What To Do If Your Puppy Cries At Night?
Puppies And Night-Time
It is nothing new that most puppies are taken away from their mothers and homes when they are as young as two months old. The worst part is that some breeders or dog owners lack the adequate resources or knowledge to properly care for these pups. Before embarking on your journey to parenthood, there are certain things you need to know about young dogs. Their sleep cycle is one of them.
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Puppies can be very energetic and so much fun. They always want to be engaged in something, but too much activity for long hours can be detrimental to their health. They are still tender growing animals and
sleep is an essential part of their development.
Also, their active lifestyle demands so much rest from them. Their brain, central nervous system, and immune system are still at the earliest stages of growth. Lack of sleep could incur lifelong damages that surgery or other medical practices will not be able to get to the bottom of.
Now that we have established that sleep is an integral part of their development. We need to be cognizant of how much sleep can be translated as proper sleep. Puppies need about ten to twenty hours of sleep in a day to remain energetic and full of life for the remaining few hours left in the day.
You should be mindful of their movements and where they go because they might fall asleep anywhere once they get tired and you shouldn't let that happen. Ensure that it has a safe haven
where it can rest if it feels the need to. This brings me to my next subtopic.
Where Should My Puppy Sleep When I Bring Him Home?
Most people assume that puppies should be given comfort and relaxation during bedtime. Also since it will never get to experience the warmth of sleeping in its mother's arms, we should try to make up for all its missing. This is why most people think the right thing to do is to have their puppies sleep with them on the same bed. So that they can cuddle it
up like a doll and keep it warm throughout the night.
While I agree with the reason behind their actions, the execution is wrong, as dog owners, we cannot make up for what they have lost, at least not in this aspect. However, there are methods put in place by professionals to help them enjoy a similar kind of comfort. You should get a crate, crates are a form of personal sleeping and resting space that they can retire to when they are tired and stressed.
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This is what you should focus on, make certain the crate is big enough to fit it and it is well ventilated. Sheets and other materials you put in it should be of the best quality. Although dogs hate to soil their place of relaxation, I'll still recommend you install a pee pad because you are dealing with a pup and accidents are unpredictable sometimes. When you are done setting up its crate,
you can keep it in your room, right next to your bed.
Train your dog to build a relationship with its crate. You can leave it with a snack whenever it retires to create unforgettable memories with its coop. The position of the crate should be close to you because it might wake up at night crying in need of something (just like a baby).
It is supposed that you will experience sleepless nights in the first few weeks of adoption. As it grows, things will definitely get better, this is the stage it requires your attention more than ever, speaking of attention.
Why Do Puppies Cry At Night?
It is the natural instinct of puppies to cry whenever they are troubled. Dogs learn how to draw attention to them from a very young age by making certain sad noises. These noises are different from their normal barks and triggers emotions in their hearers.
When you hear a dog make this sound, your instincts will tell you that there is something wrong and you should go help. Truly, puppies don't make this sound unless there is something genuinely wrong. Below are reasons puppies cry to get their
owner's awareness.
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1. Hunger
Puppies cry to let their guardians know that they are famished. Especially when you send them to bed without food. They will wake up in the middle of the night to remind you to feed them. Normal barks cannot call the owner's attention to this fact because barking is linked with energy and we know that hunger makes creatures weak.
This sad sound is associated with weakness. One way to really know it was hunger is to watch its speed while it eats. This should tell you how it felt.
2. Anxiety and Loneliness
Sometimes puppies might miss their former homes and family. It becomes worse if they had their real moms and littermates where they came from. They will find it hard to adjust to their new home. The best thing you can do is to provide them with adequate attention so that they can adjust and get used to you as their new family as quickly as possible.
Also as they grow to love you they will often cry whenever you are away. A good way to solve this is to put something from its former home that still has a scent of that place in its crate. It might be an old toy or something. Just to help it feel at home. If you have more puppies, you can place their crates close to their own. Adjusting to a new environment can be very hard; you will do well to make it at ease.
3. Potty
Just like I mentioned before, dogs don't like to soil their place of relaxation. It is their connate disposition. So whenever
they are pressed in their crates, they will try to call your attention to help them to the toilet. As they grow older and get used to their surroundings, they will be able to locate the toilet themselves. Before then you have to help them every time they need to empty their bladders which will mostly happen at night.
4. They Might Be Hurt
This is perhaps the most sincere reason your puppy might be trying to draw your attention. Maybe it broke a leg or it got hired during the day. You know they are still at the early stages of their lives and are still delicate but they don't know that and are willing to try anything. It is important that you follow them around and monitor their every move at this stage.
Sometimes they might not feel pain immediately but when they are settled and the adrenaline subsides they come back to their senses. What to do in this case would be to take it to the veterinarian so that they can conduct tests. All the points I've enumerated above are potential reasons for your puppy's sadness but the most common ones are potty and loneliness.
What Do You Do When Your New Puppy Cries At Night?
It shouldn't come as a surprise that your dog would mostly cry at night because it might be too busy exploring its surroundings during the day. It will remember its former family and home at night or it might just be in need of a potty break. Whatever it is, you should go to it and find out what is troubling it, do your best to help, and let it go back to sleep.
1. Seek Advice From Its Former Breeders
I think you should ask its former guardians for advice to help it adjust to its new home before you bring it into your house. They might tell you a few things about it and how they were able to curtail its crying. They might give you a few of its favorite things so that you can put them in its crate to help it feel at home. Find out the methods they used to deal with it is howling while it was still in their care and see if you can apply the same techniques to help you.
2. Take It Out For Potty Break
This is one of the most common reasons your puppy would wake up at night. Maybe it needs to pee or defecate. In this case, you should take it out from its cage and carry it to the bathroom but let it walk back into its crate. Your puppy should go back to sleep after this. It might attempt to play with you.
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Do not allow this; remember I said they need ten to twenty hours of sleep. Puppies have been known to wake up six to seven hours into their sleep for potty breaks. Its sleep cycle is not yet complete and midnight or very early in the morning is no time to play. So don't condone such behavior.
3. Feed Her
This can be easily avoided but if you fail to feed it just before bedtime or at least an hour or half before. You should be prepared to do so in the middle of your sleep. The best time to do is before it sleeps; don't allow the poor thing to interrupt its sleep to remind you of what you are supposed to do.
4. Make Her Crate A Place Where She Wants To Be
It is normal for a puppy to hate its crate at first. Crates are like cages and they like to be free. It is up to you to change its mentality and make its crate a place where it wants to be always. Also, it is important to note that you cannot achieve this without training. The first thing you should do to make it return to its crate very often is to put its food in there. When it is time for bed, take it there and reward it with a snack before it sleeps.
The trick is to make it remember that its crate is a place of relaxation and refueling. Please do not lock it in its crate for long hours in the course of your training. That is not the purpose of its crate, it is not a cage. Crying because of its crate is not really a big deal. Just make it as comfy as you can and continue to instruct it. With time it will get used to it.
5. Play Soft Background Music
This is has been closely associated with loneliness and nightmares. Maybe it needs to hear proof that it is not alone because it's scared. Playing soft music can help it calm down and go back to sleep.
6. Take It To The Veterinarian
It might be a health problem. When you are sure that there is nothing you can do to help it. Visit the veterinarian and run some checks.
Should I Ignore My Puppy Crying At Night?
Absolutely not, you should never neglect the cries of your puppy at night or day. You should go closer to them and find out the problem. Leaving them all by themselves when they need you should never be an option. What if they are really hurt, it will only get worse.
It is the same with everything else, if your want its behavior to improve, you have to address its problems. How can you claim you want it to feel at home and get used to the life you have to offer when you are not ready to give it proper care. Make no mistake about it. It was enjoying attention and care wherever it came from.
It had a mother and littermates to play and sleep with. Don't forget that dogs like to move around in packs. Even in the jungle, puppies cry to their mothers and their mothers took care of them. Neglecting its cries, especially at night will make it feel uncomfortable and miss its former home even more.
How Long Does It Take For A Puppy To Stop Crying At Night?
Some puppies cry for hours and go back to sleep but others cry the whole night. Your puppy is supposed to cry every night for the first two weeks because of the new environment. As you train it, it will get used to its surroundings and the crying will stop. If the crying proceeds after a month, you should take it to the veterinarian to run health checks.
CONCLUSION
I hope it was an interesting read and you were able to learn new things as well as find answers to your questions. Below are a few tips to help you in your journey to parenthood:
• Puppies need ten to twenty hours of sleep.
• It will take them a while to adjust to the new environment, please be
patient and take it easy with them.
• It does get better, the whining will stop.
• Remember to seek advice from its former breeders.
• Crying might be an indication of something more severe.