# Puppy Wants to Play at 2am



## Ske1etonkeys (Jan 2, 2016)

I have a 9 1/2 week old puppy and while I know she can't sleep through the night because of her bladder, she always wakes up around 1 or 2am and won't go back to sleep for about an hour or hour and a half because she wants to play. She sleeps with my boyfriend and me in the bed and has for over 2 weeks, so she's not crate trained at night. My boyfriend would like for her to continue sleeping with us, but I'm having a hard time tiring her back out at 2am so she'll sleep. If I don't tire her back out she'll bite and jump all over us. I've tried tiring her out before bedtime in general, but the result is always the same. How can I get her back to sleep? And my boyfriend isn't really willing to crate her at night even though I know it would probably help.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Your boyfriend isn't going to like my answer but--- crate her at night for now. Take her out once in the night for a quick potty break around the time she tends to wake up, it helps to set an alarm so that you get up and take her out before she starts getting worked up. In and out, no play outside and no play inside, just right back into the crate to settle back to sleep. 

Once she's learned to settle herself back down for the rest of the night, she can go back to sleeping in your bed.

Its also very helpful to have a dog that is comfortable sleeping alone, whether in a crate or on a dog bed (once they are trusted not to roam and get into trouble) because things happen over time where now and then the dog simply has to sleep alone and you don't want the dog having a lot of anxiety or barking all night at those times. Vet visits, humans get sick or injured, travel, dog needs boarded or pet-sat, etc.


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## Hermes1 (Jan 3, 2014)

This ^, she is too young to be out of a crate or pen at night or unattended. If you do crate her and when she calls out to go potty, you should do so without any fanfare other than to tell her go potty, or whatever phrase you use and of course praise her when she does potty. If she tries to engage in any play after, do not encourage and instead ignore it, make sure she goes then back to the crate. Also helpful to minimize the amount of light you turn on. We used a flashlight to see our way to the crate.


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## TheDarkestMinds (Feb 28, 2015)

I am bad. I have an 8 week old puppy I allow to sleep with me at night. He too usually wakes around 2 or 6am for a potty break in the night. When we go back to bed he is fiesty. When I take him to bed I always bring at least three dog toys with me. So when he gets playful I give him a toy which he wrestles with next to me. It doesn't take long before he is tuckered out and back to snoozing.


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## twintater (Nov 27, 2015)

For your own sanity and sleep you'll have to crate that dog at night. I wasn't crazy about crating when we got our last dog but we learned it was a necessary evil and in time we learned that it wasn't really evil at all. Your bf is going to have to get over it or or accept that fact that he will have to play with a dog a 2am for possibly the next few months.


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## TheDarkestMinds (Feb 28, 2015)

I gotta say I have never had a puppy continue to wake me up at 2 am FOR MONTHS. More like a week or two tops.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

My style is that nighttime is for sleeping, pee breaks allowed of course but NO playing or wrestling or anything other than snoozing as far as activity. If play is okay with someone, that's cool for them but if its becoming a problem for the owner, then it seems best nip the problem in the bud basically. 



TheDarkestMinds said:


> I am bad. I have an 8 week old puppy I allow to sleep with me at night. He too usually wakes around 2 or 6am for a potty break in the night. When we go back to bed he is fiesty. When I take him to bed I always bring at least three dog toys with me. So when he gets playful I give him a toy which he wrestles with next to me. It doesn't take long before he is tuckered out and back to snoozing.


A few minutes of wrestling seems a lot different than an hour+
It also depends a lot on the human, many people can fall back to sleep very easily after 10 minutes of moving around like a zombie for a potty break while on the other hand, people might take an additional hour or two to fall back asleep if they're awoken to the point of playing tug and being annoyed for an hour. 



TheDarkestMinds said:


> I gotta say I have never had a puppy continue to wake me up at 2 am FOR MONTHS. More like a week or two tops.


Since the OP has had the dog for 2 weeks and its still an issue, I still strongly suggest crating for at least a few weeks until the pup learns that nighttime ain't playtime. If the dog continues to get the positive reinforcement of playtime in the night, it is entirely possible that the dog will continue to want to play in the night. Which is slightly different than the dog simply waking the human in the night for his bodily needs


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## TheDarkestMinds (Feb 28, 2015)

I didn't say the owner should do what I do. I was simply sharing my experience. I told her that it IS different for everyone and it is a PERSONAL choice. Never said my way is the better way. It is simply what works for me. My bad.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

LOL Lincoln used to wake up at 5am every morning when he was young and that didnt stop until he was almost a year  he would whine, move around in his crate, make a fuss, etc, and I would ignore him (he went out about 1 or 2 am and didnt have anything to drink after that so I know it wasnt that). His "puppy witching hour" just happened to be 5 am ... LOL ... but luckily he quickly learned to take it out on his chews (he still does that today).

That being said, I would stand firm with the crate training, every dog should at least know how to "be" in a crate, for the groomers, vets office, etc ...


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## TheDarkestMinds (Feb 28, 2015)

Oh I definitely agree all dogs should learn to be in the crate. I just have never much been one for crating at night. Maybe I have lucked out with my puppies in the past. But I do utilize crates.


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