Trying to stay positive...

[Zachary Binder]

Hi all,

We've had a Doodle, Scout, as part of our family for just 6 days and it's getting harder to survive the nights...

I fully understand that at just over 9 weeks, there are a lot of things that Scout is still learning and that nothing is "uncorrectable". I also understand that some of her behaviors just cannot be corrected now - she just isn't capable of learning everything that we need her to do this early.

The big problem is crate training. We have her crate (midwest wire crate w/ adjustable sizing) just off of our kitchen and living room. Scout cannot stand to be placed in her crate at night and we just don't feel that it is right for us to put the crate in our bedroom (located just off of the living room - 30 feet and a door from her crate).

She started out sleeping 2 hours at a stretch and then she would start whining and then barking/howling. I would get up and take her out and sit with her next to her crate until she fell back asleep and then go back to bed until she woke up again and started whining, etc...

The 2 hour stretches have seldom made it to 2.5 hours and recently have gone down to 45 minutes to an hour.

Thankfully I work from my home office and can work with her during the day so she doesn't have to be crated for long stretches. It's only night time that is a huge problem. I can handle it if she is crated/penned for short periods when we need to leave the house or I need to shower, etc.

I've tried exercising her vigorously as much as I can during the day, but she hates her harness (stops to scratch at it every 2 feet while outside) and when her collar is used, she has started to pull and bite at her leash when she can get it. Vigorous exercise for her seems to be trying to eat leaves/twigs/bark/clumps of sod. We haven't had her off of her 6 foot leash outside. I'm scared she is going to start thinking her name is NO!

Does anyone have any tips to help us keep our sanity in these next few days hopefully (but weeks probably) until she starts sleeping better? She won't play in her crate when the door is closed - she simply whines/barks/howls and tries to climb the gate.

I have her in her pen now and am trying to work using my laptop sitting on the couch 8 feet from her pen. She fell asleep on the floor after some whining. She'll get her sleep - when will I get mine? :)

I'm debating putting an air mattress in the pen and sleeping next to her. But I don't want to give in to her demands :)

I know she's just a puppy and this will pass, but some helpful hints would go a long way! :)

Thanks in advance!

Zak

[Bonnie and Kona]

We started out pup out in a crate on the bed! In a few days he was on the floor. Within a couple of months he was in the family room in a big wire crate with a quilt over it. Honestly, this is not a problem. 

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

We started with a crate in our bedroom once we brought both of the boys home. Perhaps a week. Then we moved them to the wire crate downstairs. And yes, they would wake up in the middle of the night and bark...even though they did not need to go out. They just needed to know their people are still there. Dogs are social animals, they don't want to be alone. They both realized the people are sleeping upstairs at about the same age of 5 months. Ever since that age, both of them are sleeping in our bedroom on their beds (or on the cool tile in the bathroom). We only crate the younger one when we are not home. I'm not sure why the trainer said no dogs in the bedroom. Unless you personally don't want the dog in the bedroom for some reason, there is no such rule. Our middle-of-the-night barking stopped as soon as the dogs started sleeping upstairs with us.

And remember, your puppy is extremely young and you just brought it to a whole new environment. It will take a while for it to adjust to the new rules. But she is just a baby and needs to know she is safe.

[Michelle Sanchez]

I slept on downstairs on the couch with my new pup for the first week. We both got our sleep (wasn't as good as if I were in my bed of course). She's just a scared baby.

[Kristin and Sophie]

I have already decided that I am going to sleep on the sofa for at least the first week.  I plan to sleep on the sofa and put the crate near me.  Also, I won't have as far to go when I need to take her out for potty breaks.  I agree - the sleep may not be as good on a sofa, but at least hopefully, she will sleep better and not be so scared.

[GBK]

Your precious little Scout is a "baby".  He needs to feel secure and being new in your family to learn his place in it.  Some puppies do fine in a crate in another room, others need to feel more security and hear you breathing, or need your finger to touch them for reassurance. 

My first was fine in the crate in the living room.  He would cry once in the night to be let out, and then wake up really early for the day. That was the only thing easy with his puppyhood, he was a Terror.

 My second was more insecure, she did sleep in the crate in the living room, but I needed to spend the evening news time with my head next to the crate and my fingers touching her.  She relaxed and slept.  It took me a few weeks to transision to further away, to the couch, and finally leaving her and going to the bed. This was only an hour of my time to reassure her she was safe and I was there.  If I would have insisted that she just deal with it, I wonder how nervous and insecure her start would have been and how different her personality would be.  Once potty trained both were in our bedroom at night uncrated.

This is your time to bond and teach and mold your Puppy into what you want your dog to become.  Patience is a necessity as is humor :)  Our walls were destroyed, furniture nawed, and books destroyed.  The wall thing they grew out of, I put hot sauce on the furniture to deter nawing and put all the books up out of the little ones way. 

Some people are puppy people and some are not, it is a trying time.  My mother would have gone through the roof if a dog had eaten through her walls, my husband and I just looked in horror and amazement, laughed at the stories we would have to tell and fixed the hole. 

Good luck with your adorable Scout, can't wait to watch him grow :)

[Janelle & Finley]

Hi Zak,

My puppy is 11 weeks (almost 12) so I understand what you are going through.  In the first few weeks I slept on the couch next to Finley while he was in the crate.  That way he could see me and I could reassure him when he cried.  He would wake up about every 1.5-2 hours to go potty.  This lasted until about 10 weeks and then he would go 3 hours.  This week he started going 4 hours and then last night he pretty much made it through the night. 

My reasoning for the couch was not because we didn't want him in our room but because I was too lazy to walk all the way downstairs every hour!  LOL!

So maybe try sleeping on the couch for a week or so.  I also HIGHLY recommend the Snuggle Puppy and covering the crate with a blanket at night.  Once I got Finley the Snuggle Puppy and covered his crate he did much better.  That was about the time he went 3 hours before waking up. 

I also agree with Jen on the day crate training.  You don't want them to associate the crate with always being alone so put Scout in and sit with her and let her know that the crate is good.  You can work while she is in there and she will start to understand it isn't always about you leaving.  You could also try feeding her in her crate.  I was really against this but did it for a few days just so he knew good things happen in the crate.  :) 

This week he went in his crate by himself to take a nap.  I was pretty excited.  Good luck and keep us posted.

[Diane, Baker & Oskar]

When we brought Oskar home in August, he was 5#.  The first few nights, I slept in my chair with the puppy on my chest so he would feel secure.  After a few days, I moved him to a crate the family room & I slept on the couch there.  He was happy & cried to go out only when he had to go potty.

After a few more days, I went upstairs to bed & left him in the crate downstairs after he was asleep.  He woke up more often & cried a lot.  So, we moved the crate to our bedroom, bought a heart beat device, put him in the crate, covered it & said goodnight.  We had a happy puppy once he was able to sense he was in the room with us.  If he woke up too soon, I'd just "shhhhhhh' him, he knew I was there & he immediately went back to sleep.

Once we considered him potty trained at about 7 months, we did away with the crate since we are both home all day.  He now sleeps in our bedroom with our other dog.  They have beds on the floor around our bed.  Oskar is small enough that he sometimes sleeps under the bed.  They love their people & just want to be with you.  Please reconsider your 'no bedroom' rule :)

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Zack, both of my doodles (4 & 1) slept in a crate in my room until they were trustworthy to be free. Now they choose sleep upstairs, downstairs, in the living room, kitchen, spare bedroom...you get the point. When they feel safe and at home they will go where ever they are comfortable. I have not heard a trainer ever say never let them into the bedroom. Perhaps it is an allergy thing???
Look up "Crate Games" to find fun ways to help your puppy like her crate. I did this with Shaggy when he was only 10 weeks old. He loves his crate and goes in on his own to sleep, chew a bone, and eat. I rarely close the door. If you have an old soft shirt you could give her to curl up with in the crate it might help her to feel so not alone.
The other recommendation I would strongly suggest is to look up the book "Puppy Problems? No Problem!" by Brenda Aloff.
www.brendaaloff.com or
www.dogwise.com
Her common sense approach for training puppies AND their people is fantastic.
Have patience with yourself and your pup. Your future relationship together is SOOOO worth it!!!

[Kyoko]

Hi, Zak!  I also had the crate in my bedroom. Puppies are just like newborn babies.... I remember petting her through the wire until she fell a sleep, and waking up taking her outside for potty in few hours and repeating the same thing again and again. I also put her in her crate during the day if she started to fall asleep just so that she will become acostom to sleeping in there and know that crate is her "room". I had a blanket that was rubbed on her mom when we brought her home, so that was helpful. May be you can put your t`shirt that has been worn in the crate? It will get better.  She also slept in her crate until she was a year or so, and was crated during the day when I was not home. She is now 4, and loves to sleep on our couch in the livingroom. She has no problem sleeping elsewhere.  It will get better. Good luck....

P.S. I don't think you can teach a dog to be alpha or bata or whatever... Their personality pretty much comes hardwired... exept for the case of neglect, abuse, etc....Just lke us human, some of us are out going, talkative, etc... while others are more reserved, shy, etc... 

[Jen and Annie]

Yes, I forgot about this - when Annie would zonk out during a nap, I would pick her up and put her in the crate, and close the door (but not lock it).  That way she would wake up in her crate, and I would still be there - but she learned to get more comfortable in there.   I also remember the first time she sent herself into the crate for a nap and I was so happy!

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Perhaps you misunderstood, and the breeder meant that the puppy should be kept off of your bed and not out of the bedroom. I can't fathom why it would be important to ban your little pup from the room entirely.  It simply makes no sense to me.  What was the breeder's explanation and what did you read to support this notion?

[Traz, Karen & Dale]

Hi Zak,

First of all, congratulations on your new addition.  Having a puppy is like having a child.  You will have little sleep for a while until Scout settles into her new life away from her puppy Mom.  Things will get better as she gets older.  Hang in there.

Traz is 10 1/2 months old now and he still doesn't like to be out of our sight for a long period of time.  We have had him since he was 4 months old.  He does sleep in a crate at night, which is located in our bedroom.  During the day, he makes sure he positions himself where he can see one of us.  Traz didn't like going into his crate either.  So, I started using his crate when we were teaching him the "down" and "stay" commands.  Treats, of course, were the trick to helping him learn and follow these commands.  After a while, he would go into his crate just to get the treat.  Slowly, we weaned him from the treats.  You want Scout to learn to associate the crate as a positive and secure place to be.  My suggestion would be to put her in your room, for a while, and see if you are all able to get more sleep.  You will have plenty of time to move her farther away.  We are still working on this with Traz.  It takes time and patience, but we love our boy and know this is part of the experience of owning a puppy.

Good luck with your new adventures!  There are also some helpful videos on You Tube.  Check them out :-)