Hi there, I've had my puppy for 2 weeks now and he's absolutely gorgeous and so loving but I am having a few issues, and it's my first dog so not entirely sure I'm doing everything correctly. He was in his crate upstairs with me for a few nights and woke up at around 1am for a wee and then woke up around 5.30am which was fine. I've now put him downstairs in his crate and he often needs a wee at 1am so I'm setting my alarm to let him out before he starts barking the house down. He always needs a cuddle to fall back to sleep before I'm able to then put him in his crate to sleep some more. Do I need to keep all the lights off, pick him up and take him for a wee, and then pick him straight back up and in his crate and just cry it out, rather than me sitting up for 20 minutes every night waiting for him to sleep? Also our garden has a pebbled border which isn't ideal for a puppy. He keeps picking up pebbles and I tell him off but he continues to do it. Do I need to smack him really hard for him to stop? Any advice would be hugely appreciated, thankyou.
First of all congratualtions on your new puppy. Secondly you should never use force with your puppy, this will make him scared and will ruin your relationship with him! Please only use positive reinforcement and training. If he is scared being alone downstairs then bring him back to your bedroom for another couple of nights. When you take him out make sure you wake him up and that he doesn't cry to be let out, this will only reinforce that crying gets him out the crate. Toileting during the night shouldn't comforting or fun. If you start 'cradling' him to sleep he will expect that every time he needs to sleep and won't settle without, unfortunately you need to let him cry it out. Again this is where you might be better moving to crate back upstairs next to your bed. With regards to the pebbles during the night you should have him on a lead, or have a secure pen set up that you can put him into to toilet. During the day is the same really, you should have an area fenced off that is safe for your puppy to be in outside (always supervised) or a long house line that you can prevent him from getting himself into danger or trouble. The best thing we learned when we got Luna was 'prevention is key'. Don't wait until your puppy is doing something wrong to give him attention, if you see him going to do something you don't want stop and redirect him to something positive. Good luck!
Thanks so much for your reply. I won't cradle him to sleep tonight and will just pop him back in his crate and put the cover down and hopefully he'll settle down soon. He's just a very loud barker which is unfortunate. Is the barking/howling normal? It is very intense. Please can I also ask if it makes a different whether I don't put the kitchen light on, as at the moment I turn the lights on when I come down. The pebbles are all around the garden and I really want to give him the freedom to run around and explore in the day, and so we can play fetch and have some nice bonding times together. Do you recommend always going out on the lead? I'll need him to get used to as he's only been on it once and hasn't mastered it quite yet. Thanks again!
How did you get on last night? Yes the crying is normal, he is only 10 weeks and still learning about this big world he is living in and remember he doesn't have his mum or siblings to cuddle up to. If he is crying he could be scared, or hearing noises and unable to see where they are coming from. You might need to bring the crate back up to your room and 'start again' this time not cradling him. He will settle eventually, for comfort you could add in a hot water bottle wrapped up so that he can cuddle into that, it will bring the comfort of not being alone. Another thing some people do is have a clock too as the ticking is like the heart beat. Please note we never crate trained our puppy and I slept in the living room with her until she was big enough to get on and off the bed without getting hurt. I did however sleep with the lamp on the lowest setting for the first couple of months, partly to help me see her during the night as she was black! Start using time in the garden to train him on the lead and recall. If you want him to have freedom in the garden you will need to teach him leave it and drop. Remember puppies explore everything with their mouths so anything new to them is 'food' until they learn otherwise. I would say use a long house line just now and that way you can stop him from going near the pebbles and bring his attention back to you. You need to teach him that you are more interesting that them so he is focused on you We didn't have a garden so had to lead train in the house until she was allowed on the ground outside. Just now our challenge is sticks when out on walks, she just LOVES them and wants to chew and shred them up. The only thing that is better than a stick is her ball. I find myself constantly saying 'leave it' or 'no' but she is slowly getting there. Once she has done her business she will walk right beside me and keep looking up for reassurance she is doing good and going the right way.
If you had him in a crate by your bed, you wouldn't need to be trying to stay awake whilst he settles, you would just put your fingers through the crate over the side of your bed if you wanted him to know you were there and you could fall asleep in the process yourself... No, it's not normal or a good idea to put your new puppy in a situation where he is regularly getting very upset. His body is practising going into a distressed and hyper-stressed state. He is associating the crate and being alone without you, with extreme distress - which isn't good for the future if you want him to be ok when left alone. And the best way to raise an emotionally secure (read - non-reactive and confident) puppy is to enable him to feel safe. An immature animal in the wild, left alone, would die. See the situation from his perspective - he has never been alone in his life, before coming to you. He always had his mother or littermates available. He has never been contained inside a crate and unable to freely move to seek out comfort when distressed. Please keep him by your bed, where he will feel safer and gain reassurance from your presence. It is a gradual process to teach a puppy to be ok when left alone, not something you suddenly inflict on the puppy... And lights on or off make no difference. Goodness, please don't hit your puppy - that would be abuse. Human babies and toddlers also constantly pick things up and put them in their mouths - would you hit them as well?? It is a developmental period for both species that involves putting stuff in mouths. If you continue to be angry with him (not even hitting him, just even being verbally angry) all you will teach him, is to keep things away from you, potentially guard things, swallow stuff before you can take it, and have issues if you ever want to teach him to retrieve, later on. Please only take him outside if you have his puppy houseline on: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005TFNPK8/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_zSNSEbNA9AVMD Hold it to prevent him from reaching as much gravel as possible. Any time he is outside, he needs you hovering over him and your constant attention. A puppy requires as much supervision as a toddler. When he is an adult, he will be able to be outside without eating things - but not now. If he does pick gravel up, take a treat (can even be a piece of kibble) from your pocket, put it on his nose so he drops the gravel because he wants the treat, then give him a treat. Over time, you can start to say 'drop' when you put the treat on his nose and teach him a drop cue in the process. Remember that you need to teach the dog to WANT to do what you ask them to. You are sowing huge problems for the future if you are doing something to a puppy which they dislike...
Thanks for checking in! He was so much better last night. We had a really good play from 9-10pm, and he slept through until 3am, he woke up for a wee and I placed him back in his crate and just stroked him until he fell asleep and then we got up with him at 5.30am so a much better night's sleep and we're all feeling happier. Also we're ensuring we're always playing with him in the garden today so if he starts getting bored and starts walking towards the pebbles we just whisked him inside to distract him. So much better in all so thank you for all your help!
Thanks so much for all your help. I'm sticking with having his crate downstairs as he's fine to fall asleep there with no stress at 10pm, he woke up in the night at 3am for a wee last night and I went downstairs, took him for a wee, and then just popped him back and stroked him until he fell asleep again so a much happier nights sleep and stops any barking, so no stress for him. Thanks for the advice - you read so much content online it's difficult to know what's right. We've been playing happily in the garden today and if he ever wanders over to the pebbles as he's a bit bored, we just go back inside and play then so that's working much better. Thanks again
My yard is full of pebbles. Was never a problem and i never used leash to keep away. I am sure your yard has lots of interesting things to refocus puppy. Try to shape the time outside in to fun and exploratory time. Just move around and puppy will follow. Next time it thinks pebbles are fun offer something more interesting
Hope things are settling down and you had another good night! Our puppy is 12 weeks old and went through a phase of picking up pebbles in our garden but soon stopped. We have lots of toys in the garden for him to play with. And keep some hidden but then bring them out. He seems to have forgotten they exist in the meantime and loves them again. So far his favourites are empty water bottles as he chews them and they make a very satisfying crinkly sound. He also loves playing with water from the hose. Carrying soft toys around from inside. And doing the running recall and establishing heel work for puppies from Pippas puppy book. Have you tried any of these with him in garden?
