Desperate for some help

[PinkPolkaDot]

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Hello all,

I'm at my wits end and close to falling out with my new puppy. Last Sunday we brought home an 11 week old Maltese and Shih-tzu cross. We have decided to use a crate to train Eric and were fully prepared for an unsettled first night. However, we were pleasantly surprised when after ten minutes of yapping and whining he dropped off and slept peacefully until 3pm when my husband took him out for a wee. Once back in, he settled straight back to sleep and woke at 7. I thought it was too good to be true and I was right because since then his behaviour at night and in the day has really declined when it comes to the crate and being left alone.

He will bark and whine in excess of an hour at night time when we put him in. He's not hungry or thirsty and has been toileted. He will eventually settle down and sleep through but come 5-30-6.00am he is yapping again. One of us will take him out for a wee and settle him again but he barks. I'm worried about annoying our neighbours although we have told them we have a new puppy and given our apologies.

I have read everything online that I can find in settling a new puppy in a crate but there is a lot of conflicting advice some say to ignore, some say to wait for the noise to stop and then resettle the puppy. Some say leave crate in the kitchen and others say to have it in your bedroom to avoid separation anxiety but how does that work when you need to go out?

I've tried getting him used to the crate by making him have his sleeps in there and staying with him but the minute I move a muscle, he wakes and if I leave the room, he barks and gets so wound up.

We're all exhausted having had very little sleep and tried every bit of advice we can find online.

I knew a puppy would be hard work but this is really tough. I can't even go and have a shower and leave him unattended for ten minutes without a meltdown. I'm off during the school holidays but will be going back to work in September and he will need to be left for longer periods of time! Please help! I don't care how much work I have to put in, if it helps, I'll do it. I'm desperate lol xx

 

[Chatterdog]

In my experience only used a crate when travelling in the car. I personally don't like dogs in the bedroom so we set up an area in the kitchen all her own with a comfy bed and toys, that way no problem if any accidents as lino floor.

For the first couple of nights we slept on the sofa with pup, then after that we left in her bed in the kitchen with an old t-shirt to snuggle with which we had worn to bed for a couple of days so it smelt of us. We only went down once a night to let out for toilet stops and left paper in case of accidents.

If you are struggling at night try a hot water bottle wrapped tight in a towel (obviously not boing hot), it acts like a warm body and usually works well. I think with pups routine is key. Take him out after every meal, before bed and when he wakes up for toilet stop. As soon as you have injections gets walking, this will use excess energy, take him before bed and he should be a little more tierd before bedtime. When you go out try something like a kong with treats to keep him busy? When old enough go to some kind of puppy training class to get his mind working.

Hope this helps. Stick with it, they are hard work and if you havn't had one before it's a shock to the system but it's totally work it!

 

[PinkPolkaDot]

Thank you so much for replying. Great advice xx