Hi everyone, I’m new here and hoping you can help us - I thought I knew about dogs but I’m clearly woefully unprepared! Our 9 week old pup arrived just over a week ago - he’s gorgeous and we all adore him. But.... Our 4yo is terrified as pup keeps jumping at him. Pup “sleeps” all night (10-6.30) in a pen in the kitchen, but always wees and poos on the puppy pad we put in there, and lately also poos in his water bowl overnight. Pup WILL NOT stay in his pen without crying and yelping, and must be the only dog ever who isn’t remotely interested in a stuffed kong I know you’ll all tell me this is normal, and that’s fine, but I was wondering if we’re approaching it all in the right way or if there’s things we could be doing differently? For example should we crate him instead, and get up in the night for toilet breaks rather than letting him do it in his pen? And how could we help our son feel more comfortable? thanks so much for any help
Hi there! Welcome to puppy parenthood. A few brief suggestions: 1 - Always keep your puppy on a lead when near your 4yo - this is normal behaviour and will only get worse. Including excited biting which again is completely normal. Maybe only introduce the two for now when the puppy is occupied e.g when being fed. 2 - Puppies have absolutely no bladder or bowel control at this age and you need to get up regularly to allow your pup to relieve themselves somewhere that you approve of. Your pup doesn’t know what they are doing is inappropriate so this is on you to make sure a habit doesn’t develop. 3 - When introducing a puppy to a Kong, you need to make it very easy. Start with putting food on the ground and covering it with the long, then loose kibble inside, then wet, then slightly frozen etc. puppy crying at this stage is very very very normal. Being alone is not natural to them and you will need to build up to longer periods. Try keeping his pen somewhere where he can see or hear activity in the house.
I would recommend crating at night and getting up several times for potty breaks. If he’s not in a place you can easily hear him, put a baby monitor by his crate. It’s exhausting to do but ultimately short-lived. Pippa has some good articles on kids and puppies. Keeping them separated when not closely supervised and not letting puppy and child be together when your kiddo is being exciting (running, loud noises, fast movement) are key.
Hey @Roid79 - I'm new to puppy ownership (9 week old golden), but wanted to share my success I've had with the crate as I think it might help you as it has helped me. The set up of the crate I felt was important so I put a blanket over it to create a den, with a few rolled up blankets inside for him to cuddle up to. Zero puppy pads as I wanted him to learn toilet is outside, never inside. I'll share a photo below of the set-up. (message continues below...) I introduced the crate during the day on day one with a toy and a few treats. Every time he was occupied in another area of the kitchen, I'd pop a few more treats in so every time he went in - there were treats. I think this gave him a real positive relationship with the crate. During the afternoon when he walked in, I briefly shut the door and fed a few more treats through the door, then opened and let him walk out. He LOVED the game of going into his crate. On the very first night I could see he was tired at around 9pm so I sat next to the crate with the door open with him for about 20minutes until he walked in himself and lied down and went to sleep himself. Shut the door and went to sleep myself. On the first night I had about 15min of howling before he went to sleep. I set an alarm every 3 hours to take him out. So most nights, its sleep at 9pm, with alarms to let out for wee at 12am, 3am, then up for the day at 6am. Our pups can't hold on longer than 3 hours. I've had my pup Maverick for a week and a half and have had zero mess in the crate and no crying following the second night. Often in the day when tired he will actually put himself in the crate himself for a nap with the door open. Sorry for the long message, but I hope this might help a bit.
