# Puppy crying at night/day



## HarleyQuinn81 (Sep 18, 2013)

Hello..New to this forum and I apologize if this subject has been done before!

We just got a 9 week old min pin..We have had it for almost 2 weeks and although he has been really good at learning tricks I have been teaching him (he knows how to sit, lay, jump, fetch, stay) , he can't seem to take to his crate during the night, but also, during the day, I can not leave his sight or he starts whining..At night, he does better, we confine him in our shower with doggy pads and his crate for him to sleep in and he does fairly well, gets up about every 2 hours, I have to pet him and cover him and he goes right back to sleep, then repeat that for the whole night..My question is, how long does this go on for? I understand he came from his litter/breeder where there were lots of other min pins, and I have a blankie with him and don't mind getting up, but for how long? lol ..Also, at what age will he be able to be left in a crate and us leave him alone for at least a couple of hours at a time? I am a stay at home military spouse at the moment so getting up is no problem and potty training him has been although tedious, productive, I am basically just waiting for him to be able to hold his urine/poop once he gets a bit older...But the crying at night..When, on average, does the new puppy whining at night stop? I appreciate your responses in advance..Thank you!

P.S this is my/our very first pup, we had a 13yo cat that passed on recently and you know, cat's are much easier and independent to take care of


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I would start by ignoring him when he whines in the crate, and only giving him attention once he is quiet. For my pup, I preferred to set a schedule and take him out at set times during the night, rather than waiting for him to wake me up. Then, if he whined when it wasn't time to take him out, we completely ignored him. Puppies can hold it longer when they're asleep than during the day, so you probably only need to get up once in the middle of the night, maybe twice, but definitely not every 2 hours.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

HarleyQuinn81 said:


> Hello..New to this forum and I apologize if this subject has been done before!
> 
> We just got a 9 week old min pin..We have had it for almost 2 weeks and although he has been really good at learning tricks I have been teaching him (he knows how to sit, lay, jump, fetch, stay) , he can't seem to take to his crate during the night, but also, during the day, I can not leave his sight or he starts whining..At night, he does better, we confine him in our shower with doggy pads and his crate for him to sleep in and he does fairly well, gets up about every 2 hours, I have to pet him and cover him and he goes right back to sleep, then repeat that for the whole night..My question is, how long does this go on for? I understand he came from his litter/breeder where there were lots of other min pins, and I have a blankie with him and don't mind getting up, but for how long? lol ..Also, at what age will he be able to be left in a crate and us leave him alone for at least a couple of hours at a time? I am a stay at home military spouse at the moment so getting up is no problem and potty training him has been although tedious, productive, I am basically just waiting for him to be able to hold his urine/poop once he gets a bit older...But the crying at night..When, on average, does the new puppy whining at night stop? I appreciate your responses in advance..Thank you!
> 
> P.S this is my/our very first pup, we had a 13yo cat that passed on recently and you know, cat's are much easier and independent to take care of


Yep, cats certainly are! 

What you're describing is normal puppy behavior. They whine. Heck, my 6 month old horse sized dog still whines. It's kind of part of the dog package, but it does usually decrease as they get older.

Like raising kids, there are a million different ideas about raising puppies. These are just mine and may or may not work for you and your pup. If it were my puppy, I would not coddle him so much. I would play some crate games with him, giving him treats for going in the crate, giving him treats whenever I catch him being quiet in his crate, etc. I would also cover his crate with a sheet during naps or at night, so it is a nice, cozy cave for him. However, once it was bedtime, I'd put him in his crate with a chewy or a treat, cover it, and let him cry it out. If he learns that crying gets him out of the crate and gets attention...then the crying is reinforced and you'll get...more crying.

I know it's hard...puppies are SO cute and cuddly and can be SO pitiful when they cry. It was even harder for my husband with our pup and he did sleep a couple nights on the floor next to the puppy's crate with a hand inside, but he did manage to leave him in. 

Like the whining in the crate, potty training just takes time...usually a lot more time than you think it should. I'd just set a schedule and take the puppy out on the schedule whether you think he needs it or not. Over time, you can start to lengthen out the times between potty trips and you'll also get to know your dog's own schedule as well as their signs that they need to go. It can take up to a year before they have full control of their bodily functions, though, so be prepared for this to be a long haul.

I have 2 cats and a dog and my cats are far less maintenance, but my dog...he just loves me with everything he's got, as opposed to the aloof cats that sometimes act like I am a nuisance to them!  I love having both.


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## HarleyQuinn81 (Sep 18, 2013)

Thank you for the posts! I tried the water bottle thing last night and he seemed to like the warmth emanating from it, however, he still woke up every 2 hours or so, pretty much every time he got up to pee so I am guessing it will pass as he gains more control of his bladder.. @ packetsmom, I got a good giggle out of your "my horse sized dog" comment  ..Very cute


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## Blueduck1105 (Sep 17, 2013)

I have a puppy too little over three months we just got and going through what seems to be similar puppy behavior.

Unfortunately you are in it for awhile as many mentioned earlier. As a puppy I think for the most part you are going to have to accept there will be some accidents. It will just happen. Our puppy (Holt) loves his crate! At night he has no problem going to sleep. We were waking up once in the middle of the night and then at like 5-530 and just be up for good. 

We both work so he is learning the "fast track" to the being alone thing! We have a walker come in the middle of the day. We just started so hard to tell tendencies about when he has accidents.

We are trying to keep him on a schedule for his food so we have a little more control of his routine. But overall when he whines we just let him whine and he stops after awhile. Keep us posted lot of people are going through this so keep posting and we can help each other out


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## Blueduck1105 (Sep 17, 2013)

Forgot to state last two nights we stopped waking up for him. One night he cried and we let him out and last night he slept all the way through! 


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

Be sure that you're making the night potty outings really boring, no lovey talk or lights on...just business then back to bed. If hte puppy learns to associate fun with waking up every two hours...this is going to be one loooonggg puppyhood. Also, during the day I would feed on a schedule, 3x/day at the same time every day. And at first, I limit water to mealtimes and in the eveing until 90 minutes before bed. You should see a definite elimination pattern develop which will help you know when the puppy really needs to go. That will eliminate some of the false alarms. 

Also, when I knew that summer was coming to an end and our work schedules would dictate that our puppy would be alone more during the day, we started putting her in the crate for 3+/- hours during the day and gradually working up to 4 hours. Our puppy would not mess in her crate so it was a bit of training for her to learn that she would be let out at reasonable times to go. We found that she had no problem with 3 hours and gradually moved up over about two weeks to 4 hours. Around that time we were only getting up with her once or twice during the night. Then one night we forgot to set the alarm to take her out and when we got up in the morning, about 6 hours after her last trip outside the night before, her crate was still dry. She has not needed a night potty trip since about 9 weeks old. If your puppy is crying when in the crate I would crate a bit more often, especially during the day, so that your puppy learns that the crate is not just for keeping him in. My dogs need to know that there are times when it is not safe or practical for them to be running around the house, so they must go in their crates. To start the fun times with a puppy I will generally smear a bit of peanut butter on the crate wall (we have plastic airline type crates) to keep them busy for a while, and I make a point of leaving the room. Then I do that at night when I crate them before bed. Again, associating the peanut butter with something to do and it's not been such a bad place during the day. 

We also keep crates at the opposite end of the house from the bedrooms. The door to the outside is near the family room so that's where the crates are. Once we crate the dogs for the night (yes, the puppy at 16 weeks still cries once in a while) we close the door and go to bed. The puppy will generally only cry for about 10 minutes. Never go back and give in. It may take a few nights, but it will be worth it. Like a human baby, if you know they are fed, pottied, and safe...sometimes you have no control over their crying. Then in the beginning, we set an alarm for every two hours to take the puppy out. If you find the crate dry at two hour intervals then lengthen the time by 15 minutes every few days until you find that the dog is not dry...move the alarm back a bit. 

All dogs are different. But most puppies outgrow the night time trips by 3-4 months. Just be consistent and reasonable. Cut off the water 90 minutes or so before bedtime. Set the alarm, close the door, and go to sleep. And I would start by setting the alarm for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Even if the dog wakes at 2 hours, do not go to the crate until the alarm goes off. See if after a few nights the puppy is going longer before crying.


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## HarleyQuinn81 (Sep 18, 2013)

Thanks everyone for sharing your comments! I will like to add an update on this..Elvis (puppy lol) is now able to go through the entire night w/o having to pee! The kind of downfall to that is that we noticed he does this ONLY when we let him sleep in our bed..Although we don't mind him sleeping with us, I still continue to crate train him throughout the day or in car rides..He whines a bit here and there but then he just lays down and sleeps..I don't keep him in crate with the door closed for more than 1 hr, at least so far. But to add to the sleeping throughout the night, my husband gets up and is gone to work by 7am and me and pup wake up about 9 and as soon as I wake up, I wake him up and run downstairs and to the patio where he unleashes the longest pee and even a poop..So that has been the ritual for a good week now..And for the same amount of time, he has been going by the door throughout the day when he needs to go which has been nice because all those little accidents in the house were starting to really aggravate me  Hopefully in a matter of time, he learns to control his overall potty needs and we can put him in a schedule..All in all, we have had him just over 3 weeks, he turned 12 weeks yesterday, and already he is *mostly* potty trained, can sit, lay, shake hands, 'find the treasure', stay, go and fetch..Oh the joys of being a stay at home puppy parent


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