help,advice urgently required. our wonderful pup Peanut has been with us six wonderful days,she is getting on famously.good house training success,loves to learn,can do polite to sit and hand bumping and no gabbing,obviously we have the normal play that can get a bit over excited,a few hard nips,but, nothing thats a problem.Peanut is fed in her crate and we can now have our lunch with pup in crate for 15/20mins without probs,we achieved this by click for quiet method. however she will howl in her car crate,even though we havebeen on many trips out.we also feed her in her car crate and she is very keen to get in the car,she is never car sick,also we have raised her crate up so she can just about see out the car,we are confident this will pass. The big problem is she has been sleeping in a box next to my bed,with no problems very calm and coping well.on night six we decided to try leaving her in her crate in the lounge,as per the puppy book. we put her bed she loves in the crate with her soft toys,also we put her clock near,put the radio on softly,toileted her att ten pm put her quietly in her crate and headed to bed fingers crossed. within five minutes she was yelping and whinging,but, this quickly developed into full blooded howling and screaming continuously!!we waited and waited me as stressed as puppy,!! ater two hours midnight the screeams subsided,I.had set alarm for one thirty am.I got up and took pup out keeping everything quiet a nd placed her back in her crate.had fifteen minutes of howling then quiet now two am.4am pup started crying again loudly,so I waited until a break in the crying and went and let her out and took her for a toilet break. she was very very clingy and trembly,so I decided to get up 4.15 am!! I couldnt face putting her back in.played with pup and then fed her,and she went straight to sleep on me. I could not believe how stressed she sounded and how emotional I felt. can anyone offer advice as what I can do next. thankyou all and sorry about the length of this,but, iwanted to try to give the complete picture. please someone help PEANUT. ruthxxx
Hi @ruth morris it sounds to me that Peanut is reacting to too many changes at the same time. Change of sleeping in a box beside your bed to sleeping in a crate in a different room away from you. You could swop the box for the crate for a few nights and then slowly move the crate into your desired location by gradually increasing the distance away from you. Or you could try Peanut sleeping in the crate in the lounge and you sleep in the lounge for a few nights while she settles in her new sleeping environment. The crying in the car is usually tackled by gradually adding movement for very short trips and gradually increasing distance/duration. You're in quite a good place as Peanut is happy to get in the car so just practice being in the car and sitting for a few minutes then go back indoors. Next step start the engine and just sit quietly for a minute or two, then back indoors. If Peanut is quiet the next step is to add a little movement so drive to the bottom of your drive or a short distance down your road and return. If Peanut is calm and quiet add a little more distance. The aim is always that Peanut is calm and quiet before you add time/distance. If she cries go back a step and practice that some more. Gradually you'll be able to go further distances without thinking about it. One of the most common mistakes which leads to dogs barking/crying in cars is that they go in the car and are driven somewhere exciting, the park, woods etc or somewhere they don't like (the vets) so make sure that some of your journeys are just a driving trip with no getting out until back home. You can add stops along the route for a minute or so and then drive on. Hope that all helps
Hi. I can relate to both if these things. During the day Harley would happily go in her crate if I went out or for a snooze, but bedtime was so different. I put a blanket over the crate, slept in the living room next to the crate, but after a week of trying to move out of the room I gave up. The howling drove me crazy and I wasn't strong enough to persist. Now, I'm not saying give up because it depends on your circumstances. For me, I decided to put her on her bed on the floor next to my bed - she slept 8 hours straight that first night. We decided for us that we didn't mind her being in our bedroom. After a few more weeks she ended up at the bottom of the bed and has stayed there since. She will often sleep 10 hours straight and did so from as soon as she came upstairs. As I said, if you are happy with a dog in your bedroom that's great, but I know not everyone likes that. If that's the case, Jojo has given some good advice above about having the crate in your room and slowly moving it away over a period of time until you have it where it suits you. As for the car, it was my fault. I had rushed the process because there isn't many places to go for a walk close to my house as I live just off of a dual carriageway. I didn't have weeks to train her to like the car unfortunately. To start with I ignored it, but that's really hard as they are sooooo loud. It took me a while to realise that she knew we were going for a walk and it was pure excitement. So, I decided to take her on short trips such as to the shop or garage. I varied the routes and we could go on a walk, or the shop, or just a drive around the block. It took a few weeks, but she soon realised that every trip wasn't going to end up in a walk. Doing short trips really helped us. My methods really aren't the best, but they worked for us. Every dog is different and sometimes you need to do what suits you best.
thankyou so mucch for your help the car issue is. not car movement,because when we fetched her she travelled for two hours very happily on my knee,and has since done half hour each way to shops etc, the problem arises whe she is isolated in her crate. she loves her car travel,just not the crate.I think sepRation may be the problem as she is only just 8wks.new to this so am trying to follow books and all your lovely advice ruthx
thankyou naya,very good advice,unfortunately we live in a park home,rooms. very small,the only room the crate fits is the lounge,but, I could try sleeping next to her for a while.how distressing the howling is untrue,however peanut is her usual confident self this am no apparent effect for her except she slept on my knee for two hours from 6till8,obviously TIRED,!!!thankyou ruthxxx
As the others have said, I’d have her back in your room at night for a few more weeks. I’ve had three dogs from puppies and each have moved downstairs without problems after a few weeks.
I would try this - she will get used to it. As far as the car goes I would do very short journeys until she’s quiet in the car. I had to do this with both Tatze and Gypsy. Both were really scared in the car and did sloppy scared poos. So I started with just putting them in and giving treats, then I minute drives and slowly building it up. It took them about two weeks to realise we went to nice places in the car and it was worth the journey!
thankyou boogie,would you keep. the pup in a smaller crate,but, in the bedroom or would you just keep her on a small bed,the trouble with the box idea is she can escape,and. im worried about ruining her toilet training.I dont mind her being in the bedroom though. thankyou for your help ruthx
Yes, a small crate in the bedroom would be fine. After a week or two you could begin to edge it towards the door, then outside the room, then to where you want it.
Hi @ruth morris the crying in the car may be down to separation but I would still approach in the same way as you want her to be happy and not crying wherever she is.
hi jojo83,,thabkyou for your reply,I slept next to peanut last night and all good. I have taken delivery of an air bed today so I will be more comfortable next to peanut. we seem to have sorted the car screaming,I sat on the back seat and clicked for quiet on three journeys and wow!! now she just goes to sleep,even when I get out of the car to go to the shop,then when I return she settles down and sleeps all the way home.just got to get her to settle in her crate for short times during the day.I always feed her in her crate and offer kongs,but, as soon as I shut the door she is not happy,ikeep trying with click for quiet,I hope she gets it soon,she is such a super little thing and I hate hearing her cry,but, realize time on her own is essential. any further thoughts most welcome.ruth. and PEANUT xx
not enough room for the crate,but, I have slept next to peanut on an air bed last two nights and wow progress!!!thankyou for your help. ruth and peanutxx
That’s good news, it’s hard to function without sleep! Things will get steadily better as Peanut settles in
