Told you I'd need help with this puppy.

twinklie

Hi guys, I need your help and advice. Little pup arrived on Saturday and she is NOT loving being left alone at night. She howls all night despite being left with treats and toys and a hot water bottle. I've left the radio on one night. Nothing is helping.

She howls and howls. I'm ignoring her but noticed this morning she has made her gums bleed by chewing the bars of her crate. Is there anything else I can do for her?

In the afternoon she is fine, but in the morning if you go out of the room she howls, and if you put her into her crate (or she wanders in) and she doesn't want to sleep she howls. I'm waiting till she's quiet before letting her out and fussing her...but just wanted some advice or reassurance than I'm doing the right thing.

Jessw0

Try moving the crate into your bedroom for the first week or so. She will be missing her litter mates, I think it's too much to expect a pup to sleep alone straight away. Leaving them can then be done starting from short periods of time and slowly increasing. Try giving treats to her in the crate during the day so she'll elarn to love it. Personally we just use a normal dog bed, but our pup (10 weeks old) has started to go to his bed in the kitchen to sleep during the day now, instead of clinging to us in the living room. Good luck

ash4becks

have you tryed using a blanket over her crate my lab will live in her crate with the door open dispite fact she has the run of the house lol it really settled her stright of and made her learn when it was bed time x

hethmar

Im no good to you, Id let him straight on my bed - couldnt stand the sound of him crying.

lisawood78

I'm the other way, I left mine to cry til they got used to it, and wore ear plugs to combat the noise.
Now they are happily settled, couldn't give a monkeys if we are there or not type attitude.
I think there are a lot of ways to go about it, but it needs to be consistent, for example, if you have them upstairs now, pup will be upstairs to sleep forever etc.
All IMHO.

carefullycautious

I have never understood why people do this to a pack animal.

I have had dogs for many years, each puppy has slept in my bedroom with me so that I can hear in the night if they are shuffling around which indicates the need for toiletting.(Yes I also get up to take them outside if need be).

As they get older they are moved to a bed at the side of my bed and then this is gradually moved to the place I want them to sleep(In past the kitchen) I have never had any problems with howling/seperation anxiety.

In a lifetime of owning dogs I have only had one who was not fussed at being left to sleep alone in the kitchen so this was allowed.

I treat my puppies like I would a new baby (which is what they are)
I known there are people out there who say start as you mean to go on. I dont agree with this but then that is my opinion on raising well adjusted dogs.

Proc

You've got to be cruel to be kind.

Now is the time that your puppy needs to learn its boundaries. There's no right or wrong answer. Some will say leave it and ignore it. Others will say let it into your bedroom then slowly wean it into a position where it sleeps alone.

When Archie was a puppy (Springer Spaniel) he made quite a lot of noise the first few nights. It's hard to do, but we just ignored it. Within a week or two he was fine. He's normally plastered in crap so he sleeps downstairs most nights, but on rare occasions he does sleep upstairs with us; he knows though that he has to go downstairs though if we give him the "bed" command.

In my opinion, it's easier in the long run to be a little bit hard on them at first, than it is to get them used to sleeping in with you and trying to get them to then sleep elsewhere.

edit; Although I can understand the sentiment that puppies are just like babies and need treating as such, this is a poor analogy with so many glaring flaws that I won't patronise MSEers by listing them.

hethmar

Why is Archie "normally plastered in crap?"

Proc

hethmar wrote: »

Why is Archie "normally plastered in crap?"

Because he's a Springer Spaniel and that's what Springers do; they paddle about in mucky water, they run around in sloppy mud, and they're always running through undergrowth getting all sorts of burrs, leaves and cack in their fur.

He spends 10 hours a day outside. What would you expect, really?

Barneysmom

Aaah, you wrote crap, you meant mud!

hayley11

Personally, I couldn't have left my puppy downstairs if he'd been that upset, I would have been crying more than him! We had ours upstairs from day one, in a crate and he now sleeps on the bed with us, which we are happy with. He's only a little cavlier king charles so doesn't take up much room on our big king size bed

I think different things work for different dogs and different owners, you just need to decide what you want, if you do want him to stay downstairs then perhaps you do need to wait it out? I don't know what to suggest about the cage biting though. ash4becks idea of putting a blanket over is a good one, that's what we did with ours when he was in his crate, he wouldn't settle unless he was covered. Just be careful what you put over, make sure it's safe for them as our dog used to pull it through the bars and chew on it.