Puppy-14 weeks and getting up a lot through night-ignore or feed and let her potty?

Question

My puppy is 14 weeks old. Had her since she was seven weeks.
She has done perfect in the crate and has no accidents and is totally potty trained.
But the past week or two she has been winning and barking to let her out at 2 am and wants fed and then 2 hours later wants out again. I know she can hold her potty through the night because she has done it for 12 weeks. My friend said she is being boss and just wants out and I need to let her cry. Need some helpful advice. I put her to bed when I go to bed which is 11pm and I had been getting up with her at 6 am and feeding her and letting her go potty. I am fine with letting her cry but don't know since she is still pretty young. She is a golden retr. by the way. Thanks for all the helpful advice!

Answer 1

Nope, she is training you to feed her and give her attention on her demand. This is not a good idea. You have got to be the leader of the pack. You can take away her water after 8 pm. She will be fine until morning giving it to her again in the morning. Most vets tell you to remove the water in the night since they have small bladders. Take her out one more time at 11 pm when you go to bed. But do not feed her in the middle of the night, or she will have to go out. The crying is hard, but she has now learned if she cries she gets to come out. She will do just fine.

I know it's hard but if you consistently do not get her out in the middle of the night then she will stop in a few nights. It's hard I know been there. Give her a shirt or something of yours with your scent.

Do NOT feed her in the middle of the night or she will have to go potty. All puppies have to go to the bathroom shortly after eating.

Answer 2

Hi Ya

We have a 6 month old newfoundland puppy so I can relate to where you are coming from. We have also noticed that he is really good one day and not so good the next. We have been told this is normal it is through routine and repeated correction that he will learn.

If she is wanting fed during the night are you giving her good quality puppy food? (not adult dog food and not the cheap stuff but good high quality dog food from a pet store) if not that might be part of your problem as she will be hungry. Also at 14 weeks she should be eating 4 times a day. Is she?

If she was doing well in the crate and now isn't she may have an infection? If so this needs to be treated. Also if she has to pee she has to pee! Or what she is eating might be giving her diaherria. Would you expect your 8 month old child to be totally potty trained and go 8 hours without wetting her pants. Remember she is only a baby! :0)

As for the whining before you let her out of the crate ask her to sit or lie down or to be quiet. Or until she learns these commands have a empty pop bottle like 12-16 oz size put some small rocks in it so that when you shake it, it makes a loud noise as this should get her attention. Once she stops whining, give her attention and praise her so that she learns it is good to be quiet. Also remember that her whining is the only way for her to tell you she has to go outside to do her business.

If you have any concerns talk to your Vet or even the vet nurse. They can give you advice or tell you who to contact. But I wouldn't just ignore her as there maybe something wrong medically. Also see if there are any Golden Retriever breeders in the area that you could talk to. Or someone who does obedience training that would be willing to answer a couple of questions.

Hope this was helpful in some way.

Answer 3

It sounds like she is training you. Let her cry ,if you keep letting her out of her crate then she is going to keep it up. Don't feed her either, twice a day for the first year the once a day after that. Dogs are a lot like kids if you have ever had children,they know if they cry an Mom or Dad comes running then that's the ticket, I'll cry and they'll come every time. Let her go potty right before YOU go to bed. There should be no reason that she keeps wanting out, other than she is actually seeing if you come.Don't give her any thing to drink after a certain time. I did the nothing after 7:30 Pm then I went to bed at 10:00 and up at 5:00. It won't hurt her not to drink anything during the night .

Answer 4

My puppy did the same thing. Take away food and water a couple of hours before bedtime. Make sure that he goes to the restroom before you put him in the crate for the night and then let him alone. My puppy whined for about 2 nights and hasn't done it since. I have him in the living room, and the important thing is that I don't come out of my bedroom. If you come out and he see's you, he will whine and it can't be helped. Whining has never killed a puppy and it is you that needs to be strong and just ignore it for a few days. I promise it will stop. Good luck!

Answer 5

Does she eat before bed time? If she's not hungry she is trying to show you the Alpha female---HER.If she only wants attention then ignore her or just get up and bang on he crate the say NO---walk away but do not go back in there when she whines.....good luck.

Answer 6

Why do you think it is appropriate for a golden retriever to be living in a house? I think she is just unhappy being in the house, and wants to go outside. If you insist on her being inside, and if you insist on her accommodating your schedule, then you need to be firm and consistent to train her to those things. I think a 14 week old can be on two meals a day, first one early in the A.M. second meal about 5 P.M. then take her for a walk/run about 7. DO NOT FEED UNTIL MORNING, unless you want to start all kinds of problems. Definitely do not reward behavior you do not like, like whining etc.

Answer 7

If you give in to her you'll only be training her that whining and barking gets her out of the crate and she'll do it forever!

Of course she doesn't need to be fed at 2 a.m. And at 14 weeks, if you let her out to pee late at night and early in the morning, she can hold that too.

Don't give in to her and she'll settle down again.

Answer 8

She should go to the vet - she may have some health problems that are causing her to need to go out more frequently. When a dog breaks a habit like this, it's not usually in attempt to become the boss of the house.

Answer 9

Definatly ignore her, animals tend to get set on schedules, if you give the puppy what she wants when she wants it, she'll get into a habbit of wanting it every day at the time. Let her cry.

Answer 10

Put the dog in a kennel from when you go to bed to when you get up. Then let the dog go outside to the bathroom first thing in the morning.