If you’ve ever had a young puppy, you might be familiar with how unsettling the first few nights can be. Our vets have given their advice on why puppies cry at night and how to help them.
A new puppy can be a great addition to your household, but they are definitely a lot of hard work, especially in their first few weeks. If you’re a first-time puppy owner you might’ve already heard stories about how hard it can be to take care of a new puppy at night.
Puppies tend to cry out or bark when they’re upset or stressed about something. You might be wondering why they’d cry out at night when they’re just sleeping, but think about it from your puppy’s perspective. They’ve spent their whole life up until now sleeping in a pile of their littermates, right next to their mum. This is how they feel safe sleeping. To suddenly have no one there with them at night can be a real shock so it’s understandable that they may cry and bark if they wake up.
You might think that your puppy will be OK when you settle them down to go to bed, but at such a young age they will probably need a toilet break during the night which will wake them up. They’re then likely to cry out because they need to be let out to the loo and they’re frightened because no one is there.
What can I do to help my puppy at night?
Bedtime routines can be really helpful. Once they’ve had their evening meal, take them out to the toilet, then give them time for a final play. Let them have their fun, but before they get too tired take them outside for the last toilet before bed. Then you can put them in their crate or bed with their favourite chew or toy and let them play quietly while you’re around.
Prepare their bed so that it’s warm and comfortable – teddy bears can be useful as they’re soft and bulky, perfect to snuggle up to (but make sure they can’t be chewed up and swallowed!). If their bed is too open and exposed, it can make your puppy feel vulnerable. Leave your puppy to play calmly on their own in their bed and once they’re settled you can leave them to go to sleep.
If your puppy struggles to settle then you might want to sleep in the same room as them, but still follow their bedtime routine. This will help to build up their confidence and get them used to not having mum and siblings around them every night, but reassure them that they’re not alone.
If your puppy does wake up and cry, first make sure they don’t need the toilet (many young puppies won’t be able to hold their bladder through the night yet). Then gently settle them back down in their bed. Try not to give them too much fuss and attention – just enough to make them feel comforted.
Gradually your puppy will get more confident and be more likely to sleep through the night. You could try giving them their favourite toy or chew at bedtime (as long as it’s safe to leave them alone with it) as chewing can help soothe and calm them.
Never underestimate the power of the potty!
Not a literal potty, of course, but potty training. Your pup can only hold its bladder for a wee while (see what we did there?), so make sure the very very last thing you do at night is take them outside for a toilet break. In the early days, if your furry friend can only hold its pee for a few hours you may have to make an early-hours trip to the garden each night (find out more in our article about toilet training). If you get woken up by Fido singing the song of his people (i.e. crying and whining), follow these steps to ensure that your pooch gets what he needs without getting the wrong idea.
That’s it, and it sounds a little harsh but it’s important to keep things brief so that your pupper doesn’t start yowling for fuss and cuddles in the middle of the night.
And by this, we mean ‘decide if crate training is right for you and your pup’. You’ll need to do a little research, as crate training isn’t as simple as popping the pupper into a crate and leaving her there. It means building up a strong positive association with the crate, so that she feels safe in there. By properly crate training a puppy, crying soon turns into snoring! You do this by feeding her all meals in the crate, rewarding her for entering the crate, and ensuring that no one bothers her while she’s in there (particularly strangers, other pets or kids!).
When you combine this positivity with a little additional training, you’ll find she settles down in there much more easily and even takes herself off for naps in her crate, too! The additional training includes not opening the door to let her out of the crate unless she is quiet, for the same reason that you don’t pet a crying pupper at night. If she is crying and you need to take her out, get her to do something first; tell her to sit, or lie down, then reward and release!