Hi all

My Bernese pup Bailey who is nearly 12 weeks old has been with me for 3 nights now.  I have him downstairs in a crate on a night time because I do not want him in my room.  His cage is 'den like' and he has the puppy hot water bottle (with cover etc so it's safe), old t-shirt and 1 toy.  I also leave an audio book playing low level so there's a bit of background noise.

On the first night, he barked for about half hour before settling down and sleeping; I was so imporessed!  I set my alarm to take him out into the garden at 3.30am and when I came downstairs he was quiet but awake.  We went outside, he peed straight away, then back in and he settled down after 5 minutes of barking right through till wake up time.

2nd night was very similar - except I didn't come down till about 4.30am - again, no mess, and he was quiet.  He returned back into his cage afterwards and settled down again.

Thinking I was on to a winner, - I tired him out last night something rotten before going to bed...but at 4.30am he was barking away.  I waited till a quiet moment to go into the room and then took him into the garden.  He just wanted to play...didn't pee at all!  I walked him up and down trying to 'ignore' him as it were for about 15 minutes but then brought him back in and put him back in his cage.  He continued to bark for about 30 minutes, which was unusual in the middle of the night so I took him back out into the garden again.  And again, he just wanted to play...so brought him back in after 15 mins of not peeing!!  He then barked in his cage for about an hour until I simply got up for the day...

So basically, as far as I can see - he's actually held his bladder from 10.30pm to 6.30am which is amazing...!  I don't mind letting him out in the middle of the night at the moment simply because I know he'll need to relieve himself more regularly - BUT, how do I stop him from waking up at 4.30am and not going back to sleep?!  I don't want him to get into the routine of getting me downstairs to go out to play in the middle of the night!

Sorry for the long post - just wanted to give lots of info in case someone could offer up some advice??

Thanks

Your first night is pretty much what I would do with a new pup, in that I would set an alarm for about the same time to take pup out - the aim being to pre-empt the need for the pup to wee.  I don't talk to the pup, just carry it out, let do business and pop back into crate. I tend to do this for the first couple of nights and then extend the time of the alarm so by over a 1 week period we're up to normal getting up time. What you don't want to happen is for the pup to anticipate the alarm, so getting you up in the middle of the night all the timel I do generally expect, and have, a pup by the age of 9 or 10 weeks that will happily hold onto bladder contents ovenight, up to 9 hours.

What I would do though, is have a pup in my room for the first week or two. I understand people not wanting them in the room the whole time, but I believe that by having them in the room for the first week does not then lead to the expectation that's where they sleep forever more. I think it's pretty harsh and a big change in a pup's lifestyle going to a new home and then being thrust into isolation at night.  Also by having him in your room for this very short period, you are more than likely to hear if he needs to go for a wee, they'll tend to make a whine, so you can deal with it before it becomes a demanding bark.

Have a look at your routine in the short time you've had him ... you haven't changed the time of his last meal, or similar? Are you sure you're not interacting with him when you take him out in the middle of the night? - straight out, pee, straight back again, if he doesn't pee within 5 mins then he doesn't need to, also take him to the same spot each time, where he's previously peed. I wouldn't leave anything playing overnight, when left during the day yes, but not at night time. It's early days and it will work out, promise!

Your first night was perfect!! :) so I would continue with that routine for the next couple of days and then gradually knock the getting up during the night altogether.

IMO, the second night where you had tired him out before bedtime and he had then woken you up several times, you take him out for a 'wee' and he only wants to play, he had actually got over excited before bedtime, and because you had got up to him each time he had barked, he had got wise to this and if you like 'played on it' :) I am not slating you, I know how difficult it can be to have a pup sleep peacefully through the night, and there are so many different ways that people deal with this situation, but in my experience I have never had my pups upstairs with me, ONE because if you eventually want them to sleep downstairs you are infact IMO, making more work for yourself in that you would have to get him used to sleeping back downstairs anyway, and TWO the most important, a Bernese pup should not be climbing up or down stairs at a young age due to their soft bones, so keeping him downstairs in his den is perfect.
I had a Bernese pup that would bark the first couple of nights I had him, I did like you and gave him a covered hot water bottle, soft music, cuddly toys etc: he did settle after a couple of days of me ignoring his wimpers and barks, I did go down and let him out for wee, ignoring him etc, but soon realised I was being woken up for company instead of wee duty!! So I stopped getting up and within a couple of nights he settled great!! :)
So hang on in there, what seems like he's getting worse, will work out all ok. :)

Thanks both...yeah night 1 worked great and I was so positive, that I must remember that one set back last night isn't the end of the world...it's really early days yet!  I will try and make sure we have an early play session outside this evening and then a bit more calm time before bed (as long as I can keep him awake!) so will see if that helps.  Was reassuring to know that pups this young can start to work towards holding it all night...think the cage training helps with that??

It's just when he barks for that in the middle of the night, I have this image of him sat there with his legs crossed...instead he has alteriour 'playful' motives!!