Hi, We got our boy Flynn just before he was 8 weeks old (yes, I now know how bad that was), and he started off sleeping regularly through the day. After a few days, he just stopped napping in the day. He gets over tired and bitey (I've read the guides on overexcited puppies and we do put him in his pen to calm down when he gets too worked up), but this is causing so many issues! It's such a struggle to do any training with him, and he gets excessively worked up if he's left alone. We tried to put him in his crate upstairs (where he sleeps at night), but he will cry non-stop (over 30 minutes) to the point that he's coughing - even if we're in the room but not paying him attention. He's currently getting up to 4 hours sleep in the day and about 6-7 hours at night. We contacted a trainer, but they didn't address any of these issues and instead manhandled him and restrained him with his collar (we're not using them again). He's currently 10.5 weeks old and will nap in his pen if the room is perfectly silent, but as soon as you move, he wakes up and will cry if you leave the room. I did loads of crate training with him at first, and he was OK in there when we put him in to sleep for a few weeks, but now he cries and starts to try and dig his way out. Sorry for the long post, but can anyone help us? Due to the pandemic, we're struggling to get any trainers' help! Thank you
Flynn looks an absolute poppet! I would suggest having a different bed in each room he is allowed to go in. (Doesn't need to be a crate or an expensive bed - a cardboard box with some old blankets or duvet is fine). Then he can sleep in whichever room you want to be in when it's time for him to rest. If you try to stay with him now you will find that over the next few weeks his confidence will grow and he will eventually be happy to be left alone, but for now he needs to be near you. Try to plan ahead for what you want to be doing while he's asleep - so if it's office work then put him in a bed near your computer, if it's cooking, put him in a bed in the kitchen etc. The other thing to try is getting a really big soft toy - at least as big as your puppy - and putting this in his bed for him to cuddle into. (Obviously make sure you remove any unsafe eyes etc.) I would expect him to be awake and active for about an hour and then sleeping for the next 2 hours. Leaving your puppy to cry is not a good idea - he will gain confidence by knowing he is safe and that is your main training objective for now. Teach your puppy that he is safe and that you are kind and fun to be with - all the other obedience stuff can wait. If you do want a trainer, have a look at the IMDT site https://www.imdt.uk.com/find-a-qualified-imdt-trainer All these trainers will only use kind methods.
Hi Joy, Thank you for your reply. He will only ever sleep in his pen in the living room or crate in our bedroom. I've tried to use his cushion in the dining room, but he didn't like it. When he does get tired and he's not in his pen or crate, he won't take himself to the pen to go to sleep, or calm down. He just works himself up. I'm of the opinion that it's better for him to be put in the pen when we know he's tired, so that he is at least getting some sleep - and get used to sleeping with household noise - than to let him go mental in the room and start hurting himself. Does this seem right? The trainer who came over was trying to get him to calm down from his overtired zoomies outside of the pen, and she did this by grabbing him by his collar when he was running and by physically restraining him - which obviously wound him up more. I just don't want to do what's best for him, but it's hard when he's so peculiar!
Well done on ditching the trainer. I think it would help you to have a second crate in your day-time location. IME puppies are less settled in a pen, where they can move around a bit and follow you to some extent - and more settled in a crate which is clearly just a bed for them to calmly sleep on. Once you've got a crate, you then need to follow a structured approach for crate training, like this one I wrote: https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/ You should also look up Kikopup on YouTube and her 'going into the crate and out' on cues videos - the more reinforcement based games you can play with the crates, the better. When you first close the pup in the crate, you should not be moving away at all - you should be sitting outside and reading or working on a laptop. And you should remain at that stage until there is no sign of distress and the pup is sleeping, when you can then move around the same room, and then the house... progressively increasing the separation only as the pup can cope.
