night time woe

[Blueberry]

I brought Blue home on Monday afternoon.  He's 10 weeks old.  The first two nights were not as bad as expected in terms of crying, I put him in his crate/pen at 10pm, came down to check on him at 3, and then left him again until 6.  I took him outdoors briefly at 3, but he just wanted to play, so I decided on night three to leave him alone all night.  There was some howling, but nothing too difficult to ignore.
Yesterday I tried to keep him up and active as long as possible, thinking if he had less naps in the daytime, he might be more settled at night. 
Last night however, was horrendous.  He started up the noise as soon as I left the kitchen, and he has howled, yapped, sung, barked and groaned all night long - 8 hours solid - honestly, you would never have believed there was just one tiny pup in there, it sounded like a pack of Huskies.  Fortunately we are in a detached house, otherwise I think we'd have had complaints from the neighbours. 
This morning he is still full of beans, wish I could say the same for myself; I'm so tired I feel physically sick.  (And this morning he is biting everything; clothes, legs, feet, face.  If I put my hand up to say No! he bites that as well). 
My hubby is really not impressed - he never wanted a dog in the first place, so this is all down to me to sort out.
How do I get him to behave at night time, and how long can I expect it to take until he settles at night?  (The biting I know has been addressed many times on the forum and I will look at those threads for advice on that).

[Londongirl]

Don't cut back the day time naps. They need them and keeping a pup awake when it needs to sleep just gives you a wired pup as you have discovered. I think at that age Henry needed a nap if he had been awake for one-half to two hours. Some were short naps but others were several hours long. If he hadn't taken himself to bed after 2.5 hours of being up I'd pop him into his crate and he'd fall straight asleep. But generally I let him regulate himself. Google how much sleep a 10 week old pup needs. It's A LOT. 12 hours at night plus long naps during the day.

Biting in my experience gets a lot worse when they are tired.

[Blueberry]

Thanks for the help LG.  He's fast asleep now.

[Mudmagnets]

Don't cut back the day time naps. They need them and keeping a pup awake when it needs to sleep just gives you a wired pup as you have discovered. I think at that age Henry needed a nap if he had been awake for one-half to two hours. Some were short naps but others were several hours long. If he hadn't taken himself to bed after 2.5 hours of being up I'd pop him into his crate and he'd fall straight asleep. But generally I let him regulate himself. Google how much sleep a 10 week old pup needs. It's A LOT. 12 hours at night plus long naps during the day.

Biting in my experience gets a lot worse when they are tired.

Agree with this, I know when Toby is over-tired he is all the things you describe, annoying though it may be, puppies need their daytime naps to re-charge their batteries (hard to believe at times, but true none the less) I use the time he is asleep to catch up on stuff I need/want to do and they wake so much the sweeter. I think it must be more of a problem when you are trying to convince hubby it won't last forever

[Loony Lola]

We had this with Lola...try leaving a radio on low and we also covered her crate with a blanket a night to give a den effect and to differentiate between night & day .....hang in there  x ☺

[daw]

Is this your first dog? Because every puppy is scared, needy and upset when he is taken to a new 'home.' Just think: his little world was big warm Mum, siblings, safe and secure and familiar smells and sounds. What you're describing is a terrified puppy who only knows how to do one thing- shout for help. If you took a baby out of the nursery it would be the same or worse.

Many people seem to have quite new set regimes for puppies now which make me uncomfortable- we've had four spaniels and each was different but all VERY anxious. We never used crates because it seems odd to me to do to a puppy what I wouldn't do to a chicken. We never left them alone the first few nights, either taking up to bed or one of us sleeping downstairs. To some owners this seems to be a no-no. Yet they settled in the first week and every one of ours turned out to be lovely dogs. 

Biting is his only way of letting you know he's anxious. Later he'll bite when he's teething but that's a different thing.

Puppies can be a challenge or a joy. Take a deep breath and think OK this isn't what I expected but there are ways to make it better. Don't make him over-tired. Don't try to discipline him.  Let him find his confidence in this new situation. He's wanting to and looking to you for help. good luck.   

[Londongirl]

Pup doesn't know what 'no' means. He just hears sound and sees you waving your hand at him. If you are raising your voice even a little it increases the energy in the room. And that energy goes straight into your pup and out again as excitable behaviour.

A sharp ah-ah might get his attention long enough enough for you to redirect him to a toy or other activity. He's still REALLY young, but it's worth starting redirection now. Rather than discipline, which they don't understand, pups need to be redirected to an activity you DO want. They want to learn and to please so showing them what you want them to is the best way to teach them what you DON'T want. They put two and two together very quickly. And it also means you have to act positively rather than negatively which helps your frame of mind too.

It's early days. Take a deep breath. You'll get there.

[Blueberry]

Thanks all.
 I do usually successfully redirect any bitey chewy behaviour, it's just today.  I feel like I did 7 rounds with Muhammed Ali last night, and he's just so challenging this morning.
He is not my first puppy, I had one before, but it was over 30 years ago, and I'm sure she was challenging, but I don't remember her being this noisy!
His sleep this morning didn't last long, he's in and out of his crate, (which is covered, by the way), roaming in his pen and dragging various toys about.  He's whining and yapping every time I go out of his line of sight - even if I'm in the room and still talking to him.  This has been happening since day one, I know he's anxious about separation.  I give him lots of love and cuddles, but I do need to be able to get showered, use the bathroom, a bit of cleaning now and then etc.  (OK, maybe not the cleaning ...)

[Blueberry]

By the way, do you think I should reinstate the 3am visit downstairs or not?  Happy to do it if it's beneficial, but don't want to create more problems inadvertently.

[Maisiesmum]

Oh boy do I understand!!
We picked Maisie up last Tuesday, she's 9 weeks now. By day 4/5 I was in tears, feeling a failure and wondering what on earth we had purchased!!
Then I found this site, read all the puppy threads and it was like a weight had dropped off me........she was NORMAL!!!
She still screams, still bites, still eats everything in the garden but the difference is me. I know now that she will grow out of it so I am relaxed and determined to enjoy every bitey, snappy moment!
What I am trying to say is don't give up, he's just doing what every other pup on here has done.

Practically, it sounds like he has bonded with you now, hence the increased noise last night. He missed you! It will get better. I have convinced Maisie (read bribed with food)  that her basket is the best place ever, it has carrots, frozen kongs  stuffed with goodies, teddies to cuddle and bite! Just everything that is wonderful to a 9 week pup. We now just have disgruntled groans in between the full blown drama queen screaming which doesn't last long anymore.
If she bites which incidentally she wakes up doing!! I shove a Kong knotty teddy in her mouth instead of my fingers. Has he got loads of toys he can chew on to releave the teething pain? I've found that 10 mins of determined chewing calms down the biting.

I'm more than happy to swop puppy horror stories so we can both hang in there!!
Xx

[Blueberry]

Thank you MM!
Unfortunately he doesn't seem very food orientated.  I tried him with a stuffed Kong, he licked it and then ignored it.  It's still in his pen.  He's not bothered about treats as a reward either, he responds much better to an enthusiastic 'good boy!' - he certainly knows what that means 
He has a knotty teddy and several other chewable a, which he does love to gnaw on, but this morning he was just  very fixated on getting as close as possible to me.
I'll soldier on, and thanks for the support - I really did feel like cr*p this morning, but I'm fortified with caffeine now!
Re the biting.  When I said I put my hand up to say no, I did not mean I waved my hand about, I put it up like a policeman stopping traffic.  I usually use 'ah-ah', but when things are going too far the 'stop sign' has previously worked.

[Murphys Law]

Murphy was the bitey pup from hell. He never slept during the day and was pretty much a nightmare. My theory was that he had too much energy so I spent all my time trying to tire him out.

Unfortunately I was completely wrong and what he really needed was sleep. When he started getting tired his biting got worse so we started putting him in his crate for an hour or two for a nap (it was the only way to get him to sleep during the day) and things literally improved over night.

[Londongirl]

I can recommend stuffing a toy in his mouth then cuddling. Then stopping the cuddle if he refuses to hold onto the toy. They love their cuddles and Henry learned very quickly that if he wanted a cuddle he needed a toy in his mouth. Even to this day he frantically searches for a toy when he's let out of his crate or someone comes in the room, because that's the rule if he wants a cuddle. Often he's so desperate he'll pick up ANYTHING and come barrelling over. It was a block of wood the other day...

[TedsMum]

Teddie was just the same. The first two weeks were hellish as he also had an upset tum. This forum was just what I needed to realise he was quite normal.
He is nearly 16 weeks now and sometimes sleeps through till 6.30ish. Mostly
Still needs a wee about 3, but things have settled down.
We leave the radio on low and stay quietly nearby until he settles. He's a little Velcro dog in the day too, which I don't mind as am home and like the company. Hang in there x

[Geordietyke]

Our house is a bomb site atm with doors off, tools everywhere and all rooms a tip etc so our Monty (16 weeks) needs to be kept safe. To us, the crate (with puppy pen attached) has been an absolute godsend. He sleeps in there overnight downstairs very happily (the breeder introduced one way before we picked him up).  He also goes in there for 3/4 naps a day (usually an hour) with a tasty treat after walks or training sessions.  It was essential that I gave him lots of time away from me, for both separation anxiety issues and to avoid him becoming too obsessed with me.  I don't go down to him overnight, just deal with what he does in the morning.  I'm noticing the odd day when there is nothing to pick up so he's getting better!