Night-time Routine

[ladyfreckles]

We're picking up the puppy in 3 days.

What did you do when you first brought the puppy home to help it out at night? I know during the day every 30-60 minutes you take the puppy outside to go potty but how much does this change at night? I don't want to set bad habits.

[stolibaby]

From all the advice I got and what we actually did here are the main things that really helped us out:

I didn't let stoli have access to water about for an hour before we went to bed...helped prevent accidents a ton! also a walk during this time period helped calm him down but get rid of some excess energy especially when we worked on his heeling and obedience he'd come in and crash

Crate training was a life saver! I put a blanket over Stoli's door it seemed to help calm him down; but not going to lie the first few nights I slept on the floor so he could see I was there and it helped him relax

After a few weeks and stoli had been pretty consistent with potty training he no longer slept in his crate unless he wanted to; I know a lot of people keep their dog in a lot longer but for us it just worked out to let him sleep on the floor (make sure it's picked up tho...i lost a pair of boots due to my messiness lol) or with me and he did fine....

other than that we honestly had it pretty easy with the nights after a few months he started only getting up once a night and the next thing I knew he was sleeping the whole night!! I thought it would never happen but it did lol

[kiya]

I've been very lucky. Lakota was the most recent pup, brought her home at 8 wks and she slept thru the night from day 1. I don't restrict water. I can tell you that the second I open the crate door right outside we went as fast as I possible could. I made sure my clothes were ready so I could get her out asap before an accident. I always have my pups/dogs in the bedroom at night so there was never any crying or whinning in the crate.

[MaggieRoseLee]

I also pick up the water at night an hour or so before bedtime. Just to help them not have quite as full of a bladder during the night.

I ALWAYS keep the crate in the bedroom at night right beside my bed. So much more comforting for the poor new puppy who went from hours before being constantly surrounded by littermates/mom and now lost them.

I also set my alarm for whatever is midway between my night time sleep. So around 2 am (or 3 am?) my alarm goes off, I pick the puppy out of the crate and carry it thru the house to outdoors when I put them down to go poo/pee. Puppy party when they go... then immediately back to sleep the rest of the night.

Tons more good info on Welcome to the GSD/FAQ's for the first time owner - German Shepherd Dog Forums

[katdog5911]

Had a small caged off area next to my bed for Stella. Restricted water after about 9ish. Took her out right before I went to bed (11ish) and then probably once during the wee hours....ugh....Had all my clothes ready for a 6 am potty trip....This lasted a few months and then one day she slept all night and has been ever since!!!!

[shaner]

The first couple nights I sleep fully clothed so I can very quickly get the pup outside, as they just can't hold it. I would set my alarm so that I woke up twice throughout the night, that way the most the puppy would ever go without peeing is 3 hours. That was only for the first 2-3 nights though. After that, I would rely on him to wake me up by crying, which he did most nights. Every now and then he would sleep through the night.

He still sleeps in his crate, although one night I put him in bed with me and he slept through the night. I imagine pretty soon we'll let him sleep out of his crate on a regular basis.

I have never restricted water.

[doggiedad]

my pup came home at 9 weeks old. over night
he was out every 2 hours. during the day he was
out every 15 minutes to every 1/2 hour.

[BlackGSD]

I've never set an alarm during the night. All of the puppies I've had woke me up on their own when they needed to "go" they sleep right next to me so there is no chance that I wont hear them when they wake up. If you have one that will pee in the crate, or if you won't let them sleep in the same room as you, I can see trying the set alarm method, but I've never had to do that. I've also never withheld water. I take them out for "last call" right before I go to bed. Siren is my most recent "puppy" and she NEVER went in the house, not even one "accident".

As someone said, it is best to CARRY them outside rather than having them walk an expecting them to hold it until they are outside.