[graceosborne]

Our Cockapoo puppy is 22 weeks old and seems to be doing well in all areas, apart from sleeping at night! To begin with we crate trained her, which she never took to, regardless of how many games we played with her in it, feeding in it, toys put in there etc, however we persevered and she would go in there at night with alot of tempting with treats and then occasionally would spend a large portion of the night barking until one of us came down, let her out and sat with her until she was so tired she didn't care if we put her back in it.
About 2 weeks ago, she was refusing to go in her crate and no amount of training and effort on our parts was making her do any differently (and I'm sure our neighbours did not appreciate the 2am wake up calls of her barking!). We decided to see if she was better out of the crate, and allowed her to sleep in the front room, which she did, although she seemed to forget the toilet training during the night! Now she is again barking during the night although she isn't in her crate anymore.
She gets lots of exercise during the day, we make sure she isn't hungry when she goes to bed, we are at a loss what to do with her as she doesn't consistently sleep through the night, any advise would be much appreciated!

 

[Cat 53]

I think she is lonely and she knows barking will get your attention. Could she sleep in your bedroom. I bet you would be amazed at the difference. Also, is she getting too much stimulation in the day? It may be a reason for not settling, but deep down I think it's loneliness. What do you feed her? Maybe the food makes her hyper?

 

[MillieDog]

Where do you want her to sleep, long term? The reason I ask, is I had our Millie in a crate in the front room until she was 5 months old. Then she guided us - by joining us in the morning in our bedroom and slept on a blanket while we go ready. It became apparent that she wanted to be with us and I realised that being part of the family, we wanted her upstairs too. To that end, we put her bed outside our bedroom door, but left the door open. Now during the night she will move between her bed, the floor, our bed, the foot of the stairs and the front door mat.

The other thing you can try is to give her a T Shirt that you've worn all day. The smell of it will give her comfort at night. We used to do this with Millie if she was unsettled as a puppy.

 

[Lottierachel]

I persevered with the crate until Tilly was 7 months, but had to physically put her in and hold her while I shut the door, and she would always bark or cry for 10 mins, however tired she was! I never went to her or let her out. She just hated it.

We tried her in the lounge for a while as she loves to sleep on the sofa, but similarly to your situation, she would often wake up and bark.

We caved and let her sleep in our room! She is now as good as gold. No crying, no barking, no accidents.

It's not for everyone, but it certainly solved the problem!

 

[wellerfeller]

Yep I agree, if you can't stick it out with the crate have her upstairs with you. I'm sure she will settle quickly.
The eventually going down and sitting with her has reinforced the barking I'm afraid and to break that at 22 weeks will take an iron will from you. I wouldn't be able to do it!! So if there is no reason she can't join you upstairs then try her. You can always use the crate upstairs to contain her and prevent toilet accidents but she may not mind this if she is next you your bed.

 

[DB1]

I was going to say pretty much the same as Karen, maybe if you crate her near you at bedtime and she gets used to being in it you may be able to move it further away when she is used to settling in it. She has learnt that barking gets her the attention she craves so will not give in lightly now. Good luck.

 

[vickie]

We had a similar problem with Oscar. He never really settled downstairs on his own. I was determined not to let him upstairs but I caved in when he was about 7 months. It was the best thing we ever did. He settled straight away and sleeps much longer now.(he was waking up between 5 and 6am and now sometimes sleeps in longer than us!) He sleeps either on the floor in our room, on the floor in the spare room where his bed is or on the landing. He is not allowed on the beds and is much happier upstairs with us. I can't believe we struggled for so long trying to keep him downstairs. I think cockapoo's just want to be with their families all the time.

 

[dio.ren]

Molly has always slept in her crate in the bedroom and has been fine with it since she was a baby. She was on my night table for the first few months and then when her crate got bigger I moved it at the foot of the bed. Not a peep comes out of her cause she knows she isn't alone. For us it works great. She is only crated at night now that she is a big girl

When she was a puppy she would go in for times out and naps cause she never slept if she was around us. She would get over tired and be nippy and crazy.

You will figure out what works!

 

[Lindor]

My Skipper (a sheltie) was the same way until we figured out that all he wanted was to be with us. Got rid of the crate and put a nice comfy bed with a teddy bear and blanket right next to ours. He stayed there the whole night for 13 years (RIP Skipper). When we get our new little cockapoo, there will be no crate, just a nice fluffy comfy bed with the same teddy bear and blanket next to our bed.

 

[fairlie]

My Skipper (a sheltie) was the same way until we figured out that all he wanted was to be with us. Got rid of the crate and put a nice comfy bed with a teddy bear and blanket right next to ours. He stayed there the whole night for 13 years (RIP Skipper). When we get our new little cockapoo, there will be no crate, just a nice fluffy comfy bed with the same teddy bear and blanket next to our bed.

That is so touching. Can't recall who said it but I like "do what works for you and what makes all of you happiest." Rufus is in our bed with us. Very comfy, very cozy, like a real live teddy bear complete with happy rumbling snorting noises.

 

[LML]

HI all. Just joined this forum as we have just got our first cockapoo - and what a beautiful funny little puppy she is...

Its good to read your replies as we have a similar thing - at the moment she is sleeping downstairs as she is only 10 weeks old and not toilet trained (although she is doing really well and generally only goes on the training pad we put down in her crate). She started off ok at night in her crate but the last few nights got very distressed so now she is still downstaris but in her soft bed and we are staying with her on a blow up bed... think she just wants to be near us x

Once she is toilet trained a little better and can get thru the night only needing a wee then we will bring her upstairs with us. Love the thought of her sleeping in our room.

 

[fairlie]

she is still downstaris but in her soft bed and we are staying with her on a blow up bed... think she just wants to be near us x

Once she is toilet trained a little better and can get thru the night only needing a wee then we will bring her upstairs with us. Love the thought of her sleeping in our room.

This actually brought tears of joy to my eyes. (don't read too much into that though, I am menopausal and have been known to cry at toothpaste commercials.)

 

[tessybear]

Our poos just want to be with us. If you told me a few years ago that I would be sleeping with 2 dogs every night in my bedroom I would never have believed it. Mine are just so content and calm with us at night, they never disturb us or wake us. I think its a cockapoo thing, I can't believe how many of us do sleep with our poos!

 

[graceosborne]

Thank you all for your helpful advise, its reassuraing to know ours isn't the only puppy that won't settle at night. Out of shear desperation for a full nights sleep we have had Erica upstairs in our bedroom for the past two nights and it seems to be working out brilliantly

Not only does she come upstairs and get into her bed when we go to bed, she falls asleep straight away, and sleeps right through until the morning, in actual fact we are having to wake her up, which is a far cry from the 6am wake up that we were previously having to contest with.

I'm not sure if its coincidence or something to do with her different night time routine however now she's a lot calmer and more relaxed during the day, and is even taking herself off to bed for an afternoon nap!

I'm still in disbelief that by just letting her sleep close to us, can make such a difference to ours and our puppy's night, I have all fingers and toes crossed that it continues as we are looking forward to a lie-in this weekend!

 

[Lottierachel]

That is so lovely!

Cockapoos are real people dogs, they love to be with us <3

I bet having a good nights sleep is doing her as much good as you and it's definitely why she's being better in the day.

A happy ending xx

 

[RuthMill]

Thank you all for your helpful advise, its reassuraing to know ours isn't the only puppy that won't settle at night. Out of shear desperation for a full nights sleep we have had Erica upstairs in our bedroom for the past two nights and it seems to be working out brilliantly

Not only does she come upstairs and get into her bed when we go to bed, she falls asleep straight away, and sleeps right through until the morning, in actual fact we are having to wake her up, which is a far cry from the 6am wake up that we were previously having to contest with.

I'm not sure if its coincidence or something to do with her different night time routine however now she's a lot calmer and more relaxed during the day, and is even taking herself off to bed for an afternoon nap!

I'm still in disbelief that by just letting her sleep close to us, can make such a difference to ours and our puppy's night, I have all fingers and toes crossed that it continues as we are looking forward to a lie-in this weekend!

What a result. Lovely baby just wanted you close. Aren't you lucky!

 

[tessybear]

Aw bless. Dogs are pack animals it's their natural instinct to want to sleep together with us at night instead of all alone. Glad you have found a way that everyone is happy including little Erica. Sweet dreams!

 

[sylviachat]

We have a fourteen week old cockerpoo and the first night we had him we put his bed next to ours and he settled and slept til four am. He cried at the bedroom door to be let out and I went downstairs and let him out and he settled back to bed til six thirty. He has never done anything in the bedroom and usually wakes around six thirty after sleeping right through the night. Not everyone agrees with dogs sleeping in the bedroom but this is what we have always done with our puppies and it works for us.

 

[Phyllis Gehrke]

Where do you want her to sleep, long term? The reason I ask, is I had our Millie in a crate in the front room until she was 5 months old. Then she guided us - by joining us in the morning in our bedroom and slept on a blanket while we go ready. It became apparent that she wanted to be with us and I realised that being part of the family, we wanted her upstairs too. To that end, we put her bed outside our bedroom door, but left the door open. Now during the night she will move between her bed, the floor, our bed, the foot of the stairs and the front door mat.

The other thing you can try is to give her a T Shirt that you've worn all day. The smell of it will give her comfort at night. We used to do this with Millie if she was unsettled as a puppy.

Doesn’t work for us
our puppy won’t sleep in the crate in our bedroom