It sounds kind of harsh but I do believe that's where I'd put him. If you have a little space heater, maybe plug it in?
I don't think it'll take long at all for him to get the idea - likely less than a week. And then you can bring the crate back upstairs and if he starts again, back down he goes. We had to take ours down once more after the initial 2 days but then it sunk in.
It's a very frustrating time. And you can become so unsure of yourself.
I always thought of it this way with everything I do: "is this how I want her to behave when she's an adult?" Sometimes they have to graduate to the next level (ie sleeping outside the crate, which ours now does) but it's all training. You're training them how to treat you. If the multiple wake up calls become the norm, it could be difficult to change later.
I remember the days well. There was a time I wished we had never gotten a dog but now it's so worth it! Hang in there!

Originally Posted by linda_wlu

It sounds kind of harsh but I do believe that's where I'd put him. If you have a little space heater, maybe plug it in?
I don't think it'll take long at all for him to get the idea - likely less than a week. And then you can bring the crate back upstairs and if he starts again, back down he goes. We had to take ours down once more after the initial 2 days but then it sunk in.
It's a very frustrating time. And you can become so unsure of yourself.
I always thought of it this way with everything I do: "is this how I want her to behave when she's an adult?" Sometimes they have to graduate to the next level (ie sleeping outside the crate, which ours now does) but it's all training. You're training them how to treat you. If the multiple wake up calls become the norm, it could be difficult to change later.
I remember the days well. There was a time I wished we had never gotten a dog but now it's so worth it! Hang in there!

I'm completely unsure of myself right now! We're first time dog owners, too - so I keep waffling on what to do with him when I go back to work, whether he should be in the crate or if I should barricade him in the kitchen with some puppy pads down.

Thinking of him as an adult dog helps - I definitely want him to be 100% crate trained as an adult. I just wasn't sure whether it was unrealistic to expect him to hold it for that long.

My advice is absolutely have him crated when you're at work and any other time you're away. Guaranteed he'll get into trouble otherwise. And dogs don't want to pee where they sleep so that works in our favour for house training.

Also make sure the crate isn't too big otherwise he'll pee/poo on one end and sleep on the other. It should be just big enough for him to turn around in and lay down. No bigger.

Originally Posted by linda_wlu

My advice is absolutely have him crated when you're at work and any other time you're away. Guaranteed he'll get into trouble otherwise. And dogs don't want to pee where they sleep so that works in our favour for house training.

Also make sure the crate isn't too big otherwise he'll pee/poo on one end and sleep on the other. It should be just big enough for him to turn around in and lay down. No bigger.

The crate is small, so there should be no worries there. We've bought a full 48" crate with a divider in it that we can use to gradually give him more room as he grows and needs more room to stand up.

I'd love for him to be crated while we're at work, but with him being only 8 weeks, I think we'd have to have someone come in and let him out halfway through the day, at least for a few weeks until he hits the point where your pup was when you got her.

ok, I've been reading all the posts. I just want to share what I did for storm, this is just what I did.

I got Storm at 8 wks. He slept under my desk in my room. He cried when he wanted out so I was lucky. this night time thing lasted about 2 weeks.

I worked so I had my next door neighbour come every 2 hrs, then upped it weekly by 1/2 hours.

I did not crate Storm, I personally don't like them. storm was corned off in the basement. He did not get a huge area, but much bigger then a crate. I would open up the area bit by bit. I had to make it smaller at one point because he would mess in one area.

My basement is a walk out but it is cool and that is were he likes to go. When I left he got a treat and still does, so he knows the routine and doesn't bully me at the door when I leave.

It is tough with a puppy and I wish you luck

Originally Posted by Barneys Mom

The crate is small, so there should be no worries there. We've bought a full 48" crate with a divider in it that we can use to gradually give him more room as he grows and needs more room to stand up.

I'd love for him to be crated while we're at work, but with him being only 8 weeks, I think we'd have to have someone come in and let him out halfway through the day, at least for a few weeks until he hits the point where your pup was when you got her.

If someone you trust is able to do that for you, it's definately a plus! i'm pretty sure our girl was 13 weeks when we got her so you wouldn't have to do it long. We debated going that route as well but there was really no one close by and again we thought that she'd have to learn and we'd have to be willing to clean up a few messes.
Whatever you choose to do I'm sure will work out well. They learn fast despite their stubborn streak

Originally Posted by frisssel

ok, I've been reading all the posts. I just want to share what I did for storm, this is just what I did.

I got Storm at 8 wks. He slept under my desk in my room. He cried when he wanted out so I was lucky. this night time thing lasted about 2 weeks.

I worked so I had my next door neighbour come every 2 hrs, then upped it weekly by 1/2 hours.

I did not crate Storm, I personally don't like them. storm was corned off in the basement. He did not get a huge area, but much bigger then a crate. I would open up the area bit by bit. I had to make it smaller at one point because he would mess in one area.

My basement is a walk out but it is cool and that is were he likes to go. When I left he got a treat and still does, so he knows the routine and doesn't bully me at the door when I leave.

It is tough with a puppy and I wish you luck

Thanks for sharing, Frisssel! Storm's gorgeous It sounds like you had a great setup. Good to know that the night wakeups seem to be only lasting 2 weeks for a lot of people - since I'm off on "Pupternity Leave" for two weeks, I should get the worst of it out of the way before I'm back to work!

We actually just moved to our neighbourhood so we don't know any of the neighbours well enough to trust them with a key. I'd be leaning more towards a professional pet care service coming in to let Barney out.

My husband works varied shifts, so he's off 4-5 days during the week and I'm off on weekends, so it would be a matter of Barney being crated for 6 hours for 4 days one week, then for 6 hours for 2 days the next, and the following week it would be 8 hours for 5 days. After that, he'd be at the 13-week point that Linda's pup was able to hold her bladder for 9 hours, which would be the case for that week.

Originally Posted by Barneys Mom

Thanks for sharing, Frisssel! Storm's gorgeous It sounds like you had a great setup. Good to know that the night wakeups seem to be only lasting 2 weeks for a lot of people - since I'm off on "Pupternity Leave" for two weeks, I should get the worst of it out of the way before I'm back to work!

We actually just moved to our neighbourhood so we don't know any of the neighbours well enough to trust them with a key. I'd be leaning more towards a professional pet care service coming in to let Barney out.

My husband works varied shifts, so he's off 4-5 days during the week and I'm off on weekends, so it would be a matter of Barney being crated for 6 hours for 4 days one week, then for 6 hours for 2 days the next, and the following week it would be 8 hours for 5 days. After that, he'd be at the 13-week point that Linda's pup was able to hold her bladder for 9 hours, which would be the case for that week.

That's a great setup. He'll never be in the crate all day, every day of the week. I wish that could have been an option for us! How was your night last night?

Last night was good! I took him outside at around 9:30pm and we did a few laps around the yard after he went potty, and then put him in his crate for the night.

I woke him up at 2am, he went to the bathroom and happily back in his crate, no whining. No more wake-ups until 6am.

I think starting next week, I'll try and push him to a 2:15 wake-up for three days, see how it goes, and then push the time to 2:30 for three days, etc etc until we're up to 5:30 (my wake-up time during the week).

Originally Posted by Barneys Mom

Last night was good! I took him outside at around 9:30pm and we did a few laps around the yard after he went potty, and then put him in his crate for the night.

I woke him up at 2am, he went to the bathroom and happily back in his crate, no whining. No more wake-ups until 6am.

I think starting next week, I'll try and push him to a 2:15 wake-up for three days, see how it goes, and then push the time to 2:30 for three days, etc etc until we're up to 5:30 (my wake-up time during the week).

That's a good sign if you had to wake him! Glad he's adapting to your schedule so quickly.