Puppy whinning

[years-of-tears]

Hello!

I am new to the site and I am looking for some help with my son's new puppy! He is whinning day and night and last night I didn't as much as get a wink in! I fed him, watered him, walked him at 2:00 am and again at 4:00 am and still.....nothing calmed him! "Shadow" will be 6 weeks old on Wed. I have placed his crate in the bedroom with me. I have bought him lots of toys! He has been chewing on everything! I had a friend tell me to place a warm water bottle in a blanket in his crate and a clock. I am sure that a lot of this is seperation anxiety from his mother, yet ....even a pup needs sleep! lol. My son is 15 and has autism, this is what led us to getting "Shadow' a companion for my son. I am looking to get him trained for my son's specific needs. Until then......we are trying to make the best of the sleep-less puppy nights! Thanks!

[years-of-tears]

Oh Terry..had I of known then that it would be so hard on Shadow I wouldn't of taken him so soon....yet the kennel was full of puppies and crowded...just thought that him being here with just my son and I ...he'd get more attention...

Ann, we got the Puppy on Thursday and he was fine, he did sleep that night . Friday he started whinning....Sat I called the breeder and she was not home. Sunday same. Now she told me that the weekends are their busy days...folks are out looking for pets on the weekends....and she very well may have been outside in the kennels and not of gotten my message until later that night? I am still waiting for her to return my call. I am trying to get the same Vet that she uses because she takes all her puppies there. He isn't in agony...because as soon as we take him outside to play ball....he's jumping and running....rolling the soccer ball with his nose and paws! I think he's a lil advanced for being such a young puppy! Sorry it took me so long to reply! I have him on my lap!

[Yvonne, Riley, Murphy and Luca]

I am shocked that your breeder let you take him home with you. It was very irresponible of her. Puppies should be with their mothers until they are 8 weeks old, as stated by others in earlier posts.What difference does it make that you paid in full instead of a deposit? The breeders first and only priority should have been the puppy and its health. I think you need to try to contact that breeer again, and take that puppy back to its mother. Then you should get some good puppy books and start reading in the next 3 weeks about how a puppy develops and is socialized and at what ages are milestones.
This site has a lot of expierence and knowledge that people will share with you, but in my opinion taking a 5 week old puppy home is not a good start for you, your puppy or your son.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Hi,
First off this pup should be eating and not nursing on his mom at 6 weeks with its litter mates. A puppy should never be left go by any breeder till it is 8 weeks of age, because it still needs the socialization of the litter mates. It will not learn from it's Mom what is excepted for a pup in a litter or social standings in the puppy-doggy world. Also in most states there is a puppy lemon law which prohibits breeders to release pups at the age of 6 weeks. This should have been made very clear to you as to why this pup should or could not be released to you, even if you paid the full amount for this pup up front. I understand your son has autism, however; two weeks more with this pup's litter would have made a huge difference, it would not have stopped the pup from missing its litter mates, but it would have given it the social skills I talked above about. Where do you keep this pup at night, use a crate and keep it by your bed, when the pup whines, gently tell them its ok...go to sleep, let your hand dangle near the crate also so it knows its not alone, you can go back to the breeder and take a new clean t-shirt or baby blanket, let the litter mates play with it for a while, than put that in the crate, the pup will get the scents of its litter mates off the t-shirt, or blanket, whenever I had sold a litter of pups they all go home with their own baby blanket which the litter has shared, and this helps them to adjust easier. It may sound crazy, but it has been proven to work for my pups and less sleepless nights for their new owners!

[IDOGMa]

I work within the canine behavior world. My recommendation is to contact the breeder and make arrangements with them to return the puppy for at least 2 more weeks. There are CRITICAL things that this puppy must learn that only the mother and the other litter mates can teach. No matter how focused, and committed a human is to a puppy, we just can not replace the important lessons this puppy must learn from other dogs to assure that it will be a balanced dog when he gets older. These lessons cant be taught by humans, we cant compensate to the full degree that is needed, no matter how much heart and love we show the puppies.

I dont want to sound real negative, but I am stating facts. A dog that has been removed from their mother and littermates are almost always fearful and poorly adjusted. They are not flexible with new things (neophobic), they are reactive and sometimes will respond with as aggression as the dog matures. The dog will do poorly with other dogs and can often be the one that starts negative interactions with other dogs simply because they did not get some important information about cut off signals. These dogs taken from mothers too early are also frequently dogs that will guard food, guard other resources, guard people, and many other things.

This can all be prevented and is totally unnecessary to allow a puppy to develop these types of behaviors by simply keeping the pup with mother and littermates and also allowing the breeder to do some habituation and socialization.

As it currently stands, you will NOT end up with a dog that will be of any good service to your son. You will be dealing with ongoing behavior issues and they have the potential to elevate as the dog gets bigger and more mature. You will be looking for solutions and hiring trainers and behaviorists, spend lots of money only to learn that you cant undo what he missed during the critical development periods.

PLEASE take this puppy back and do what is right for this puppy. I really dont want to sound super negative, but it is important that you understand this information and the best way to communicate that is to be clear and even a bit blunt.

N. Beth Line
Canine Think Tank, Canine Research Consultant
Caninthinktank.com
International Doodle Owners Group, Inc., Director
IDOG Rescue/Rehome Resources Advisor
IDOG.Biz
DL 11/06 Certified
Animal Behavioral Society 1/07
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants 639AF
Association of Pet Dog Trainers 68696
Wolf Park Volunteer 1/05
American Humane 1/08

The International Doodle Owners Group, Inc. (IDOG) is a worldwide not-for-profit 501(c)(3) group of volunteers, dedicated to educating the public on the subject of Labradoodles and Goldendoodles. IDOG encourages responsible ownership and responsible breeding practices. We provide support and resources to help Labradoodle and Goldendoodle owners and doodles in need. We work with shelters to assist in communications, lending our network of resources to help locate quality forever homes for Labradoodles and Goldendoodles. In addition, we provide rescue, foster care and new home placements.

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

As a breeder I agree with Beth / IDOG. Take this puppy back to the breeder TODAY! He is not ready to be away from his mother and litter mates. The puppy is showing classic signs of stress!

I dont have much else to add as IDOG has nailed it!

[years-of-tears]

I took Shadow to the Vet today and he did a fecal smear and checked him over REALLY WELL! He said that Shadow is fine, No worms or Parvo detected and that he was teething and this is why he constantly chews on every/any thing. He said that the Shadow should've stayed with his mom for the 8 weeks, however.....didn't reccommend that I take him back....because he has bonded to my son and I and he would be in distress. He gave me several tips to help with the whinning. When I came home from taking my son to school, I stood outside the door and listened for quite some time......opened the door quietly...put my purse down....got a dsoft drink.....and NO WHINNING.....UNTIL....I walked by the bedroom where he was in his crate! When I told the Vet this....he laughed and said that our Shadow was VERY SMART! That he was already attached to us and that explains why he is only content when we are playing ball outside in the backyard, he is a very active puppy! He did suggest that we play later in the evening so that he would be tired, instead of right when my son gets home. I also take him outside and play with him during the day. I thank all of ya for your help and advice!!!! I will say that Shadow is quieter today and seems content! I also put one of my son's stuffed animals in his crate and I think having his scent has helped him!

[fergie11]

I don't know if taking him back at this point is good. I did get Fergie at 7 wks. She did great. Now I just got Lucy - her sister on Sunday. She's 7 1/2 wks too. Fergie is taking care of Lucy but when Fergie came there wasn't another dog and she did do very well. I'll tell you though, I got a poodle a couple of months ago. He was 12 weeks when I got him, unbelievably easier! I think I had two accidents in the house and it was the dead of winter. Now I'm going through the tiny puppy who knows nothing about potty training. She's not winning but the potty training thing is going to be a long thing. I just have to take my time. Do you have friends with small dogs that could come to play with Shadow for dog interaction. I think that's why Fergie did as well as she did that young because she saw other dogs almost every day. I think now that you have the puppy home and it sounds like he's not going back you have to deal with what you have. Maybe you made a mistake getting him so early but we all make mistakes - sometimes we make the right decision and sometimes we make the decision right. It's just going to take some extra loving of that puppy and really try to get some other dogs to visit (of course, healthy vaccinated dogs) so Shadow gets that dog interaction. I'll be thinking of you when I'm walking around in the back yard at 2 a.m. with Lucy.

[Stella]

I can only hope that this 'breeder' goes out of business. What were they thinking, letting a puppy go at that young age? Our first puppy was 12 weeks old when we got him, our second was 9 and we noticed a huge difference between the two. If at all possible I would have loved for him to stay at the breeders for an extra couple of weeks. But, you have the puppy now and he is part of your family. I would definitely try and find a good canine behviourist in your area to help you out, and as soon as he has had his shots take him to puppy classes. Good luck!! Do you have any pictures of him??

[years-of-tears]

Well ......first I'd like to say that Shadow slept all night :) He woke up when we did at 5:45 am and played with my son while I made breakfast. He went out to meet the bus driver with us and my son was beaming! Shadow is quite an attention seeker ;)

Jenel, I know....the puppies were all crammed in there and Shadow even crawled under the fence to the other side.....the breeder had to go retreive him....I dunno....if I even got the right parents!!!!! I read the papers to my sister today over the phone, BTW she is picking her puppy up on Sat. from the same breeder....when I told her the mother's and father's names......she was like......"Uhhhhh that's Zoe's parent's too!" HOW? Her puppy is much younger than mine!!!! One thing that really disturbed me was when my sister told me that the mother was a yellow Lab.....No.....she was a black Lab! But according to the paper work....our puppies are brother and sister and I am one confused woman! I wouldn't take Shadow back if I had too now! I would be afraid that they would get him mixed up....well.....or lost??? I guess the breeder will have some explaining to do come Sat.....cause..I am going with my sister to pick Zoe up!!

Stella, Shadow gets his shots on Sat. and I plan to take lot's of pictures this weekend! I had exam's this week and my Kodak digital camera is worthless! I bought it one year ago and used it for that Christmas and its never worked since and Target refuses to exchange it! Guess this weekend I will be out getting a new one!!!!!! I will post em!


I must admit that I was not thinking clearly about taking Shadow so early...I just though that our home was...well..a better place for him....and he'd get attention...he was running around there and no one to praise him....I also carry guilt...because I lost 2 of my 3 dogs in my divorce....CRAZY HUH? Yeah...he won 2....I got one! Eventually....he abused Winston and threw him outta his moving vehicle....thank GOD..he did it right by the SPCA! They caught it on camera..and charged him with animal cruelty and they notified me because his micro chip still had my contact name and cell #....it took a month...and I did have to adopt him!!!! But we had him back for over 7 years.....then he was stolen right off my porch :( I have yet to of found him .... Ya can imagine....who did that one! Haven't seen my Ex since! .......he has a chip though!!!! PRAYERS!!!

[Yvonne, Riley, Murphy and Luca]

I agree with Jane. I would not recomend her to anyone. I would advise anyone to stay away from this woman and her breeding practices. You don't even know who your puppies parents are now? Do you know for sure your puppy is even a Labradoddle? It sounds like this "breeder" is running a puppy mill of some sort.

[Adina P]

My impression is that she bought a lab and has a lab...not a doodle.

[Tamara & Giada]

So, since you learned that it is critical for the pup to stay with his mom until at least eight weeks, hopefully you will convince your sister that her pup is also too young to go home.