New Puppy Help!

[WDWorBUST]

Okay, so we went a picked up our new puppy this past Saturday. She is absolutely adorable and the sweetest thing. She is 13 weeks old. We are crate training her and have had experience with it in the past. I need some help though. I don't know if she is just more stubborn or what exactly is going on with her. She has cried the past 3 nights we have had her home ALL night (okay not really....but it feels like it). Actually using last night as an example. I got home about 5:45pm and she was outside with my mom and dad and dd playing. We stayed out until about 10 after 6 when we had to get her in the carrier to go to the vet for her wellness check and shots. So we drive to the vets and get all that taken care of. We got home probably about 7:00-7:15 - we left her in her carrier while we ate dinner (we picked something up so it was only the time it took us to eat). Then we went outside until a little after 8pm. Back in the house and she went up in her crate (she did potty before coming in). DD and I went to bed about 8:30pm. I knew dh would be home from umpiring around 10pm so when she woke me up crying at 9:45pm I ignored her because I didn't really think she should need to go out yet and she cries every time she wakes up in her crate and I don't want her to think she cries and gets attention ultimately reinforcing the crying. So Dh does get home takes her out and puts her back up. She makes it until about 12:30 and then she's crying again. Dh took her out then and she went potty. Then she woke us up again about 2:30am and DH took her out again. Then he tooke her out at 5:30am when he got up. When I pulled her towel out of her crate/carrier she had also had accidents during the night. Do you really think she needs to go out that often? I mean she is 13 weeks old....but she is smaller for her age (4.5 pounds). Everything I read says she should be able to be crated without accidents for up to 4 hours, and we aren't even expecting her to go that long. Last night she went out about every 2 - 3 hours. She ate before going to the vet and didn't have anything after that except a quick drink of water when we came in from playing outside. Am I expecting too much from her? We have had this same breed of dog before and got her when she was 8 weeks old and either my memory is bad or she was much easier (she figured out crying wouldn't get her anywhere in the middle of the night quickly and only whined softly when she had to go out). This puppy keeps crying even after she goes out so we can't really know if it's to go potty or she wants attention. The first night we tried to keep her in the bedroom with us.....but she still cried and cried so we moved her to the living room so we could shut bedroom doors which really only muffles is slightly. I mean this puppy sounds like someone is beating her when she's crying. I know this will take time, but if anyone sees something that I'm just missing please tell me....and if you know any tips or tricks that might help I am open to anything. Not sleeping well is going to make me nutso!!

 

[LindaR]

Well, you need to make sure that there is ONLY enough room in her crate for her to turn around. No doggie likes to potty where they sleep. This tells me there is too much room in the crate! If you don't have a smaller crate, then take something (a piece of wood) and section off her crate.

You can take the water away after say, 6pm (or about three hours before you go to bed). The more she drinks, the more she pees! She needs access to water during the day, but cut it off (as you would with your kid) after a certain time!

Does she pee a bit or is it just a drop? Gotta rule out a urinary infection! If she has gotten a response (even yelling) from anyone because of her whining then she has achieved her goal! If you have an old fashioned clock that ticks, that sound may comfort her. A hot water bottle is good too. She may be having a difficult time adjusting to being away from littermates/mom.

Each puppy is different (as is each kid!). Ignore the whining. Praise the pottying outside!

 

[PlutosFriend]

Congrats on the new puppy! I always try to find ways to really wear a puppy out if I am wanting them to sleep for a long time. Can you take her on a walk, or does she like to play with a certain toy? Do you feed at a certain time, and have a schedule? That usually worked well for us. Mine would usually cry when I would first crate them, but would drift off to sleep and stay asleep til morning time. Hang in there! It will get better Any pics to share?

 

[clutter]

A vet once told me that females control their urine until 15 weeks. The day my puppy turned 15 weeks, she was housebroken. Anyway, yes, I'd say she may have some accidents for a couple more weeks. I'm thinking the crying has more to do with lonliness than with needing to go out.

 

[padams]

I think you're just in the new puppy phase. It will end. The first few weeks we had our puppy last summer, he cried and had to go out every couple of hours. I swear it's just like having a human newborn again.

As advised above, don't let puppy have unlimited water all day and don't give any water after 6pm. Play with the puppy in the evening so he doesn't begin to sleep for the night too early. Also, take the puppy for a long walk after 9pm (or better yet, just before you or your DH go to bed if that's later) to wear it out. A tired puppy sleeps longer. You should be able to get by with only taking puppy out during the night once (maybe around 2am). And like with a newborn, morning comes at 5 or 6am. No sleeping in for you (for now).

Good luck.

 

[padams]

A couple more thoughts, as suggested above, be sure the crate is not too big. She should only be able to turn around, not walk back and forth in the crate. Dogs don't like to sleep where they have pottied. Also, take the towel out of the crate until she is not having accidents. The towel is soaking up the accidents so puppy isn't having to sleep in it. You may have to have some morning baths but you'll have a faster trained pup.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Do you really think she needs to go out that often?

Yes. It's almost like having a baby for a while, but just a short while. Each week she should be able to hold it a little longer. Remember, her bladder is somewhere between the size of a raisin and a walnut right now, probably more like a grape. It doesn't hold much. The good news is that she's at least going outside. That's great. If you want to avoid accidents in the crate, keep up the routine.

We always kept the crate in our bedroom, right next to us (me). The puppy feels secure that way. She's just left her mother and siblings, this is new for her and it takes a while to adjust. We let out frequently, but then ignore the crying if we know she's ok physically. Our dogs saw us sleeping and took their cues from us. When do we see pictures??

 

[WDWorBUST]

Thanks for all the advice. We tried having her in the room with us, but she seriously sounds like someone is trying to kill her when she's crying! Our last puppy we got at 8 weeks and by 13 weeks was not having accidents in her crate.....and didn't cry more than maybe 2 nights when we brought her home so this one just threw me for a loop. I do think that the crate is probably too big for her and have ordered a new one....hopefully it gets here soon. Our big crates we have for when she is an adult are too big now and didn't come with the divider panels so we have just been using the carrier, but it is actually the 2nd one we used before....we started with a much smaller one but sold it once we didn't have any pets small enough to use it. I might run by Walmart tonight and go ahead and pick up one of the extra small carriers so we don't go another night making housetraining harder in the end. I knew this was going to be work.....and I know it will be so worth it in the end. But oh my.....getting through the crying phase is going to be the death of me Oh....one other thing....I am going to pick her up a kong that I can put stuff in for when she goes in her crate....any suggestions of other safe toys that can be left in the crate?

 

[WDWorBUST]

Oh...and I'll try to post pictures tonight.

 

[Deb in IA]

My friend, who runs a puppy training school, tells me that all puppies cry all night for the first 3 nights. After that, it gets a lot better.

When she got her beagle puppy, she did not just cry at night. She HOWLED nonstop, and threw herself against the sides of her crate all night long!! But she soon stopped after a couple of nights.

When we got our chocolate Labrador last summer, at 8 weeks of age, he did just that. First night was the worst. Next night was better. Third night was about like the second, and after that, he pretty much slept all night.

Hang it there!

 

[TerriP]

A tired puppy is a good puppy...play with her, exercise her, watch her as she explores the yard and her new home...that will help her sleep well.

Crate training is hard. Potty training is hard. I know you're frustrated and I promise it will get better.

 

[jojo9610]

We just got a new 9 week old puppy a week ago. We have his crate next to our bed. He whined the first three nights for a few hours before he fell asleep and now he may whine for a few minutes before he quiets down. Most nights he sleeps til we get up at 5am. We usually don't give him much water after 8pm. I'm going to try and post a pic. Hopefully I'll get this right.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Well I went ahead and moved Abby next to the bed last night. She did great! I don't know if it was because I moved her or it was the 4th night - or a combination of both. I also put her in a smaller crate and she didn't have any accidents over night. So I did at least get a better nights sleep.

 

[LindaR]

Glad to hear it! They CAN be a challenge! Makes you have "puppy remorse" until they look at you with their adorable loving eyes and give slobbery kisses. Be patient. Be VERY consistent. Train and socialize!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hang in there! Pretty soon you will be dealing with older dog problems. My dogs were constantly barking at a bird this morning that seemed to want to peck it's way into the house via our windows. They were about insane!

Congrats on the puppy.

 

[robinb]

Well I went ahead and moved Abby next to the bed last night. She did great! I don't know if it was because I moved her or it was the 4th night - or a combination of both. I also put her in a smaller crate and she didn't have any accidents over night. So I did at least get a better nights sleep.

I'm glad to hear that she did well last night! You can now move her crate a foot or two away from the bed every other night. After a week or two she can go back to where she was before.

BTW, you can make the crate smaller now with a box.

 

[castleview]

We just got a 3 month old puppy. We were having similar issues. As far as the crate training went, we got lucky. Although, she does like it when we put her in there at night and stay with her for a little while. I try and put her in ten minutes before I go to bed and do some work on the computer since it's near her. As far as the other, she may have a urinary tract infection. Our girl came in on a transport and had both a UTI and gerardia (spelling?).

 

[WDWorBUST]

Okay, night #5, Abby did great again. Slept all night - no accidents. The other thing we have done the last two nights is in addition to our playing outside for a good 30 minutes or more we have been taking her for a short walk the very last thing before going to bed. Last night I let her lay in bed with dd for about 10-15 minutes before crating her and she was so sweet - she plopped down right next to her and went to sleep

 

[Deb in IA]

Having gotten 2 puppies now when they were only 8 weeks old, I truly believe in the 3 night rule - the first 3 nights are the worst. It gets a lot better after that.

 

[Rainwater]

Well, you need to make sure that there is ONLY enough room in her crate for her to turn around. No doggie likes to potty where they sleep. This tells me there is too much room in the crate! If you don't have a smaller crate, then take something (a piece of wood) and section off her crate.

You can take the water away after say, 6pm (or about three hours before you go to bed). The more she drinks, the more she pees! She needs access to water during the day, but cut it off (as you would with your kid) after a certain time!

Does she pee a bit or is it just a drop? Gotta rule out a urinary infection! If she has gotten a response (even yelling) from anyone because of her whining then she has achieved her goal! If you have an old fashioned clock that ticks, that sound may comfort her. A hot water bottle is good too. She may be having a difficult time adjusting to being away from littermates/mom.

Each puppy is different (as is each kid!). Ignore the whining. Praise the pottying outside!

That's what I was going to write.