Our Cocker Spaniel is just coming up for 9 weeks old and we bought her home last Saturday.  Our only problem is with her crying and barking through the night.  I expected it for the first couple of nights but it really isn't getting any better.  We are using a puppy crate and leave her to cry working on the principle that if we return to her it will only encourage her to cry some more. Are we not giving it enough time or should we consider sleeping in the room with her for couple of nights?  Could it be the crate as she doesn't spend much time in it during the day preferring our feet! She also crys and barks when we leave the room but I've read lots of advice about dealing with that one and we're giving it a go, it's just the night time that's a real problem - it literally goes on the whole night with the odd 10 - 30 minute rest.  We're exhausted!

I would pop her in the crate for a few short periods during the day.  Try feeding her in there and pop her in when you see her falling asleep.

For night times try covering the cage with a blanket, just leave the door uncovered.  It often makes them feel more secure.  If you have room in your bedroom, you could move it in there of a night to start with, use the blanket just the same though.

Good luck, it will get better :)

i found it took about 3 weeks for mine to get the message, but i expect they are all different, i was a zombie for the first month.................it will get better

hi,
what i would do is get her to sleep in there during the day too so that she knows what is expected.... if she falls asleep elswhere in the house then scoop her up and pop her back in there.   you could also try putting an old jumper (that has been worn in or near the crate so that they can smell you still.)  I always fed my puppies in their crates till they were too big to eat out of the bowls provided (I have a large breed though) It does get better and you are doing everything correctly with not going to her when crying etc. You may need to pop her out to the loo at some point in the night, apart from that   good luck with your new pup!!

Oh how I sympathise with you. I've only had pup home one night and I'm shattered already I'd forgotten how much noise can come from one so small, and how long they can do it for :rolleyes: Went to bed, finally, at 2 am and was woken up again at 5.30! She's only been asleep for the past hour and for a minute I thought I'd gone deaf :P She is lovely though, and one look from those gorgeous eyes and she's forgiven :)

*yawn*

Our puppy of 17 weeks is not crated but sleeps alone in the kitchen. We have discovered that if at bedtime we dim the lights and just sit at the kitchen table quietly ignoring her, she settles about 11pm and is fine all night. If though we just go out and leave her to it she will make a big fuss. Bit of a palava but worth it for a good sleep.

On a slightly different tack a method that worked with a pup I sold was for the owners to come into the pup take out for a wee wordlessly and ignore the pup whilst they made a cup of tea, pottered about etc until pup flopped out to sleep and then left the room with no fuss.  any time he cried they did come in but were so uninteresting and ignore the pup that he got the idea that no interaction would result when he cried at night.

I don't use a crate but all my dogs have slept in the kitchen. When Nips was tiny I found that a quiet end to the day (also involving the pottering around making last cups of tea), the leaving of the radio on very softly and a discreet exit that didn't involve cuddles but just a soft "Goodnight Pup" soon got him into a happy bedtime routine. If you are using a crate then certainly pop the pup into it for daytime sleeps too.

I'd like to offer you more words of comfort but I am afraid our dear little cockers have a richly deserved reputation of being very willful :)  It is very tiring and you have my complete sympathy but, having decided you want your dog to sleep alone, you simply have to persevere.  As the others have suggesting encouraging a decent level of independence during the day will help and ensuring that the nighttime sleeping area is comfortable and cosy enough, protecting from draughts (kitchens can get jolly cold during the night with the CH off and we don't always realise because of course we set it to come on before we come down in the morning) will too but winning this battle will not only give you the peaceful nights without a dog in your room, if that is what you want, but will set you on the right track for demonstrating that your new little treasure is not going to be setting the rules :)

My pups (Cavalier King Charles Spaniels) cried and cried through the night when I had them crated downstairs.  They were used to the crate and were happy in it in the day.  I read a book that said that puppies (and dogs) prefer to sleep with their "pack" because then they know where everyone is.  You are their pack.  Your pup is crying for you because they are worried where you are.

As soon as I moved their crate into my bedroom, the crying stopped at night immediately.  The only time I was woken up was when they needed a wee.  This has to be expected with such a young pup as they can't hold their bladder all night.

Mine now go through the night and wake up to my alarm clock, and not before!  Sometimes I even have to drag Douggie out of bed!

This might not suit everyone, but it makes real sense to me.  If you are alpha dog, your pup will not want to be away from your protection so...
I still cover mine with a blanket though.  It gives them the added security. 

Hope it works and try it tonight if you can.

Please don't take your pup into bed unless you want them there permanently.  They will not want to sleep anywhere else if they get a taster (well would you? :-D)  Sometimes it can seem like the only option, but it really isn't.

I have always started with pups in the bedroom, then after a week or so (or longer) slept downstairs with them for a few weeks - and then they are secure enough usually to not be so worried, also they have their routine by then :)

Lindsay
x

I move into the spare room with pups (including ones I have bred myself) for 10 days - 2 weeks. I set the alarm clock for 3am and take the puppy out then and having the pup beside me makes this convenient. I don't crate the pups in the spare bedroom, they just have a bed beside mine. I've never had the slightest difficulty moving the pups to sleep in a big crate in the kitchen after their time in the bedroom. That said, the fact that the adults sleep in the kitchen (uncrated) may help them settle there.

As Lindsay says, the time with me in the bedroom allows puppies to feel secure and get into the routine of the house. IMO it also helps with bonding and house training too.

That is fine if you plan to have dogs sleeping in your bedroom :)  Like you say whatever you allow them they are likely to want to continue, never more so than with a cocker ;). 

I tend to want to have mine in my room.  I know what they're up to then! :-)

I have always had mine in the crate in the room I want to sleep in for the rest of their lives! There can be no confusion that way as to why their crate is moving around the house plus I don't allow the dogs upstairs unless it is bath-time and then it is a complete struggle to get them up their as they hardly ever do it so have learnt that downstairs is the place to be :-)

Once the crating habit is established you should be able to put them in it anywhere to sleep.  We take ours camping with us and have no trouble settling all 5 of them as long as they can sleep in their crates.  They also settle well at shows and go to sleep as long as they are in their crates. 

I too don't have a problem if we are away and take the crate, but at home it is a different matter, they like to be in the same place... I know strange really but I suppose they all have to be different ;-)

Hi
My new pup has been home for 3 weeks and she has been bitch from hell!  Made my boy look like a walk in the park!  I slept downstairs with her for the first week whilst she was in her crate but she still continued to scream.  She had warm pads, cuddly toys, ticking clocks, me, the other dog but she would kick-off until about 3am when the boy would get up and go to her crate, grumble and growl at her and whack the crate with his paw! I'm sure that was the canine equivalent of 'now shut the f**k up.  You're doing my head in, I've got a headache and need an aspiriin!'

On a more serious note, what DID work was: feeding her in the crate;  hiding treats in her bedding; putting her in the crate every time she fell asleep at my feet during the day; being in close proximity whilst she was in the crate and gradually moving further away (and ultimately out of sight); dropping treats in the crate every time I went past and she was quiet - ignoring at all other times.  I also kept a puppy 'sleep diary' to see if there were any patterns as to when she fell asleep during the day and then modified my night time routine accordingly. Puppy sleep deprivation was the 'norm' from 8pm to 1130pm......ie play, play, play, train, train, train!  Also, although most people say not to feed late at night so the pup has no need to defecate, I found that madam would fall asleep on a full stomach at the drop of a hat!  Getting up later in the night to let her out after several hours of peaceful sleep was much the lesser of two evils for me!

Good luck!

I'm afraid I don't have any time for alpha dog theories so far as crying for humans in the night is concerned (humans not being part of canine packs) but I'm sure that all tiny pups would prefer to cuddle up in human beds if the alternative is to sleep alone in the kitchen. That's fine if you want to have a dog sleeping with you for the rest of its life but for those of us who think dogs manage just fine in a warm cosy kitchen overnight, you've got to get this routine sorted as soon as possible. Having had a cocker spaniel myself who gave my OH the evil eye every single night when invited to go downstairs to bed, despite obeying the request, I can well believe the persistence of your pup! It's well worth persisting yourself though if downstairs is where you want her to sleep.

We had this but only for a couple of nights.
First night - fine.....too tired after a busy first day !.
Second night was very different !. As soon as I heard a whine I crept downstairs, hall light on (not kitchen where he was), didn't speak to him at all, picked him up and put him in the garden - just to be sure he didn't want a wee, then I put him back in his pen and hid outside the kitchen. At the first sign of a noise I just shouted 'No' very firmly and after a few times he stopped and it didn't happen again.
I then realised, as I stood there, just how cold it was. Middle of the winter, central heating had gone off and I felt awful that this poor little lad had been taken away from him Mum and brother and had been put on his own in a cold room.
Solved very easily, hot water bottle wrapped up in my old t-shirt..............never had another sleepless night !.

Val

Hi, we just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you for your replies.  We are trying some of the suggestions about feeding in the crate etc and things look like they are improving already!  We'll keep our fingers crossed.

feeding in crate made my dog love her crate!, we always used to put treats and kongs(stuffed with wet dog food and peanut butter) in!

after a year- we have removed her crate and she is adult enough now to have an open bed, even though- it has always been this way- she loves the sofa more!

pups are tiring- but what you put in now will pay off ten fold, just remember to enjoy them!xx