puppy at night

Question
I have a 9 week old Bernese Mountain dog puppy.   He cries/barks at least once
or 2x during the night.  I have been going to him to let him out.  He usually does
go the bathroom but I am getting sleep deprived!  How long should he be able
to go at night without going to the bathroom and/or is ok to just let him "cry it
out?"

Answer
Hi Cathy,

Barking and crying during the night is pretty much a given for a  puppy as young as yours.

It's good that you get up to take your puppy outside during the night. A puppy actually has no bowel or bladder control until it's about 12 weeks of age. If he was to soil inside his crate (or wherever you've been keeping him) it would be counter productive to his house training.

These late night potty trips should be all business. No playing or cuddling. Just a quick potty then back inside.

If you don't reinforce the whining and crying by comforting him (other than to take it outside, which is OK), your puppy will eventually learn to settle down. If you respond to the cries you're inadvertently rewarding him for the bad behavior, so let him cry, as hard as that is! A good pair of ear plugs can be a big help during this time period. Also, be sure to have a vigorous play session JUST BEFORE you go to go to bed, it should poop him out and it will help him sleep much more soundly.

If you are consistent in not giving your puppy attention for his crying, you should notice that the crying time stops a little sooner every night, and then eventually stops. Then there will come a point where you will ignore all crying and discover that after about 10 minutes the crying will stop and the next morning everything is fine and no accidents.

You didn't say how long you have the puppy, but since he's only 9 weeks old, I will assume that you just got him. A big part of this may be that the pup gets needs to get used to his new home. It's hard to put a time frame on this, every puppy is different, but most puppies form new habits within about two weeks.

Stick with it, things WILL get better!
Best of luck,

Patti