she'll stop seeing it as some kind of punishment.

and by the way, erl, what's a Kong?

A Kong is a toy that you put food in, and the dog has to work to get it out. It takes quite some time, and it keeps them distracted.

Kong Company's site

Congratulations on your baby, because that is what it is like having a puppy. If you have no children, it is very much like bringing home a new baby. The best time to bring home a new puppy is when you have some time at home to spend with it - learn it's personality and it yours.

Being away from it's siblings can be a scary thing. Fill the crate with small pillows, blanket and stuffed animals (no eye or noses that can can be chewed or swallowed) that carries your scent. Is it quiet in the house at night or do you play the radio? Soft music or even a low playing TV in the background can help calm a new puppy at night. Ask your vet to recommend other chew toys (in addition to the Kong) to keep him busy when he wakes up. Any don't be quick to get him when he cries. Like babies, if you pick them up each time they cry they never learn to pacify themselves back to sleep. Make sure his barking is not play. Mine will bark and when I look in on him he is playing with a toy and I let him be. A few minutes later he is back to sleep.

Another idea is to get him a playpen. You can order one online at Walmart for about $50. Enclose it around his crate securely and leave the crate open, lining papers or training pads around it at night until he gets used to going outside (make sure you remove them during the day unless you want him to house trained instead of outside trained.) This will allow him some freedom to go in and out of the crate and if he has to go at night, he can go on the pads. Be sure to keep the bedding in the crate at all times. During the day, enclose him in the crate for a variety of times (2 minutes at one time and 5 minutes the next) until you work up to the entire night. He will become more confident that you will return to let him out and feel more at ease in his crate.

What type of dog is it? The bigger the dog the bigger the bladder. My boxer pup is 3.5 months old and he is ready to go in the crate at 10pm and sleeps all night until I let him out to do his business at 7am. We put him out just before he goes to bed a leave just enough water and food to comfort, but not to fill him up.

When we first brought him home at 8 weeks he was a peeing/pooping/eating machine. We were persistent and took him outside basicially every hour during the day and after each feeding and I took him out 2 or 3 times at night. It wasn't until a couple weeks ago he finally started to catch on about "outside", but he is getting very good at it. We just have to pay attention for when he walks to the door.

Just be patient and good luck. Puppies require a lot of effort on your part, but in the long run it pays off with lots of love.

realistically a dog is not going to hold it for 10 hours. Both of my potty trained adult dogs cant do that. We always let them out to go potty before we go to bed. Even if we got to bed at 11 or 12 they always have to go out at around 5 in the morning to go potty. If we are lucky they will hold it until 6 or 630 but this isnt often.

So before the puppy goes in the crate take it out to go potty.

I never did crate training with my dogs so I cant really give you advice on that. The way my dogs were potty trained was we would let them out often even if they didnt have to go potty. Any time they stood by the slider we would let them out so that they learned to associate going outside with standing by the slider.

Also we kept all other doors in the house closed so they couldnt sneak off to pee in another room secretly. Any time they did just walk off in the house I would follow them until I could trust them.

Just repeating these behaviors and always letting them out to pee before and after bed my dogs were trained within weeks. Also my dogs stand at the slider now any time they want to go outside. Its pretty nice (im not really good at explaining how we did it because it really just happened)

BTW, I have him in the kitchen so I can hear him if he whines to go out at night and he doesn't. But should he, I'd be there in a minute to let him out. So, please don't think I ignore the puppy all night. He does this all on his own.

we're getting rid of her ;-;

she pee'd on me twice and my boyfriend once. pee'd on his guitars (he's a music freak and has a serious guitar obsession) and broke the neck of one of his guitars by playing tug-o-war with the guitar strap.

and even though we don't feed her after 6 o' clock and walk her at least 3 times between then and bedtime she pee's and poops in her crate.

;-; i'm gonna miss her.

thanks for your help guys. i really appriciate it.

This is one puppy will be much better off in a new home. The sooner the better!

She's young enough that once she gets into a home that understands that she's "just a baby" she should do just fine!

I sincerely hope you don't get another puppy drella05 until you've learned what owning a puppy requires. And have the time and the patience to provide those requirements.

hey..

well, i got her to stop crying all night in her crate!
so he's reconsidering. my boyfriend i mean.

she's stopped biting us. she'll bite at everything else though =P

baby proofed the house which has made things alot easier.

i think we just didn't know exactly what we were getting into getting a puppy.

we're learning though ^.^

To keep her from chewing on certain things you can try spraying Bitter Apple on stuff. Most dogs don't like it, but if she does there's another product called Triple Bitter by the same maker of Bitter Apple that's supposed to work for those few that like Bitter Apple.

Also, if you can keep her, enroll in a puppy obedience class. They will cover the basics of training, puppy behavior, and socialization. They help a lot.

erm... how much do obediance classes normally cost...?

and i will remember that the next time we're in petsmart ^_^ thanks!

it really depends

If your city mails out a catalog with activities and classes you may want to check there. Thats where I found my dogs class. For us it cost about $70.

There are places like PetSmart that offer classes. But I have watched their classes and seriously think they are laughable because of how horrible they are (at least the one at my PS is). If you were to go through them it should be like a last ditch effort if you cant find a class or one that you can afford

My Petsmart classes are $100 and up. I also think that you should go somewhere else than Petsmart at first. The environment is too distracting for beginners.
My classes cost $85 for six weeks. It's one of the best investments you can make though, especially with a puppy.
I like Sabriel's idea of looking at the city's catalog thing. I've found classes there too but haven't tried them.

thanks for all your help

Where did you get the puppy?

The puppy's early environment may help or hinder in learning about this.