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Advice on our new puppy...please help!!

nursejess80

Well-known member
Ok, so we've had Ruby for 2 days now, and she is SOOO attached to us. She hates her crate and freaks out if she's not asleep in it. She whines and howls, which I expected, but nothing we do seems to help. I've tried talking to her in a soothing voice, putting a clock next to the crate at night, leaving toys and treats in with her, etc., but she only wants to be on one of our laps. Also, it's been pretty rough at night with the howling. We got out to potty before bedtime, and we got out about every 2-3 hours. BUT, she refuses to go to sleep in the crate. I have to get her to sleep outside of the crate and put her in it. She usually kind of stirs when I do this, but she'll usually settle in. Then, she'll wake up about 30 minutes later whining her head off. Needless to say, we aren't getting much sleep right now. I also did something I know I shouldn't have last night. At 2 in the morning I took her out and then she went back into her crate. She cried for about 20 minutes straight, even after I got her to sleep and put her back in there. I finally just put her in the bed with me. She slept for almost 3 hours without any problem. I don't want to mess up our crate training, but it just isn't going so well. Also, I'm nervous about ever leaving her because she gets so upset when we're not around. Any tips on what I should do??? I don't want her to be an anxious dog.....
 
You need to steel yourself and ignore this. Every time you respond, in no matter how small a way, it trains her to continue with this behaviour as it gets the desired response.

This is hard, but normal with puppies. Get earplugs if you need to, or consider putting her in a separate room. It may take about a week but it will stop as long as you stop responding to her. Once she goes in for the night, that should be it for ALL attention, even looking at her, outside of a very matter of fact, no attention given potty break at whatever time your normally do this during the night.

You could try draping a dark sheet over the crate to block her view of outside activity. This is often very calming for anxious dogs and puppies.
 
I would do what karlin said and also put her in her crate off and on during the day. Maybe when you shower, you're cooking, etc.. times that you can't watch her. It might be a pain in the butt for you but eventually she will get it. Both of mine know when they go in their crate they're not comin out no matter how much noise they make (providing they've been out recently, etc.)

As far as the sleeping the whoel night in the crate thing goes - don't ask me .. I have 2 cavaliers in my bed.. :yikes icon_whistling I just get up to let the small fry out at about 2 and we've been smooth sailing. :flwr:
 
If you want her to always sleep in her crate, you will have to try what Karlin and others say about how to get through this very hard part of puppyhood.

I tried this many moons ago in 1989 with my basset hound puppy and I must admit that she won. After a week of no sleep and my husband and I fighting because of our sleep deprevation, we broke down and let her sleep in the bed. I have never tried it again.

I have let all my puppies sleep in the bed ever since. I am a light sleeper, so the puppy settles down in the crook of my arm and when I feel it stir in the middle of the night, I let it out to the bathroom. Jolly is the latest puppy (5 since 1989) that I have done this with. He came to live with me at 13 weeks old and this worked for me. He never had an accident when we slept. He did however have 2 or 3 accidents in the bed while he and I were awake. But that soon passed. They were really my fault anyway. I was on the laptop and not paying as close attention to him as I should have.

I do use a crate, but for when I am not home. So I cannot hear the crying and complaining. I start out with just a short time away and gradually move up to longer and longer times away. The puppy is in the crate, if I am not home. The most I leave him in there for is my weekly grocery shopping which takes 2-3 hours.

I take Jolly to doggy day care while I am at work. So he is never in the crate all day.
 
You may also want to try putting one of the dogs with a heartbeat and warmer in her crate. It simulates being in someones lap and/or the mama dog. I think they are called comfort puppies? I know members of this board have used them and will have a link to where you can get one. I have also found the dark sheet works wonders on a crying puppy. Makes them feel secure. :flwr:
 
Both of mine do great in their crates and we started with the day they came home. One thing I will do is put them in their crates at night and then lay down on the floor in front of the crate. Seriously....I've spent an hour laying on the floor in front of the crate. I also put them in their crates when I would shower because there was no option. They weren't housetrained and obviously I couldn't keep an eye on them when I was in the shower. Also, they get a treat when they go into their crates. Coming out of the crate no treats, but a particularly restless one will get a treat when laying quietly in their crate just to reinforce it. Once my guys have gone potty they don't come back out of their crates til the a.m. If one of mine makes a noise in the middle of the night...it is straight out to the potty area, no playing and no talking or reassuring...it's all business and only business. When we come back in it's straight back into the crate. Hang in there.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot that detail.. the snuggle puppy is a great idea. :)

You can read more about them and purchase them here:

http://www.tiabellas.com/boutique/snuggle-puppies-p-291.html

Faith adores her snuggle puppy. It has a heartbeat inside of it and also it comes with 2 heating pads and a sack that you can put rice in and then heat up in the microwave. It's wonderful. Here's a picture of Faith with hers (notice she's directly ON top of it.. hehe ;) )

m73561436.jpg
 
Hello
Just wanted to say hang on in their your not alone, Belle is 10 weeks and she hates her crate and Im not getting much sleep either. Everytime she goes in it she howls and howls, I feel really cruel, she only wants to be with us and its really hard, the first couple of nights I made the mistake of responding to her, but then got more tough, even though she cried last night it was only for 10 mins and she slept till 5.30am which I was pleased with. During the day its the same story if I need to hoover go put laundry away, walk my other dog Holly she just howls, I keep thinking is she ever going to get used to it, and like you Im nervous of how she will be when Im at work. I dont want the neighbours thinking Im mistreating her. Just wanted you to know Your not alone.
 
She's asleep right now in her crate in the kitchen. We live in a condo, so our kitchen is pretty small. We're gating it and making it her own little area during the day while I'm at work. My husband will be coming home to let her out, but I don't want her crated the entire time. She wailed earlier when I was trying to get her used to the kitchen area, and of course I sobbed. BUT, I was able to handle it for about 15 minutes or so. Definitely some improvement. We're gradually working our way up some so she won't be so upset. I have to go back to work tomorrow and the next 2 days, but I'm off for 11 days after that. Hopefully we can get this whole issue settled by the time I go back. Thanks for all of the advice!! Jason and I will just have to toughen up and not let her win!!
 
Kodee's first 2 nights we were up - the first was only once but the second was every hr on the hr. No problem the third night and she has been fine at night ever since. The xpen was a no go, till she was much more settled once being here 3 wks - that is when I slowly started using it. But I am home all day which made it convenient for me to go slow. She will adjust as she becomes more secure. A puppies whines are really just a child's cry for going to bed at night (that used to unnerve me too - I am a sap!)
 
We had trouble with Pixie at first too. Hang in there! Here's some things we tried that seemed to help.

We had a crate in the bedroom and also one in the main living area (we kept toys in that one) so she'd get used to a crate in general. Most of the time the main area one had the door open, so she could come and go, and get used to it being her "den."

We put a light blanket over her crate at bedtime, with only one side open so she could see me sleeping in bed.

She had her own bedtime. 10PM - even if we weren't going to bed yet, she went to bed. It was rough at first, so we tried DAP Comfort Zone spray in her crate. Not sure if it made much difference, but at least "I" felt like I was doing something. Sometimes I'd sit or lay next to her crate until she fell asleep.

We put a worn t-shirt in her crate. And gave her a treat for going into the crate at bedtime. I wish we'd known about the SnugglePuppy.

And as hard as it was to do, we'd ignore her. My "rule" was 20 minutes before I'd go in and tell her to "settle down," say goodnight, and leave the room or go back to bed.

It seemed like it took forever but in reality, it was only a few weeks before she caught on.

Good luck!!
 
Like others have said, you just have to be patient and persistant. I know it's really hard to listen to your little baby cry, but you have to find the strength to let it happen; I happen to think it's very important for a dog to be happy in a crate. It may take a little time, but she will eventually get the idea.

One thing I don't recall anyone mentioning: I would suggest feeding her in her crate, in addition to the treats at other times. That helps them get used to the idea that their crate is a good place to go. You should see our dogs dance in front of their crate when we start getting their bowls ready. They can't get into their crate soon enough! Of course we have to feed ours separately in a crate or I'm afraid we would have the doggy equivelant of WWIII.
 
I remember how difficult the first few nights were. After I moved Scout into my bedroom with the crate elevated right next to my bed, she finally calmed down and slept. Of course you're already doing that. Just be strong we all know how hard it is to listen to a puppy cry. To me it was more aggravating than anything else. I knew she wasn't hungry and didn't need to potty, she just wanted out. After the first two nights she whimpered about 1 or 2 minutes and went right to sleep. A couple of times I had to tell her to settle down and be quiet. I couldn't believe it when she did icon_whistling .

Some nights after I put her in her crate and I got into bed I was afraid to move. I was afraid she would see me stirring and start up...Now that I think back on that it's really funny. A tiny 10 week old puppy and I'm afraid to move in my own bed..... :badgrin:


It's a power struggle. You have to wait it out. Please be patient it will work out. Consistency....that's a big word when raising a child or a puppy!!!
 
Oh yeah....as Bruce mentioned both of mine get feed in their crate...so a crate is a very good place as far as they are concerned!!
 
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