Puppy advice

sambuka41

Just looking for a little advice, I got a puppy 2 days ago,she's 14 weeks most likely a Pomeranian and collie cross. She's extremely nervous when she is left alone, she howls and barks non stop. This happens at bedtime which i expected,but its also happening during the day.

She sleeps in a cage at night,which she is happy to be in she goes in during the day of her own accord, for the first day she wouldnt leave it!! She will bark for about 30 minutes solid when we first go to bed,then its every 2 hours or so she start again.

She is a bit nervous when being handled but is getting better,should this barking go away?? Im not sure if its just regular puppy behaviour or if its the start of a bigger problem.

andreac

Firstly congrats on the puppy.

This is normal behaviour for a puppy which is in a new environment. Puppies cry and howl esp when they have been taken away from their mammy and siblings so it wil take a while to settle in, its only been 2 days so you need to give the pup a chance to settle in to its new surroundings.

Getting a good routine established will help the pup settle in quicker. This should be feeding, playtime etc, and toilet time.

Is she locked in her crate at night? if so shes prob howling/crying to go to the toilet as a pup of 14 weeks wouldnt be housetrained so you will prob need to get up at least once to let her out to the toilet at night as they cannot hold it all night at that age.

Try tiring her out just before bedtime with a play session and hopefully she should sleep a little easier then.
Whatever you do, do not go down to her while shes crying as she will learn that this behaviour gets your attention so best to ride the storm and let her cry and it should stop withing a few days/week or so.

If shes nervous then you just need to be patient with her and not force her too much and try and build up her trust with time and positive training. Lots of treats and toys when shes behaving well.

Where did you get her anyway? just wondering why she is so nervous and most puppies are really outgoing and love playing etc.

sambuka41

Got her from a friend of a friend thing,on farm,his dog had pups. She lived in a shed and didnt really get much interaction from people, she is playful but in a very apprehensive way!! Like she doesnt know what to be doing with herself!!

Yeah 2 days isn't really long enough I suppose On the plus side my cat is doing really well with her! He's put her in her place once or twice with a hiss and she's taken it well.

yeah she's not house trained thats another battle!;) She didn't leave the cage the first day so she just went in the cage but yesterday we had her out and tried the praising her lots if she went outside,she is still going on her bed at night but maybe it is cause she cant hold it.

Thanks for all the tips, i'll give them a try!

Our man in Havana

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andreac

Ah right, well it sounds like she hasnt had much socialisation or handling then, so you just need plenty of time and patience with her then.

I would recommend training classes which will help with socialisation too for her and will benefit her in the long run so try and get those started as soon as you can as its easier for puppies to be trained when they are young and get a good start.

With the house training, is she locked in the cage at night? as this is probably the reason she is weeing on her bed which dogs actually hate doing, so you must either get up and let her out to the toilet at night or leave the cage open so she has access outside her bed to use the toilet, on paper or something as its really unfair on a dog to be going to the toilet on their beds.

She wont be able to hold it all night for another couple of months so you need to let her out every few hours for the time being.

sambuka41

Thanks again for the advice, she's coming out of herself even more today:D Have to watch her every move!!! Although she is preferring the cats toys to her own!!!!

mymo

sambuka41 wrote: »

Thanks again for the advice, she's coming out of herself even more today:D Have to watch her every move!!! Although she is preferring the cats toys to her own!!!!

Ah yes, my poor cats have no toys left, even the christmas toys didn't make it to new years!
I'd second andreac's advice, at 14 weeks I'd say let him out twice during the night, and gradually space out the time between until its once a night. She'll probably be around 4-5months before she can hold it all night, but it varies a lot.(my dog took until 5 months, the bitch just under 4)
Training classes are great, even if there's none near you try to find a few people with quiet dogs that you could "run into" during walks, Its great for their confidence.
Enjoy you new pup, they really grow up fast.

Sigma Force

Yeh it sounds like typical puppy behaviour, but she's a bit behind in her socilisation because of where she came from so she's acting more like a much younger pup at the mo. Agree that puppy classes would be ideal for her, it can be exhausting even with a 'normal' pup.

If not already pop the crate beside your bed at night, our pup settled in quickly but only after we started putting a snuggle safe heat pad into his bed, a jumper from one of us helped as well at the start. But the heat pad worked a treat, 7 months on he still loves it and won't settle until hubby puts him to bed with it. If I put him to bed he won't settle lol.
They sure pee a hell of a lot when they're younger our fella was about 7 months before he stops peeing very regularly but then he started spraying now he's neutered and older it's all so much easier.

It will get easier for you, if you can get in contact with someone who has a friendly outgoing non nervous dog that you can go walking with and let the two have a play that would be good for him as well.