Goldendoodle

[Nibbles48]

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Picked up our gorgeous mini goldendoodle at the weekend (at 8 wks). Currently on day 6 with mostly lovely spells of cuddles, puppy napping and cute faces, interspersed with occasional madness and a frustration at standing out in the rain for hours on end.

2 main issues;

1) crate overnight - he didnt seem to mind the crate at first, first 2 nights he was in the crate with the door open, and the run of the kitchen (quite long). Woken on several occasions to him having been on the floor (tiles thankfully), 1s and 2s. The trouble became keeping him asleep long enough to sneak upstairs. By night 3 the door was closed and he dozed off inside, but when he woke up 20 minutes later the waterworks started. Same last night. At the vets today, it was suggested that we just need to let him keep crying until he eventually relents. I dont want to stress the poor thing out. I suppose the question - if he is happy to fall asleep in the crate (albeit with me sitting next to it whilst he does so) is he happy enough, or do we need to work on making the crate even more enjoyable

2) toilet training - mostly ok, a handful of accidents but nothing major (yet). Our garden though is landscaped, with a pond and quite a few borders. Also a fairly large low acer. The problem, Mr Pup finds these all far more entertaining than what he's supposed to be doing. I've tried the 'ignore him' approach and bringing him in for 5 minutes to then go out again, but its almost as if there is too much excitement. Im therefore never sure that he's been enough to get to sleep properly. Im also not sure how much of the stuff he finds he is eating rather than destroying.

Hopefully we can get this sorted sooner rather than later.

Any particularly useful guidance would be good...!

 

[Nibbles48]

I spoke too soon.

On 2), pup had gone out several times having eaten his final food at 5pm, no sign of number 2's at 11:30 when my wife got home. That was the mistake. He got in the crate fine, cried for a few minutes then settled down. But a short while later we had a much more distressed puppy noise and went down to find he'd poo'd in the crate - on the vet bed in the front portion but remnants had gotten onto his bed. Washing machine on! Took him out with no sign of anything else, so put him back to bed with another of his beds and a different vet bed. Then, an hour or so later, same noise. Oh no, he's done it again. I checked the video camera, looks like he cried for about 3 minutes before going to the toilet, then stressing and standing in it, making a mess. Queue a foot bath in the sink, wife cleaning the cage, steam mopping the floor and another load of washing on, all at 5am.

I did wonder how much the mess was stress induced from crying etc. e.g. if he'd been lying next to us he wouldnt have made a fuss.

The good news (!) though is that, after that, things went much better. Our camera has the ability to broadcast our voice, and we noticed that a 'lie down, good boy, well done' message or two quickly settled him - like he knows we are nearby even though he cant see us. Which im assuming is a very good thing.

The lesson: make damn sure there is nothing left in pup before bed. Even if that does mean hanging around outside way after bed time. Happily he seems to have forgiven us this morning

 

[JoanneF]

At the vets today, it was suggested that we just need to let him keep crying until he eventually relents

That's really old fashioned advice, we know now that leaving a pup to cry does more harm than good. Vets are great for diagnosing and treating health issues but few have any expertise in canine behaviour (which is fair enough, that isn't their job).

Can I suggest you have a look at the links in this thread, particularly the first few nights, house training and crate training but do come back and ask questions or let us know if you think something won't apply.

Useful Links & Recommended Reading

 

[JudyN]

Just to add to what JoanneF has said, and the info in the links - he is absolutely just a baby, has been taken away from everything he's known, and is suddenly expected to be on his own. His distress is very real, and also potentially damaging. Our most important task with a new puppy, far more important than toilet training, is to help them to feel secure. If they are insecure and anxious as a pup, they cannot develop into a secure, confident adult.

So please don't expect him to sleep on his own. His crate can go in your bedroom, and then you can respond straight away when he wakes up and needs to toilet. Alternatively you could take it in turns to sleep downstairs with him until he is more settled.

He is gorgeous, BTW

 

[Flobo]

Can only echo as above...
He is a gorgeous pup indeed, what's his name?

 

[Elliemum2x]

hey welcome

 

[Nibbles48]

Thanks for the messages. Appreciate the points raised, though things have improved markedly. We bought an Eufy camera to monitor him and have found he responds well to a 'lie down, good boy' message through it. And the last 2 nights he's slept virtually the whole night through. He had one brief grumble about 2am but a quick voice message had him back to sleep in minutes.

The toilet training however seems to have stalled. Took him out immediately this morning before doing anything else and he sat around yawning and looking at the trees. Brought him in 10 minutes later and he went immediately to the paper and did a wee. And then 2 minutes later a poo - doh. Considering putting some paper down in the garden, if only it would stop raining. But we'll get there.

He's Chester

 

[JoanneF]

he went immediately to the paper and did a wee

I know that’s what we all used to do many years ago, but paper or puppy pads do give mixed messages about whether indoor toileting is allowed or not.

 

[Nibbles48]

I was thinking similar, to be honest...