Tips For Crate Training A Puppy At Night

Crate training puppies overnight is one of the most common problems people have when they first start toilet training their new arrival. If they are very young then chances are they won't have learned how to hold it in for more than an hour or two - let alone for the whole night - so you should definitely expect to get up at least once (or just earlier than you expect to) to let them out and do their business. In this sense new puppies are a lot like babies, but fortunately they won't be in this stage for too long (and part of you may miss it once it's over). Below are a few of the things you should keep in mind when crate training puppies overnight.

1. No Water Before Bed

Just like with humans, you'll face fewer problems in crate training puppies overnight if you don't let them drink water too close to their bedtime. Have you ever had a couple of glasses of water before you went to sleep? Chances are you had to get up in the middle of the night, or at least a lot earlier the next morning. It's the same with puppies - and they have a lot less control over their bladder than you probably do. When crate training puppies overnight, you should take away their water bowl at least an hour or two before going to sleep so they don't have any excess fluids to get rid of during the night.

2. Give Them Exercise

Another aspect that will help with crate training puppies overnight is exercise. Your puppy is still too young to take out on walks given they're not fully vaccinated, but if you give them some attention and play time in the yard during the evening it will help them to sleep much more soundly and decrease the chances that they'll need to wake up in the middle of the night.

3. Let Them Out At Night

Whenever you're crate training puppies overnight you should give them one last chance to go outside and do their business before they go to sleep. If you have exercised them already then this should happen fairly naturally - as you probably know fully-grown dogs tend to do their business on their walk or shortly after. By letting them out at night you make the chance of an accident happening as small as you can. They are still likely to wake up fairly early the next morning, and will need to go to the toilet as soon as they do - but at least the likelihood of having to get out of bed at about 3 o'clock in the morning is a lot smaller.

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