First time puppy owner, help please!

3648 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Dylansmum, Jul 20, 2011

MFT

Discussion Starter · Jul 19, 2011

Hello

Three days ago my Mum and I brought home a 9 week old chocolate cockapoo called Prudence. I do not live at home but will be helping out a lot with Pru's care.

I have a lot of questions and was really hoping to get some reassurance and answers!

1. Prudence is a very placid dog and has a lovely temperament, but I’m a little worried at the amount she is sleeping! I know puppies sleep a lot, but this is pretty much all day and I worry that she sleeps all day because she cries all night and will not sleep through the night if she sleeps all day.
2. She is going to sleep in a crate in the utility room, but she really hates it so far. She is crying at night in there and this morning cried from 5am and had messed it pretty bad.
3. She also hates her pen, where she will be kept during the day. There has been someone around until now, but after tomorrow me and Mum have to go back to work so she will be left. She will be checked and taken out at 10.30, 12 and 2pm though and Mum is home at 5.
4. She seems to have mastered weeing outside and poops in the morning but will not go at night, so messes her crate. How can I stop this?!

Thanks in advance! Megan

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Sezra

· #2 · Jul 19, 2011

MFT said:
Hello

Three days ago my Mum and I brought home a 9 week old chocolate cockapoo called Prudence. I do not live at home but will be helping out a lot with Pru's care.

I have a lot of questions and was really hoping to get some reassurance and answers!

1. Prudence is a very placid dog and has a lovely temperament, but I’m a little worried at the amount she is sleeping! I know puppies sleep a lot, but this is pretty much all day and I worry that she sleeps all day because she cries all night and will not sleep through the night if she sleeps all day.
2. She is going to sleep in a crate in the utility room, but she really hates it so far. She is crying at night in there and this morning cried from 5am and had messed it pretty bad.
3. She also hates her pen, where she will be kept during the day. There has been someone around until now, but after tomorrow me and Mum have to go back to work so she will be left. She will be checked and taken out at 10.30, 12 and 2pm though and Mum is home at 5.
4. She seems to have mastered weeing outside and poops in the morning but will not go at night, so messes her crate. How can I stop this?!

Thanks in advance! Megan

Hi Megan!

I am sure someone will be along with lots of advice in a moment but I just wanted to say I love her name! That was on my short list aswell!

Good luck with her and I look forward to hearing how you get on. Have you any photos yet?

Sarah

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kendal

· #3 · Jul 19, 2011

hey, just tell your mum its like with babys, if you want them to sleep and night you need to keep them awake during the day, so probably an hour before you know she is going to go to be you need to play with her so she will be sleepy for going to bed.

do you take her out in the middle of the night for a poo or poo? what time is she last fed befoore she goes to bed.

they dont often like the crate or pen at first just like babys dont like being put in their cot so the mum can get some house work done or get some sleep themselves. its just getting them used to it. try giving her a chew or something, and just pottering about the house go away and do the dishes, when she stops crying go get her out. dont take her ot if she is crying or she will learn that cryign gets her out of the cratew or pen.

try a stuffed kong with cream cheese or peanut butter.

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MFT

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 19, 2011

Her last feed is about 6pm and we are not taking her out at night to go the toilet, should we? She won't even go when we get her in the morning as she is too excited to see us. She will only go after her breakfast.

We're trying to put her in her pen when we are busy, like just now I went to shower etc and left her in there. 45 minutes later she was still crying...

We really try and keep her awake before she goes to bed but when she wants to sleep it just doesn't seem possible to keep her awake!! She'd fall asleep standing on 4 legs if she could! During the day she tends to play for 20 minutes then sleep for up to an hour +.

Thanks Sarah, we love the name too! I'll try and get some pics on here when I work out hopw to do it

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kendal

· #5 · Jul 19, 2011

some puppies just cant hold their toilet all night, so its a good idea to pop them out in the middle of the night. you dont want her peeing and pooing in her crate.

start adding a comand in like peepee, be clean, get busy, wizz etc, just something that she will asosiate with peeing and pooing so eventualy she will pee on command.

maybe make her meal time latter. so she is sleeping with a full tummy.

as for gettinf her to pee its just persistence, dont play with her keep to the point, she is out to pee not play.

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glitzydebs

· #6 · Jul 19, 2011

I think you need to take her out for a longish walk before bedtime and ideally a long walk and lots of running in the day this will tire her out. You need to ignore the crying as if you take her out she'll know crying gets her out..it's so hard but it will only take a little time and Pushca loves her crate now. it's their little sanctuary.
the pooing I can't help with sorry, but getting up in the middle of the night is tedious but sounds like good advice.Pushca will only poo on a walk now so I have to take her out before bed and I do have a garden. I hope that helps. I am totally withyou on the worry of it all..read my frantic posts but it does all come together.
Good luck Prudence will be fine
x

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DONNA

· #7 · Jul 19, 2011

Im going to collect my pup next Tuesday so have done lots of reading on the subject and also read advice on here.
Some people say leave a radio on at night,ive also brought a puppy heat pad for in the cage as they will be missing the heat from their siblings.

Im going to do like you and have half the cage with newspaper at night,from what ive read after a couple of weeks max i think they will realise not to go in their den and try to keep their cage clean ASAP.

Im also going to have the crate upstairs just for the first few days ,mainly as our house is split into two wings and we would not hear if he was crying all night,also im hoping a carming word if he's crying will carm him down.

Im sure it will get easier ,well i hope so ha ha

Can i just say I love that name too ,very cute!!

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weez74

· #8 · Jul 19, 2011

I'm a harsh mummy when it come to rules for Rosie and I know some on here do things very differently, so you have to pick what fits in with your life (and your mum's life) the best.

So,with that in mind - here is what I did. Kendal is right, puppies are like babies. They learn very quickly what gets them the things they want, like comfort and food, and they then put . So, it is important, if you really want her to stay in her cage, not to give in and go down to her after 45 minutes - this only teaches her that she must keep crying for 45 minutes in order to get you to comfort her. Rosie cried for a couple of hours when we first got her and then eventually fell asleep (I was upstairs feeling awful for the whole time - although not quite as awful as when I had to do the same thing with my daughter a few years ago!). The next night was less, then less again until eventually she cried for about ten minutes at night. That stopped comepletely a while later.

I give her treats most times when she goes in her cage, but not every time (got to keep her on her toes and interested!). I do wonder if I should have tried feeding her in there, but I didn't .

I played with her each evening to stop her falling asleep and then put her to bed tired, after having taken her out as late as possible for a wee (and make sure you really reward her whenever she does do a wee in the right place - I got really good advice which was to act as though she had done something truly amazing each time she weed outside - really jumping up and down and petting and stroking her!). Her cage was divided with boxes to make sure it was not much bigger than she was and it gave her no room to have as a toilet area. I went down to let her out at 3am on the first night and then realised that was a huge mistake, as it started the crying again when I left her. You have to be careful with that though - Rosie could clearly hold her wee through the night, so I knew it wasn't mean to make her wait, some pups physically can't hold it and so leaving them would mean forcing them to lie in their own wee and poo

As I say, others have very different approaches, so choose the one that you know you can stick with and that fits into your life. And let us know how you get on! Good luck!

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MFT

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 19, 2011

Thank you all so much for the advice and support! Pru is currently having a little snooze on her mat in the kitchen while I bake. I'm sure she would be similarly appreciative if she had any concept of the world beyond eating, pooping and running around the garden in circles like a possessed puppy.

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wellerfeller

· #10 · Jul 19, 2011

weez74 said:
I'm a harsh mummy when it come to rules for Rosie and I know some on here do things very differently, so you have to pick what fits in with your life (and your mum's life) the best.

So,with that in mind - here is what I did. Kendal is right, puppies are like babies. They learn very quickly what gets them the things they want, like comfort and food, and they then put . So, it is important, if you really want her to stay in her cage, not to give in and go down to her after 45 minutes - this only teaches her that she must keep crying for 45 minutes in order to get you to comfort her. Rosie cried for a couple of hours when we first got her and then eventually fell asleep (I was upstairs feeling awful for the whole time - although not quite as awful as when I had to do the same thing with my daughter a few years ago!). The next night was less, then less again until eventually she cried for about ten minutes at night. That stopped comepletely a while later.

I give her treats most times when she goes in her cage, but not every time (got to keep her on her toes and interested!). I do wonder if I should have tried feeding her in there, but I didn't .

I played with her each evening to stop her falling asleep and then put her to bed tired, after having taken her out as late as possible for a wee (and make sure you really reward her whenever she does do a wee in the right place - I got really good advice which was to act as though she had done something truly amazing each time she weed outside - really jumping up and down and petting and stroking her!). Her cage was divided with boxes to make sure it was not much bigger than she was and it gave her no room to have as a toilet area. I went down to let her out at 3am on the first night and then realised that was a huge mistake, as it started the crying again when I left her. You have to be careful with that though - Rosie could clearly hold her wee through the night, so I knew it wasn't mean to make her wait, some pups physically can't hold it and so leaving them would mean forcing them to lie in their own wee and poo

As I say, others have very different approaches, so choose the one that you know you can stick with and that fits into your life. And let us know how you get on! Good luck!

I agree with this totally!!!! Although I can safely say I failed at being so tough,The first night Weller cried so much I slept on the sofa with him and I could feel his relief when we cuddled up. I can be tougher with the kids than the dog

Thinking I was making a rod for my own back I was determined to toughen up the following nights and just about managed it. They do learn very quickley and it didn't take long for the penny to drop,Now Weller is 18 months and so chilled he loves to sleep with us up stairs but we can also shut him in the kitchen with his crate (open) and he doesn't mind. I did find covering his crate so it was nice and dark and felt more enclosed helped and I also gave him a few old clothes to sleep with. It will soon pass the good thing with puppies is that this phase passes sooooo much quicker than with kids.................GOOD LUCK

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ali-s.j.

· #11 · Jul 19, 2011

I hope so! My eldest son woke every night and ended up in our bed until he was 4!

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curt3007

· #12 · Jul 19, 2011

ali-s.j. said:
I hope so! My eldest son woke every night and ended up in our bed until he was 4!

Same here Ali,

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MichelleE

· #13 · Jul 19, 2011

I am definitely in the 'start as you mean to go on' camp, but with a bit of new baby flexibility built in! Poppy was crated from the first night, but it is such a change for them I thought it only fair to give her the reassurance of sleeping next to our bed in the crate. Over the next three weeks I gradually moved the cage closer to the bedroom door and out into the hall where I wanted her to be. Don't think she even noticed being moved! Good luck.

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Dylansmum

· #14 · Jul 20, 2011

I'm a very soft touch, very much in the indulgent camp, and we're really lucky that Dylan is nonetheless very well behaved. He seems to thrive on being spoilt. We started with him sleeping downstairs, but moved him to the bedroom at about 4 months because we couldn't get him clean at night while he had the run of the house. However now he often chooses to sleep downstairs on his own - he has the choice. So I don't think that it is too hard to change things later as it suits you. At the beginning they are very clingy and really want company and reassurance, but later they are confident and settled and would maybe accept separation more easily. So I think that you can either "start as you mean to go on" or be a little more indulgent at the beginning, whichever feels more comfortable to you, without causing too many problems either way.

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