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]

I've read that people use a old alarm clock that still ticks with a blanket over it! The ticking is supposed to sound like moms heart beat!

[Judith and Addie]

When I brought my pup home, I spent the first night on the couch, next to the crate so I could soothe her when she was anxious. I moved the crate farther away, but where she could still see me after another day. When your pup was in your bedroom, could he see you?

[Courtney Calhoun]

He could, and still yelped/cried/barked. 

[Sue]

Sleep with the crate very close to your bed and continue to use your voice to soothe him. Remember he is very very young and not use to sleeping alone.....As long as he knows you are there he will eventually go to sleep....The worse thing would be to take him out when he is whimpering/crying......As long as you know he is "empty" meaning he just peed/pooped.....I would give him 60 mins - 120 mins at this young age....Puppies are A LOT of work in the beginning but you will reap the benefits in the end.....I swear I wanted to return my Lexee those first few weeks .....with all the lack of sleep and the middle of the night pee breaks,etc.....but now at 1 yr old LExee sleeps alone downstairs on her pillow( she just recently graduated out of the crate at 11 months)......Patience....Patience ....Patience....It will get better...they are just babies.....Please email me or let me know if you need any moral support.....if you need.....I remember loggin onto doodlekisses at 5am just to know that I was not alone.....and I never was.....we have all been there.....GOOD LUCK....keep us posted

[Courtney Calhoun]

Thank you, I really appreciate that. It's definitely been a difficult few days. He slept a tiny bit better last night. However, when I went down at 1am he had pooped in his crate and stepped all over it. My husband went down next around 3:30, let him out. Then at 6 I went down and he had pooped again and again walked through it. It's becoming a frustrating task to let him out because it's also cleaning up major messes. 

[Sue]

Ok....it will get better..I promise.....First thing....if he is pooping in his crate....it may be that his crate is too big....It should just be big enough for him to turn around in...nothing more....Dogs generally will not poop or pee in their crate but if it is too big...they will do it in the corner.......Second.....Are you making sure he is empty before putting him in the crate?? some dogs need to get their bowels going so perhaps a short walk outside in the yard or near your house before he goes down for BED at night.... Third.....You mention that you went down at 6am....Is he not sleeping near you?? he could be pooing out of anxiety....I would place the crate nearest you for the coming nights.....He is probably scared and reckless....We has Lexee beside our bed in her crate for the first weeks...after week 2 she sort of decided she wanted to sleep on her own downstairs....but that was after 2-3weeks with us so maybe 11 weeks old....Keep me posted...

[Courtney Calhoun]

We have an XL crate but use the divider to make it smaller. It seems to be small enough because he soils the opposite corner of his towel/stuffy. We are walking him before going to bed and he's been pooping. That's why the excessive poop was a surprise this morning. We don't have the crate in our room. The first night we did, and he cried/barked/whimpered the entire night. We didn't get any sleep. My husband works in healthcare so it's imperative that he's able to get some sleep. I agree that it may be anxiety. I purchased the snuggle pup with the heartbeat and heat. We are getting up 3 times during the night to let him out. Each time he's yelping as our alarm goes off. And both times I got up with him, he had soiled the crate. My husband and I have talked about putting him back in the bedroom, and he's pretty solid on not wanting him in the room because of the first night's lack of sleep. I don't want the crate to become a scary place for Ollie, but I know if we are overly stressed, it will cause even more stress on him. 

[Sue]

Even with the divider we had to make it smaller so perhaps try making it small for your puppy to simply turn around in....Is there any way you can stay with the pup nearby his crate at night??? He is in a new home, without his siblings and mom and he may be anxious....I firmly believe that making him feel safe with you in his crate will ease this transition....You also have to watch your" stress/anxiety levels as I truly find that animals pick up on the subtlest of anxiety/stress....My husband is the KING of patience and without him in those first few weeks....Lexee would have developed into one anxious pup but my husband kept saying::: this too shall pass which made it easier to remember ( we had a first dog 12 yrs ago who passed away last year so we have been through it before)..... I also want you to remember that there WILL be a lack of sleep.....might need to have a vacation room - meaning a room that one can sleep an entire night while the other is on puppy duty.....Worked wonders in our house....and the motto: this shall pass.....Keep me posted....I remember it all so well - exactly 1 yr ago Lexee came into our lives and boy I couldn't believe that I willingly gave up my summer sleep ..... hahaha I am a teacher who loves to sleep in the summer....:)

[Courtney Calhoun]

That's funny, I'm a teacher too! How did you transition into going back to work? I'm worried about it. Last night he still pooped twice in the crate. My husband checked on him at midnight and 5am. Both times there was poop. I checked on him at 3am and he had peed. I ordered the snuggle puppy and it should be here tomorrow. He cried/whimpered for about 20 minutes when we put him to bed. My husband said he pooped outside when he took him out at midnight so he must have pooped in his crate early on. It's hard when he cries because it's not solely to be let out. I'm going to try an article of clothing in his crate tonight and nothing else. (Except pads) I might also try sleeping downstairs. I put him in the crate to go to the gym this morning with a shirt of mine. He peed quite a bit but no poop. He was crying/barking when I left and again when I returned. I waited until he was quiet to let him out and gave him a treat. This is harder than I thought...

[Sue]

Ok....your puppy is pooping a lot....Are you sure of the amount of food you are feeding him?? As someone suggested...has he been checked by a vet? I would try to practice sleeping near him during the day.....quiet the house down and then gently put him in the crate....lie down beside him and watch tv or read and "shush" him.....I also put Lexee in her crate with a KONG filled with something so she always associated the crate with something good and special....I did not need to do this at night.....but not all dogs are the same....

[Courtney Calhoun]

We went to the vet on Saturday when he was excessively vomiting. He said everything looked good, and that he was probably really worked up and that's what caused all of the vomiting. The only thing that worried me about the KONG, is him pooping more. I think I'm going to stay downstairs with him tonight and hopefully that will ease a little of the anxiety. It's heartbreaking every time I put him in the crate but I know we have to stay consistent. I just fear that what we are doing is not working. 

[Dawn and Molly]

I am a teacher too :)  We got Molly in February when I was working.  I was originally planning to wait until the summer, but things happened, and we wound up getting our puppy in February.  I will be honest, it was tough in the beginning.  My husband is flexible with his work schedule, so he stayed home a lot and we had to hire a puppy sitter/dog walker.  I also had my sister and cousin help me because I didn't want to leave her in the crate for too long.  So, you will be lucky to have this time during the summer when he is really little.  I would suggest making sure that he is used to being in his crate for a little bit before going back to work.  

I wish I could give you more advice for right now.  I am still new at all of this.  We have overcome a lot of puppy craziness, but we lucked out with the sleep.  Let me know how Snuggle Puppy works.  Molly still sleeps with it in her crate and will move it to her bed when she is out every once in a while.  It just gave her comfort that she wasn't alone.  I did the heat packs for a couple of weeks and then gradually stopped that.  It will get better!  Hang in there.