Hi all, We got our lovely little fox red Dusty on Friday. She is such a lovely nature, only 2 toilet accidents and generally all going well. Had to mix up kibble with some wet food as she wasn't eating it but that's worked a treat. She has also settled quite well to sleeping in her crate in our bedroom at night with just one trip outside. We did this for 4 nights then last night put her in another room fully expecting her to cry but with the intention to sit it out. However we never expected such loud noises to come out of such a tiny puppy! We waited for a break in her crying before moving her back into our room. Not ideal but we got 6 hours of unbroken sleep. The main issue is that we live in a semi detached house and can not just leave her to cry as it will cause issues with the neighbours. Long term we would like her to sleep downstairs. So, we're thinking of working on the crate training more during the day and getting her used to being on her own downstairs during the day and hopefully moving her downstairs eventually on a nighttime. It doesn't seem to be the crate that is the problem just moving away from us. Any advice would be much appreciated, I understand sometimes the best option is to let her just cry it out but unfortunately that just isn't an option due to the neighbours. Thank you!!
Beautiful pup. My favorite color!! I think the advice is to put the pup where you want her to sleep, and you spend the night with her there, like, you sleep with her in the kitchen until she’s ready to sleep alone. I have no experience, our boy sleeps in our bedroom. As a puppy he was the easiest, not a peep from him. But now he moves all night and consequently I sleep very badly. But too late - he's 6 yo and we won’t change things now. Wish we’d thought about this when he was a tiny pup! Good luck! You’ll get good advice here.
I’ve had three puppies and started each in the bedroom and moved them downstairs when settled. I kept Molly with me for about 6 weeks I think, but I don’t think it was as long for the previous two - perhaps two or three weeks. I think your pup probably needs a bit longer to feel really confident before moving her out of your room.
Hi you are doing great. It's still early days and I understand you all need your sleep and you will. Do what feels right for you and I'm sure with great advice on the forum you will be fine. Keep us posted
I would also have a word with your neighbours and explain what you're doing, give them some nice chocolates to sweeten the deal. Hopefully they'll understand that it might be rowdy for a couple of nights, and hey, at least it's not a baby cos those suckers cry for months! I kept Xena in the bedroom for one week before moving her down the hall to the living room, and there was very little fuss. The idea is to transition very slowly - bedroom to hallway, then a little further down the hallway etc - but our hall is narrow so that wasn't an option and I had to do the transition in one go.
I wouldn't let a puppy shout the house down for an extended period. A little whining for a few minutes before settling is normal and appropriate to leave, but a truly distressed puppy is not. Leaving a puppy who is afraid to cry it out can lead to worse separation issues later on, so you should be looking for ways to eliminate this distress, as it sounds like you are already doing. It might be that she just needs a little more time to understand this is her home, and I would definitely consider sleeping with her while this happens, either by having her in your room or you sleeping with her downstairs. Good luck - it will pass
Thank you all so much for your advice! I slept downstairs with her last night in the next room to the kitchen so I’m hoping once she is sleeping better she won’t notice me move away! I would leave her to cry more if it weren’t for our neighbours, they aren’t the most understanding. Other than learning to be alone she’s doing fab!
