Puppy howling at night - need advice

devils_vixen

Hi

We brought our puppy home on Friday and ever since she has howled as soon as we leave her in the livingroom when we go to bed.

I thought it would have subsided a bit by now but it hasn't. She is 8 1/2 weeks.

We have a crate and I'm trying to train her to go in which she does but the minute the door is closed she goes nuts!

I bought one of those king things tonight and hope to build up leaving her during the day but I would really like advice on how to tackle the night howling. How long does it normally last?

She is a staffy cross (no ideas what dad is but the amount of howling that goes on there's husky somewhere - or wolf haha!

Any tips tricks will be appreciated.
Thanks

Trina90

Have you tried the DAP diffuser pheromone. That may help calm her.
The only other thing I can think of is maybe one of those comforters, that emit warmth, and some even create a heartbeat effect, so puppy feels like she's not alone.

Person_one

Its completely normal, she's very young and she's never been alone before. I'd have the crate in your bedroom, at least until she's a bit older and then you can gradually move it out and down the stairs if you feel the need. Her instincts are that she wants to be with you and will feel more secure and calm when she can see and smell you.

mum2one

The old remedy use to be get an alarm clock, (try £1shops)- one that ticks - wrap it in a blanket, put it in with pup, simulates the heartbeat of mom/siblings. xx

takethatfan1978

As others have said its completely normal for a pup to do that. My 17 month old Labrador was crate trained as a pup and also protested for a couple of nights.

Getting her used to the crate during the day will be a big help as she cant be expected to just be used to it straight away. I would feed mine in the crate during the day, I would also leave the odd piece of her kibble find. Using puppy kongs helped too as the crate needs to be associated with something nice. At first I kept the door open but gradually started closing it while she would lick away at the kong and she would then fall asleep.

We covered ours with a duvet cover so it warm and cosy,she didn't take long to associate it as a nice place to be.

We now no longer use it overnight or when we are out but I still have it set up for days she is wet/muddy

AylesburyDuck

Try a t shirt or hoody that smells of you in the crate for her to cuddle with.

RockOnZombies

I've got an Alaskan Malamute that howled/cried at night, best thing I found was to cover his crate with a blackout sheet and it seemed to calm him down, not an ounce of trouble out of him.

sheramber

Either have the pup sleep in your bedroom or sleep downstairs with the pup until she feels secure.

If you are close to her you can give her a stroke as soon as she stirs to reassure her. Once she is settled gradually move her crate further away or move further away from her if sleeping beside her.

Being close overnight also means you can let her out if she needs the toilet, which will greatly assist house training.

She is a baby who has been plucked from all she knew- her mum, her siblings, familiar smells and familiar people. Everything that was her security.

She is now in a strange place, with strange smells and strangers who disappear and leave her alone, tired and frightened.

here is an article on crate training a puppy http://www.apdt.co.uk/content/files/training-tips/CrateTraining_000.pdf

swingaloo

One of us slept downstairs for the first few nights a he howled every time he was left alone. Then we tried leaving a lamp on when we went to bed and the TV on very low so there was some sound.

Ours would just not go anywhere near the crate so for the last hour or so at night I would wear an old t-shirt and then leave it in thepuppys bed when we went to bed.

Not saying this would work for everyone but our problems were over within a coupe of weeks.

devils_vixen

Thanks all.

She took about 20 minutes to settle last night then that was her until 4am this morning.

I filled the kong today and placed it and her in the crate then close the door. Boy she howled like a banshee! After 20 minutes I threw an old duvet cover over thr cage and this seemed to settle her after 10 minutes.

Popped her in the crate to make dinner and it took her 5 minutes to settle with the cover over.

She isn't in the crate at night - she sleeps downstairs as she is not yet house trained she is just left in the livingroom.

Am I wise to remove her water overnight to try and prevent accidents. Usually when I go down at 4 there is poo on the floor but loads of pee though last night was probably the first time she used her mats to pee on!

I don't mind the mess - it's expected but wish her body clock would wake up and howl at 6 instead of 4 lol!

Caroline_a

Mine slept in their crate at night and so long as I came down once or twice during the night to let them out for a week, they were both trained within a few days! They don't mess in their crates (or at least mine didnt), so it makes it very easy to housetrain them!