How much sleep do puppies need?

Sleep is vital to our puppies and our dogs and must be part of their routine as much as eating, play and toilet training.

You will have made a plan on how you are going to work on toilet training.

Have tactics to help with puppy biting.

Scheduled in when your puppy needs to eat.

But have you made a plan to make sure your puppy gets enough sleep?

How long should my puppy sleep for?

Young puppies need approximately need 18-20 hours sleep a day, in every 24 hours.

This will vary slightly with each puppy, but it provides you with a guide.

And yes, it is a lot!

An adult dog needs to get around 15 hours sleep a day, the old saying of ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ is correct.

If your puppy is sleeping, let them they need it.

Why does my puppy sleep so much?

Let’s look at this from your puppies point of view, as each day your young puppy has a lot to deal with.

You are providing them with new experiences, taking them on outings to new environments and all of this can be a lot for all their senses.

Then add in playtime, eating, training and bonding with you.

Their days are filled and we need to make sure that they take time out to rest.

Dogs do not always make the best decisions for themselves, so sometimes we need to help them out.

Puppies need their sleep as well to process everything they are dealing with every day, to assist them in both their physical and mental development.

This is also the time where she is building a strong immune system and the brain and nervous system use this time to grow and get stronger.

They need naps and lots of them.

They are growing daily and learning how to live in our world, this all takes up a lot of energy for them.

Just like babies and other young animals, sleep is a vital part of their daily routine.

You may have noticed they are happily playing, then all of sudden will stop and lie down and fall asleep.  This is normal.

How will I know when my puppy needs a nap?

Set yourself up for success with your new puppy and make a schedule to give you and your family some guidance and you tick off as you go along each day so you know your puppies needs have all been met.

Throughout the day, your puppy will need to be having several naps

She may just fall asleep without any encouragement. If she doesn’t, though, just follow my guidelines below.

• Puppy wakes up
• Toilet
• Mealtime
• Toilet
• Crate for a nap
• Puppy wakes up
• Toilet
• Playtime / Training
• Crate for a nap
• Puppy wakes up
• Toilet
• Trip out or a walk
• Crate for a nap
• Repeat

A good rule of thumb to start with is for every 1 hour of being awake, she will need to have 2 hours of sleep.

Crate training can be super useful for this, or a pen, depending on what set up you decided to go for.

Having a place for your puppy to have their own space to settle is very important and will encourage and help with them having naps.

When will my puppy need less sleep?

As your puppy grows, they will not need as much sleep as when they first came home to you at 8 weeks.

But, this doesn’t mean they should be awake all day, like us humans are.

As mentioned above, a grown adult dog needs approximately 15 hours in every 24 hours

Your dog still needs plenty of rest time.

Depending on your breed and size of dog you have they stop growing at different ages.

A smaller breed dog will finish growing sooner and the larger the breed the longer they take to grow to full size.

If they are sleeping more than previously, they may be going through a growth spurt.

What will happen if my puppy doesn’t get enough sleep?

It is soon noticeable of your puppy isn’t getting enough sleep.

She may be cranky, playing up.

Will not stop biting you.

Chewing those trainers that you thought you had put out of the way.

If you spot any of these, it may be down to pop your pup down for a nap, just like you would do a baby.

Setting your puppy up for successful sleep

Sometimes your puppy will struggle to switch off and go to sleep.

• Create a space that is your puppies for them to go to and sleep, a crate or a pen is a great to give them a confined safe space where you don’t need to watch them 24/7.
• Place it in a pace away from the hustle and bustle of the household.  If using a crate you can cover the crate for them.
• Make sure all of her needs are met, she has water in her crate (your puppy must always be allowed access to water), has been to the toilet, she has burnt off some excess energy and her arousal has come back down so she can settle.
• Stick to your plan above, it’s good to get them into a bed time routine and wind her down ready for her bedtime.

I have put my puppy in their crate but still won’t sleep

You know your puppy needs a sleep, she is cranky and biting harder than normal.

She’s in her crate but just sat there staring at you and not settling.

Sometimes they just need a bit of help to settle them.

This is where your natural chews, a kong or a yakk bar will come in handy.

Pop your puppy in their crate with something to do which provides some mental stimulation to tire her brain.

By doing this, you are not making the crate a bad place they get put.

But a nice place where they get the best things.

What chewing and licking does for your puppy is release endorphins in her brain.

The feel-good chemicals that will also help make her sleepy.

Perfect, you now have a napping puppy.

Need some help with you crate – check out my crate training tips here

Nighttime Routine

Establishing a good night time routine is important.

The majority of your puppies sleep will be overnight, but you do need to pop them down for naps in the day too as we have already discussed.

In the evening I wouldn’t let your puppy sleep for too long before you plan on putting her to bed, as you want her sleepy when you want to go to bed.

You also don’t want to be playing games such a ball or tuggie at this time in the day either, as that will take her arousal up and won’t want help settle her for the night.

You don’t want her excitable and wanting to play when you want to go to bed.

Have a set time you want your puppy to go to sleep, as then you can plan the evening to make sure they are settled and ready for bed at that time.

Whilst young, she will not be able to go the whole night through until she has full control of her bladder.

Set your alarm for approx 4 hours after you pop her to bed, this is normal.

And yes it is hard, the middle of the night gets ups aren’t easy but she will be toilet trained quicker.

Then pop her back to bed after she has been to the toilet until around 6 am.

A rough plan to follow would be 10 pm, 2 am, 6 am.

As she grows and gets better control of her bladder, you can increase the time that she sleeps.

For example at 2.15 am, then 2.30 am, then 3 am – until gradually she will go the night through without needing to get up.

Your crate should be big enough for her to turn round and stretch out in, but not big enough to toilet at one end and sleep at the other.

Check out my toilet training tips here.

Finally…

Puppies are learning all the time and lack of sleep can have a bad effect on their behaviour.

It is the same for our children if they haven’t had enough sleep it affects their ability to learn and make good choices.

If your puppy is tired, it is the same.

You will see behaviours you don’t like come out – biting, chasing, stealing to name a few.

Thinking you need to take your puppy for long walks and keeping them awake all day to tire them out doesn’t work and can have the opposite effect.

Your puppy will produce adrenaline so that they can cope, which means they will struggle to settle down.

If this is kept up over a few days or more, the adrenaline builds up and you can end up with a frantic, bitey puppy that never relaxes and jumps up with every movement.

And I don’t think anyone wants that, do they?

Adding a new member to your family can be an exciting and daunting time.

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