Separation Anxiety

[Courtney Calhoun]

Our Ollie is 8 weeks old, and sleeps horribly at night. The first night we had him in a crate in our bedroom. He cried and barked so loud my husband and I slept with pillows over our heads. We let him out every 3 hours, but he was so depressed he wouldn't sleep. He ended up getting really sick the next morning, and we took him to the vet to get fluids. The next night, with our vet's advice, put the crate downstairs with a warm rice bag and some music in the background. He still cried and whimpered but we noticed at the first alarm to let him out, he was quiet and sleeping. Any suggestions on how to help the separation? We had a toy that had his litter mate scent on it, but he puked on it so it needed to be washed. A cousin suggested the snuggle toys with the heartbeat and heating pad. Any suggestions would be helpful, we are hoping to alleviate some of his separation stress ASAP.

Thank you!

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Has Ollie been to the vet with a fecal exam? I am absolutely not a puppy expert but I have read that if the crate is the appropriate size and he is still soiling it, he may have some kind of worm making him have to go NOW.
Of course it could be the anxiety.  Have you tried giving him an article of clothing that has your scent or your husbands scent on it? That may sooth him.  Also we covered Yeti's kennel from day one.  It was recommended to us by his breeder.  It seemed to work well for us but i totally understand that not everything works for every puppy.  I really really hope the snuggle pup works for you guys tonight :)

[Courtney Calhoun]

He isn't soiling anything else. He hasn't pooped in the house at all, except his crate. I'm trying to get him on a schedule so hopefully alleviate some of that stress. He is so tired during the day because he doesn't sleep well at night. So we are struggling with keeping him awake in the evening because he's just exhausted. We get the snuggle pup tomorrow so I'm crossing my fingers it does something. 

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I'm crossing my fingers for you! I'm so hoping the snuggle pup helps! Also a schedule helps immensely! We battled a lot of bad behaviors due largely to over tiredness.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

What I did was put his crate by my bed on a stool where he could see me. I would stick my fingers in the crate and talk softly to him. Then he would settle downwind go to sleep. Gradually I would move the crate (still on the stool further away from the bed. Next was crate on the floor.

Hurley was always restless in his crate. Quiet but restless. So I brought him up on the bed after a few weeks and he slept like a baby. Only waking us up when he had to go outside. He could not figure out how to get off the bed for a long time so it was like being in a large uncovered cage. He would just curl up and go to sleep.

Trained him to go to bed at the same time every night. After he learned how to jump on the bed I would say 'bed, bed' and point at the bed and off he would go. He will be five in Nov and he still goes to sleep at the same time every night. Not in the bed. He prefers the cold tiles or wood flooring over the carpet.

Hope that helps.

[Dawn and Molly]

We used the Snuggle Puppy.  It helped our puppy a lot.  It was warm and had the heart beat.  It worked for us.