Train Your Puppy to Sleep Through the Night: Proven Tips & Guides

Puppies are newborn babies – they will wake many times in the night. How do you go about training a puppy to sleep at night? Firstly, it is important to acknowledge why your puppy wakes in the night. Puppies have small bladders, they will need to eliminate regularly – every 2 hours at 9-14 weeks of age and gradually increasing as they age. We diaper human babies so we can sleep through their toilet needs however this is not good policy with a puppy, therefore you will need to just plan to get up several times throughout the night when you have a new puppy.

Luckily, training a puppy to sleep at night is possible, and with a few weeks of effort you will be able enjoy a good night’s sleep. They key to your puppy’s sleep patterns are to make sure that middle of the night outings are ‘all business’, and to properly prepare or bed. When you take your puppy out during the day you will often combine play with the necessary ‘potty break’. At night time you must absolutely not do this. If you make these middle of the night outings fun your puppy will begin to wake anticipating play. As he gets older you will be able to stretch the time between outings in 15 minute increments until you gradually eliminate them one by one.

Another key to training a puppy to sleep at night is to be sure that his evenings are spent in rambunctious activity. You are literally hoping to ‘wear him out’ so that he will sleep soundly when the time comes to go to bed. Take him for energetic walks, wrestle and play with toys, have an endurance game of fetch. If your puppy grows distracted or bored switch activities. Invite friends over so he has new ‘playmates’. Keep his excitement level high until about ten minutes before bedtime. You will find that your puppy will voluntarily seek his bed.

Training a puppy to sleep at night is a process that will take a few weeks. Do not expect your puppy to magically stop needing potty breaks but be firm about no play at night. Soon his bladder will develop increased capacity and you will get longer periods of uninterrupted sleep. Over time your puppy will learn that he should be asleep the entire time you are asleep.