Hi all! We got our little girl Sloan a week ago, she is 8 1/2 weeks old now and doing very well! The only thing is she refuses to sleep in her crate. I bring her to my work in the crate, and she has no problem being in it, but at night she will sleep maybe 40 minutes before barking like crazy. We have discovered that she sleeps 4 hours at a time when she is in bed with us, but this isn't exactly ideal. Any tips?
Have you tried putting the crate right next to your bed so that you can dangle your hand in and she knows you are close.
Yes, she is right beside us. I can pet her and try to comfort her, but the barking only stops when we let her out.
We were having problems with the crate at night in the beginning, even though she was beside us in the bedroom. A few things worked - first, I put a shirt that smelled like me in with her blanket from the breeder. This actually helped as she settled at night better once a friend gave me this tip. We also allowed her to fall asleep on our bed sometimes and moved her to her crate, as part of the problem was she wanted to be comforted, she wasn't crying/barking to go out. 8.5 weeks in very small and I assume she hasn't been with you long. Last, we only went to her when she was quiet and if she made noise like she needed out, took her right outside, no talking, playing etc and back to the crate. Over time, she stopped waking for either comfort or potty!
Oh thanks for the tips! We usually do take her straight outside, but we do allow her to have playtime to tire her out. Maybe not such a good idea.. And I will try sacrificing a shirt! She loves chewing on all my clothes at the moment, so that might comfort her. We have had her for a week, the breeder was pregnant and ended up in very early labour... We decided it was best for everyone if we took our pup a week early. Our vet said she is in prime health, and we have taught her so much already. She "sits" already and we are working lay down. I had no idea how much a little furball could steal your heart...
Tell me about it! They grow out of the tiny stage so quickly, I find it hard to remember and Quinn is not quite 7 months now. Every stage is cute - you have lots to look forward to! I gave her an old shirt that was on it's way out anyway - wore it a couple times to get my smell on it and threw it out once she was settling into the crate OK. Eventually we allowed her to sleep on our bed once she was going through the night without needing to go out. Funnily, at around 5 months she stopped liking being on our bed and prefers her crate! We leave the crate door open and she goes between that and her bed, both in our bedroom. OH wanted her to sleep with us but she decided it wasn't for her! Every pup is so different - she cries to get off our bed to go to her crate!
