Puppy owners want to experience and share as many moments as possible with their puppy as they grow and build lasting memories. But should sleeping with your puppy be included in that list of things to share?
Let’s face it, the idea of cuddling all night long next to your puppy is tempting! And if you just brought a puppy home, you might experience initial whining or barking that just pulls on your heartstrings even further!
So what’s the big deal with letting your puppy sleep in bed with you? Let’s dive into why we recommend new puppy owners hold off on sleeping with their puppy in the beginning stages of puppyhood!
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Disruptive Sleep Schedule
The reality is, most young puppies don’t sleep through the entire night without getting up and moving around. If you’re a light sleeper this can make getting rest particularly tricky. Likewise, if you tend to move around and get up during the night, you could disturb your puppy, interrupting their sleep schedule and making it more difficult for them to get back to settle down again.
Increases Potential for Developing Separation Anxiety
A huge part of teaching your puppy to sleep on their own is to encourage their confidence and sense of independence. Sleeping with your puppy can inadvertently perpetuate their anxiety at being left alone and not allow your puppy the ability to build resilience. As separation anxiety escalates, you may notice that your puppy starts to exhibit other bad behaviors and sometimes destructive behaviors aside from whining or barking at night.
Potty Accidents
Young puppies can’t hold their potty for very long so the probability of them having an accident while sleeping in bed with you are pretty high! In our blog “Potty Training Your Puppy: Tips for New Owners!” learn how to set up a potty schedule for your puppy and our steps to fast track their potty training!
More Demanding Behaviors
Allowing your pup in the bed with you at a young age can be a gateway into them exhibiting more demanding and unwanted behaviors. If you're noticing more barking, jumping nipping and general not listening, it is common for this to all stem from the lack of boundaries and structure, especially at nighttime.
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Sleeping Arrangement to Consider for Your Puppy
So what is the ideal sleeping arrangement you should consider? For The Puppy Academy students at our Hermosa Beach school and our students online we consistently recommended their parents’ to crate train their puppy.
The Benefits of Crate Training
Crating your puppy gives them a safe space of their own. Your puppy’s crate is essential especially when you need to keep them in a contained area when unsupervised but also gets them used to other situations like being in a crate or kennel at the vet, daycare, groomer or for travel.
It also helps teach them independence and confidence with being by themselves and away from you. When puppies are constantly with you, it makes it harder for them to be without you, which can ignite more whining, barking, and destructive behaviors when you do need to leave them alone. Introducing crate time while they're young can help curb all of this while preventing separation anxiety from ever forming. And one of the easiest times to do this is overnight while they're sleeping!
Crates also add instant structure and boundaries into a puppy’s life, and can help speed significantly speed up the potty training process! Puppies naturally do now want to soil where they sleep, and getting puppies on a crate rotation schedule throughout the day will teach them how to hold their potty for longer intervals of time as they grow.
Learn more about crate training your puppy in our blog, “Step-by-step Guide to Crate Training Your Puppy!”
Can You Ever Let Your Puppy Sleep With You in Bed?
Yes! Many owners love the comfort of having their pups in bed with them, and if this is a goal of yours too, we want to help you get there! We recommend crate training for the first 1-2 years of their life to provide structure in your pup’s daily life while building their confidence, independence, and overall good manners. Giving your puppy the freedom to join you in bed is a privilege that should be earned through good behavior and age.
If after transitioning them to the bed and your pup begins to misbehave, starts having more potty accidents, or is showing signs of separation anxiety, it just means your pup wasn’t quite ready yet for this transition and needs more structured sleeping time in the crate at night. Don’t make this transition to the bed too early on either! If you’re not quite sure if your pup is ready yet, give them more time. It’s more difficult to go back to using the crate overnight once they’ve started joining you in bed!
Ultimately, having your puppy sleep in bed with you is a decision and a lifestyle choice for you to make for yourself. From a puppy trainer’s perspective and from what we’ve experienced working with thousands of puppies and their parents, we’ve listed our recommendations and what we think you should consider when making this decision.
Right now what your puppy needs most from you is structure to start understanding their role at home and developing good lasting behaviors. Where your puppy sleeps is part of building a daily routine and if you feel like you are isolating or neglecting your puppy by letting them sleep alone in their crate, don’t! The confidence and resilience they will develop can transfer into other areas of their life and help them become far more well-rounded adult dogs. Remember: more structure now means more freedom later.
Need more help training your puppy? Our Online Puppy School is open!
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