Should I force puppy to nap? A Complete Guide

Tips for Helping Puppy Get Daytime Sleep

Leave your puppy undisturbed. It is hard to resist cuddling him and letting him fall asleep in your lap, but you don’t want him to be dependent on you to fall asleep. Household members, including children, should learn to leave your puppy alone while he is sleeping. But be sure to keep an eye on him because when he wakes up, he’ll need to be taken outside.

Show your puppy where to sleep. If he seems drowsy, encourage him to nap in his safe place: a crate, a dog bed, or a quiet place in the house where he can nap undisturbed. It may take time for him to get the idea, but eventually he’ll recognize that spot as the place for sleep.

Follow a schedule. Plan his day so that active time is followed by quiet time for sleep. He’ll most likely be ready for a nap after playtime or a walk. Your puppy may nap every hour or so, sleeping from 30 minutes to as long as two hours. All of this sleep is perfectly normal.

Recognize overtired behavior. No matter how much fun you’re having, don’t let him get overtired. Too much stimulation and exhaustion can lead to unfortunate behavior. Guide him to his crate or sleeping place and encourage him to wind down.

5 Steps to Crate Training Success

Let’s look at which steps you should take to make sure your pup sees his crate as a place of relaxation. It is extremely important to build a positive connection early on so that your dog will accept and enjoy his crate throughout his life!

You can already have your puppy sleep in his crate the first night that he spends at your house. Some puppies may have already experienced a crate at their breeder or the rescue that you adopted them from.

But also if your puppy is new to the crate, he can sleep in there.

Pay attention to these key aspects:

Only put your pup into the crate if he is really tired. Putting a wide-awake puppy into a crate will result in him fighting to get out!

Make the crate extremely comfortable. Put a lot of blankets in there. Big crates can be made smaller by inserting a divider. You want the crate to be small and cozy. If you live in a hot climate, provide a water bowl for your puppy’s crate.

Ideally you put the pup’s crate close to your own bed. This is the first night he spends away from his littermates and he might be scared! Hearing you breathing and moving will make him calmer.

A very young puppy might need to go to the bathroom during the night. He will likely let you know by stirring or whining and you should take him outside to do his business and then put him back into his crate to continue sleeping.

Crate Training A Puppy: The Smart Way

Crate training a puppy a big topic for new dog owners. There are many benefits to crate training: Crates are a fantastic tool to keep your puppy contained and manage his sleeping schedules in the first month. They also provide him with a safe and comfortable resting spot that he might seek out his whole life!

Many questions come with crate training though:

How long, how often, how to start and when to transition? When should be the first time to crate a puppy? What should be inside the crate, and what amount if time does the training process take?

It can be tough to figure out what to do if your puppy cries in his crate, and how to move from crating to trusting your puppy to roam the house.

The Importance of Puppy Naps

Human parents quickly learn that their new baby needs to get plenty of sleep and naps. But for some reason, many new puppy guardians dont think of getting their puppies a sufficient amount of down time. Puppy naps are key!

Puppies reorganize what they learn or are exposed to when they sleep or nap. These breaks gives the pup’s brain a chance to reorganize their neuropathways so that they can recall the information later.

If your puppy is getting ornery, nippy or mouthey – ask yourself how long its been since it had a nap. Most people don’t realize that adult dogs sleep 17 hours a day on average. Puppies sleep even more.

As a rule of thumb, make sure your puppy gets nap time every few hours, especially on days where you are very active. I can’t tell you how many times I hear from people who take their puppy to the lake or a long all-day outing and report the puppy is being naughty. Its not being naughty, it needs a nap!

Quest gets really mouthey when he needs a nap. That or he stops listening or performing things he knows how to do. If you find your pup acting in a similar fashion, try a nap.

Napping is especially important when training a puppy. Puppy neurons get fatigued easily. This is why its best to keep practice sessions to 1-2 minutes. Combine short practice sessions with regular naps and your pup will learn faster.

Practicing your puppy going down for naps early on helps them get used to taking these little breaks. Id recommend doing this as soon as you bring your puppy home so it just becomes part of the routine.

Frequent naps are also why I strongly recommend setting up a puppy play pen in a spare bedroom. This allows you to close the door and go about your day. Once left alone most puppies take to napping very easily.