There is nothing more wearisome than waking up three hours ahead of the alarm clock to a puppy crying. New puppies are a thrilling adventure but waking up at 4 AM or 5 AM is something we can all actually live without.
Patience is the key for any new pet, but particularly for puppies that have faced a huge life change and also have no idea how to dog the way we actually desire them to. In this article, we will help you get the puppy to sleep in without crying!
Why Does A Puppy Whine In The Morning?
Puppies spend the first 6-8 weeks of their lives living with littermates and mom, as well as a known human caretaker. The new environments and smells, as well as lack of littermates, cause a puppy to be anxious and direct to morning crying.
These are intense changes for a dog to go through, and the change takes time, as a puppy gets used to their new human caretaker, their house, and of course, the lack of their mom and littermates. So it is not strange for puppies to be a bit lonely and fearful. In fact, it is expected. Transitioning into the schedule of their new house could be hard, too, with various factors.
They may not have someone to snuggle with.
It may not be as comfortable and warm as the previous place they lived.
And their cries for help may go overlooked, under a misguided assumption that they are just being fussy or to allow them to cry it out.
Getting puppies adapted to the new schedule (so that you can both be pleased) will take a little time, patience, and, most significantly, positivity. And when completed right, the puppy’s morning crying will go away in no time.
How Can You Get The New Puppy To Stop Crying In The Early Morning?
To resolve early morning crying, you’ll first have to comprehend why they are doing so. We have stated that there’s a certain level of disturbance leaving the environment they were used to, but there are other things that strongly relate to morning crying.
Puppy cries because they desire to play
Puppy whines because they are thirsty or hungry
Puppy cries because they have to use the bathroom
Puppy whines and cries because they are alone and scared (separation anxiety)
10 Ways To Help Puppy Crying In Early Morning
Now let’s discuss each of these factors in a bit of detail!
Puppy Cries In The Morning Because They’re Alone And Scared:
You might have heard someone saying, let them cry it out. However, new research has shown that a new puppy isn’t so different from us humans, and there can be emotional trauma triggered by letting them cry for a long time.
It can cause behavioral problems later on, particularly in regard to separation anxiety, which you’ll desire to evade at all costs! For remedying any feeling of separateness that’s causing early morning crying, make sure they’re as close to you as possible; it’s more significant the newer they are to the house.
Have their pen or crate beside the bed, or if they are not utilizing a crate, make use of a tie-down under one of the bed legs. Be in a state where you can simply reach down and give them a gentle pat.
Make use of a soothing voice for giving them a little attention and love, and if that’s enough for allowing them to stop whining, you know their main anxiety in the early morning is loneliness. You can also give them a hot water bottle or a shirt you wore the day before for sleeping with.
Puppy Whines In The Morning Because They Have To Use The Bathroom:
Puppies don’t have the capability of fully controlling their bladder until they’re like four to six months old, and the younger the pup, the shorter they can hold. The following chart can offer you a general idea of how long you can expect the pet to go without utilizing the bathroom, which shows you that they will be bursting to go to the bathroom in the early morning!
You do not desire to undo the potty-training efforts by allowing them to mess in their crate or kennels in the early morning, so it is significant that the puppy goes outside first thing in the morning to do their business.
The great thing to do is to address it before it actually becomes an early morning crying problem. Pull yourself out of bed early on and beat them to it by taking them out for toileting. Do not talk to them throughout this process, and once finished, take them back right away to their crate and go back to bed.
If you have carried out the step of having them beside the bed, and you have addressed their toileting, and they are still whining in the early morning, then there are still other possibilities to attend to.
They might have learned that whining will get your attention, and the desire to get up and play
They are thirsty
They are hungry
Puppy Whining In The Morning Because They Are Thirsty Or Hungry:
For the health of your puppy, it is not suggested to withhold or limit water or food for reducing early morning or overnight eliminations. You can give their last meal two to three hours before bedtime and then take them out before they sleep.
Meals are frequently excellent stimulators for bowel movements, and the majority of puppies will urinate in the same potty trip as defecation. If they do their business right before bed, they are less likely to have to go in the early morning, which will denote less possibility of early morning whining!
If you withhold food really close to bedtime, a late at night bowel movement is less likely to occur, and so at 4 AM or 5 AM, you’re more likely to get up to a whining puppy. Continue providing water up until bedtime or take it away no more than an hour earlier. A thirsty puppy will be only as cranky in the early morning, and it is not healthy for the dogs to become dehydrated.
Puppies are particularly sensitive to it. They grow fast, and their food needs grow rapidly as well over time. It is fine to give them small snacks for holding them over until normal breakfast time. A few puppies have to be fed four to six times per day!
Puppy Cries In The Early Morning Because They Desire To Play:
So, you have got the puppy sleeping near you. Check! You have woken up and taken them to the bathroom. Check! You have given them a morning drink and snack or fed them before bedtime. Check! And they are still whining, eek!
You may have a little chance of killing two birds with one stone by providing the puppy with a stuffed toy in the early morning. It can give them a little snack and permit them a short play simultaneously.
You may be thinking, but it’ll wake them for the day! But dogs sleep a lot, eighteen to twenty hours a day, actually. And so if the puppy gets up early whining, you can take them outside to do their business, make them a stuffed toy, allow them to have at it for fifteen minutes, and then bring them back to the bed to settle.
If they are in a pen or crate, put their favorite toys in there with them. Another great idea is to put a blanket in the dryer for a while and give it to your puppies for curling up with. It is also significant that you make certain the environment and their sleeping area do not encourage morning crying, which we talk about in the next section.
Puppy Early Morning Sleeping Environment:
If the puppy wakes abruptly in the early morning whining and crying or whines and cries after you have addressed the main concerns of a puppy, contemplating left-field potential causes why. Startling sounds or even other things moving about your home can make adequate noise for disrupting sleep or frightening them. If they are awakened abruptly, they are more likely to respond dramatically and wake you up, too.
Diminish noise disturbance by placing the puppy’s nighttime house in a well-sheltered spot, with soft flooring and insulated walls that will be more likely to suck up noise.
Contemplate appending a sound machine of some sort that will muffle outside noises, as well. There are a few good videos on YouTube that you can utilize.
If you or any member of your family tends to get up in the middle of the night or early, decide whether you desire to try to be really sneaky or wake your puppy for an early toilet run before going back to bed.
Any sort of noise at all can rouse your puppy, and we all know it is difficult to sneak around silently when we are in a sleep stupor.
If you wake your puppy, do not overlook their cries, do what you really can to get them relaxed (even doing an extra toilet run if possible), and then get them prepared for bed again.
If you have a dog or a cat with nocturnal habits, make certain they do not have access to the quiet space of your puppy, and definitely utilize a noisy fan or sound machine for muffling the noise.
If you utilize a fan, utilize the one that makes a decent low-frequency sound, but do not point it at your puppy. A continuous cool draft isn’t just uncomfortable, but since it is a small puppy with no warm body to actually cuddle against, it can get too cold extremely rapidly, and that can be risky.
Light-blocking shutters or curtains is another fantastic idea. You desire their sleeping area to be as dark as doable. The sunlight in the early morning will likely hint that it is time to wake up and play.
Contemplate the temp of the room in the early morning as well. Seventy-two degrees is a perfect room temp for a puppy.
Another thing you can actually carry out is to set the alarm for the same time each morning. The puppy will learn the queue of it being the time to wake up.
Puppy Gets Up At The Same Time Whining Each Morning:
Waking at the same time each morning could be because they naturally wake up when the sky gets lighter at the crack of dawn (even before sunrise). Dogs may also hear sounds of the world waking. For keeping them sleeping longer, muffle ambient noise and limit sunlight.
A lot of individuals are the same way. In the early morning, their bodies wake up naturally. It’s an evolutionary response to the world waking up, as well. For delaying waking, take some steps for pushing their sunrise and dawn back a little later. Drape a coverlet over part of their crate or kennel.
Conclusion:
While having a new dog can be a difficult change for you, particularly when it comes to early morning whining, it is significant to keep in mind that it is a rough change for them, as well. Trade irritation for patience and redirect the frustration into active efforts for assisting the little friend in adapting to the new environment.
A well-handled puppyhood adds to the probability that the puppy will be a well-adjusted adult. A flourishing puppy will have been given a lot of attention and love, as well as great amounts of socialization.
I am a dog lover and love to train dogs. I am a dog trainer and work at a dog daycare in the US. I love to travel and go hiking and camping. I have two dogs that Live with me.
My dog’s name is Luna and she is a Maltese. She is very sweet and loving. My other dog is a Boxer and his name is Roxy. He is a big goofball.
