New puppy help!

[KentNick]

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We brought our new puppy home last Saturday. She is a 10 week old cockapoo.

Where to start.......

Night times haven't exactly gone to plan and I've ended up sleeping downstairs for the last 3 evenings. I put her to bed at 11pm and she cries and barks nonstop, last night I gave in at 4am as I didn't want the neighbours complaining. Do I just keep preserving? I put her in a separate room down stairs with her bed in a crate with the door open.

Next issue is pooping!!! She generally doing very well with toilet training going outside but my issue is leaving her alone. I put her in her room when we pop out and I literally mean pop out (10 minutes) come back and there's poop everywhere which she treads in and then jumps on the walls which is not the most pleasant thing to have to clean up. How can I address this issue?

I understand she is still young and has plenty to learn but any points to the right direction would help grateful.

Thanks

Nick

 

[JoanneF]

Regarding the crying in her crate, remember she has just been taken away from he mum and littermates. Don't rush the crate, make it a fun place. Don't close the door until she is happy in there. Put a t shirt you have worn in the crate with her toys and bed. Only ever use the crate for good things, never punishment. If she cries you are going too fast.

At night, it's a good idea to have her crate in your room to start with so she knows you are close by. You can put a hand down to stroke and comfort her if she gets distressed. Please don't ignore her, you wouldn't ignore a crying child and leave her in an empty room.

Comforting her when she is distressed is fine and will strengthen your bond. Unfortunately many people make the mistake of allowing a puppy to cry in the hope that they grow out of it, when actually all they have done is cement in the puppies mind that being left in the crate (or alone, or whatever is causing the crying) is indeed a terrible thing, and for many dogs this fear becomes a learned habit.

Gradually you can start moving the crate away to outside the bedroom door, near the room you want her to sleep in, and eventually into that room. With puppies learning, everything is done in little steps, and if anything starts to fail, you go back a step and stay there longer.

Also in your room you are more likely to hear her if she moves and needs out to toilet. With young puppies it's too long to expect them to hold on all night (their little bladder and bowels aren't big enough or strong enough) so set your alarm for a couple of times in the night.

During the day though you should start to get her used to being alone for short periods so when she isn't interacting with you (to make your leaving less of a contrast) just walk out the room then back in - build up the time gradually.

For toileting ideally you want her to not be in a position where she needs to toilet before you have her outdoors, so that every toilet is outside - as far as possible, there will be accidents! So set her up to succeed by taking her out (and waiting with her) even more than she needs; for example every 45 minutes to an hour and always after sleeping, eating, playing. When she toilets outdoors make a huge fuss (never mind the neighbours, act like outdoor toileting is the best thing you have ever seen) and reward her with a high value treat. Do that immediately, don't make her come to you for the treat so she is clear that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. The idea is that she wants to earn the treat enough to hold the toilet until she is outside - once she is physically able to control her toileting obviously. If she has an accident inside don't react at all. If you get annoyed she may learn to fear your reaction and avoid you if she needs to toilet - the opposite of what you want. As she is actually performing the toilet you can introduce words she can associate with it (like 'do weewee' and 'busy busy') that later when she is reliably trained you can use these to tell her when you want her to toilet.

I don't know if you planned to use these but i dont like puppy pads - they give mixed messages about whether it's ok to toilet indoors and confuse the puppy. toileting,

 

[My Dog Levai <3]

Hi, about the crying. You shouldnt have slept downstairs with the puppy, i did that with mine and now she non stop SCREAMS when i leave her downstairs to sleep. Even if they are crying, they will get used to sleeping on their own like mine did, i hoped this helped!

 

[gypsysmum2]

I agree with everything JoanneF has said.

If she is beside your bed you will hear her stir when she needs the toilet too. This will hasten the toilet training. Success breeds success. Be very boring in the night though. You do not want her waking up expecting a game! Just out, toilet, reward, back indoors, back to bed. Her bladder and bowels are tiny now but they will soon grow!

 

[JoanneF]

Hi, about the crying. You shouldnt have slept downstairs with the puppy, i did that with mine and now she non stop SCREAMS when i leave her downstairs to sleep. Even if they are crying, they will get used to sleeping on their own like mine did, i hoped this helped!

Then if yours screams non stop when you leave her it seems your strategy of leaving her to cry when left wasn't a great success. Your dog may be suffering separation anxiety; you may want to start another thread so as not to detail this one. Or is this the dog you rehomed as per your other thread?

 

[Dylansmum]

Dylan is a 5mth old whippet. We got him at 3mths. Last night was the first time since we got him that my husband has not slept downstairs in the living room with him. It was clear he was too distressed in the first month. My hubby then found it difficult to leave him in case he made him too anxious.

I felt he was making a rod for his own back. Anyway, because he is a tad older and clearly his habits are naturally changing a little, we bit the bullet last night. Dylan was superb. Not a peep out of him. Caged at 11.15pm and out at 7am.

I think you just have to do what feels right. I dont agree with any dog being upstairs anywhere never mind in the bedroom but we are all different.

Being a whippet he is very sharp and alert. Anxious and nervy. So though he our our first puppy never mind dog, we take each day as it comes.

Dm

This is Dylan

 

[Peegee]

When we brought our 8wek old Cockapoo home last year we took it in turns to sleep downstairs with her in her crate and small run with puppy pads. We then left her downstairs but she cried and yapped whenever she used the pads as she wanted us to clear them up. Very disturbed nights. One night we decided to leave her to cry and yap to see if she would settle herself. She didn't!!! All that happened was she was very distressed and covered in poo and we felt terrible and very guilty. we then moved her to outside our bedroom in a closed crate so we could hear her when she wanted to toilet during the night. She now sleeps through the night in her bed on the landing. I wish I had followed the advice of having her in crate next to our bed for the first week or so and never using puppy pads. She is now a happy, stable and well adjusted dog who is content when left alone. I would never advocate ignoring a crying puppy.