More advice on new pup!

Scruff101

Hi...we got a new 9 week old pup on Thursday....he barks and whines VERY louly when we put him into his crate for bed at night. He also barks and whines whenever we leave him alone in a room. When I say he barks and whines...I mean he is LOUD. We have cotton wool in our ears at night and I'm surprised the neighbors haven't been in. Any ideas on how long this might go on!? Any advice? Thanks!

Ruu_Old

It is only natural for him to whine, he still wants out to play (or something else). Do you play with him before his bed time? He is probably not used to be confined yet either so maybe after a little practice and he realises that you aren't abandoning him, he will be more comfortable.

peasant

He's only nine weeks old ...what do you expect ? He's far from the "finished article" and suffering from anxiety. Everything is new and frightening. He's been separated from his mother and siblings to be landed in a totally alien environement

For the next few nights, let him sleep in a big cardboard box beside your bed. If he gets anxious, you can put your hand into the box and calm him. This way he will a) be quiet and b) able to get used to you and bond with you.

A further advantage of this method is that you will notice when he starts to stir and needs out and you can let him out then ...first step of toilet training successfully mastered.

After a few nights and days, when he has gotten used to his new environement, then you can start putting him into his separate bed for the night.


Ohh ... and another thing:
At nine weeks old he shouldn't really be left alone in a room. He hasn't got any sense yet and might start destroying things or even do himself some serious harm while playin with electric leads for example.

At that age, a dog is like a human baby at about 1 1/2 years. Mobile and curious enough to do some serious damage/injury, but quite a bit away yet from knowing what it should and shouldn't do.

andrawolf

I wouldn't put him in a box at the side of the bed. I am sorry but he will only replace his mum with you and then when you have to leave him for any thing ie work he will only whine for you and you will not be there to comfort him. At the moment I have a 7 week old pup and he has been with me for a week. two nights he howled. Like a wolf. First night it was all night.:( I went to him if he went on for to long, let him out for a pee then back in to his cage. He would settle for an hour or so then he started again. so let him go for awhile then done it again. secound night wasn't so bad and third he went the whole night until 6am.:D He is caged at night and he has teddys that he lays with. A good routine through the day helps and always don't feed to late at night. My pup last dinner is at 6pm and I lift his water at 9pm. Toilet at 10.30pm and that is him until 6.30-7am. which is very good.:D:D:D hope this can help.

peasant

andrawolf wrote: »

I am sorry but he will only replace his mum with you

Ahh ...silly me !
And there I was, thinking that that was the basic idea behind having a dog ...make it a member of your family.

But of course you're right, it is SO much better to have the little thing functioning like clockwork.

I lift his water at 9pm

Yes, indeed ...we wouldn't want little doggy to give into its thirst during the night. After all, that could possibly make him pee at undue hours and not according to plan. Mustn't upset the routine.


This is a tiny little baby, not a household appliance :mad:

EGAR

I am with peasant on that one, 100%. And I may add that to withdraw water from a dog (ANY dog regardless of the age) constitutes cruelty in my eyes.

Jules

Tbh, i'm kinda torn on this issue. You don't want to set your puppy up for any bad habits, but you do have to understand, as Peasant put it, he is only a baby.

I would think that having him in a box beside your bed might be a little too much, but i would have him in close proxcimity to your room. If he is more settled around you put in a pillow case from your bed that has your scent on it. What i have also done before is gotten a doggie soft toy, opened it up and put a small clock, available in most homeware shops, that makes a ticking sound, an sown it back up. Do make sure it's not too loud. This sometimes helps to immitate the sound of a heart beat and will make the little guy feel a bit better.

If you have him in a crate at night and he whines and does for a while, DO NOT IGNORE HIM. As Peasant said he may need the toilet and like most dogs does not like to soil his bed. Or you could get one of those old fire guards and corner off a part of the room, hope you know the ones i am talking about, and have newspaper for him to pee on and his bed, separate. I find this good for training also.

Now i know you can not have your puppy with you 24/7. You are not superman/woman. But if you have to leave him in a room alone for any period of time. Try and make him feel comfortable. This is also where the old fire guard thing come in handy. Again you can corner him off, while giving him some room to move around and some where to pee. And keep him away from anything that he could eat/hurt himself with. Also put a radio on this will give him the idea he isn't alone.

And as the last two post have pointed out, never leave your pet, dog/cat/hamster whatever without fresh water. I agree with not leaving food down all the time as they just "graze". But fresh water is so so important.

http://www.babycare-direct.co.uk/t_fireguard.jpg ... MY TRUSTED FIREGUARD

Rogueish

I have to agree with Jules and Peasant on the puppy comfort thing.

When we first got our puppy we were putting her in her bed in the kitchen at night. Where she wasn't whining like yours she wasn't impressed with being left on her own and let us know about it.

So we started putting her bed beside ours at night. Once we started that she was much happier. House training throughout the night was much easier. And far from making her more anxious when we are away she settled much better throughout the day.

Unfortunately and this is our bad, she is now two and still sleeps in her bed beside ours at night But she is no trouble. As far as she is concerned thats her spot

She is a house dog and is very much as part of our family and is treated as such.

Scruff101

Thanks again for all the replies. We are going to persevere and try to cope with all this whining. I just hope the neighbours don't get too angry with us as he is very, very loud!!

the dee

When we got our dog as a puppy, one of the neighbours actually called the DSPCA about his whining. They thought we might have been mistreating him :P

padi89

Jules80 wrote: »

What i have also done before is gotten a doggie soft toy, opened it up and put a small clock, available in most homeware shops, that makes a ticking sound, an sown it back up. Do make sure it's not too loud. This sometimes helps to immitate the sound of a heart beat and will make the little guy feel a bit better.

Yeah the clock thing worked for my dog when he was a pup.Just stuffed a wind up ticking clock in an old pillow/cushion and put it in its bed.He stopped whining instantly:eek:
Worth a try.

coisaille

Hi, when I got my pup a few months ago I had her crate beside my bed for the first two or three nights, this worked well for me, after that she slept no prob on her own. The thing about the crate is that they are brilliant for speeding up the whole toilet training thing but remember a wee puppy has no bladder control and they don't want to pee in there, so for the first while they need to be let out really often!

The first night you'll probably have to get up every hour, next night every two hours etc - you will feel like a bit of zombie for a few days... persevere though and within a week you'll see a big difference - give him a good run around the garden last thing at night (as late as you can) and give him a nice treat before he goes into the crate - once he gains a bit of confidence and gets used to the new surroundings I'm sure he'll settle in...

Oh yeah, maybe you do this already but leave the crate open during the day with cozy bedding/treats in there so he gets used to going in there whenever he goes for a snooze...

lucyburn

Scruff101 wrote: »

Hi...we got a new 9 week old pup on Thursday....he barks and whines VERY louly when we put him into his crate for bed at night. He also barks and whines whenever we leave him alone in a room. When I say he barks and whines...I mean he is LOUD. We have cotton wool in our ears at night and I'm surprised the neighbors haven't been in. Any ideas on how long this might go on!? Any advice? Thanks!

Your so lucky to have a new puppy i would love one, but i live in a flat which doesn't allow pets.:mad:

wazzoraybelle

try putting a ticking clock under his bed. The poor thing is lonely and has a little separation anxiety. The clock mimics the heartbeat of a sibling or mother that he is used to.

Never needed to try this myself but I've heard it works.

lucky you with a new puppy:D

CrowdedHouse

padi89 wrote: »

Yeah the clock thing worked for my dog when he was a pup.Just stuffed a wind up ticking clock in an old pillow/cushion and put it in its bed.He stopped whining instantly:eek:
Worth a try.

+1

This definitely works,of course the problem is finding a wind up clock nowadays.Also put a warm hot water bottle in with the clock in the cushion.
There are commercial versions available - http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/item--Comfort-Pal--comfort-pal(Who are a reliable supplier)
Maybe a good pet shop locally would have one.