Your puppy's first nights
For the first few nights, your puppy sleeps in your room, door closed, in his own bed (not in yours). If he cries, he's not playing up: he has just left his mother and littermates. Keeping him close reassures him, and it lets you hear when he needs to go out for a wee.
Why your puppy cries at night
He has suddenly left his mother, his littermates and the breeder's home, and finds himself in unfamiliar territory. This isn't a 'pack instinct': the dominant-wolf model has long been abandoned, and wild packs are simply families (Mech 1999). It's attachment, like a young child looking for their secure base (Topál et al. 1998). The crying says 'I'm lost', not 'I'm testing the limits'.
Sleeping in your room lowers his anxiety, and with it his nipping and his night-time crying. And your presence means you hear the slightest wriggle, which is often the signal that he needs to go out.
Setting up the sleeping spot
It all comes down to what you do before the lights go out. Get the bare essentials ready, nothing more.
0 / 4The bedtime routine, night after night
In the evening, empty the bladder and let the energy settle: no play, just calm.
A wee and a poo before bed
Around 8.30pm if dinner is at 8pm, so he heads to bed with an empty bladder.
One last late wee
Stay up later for the first few nights (midnight, half past) for one final trip out.
Off to the bed, in your room
Settle him quietly, without making an event of it.
Door closed, light off
A closed door stops him wandering off to wee elsewhere and lets you hear his signals.
Alarm every 2 hours
Take him out for a wee, no play and no excitement, then straight back to bed.
The weeks that follow: spacing out the wake-ups
Nothing is rushed: the nights lengthen at the pace of his bladder, not on a fixed schedule.
Prévenir chaque accident pendant qu'il apprend que la nuit, on se repose.
- A wee and a poo before bed, then one last wee around midnight
- Set an alarm every 2 hours for the toilet trip
- If he's asleep, make a little noise as you get up rather than shaking him: he'll open his eyes on his own
Des nuits de plus en plus longues, calées sur sa vessie qui mûrit.
- Go from 2h to 3h, then 4h, adding 30 minutes to an hour at each step
- If he weed at the 3h wake-up, drop back to 2h the next night
- Watch him: a puppy wriggling around the room is asking to go out
Move on when: Il enchaîne 5 à 6 heures sans pipi (ce qui ne veut pas dire qu'il est propre le jour).
Un chien qui dort où il veut, parce qu'il se sent chez lui partout.
- Keep him in your room as long as he can't be left alone without panicking or being destructive
- Once he can handle being alone, often around 4.5 to 5 months, leave the bedroom door open at night
- Let him choose: he'll end up sleeping outside the room of his own accord
- Mech — Alpha status, dominance, and division of labor in wolf packs (the pack is a family, not a hierarchy) (1999)
- Topál, Miklósi, Csányi & Dóka — Attachment behavior in dogs: an adaptation of Ainsworth's Strange Situation test (1998)
- Bradshaw, Blackwell & Casey — Dominance in domestic dogs: useful construct or bad habit? (2009)
- Position Statement on Puppy Socialization (socialise early, don't isolate), AVSAB (2008)
- Canine Life Stage Guidelines (fragility and a low alert threshold in puppies), AAHA
Frequently asked questions
Why is my dog crying?
Whining is communication: it flags a need (to go out, hunger, boredom, fear of being alone) or some discomfort. Read the context rather than silencing the signal, and reward calm instead of telling off the crying. If the crying is sudden, or comes on when he moves or is touched, rule out pain with your vet first.
Why does my dog cry at night?
In puppies it's almost always separation: he has just left his mother and littermates and finds himself alone. The answer isn't to isolate him but to have him sleep in your room, door closed. His crying is also his way of telling you he needs to go out for a wee.
Should you let a puppy cry it out at night?
No. He often goes quiet within 2 to 3 nights, but at the cost of real distress that damages your bond and feeds anxiety. Keeping him close reassures him and actually speeds up how quickly he settles into good nights.
I feel guilty about leaving my dog alone.
You've done nothing wrong. If his needs are met (a walk, play, a nap), he experiences your absence as rest, not abandonment. Teach him to be alone through small, positive absences, with calm departures and returns and a chew toy kept just for these moments. You aren't abandoning your dog, you're teaching him to be happy on his own.
How long can a dog hold it in at night?
At night many puppies last 5 to 6 hours because the body slows down, but it varies a lot and it doesn't mean he's house-trained by day. At first, take him out every 2 hours, then space it out (3h, 4h and so on) as his bladder matures. Genuinely reliable control often arrives around 6 to 7 months.
Where should a puppy sleep on the first night?
In your room, in his own bed, door closed, but not in your bed. He has left everything behind: your presence reassures him and lets you hear when he needs to go out. And no, he won't 'want to stay there for life': that's a myth, and it has nothing to do with his ability to sleep alone later on.
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