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I have a seven week old beagle. It's my first puppy and she won't sleep through the night. She yelps and howls all night. How can I help her sleep?

My beagle puppy was the same way...of course she's 1 yr old now. What my fiance and I did was not let her sleep too much during the day. After 5 or 6pm we wouldn't let her nap. This way she slept thru the nite.

>>I have a seven week old beagle. It's my first puppy and she won't sleep through the night. She yelps and howls all night. How can I help her sleep?

Your poor little pupper is too young to be away from her mother and littermates. Eight weeks is the ABSOLUTE youngest a puppy should be separated from its family, but as a breeder, I myself do not place any puppies before the age of 12 weeks. Anyone who tells you a puppy won't "bond" with you if you don't get it at a very young age is just plain wrong. A dog of any age will bond with you, as long as it was socialized with humans at the proper time of its life. Ask anyone who ever adopted an adult dog from a shelter!

So treat your puppy like an orphan. Do not, please, sacrifice your puppy's wellbeing for your own, and make her sleep in the kitchen. Put her in a crate in your bedroom, right next to your bed where she can see you. Put one of your worn shirts or nightwear in with her. You might even want to wrap a clock and put it outside the crate so the ticking might seem like there is another dog there.

Yes, she will cry. As long as you're sure she doesn't have to potty, just ignore her when she cries. If she is crying and then is quiet even for a few moments, you can drop your hand down so she can sniff it through the crate - but do NOT do this when she is crying or fussing. Reward her for resting quietly next to your bed, ignore her for fussing.

Many young puppies can't make it 8 hours without pottying, so you might have to let her out for that purpose - make sure potty excursions are as boring as possible. Carry her out, put her down to potty, praise her quietly when she does, then back to bed. She should be able to get through the night, as long as you have pottied her right before bed, within a week or two.

Next time wait til your pup is older.

Good luck!
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Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
www.caberfeidh.com/