New puppy! First few nights in the crate...help!

[Arya]

Hey everyone!

We brought home our little brand new 7 week old Boxer puppy from the breeder yesterday.  We are doing crate training, and she has her little crate that she can turn around and lie down in and that is about it.  Last night was our first night with her, and she HATED the crate.  She howled all night long.  I think we might have done things wrong.

We have the crate in our bedroom with us, not close enough to the bed to touch her but on the other side of the room.  We have been slowly adjusting her to the crate by feeding her treats in there, letting her go in and out on her own.  She takes naps in there during the day.  At bedtime, we let her walk into the crate on her own and then closed the door.  After about 15-20 minutes, she stopped howling and went to sleep.  Then she slept for an hour or so and woke up and howled.  We let her outside to potty, which she did.  Then we brought her back in and put her in the crate.  15-20 minutes later, she stopped crying and fell asleep for an hour or two.  Then we took her out to pee.  etc.  I think we ended up taking her out about 6 times, and she went potty each time we took her out.

However, we got NO sleep.  I think this might have been a mistake because now she thinks when she cries we'll take her out.  So here are my questions:

At 7 weeks, how long can we expect her to stay in the crate at night without going potty?
Do you set an alarm to let her out, or do you listen to her crying and let her out when she cries?

Thank you all!

[3BOXERS]

It her first night  without her sibling and mom in a new place. She going to take a couple of days to adjust. When she cries you should take her out and let her go potty but do not play with her. Tell her good girl when she goes potty and then put her back to bed in the crate. That way she understands that when she cries she is not getting out and playing. Her crying should lessen in a couple of day. She just need some time to get used to her new home and routine.  Congrats on the new baby!

[Arya]

Okay, so if she cries 6 times per night - it's okay to let her out 6 times as long as it's just to potty and then right back in?

Thanks!

[WildBeanerz]

Not to be mean but 7 weeks old is a bit young to leave her mom & siblings. Where I live (in PA) it is even against the law to sell a puppy before 8 weeks. And lots of breeders now keep them together until 12 weeks for socialization time.

My only real point is that this breaking in time may last a little longer for your little girl. Just make sure like others have said that the middle of the night breaks are potty only. As she gets more used to it she may try to play or run around and you may have to put her on a leash so that she doesn't play a game of catch me and make you play while you are just trying to get her back to bed. But every 2 hrs does seem about right. Just like having a baby

[BoxerPerson]

Ditto April...7 is way to young.  Yep every 2 hours seems about right

[Theresa]

You might want to move her crate next to your bed.  If she starts crying even after you've taken her out to potty, you can always touch the crate/her through the crate to comfort her a bit

[Eilene]

Ditto on what the others have said...

[steph0808]

We didn't crate at night, but we took the pups out whenever they woke up. If they slept through the night, then we went out first thing in the morning (sometimes I carried them from upstairs because I didn't know if their little bladders would hold during the walk! haha).  But the puppy should have to go out about every 2-3 hours so it seems about right at the moment.

Just my experience, but I don't agree that being younger means extended potty training time. Brody came home at a little before 8 weeks and he was the easiest dog to potty train ever. Seriously, he maybe had three accidents.  He was so good. On the other hand, Riley came home at 9.5 weeks and he was a pain to potty train!  Oh he was so bad, lucky he was so cute though! 

Here is an example. We picked Brody up and stopped at a rest stop during the trip. He did his business like a good boy.  When I picked Riley up - he wouldn't do his thing. I get home and hand him to Josh for the first time (he couldn't go with me to pick Riley up) and he peed all over Josh. It was hilarious!    I should have known then that he was going to be a pain in my butt! 

[Christina]

Daisy was like clockwork, every 2 hours, she was out to potty and then back to sleep, so it sounds like things are about right for your pup.  The first few nights may be a little bit rough because of missing the siblings and mom to cuddle with as well.  As others have said, just like having a baby   

[Arya]

Thanks everyone for the advice

I definitely know that 7 weeks is too early, unfortunately that was not easily avoidable in my breeder's situation.  She has been out of work and looking for a job for over a year, and had a job opportunity that started this week that she couldn't pass up.  She made arrangements to have the puppies fully weaned by then and had to have the puppies go to their new homes.

She was actually 7 1/2 weeks, so it was only a few days early.  Not optimal I know, but I understand her situation with the economy being the way it is.

[BoxerWB]

In California, it is actually a misdemeanor with a potential $250 fine per sale to sell puppies under 8 weeks of age (unless a vet has provided a written exemption):

http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stuscacalpencode597z.htm

It sounds like the crate behavior is normal though and you should be OK so long as you don't let the pup turn potty time into playtime.