A Few Puppy Problems/questions

[je33ie]

Do puppies get cranky when they are tired?? We are finding that she bites at the children more when she is tired... which makes a lot of sense when I write it out! Not sure how to stop her though (isolating her for a nap makes her pretty furious!)

Sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind. If you can tell she's tired, put her in her crate with no fuss and ignore her for a few minutes. She'll settle down and soon learn that crate time = rest time. Once she learns this she'll probably start taking herself to bed when she's tired...

Also make sure that the kids know that crate time = leave dog alone time. It needs to be her refuge where she won't be disturbed by curious little fingers wanting to play.

[penny A]

hello I have been fostering a 6week old puppy for the last 2weeks and have not had any real problems with sleeping at night. what we do is play with her just before bed time. we dont let her sleep too much during the evening we play with her more. that way when its bed time she is really overtired. we also feed her a little just before bed as puppies tend to sleep after eating. (but be prepared you may end up with a mess, no guarantees) we dont give her a lot just a little. we put her in the laundry room and she has only cried twice and it would only be for a few mins before she realises that we are not getting up to her.

In her bed we put a blanket that belonged to our other dog and a cat bed also so she has the scents of her pack. you can do this with one of you old jumpers etc. in the laundrey for the first few nights I put a night light until she was used to the room then eventually turnt it off.

the pup doesnt wake up until she hears my boyfriend get up for work. he will let her out have a quick play a little food then she is put back in the laundry until I get up. which is about 2-3hrs later. she has a little whine but again only last for 1-2mins then off to sleep she goes again.

The key I think is to keep her awake in the eveing as much as possible and tire her out before sleep. willow our fostered pet hates the crate which she has to go in whilst at work but doesnt mind the laundry. so why not put the crate in the laundry left open but with paper down by the back door. that way she can still wee when she needs to. and going by the back door is the start of toilet training anyway.

my dog uses a crate during the day but its left open and only shut up at night. so he sees it as his bedroom. a bit like us shutting our bedroom door at night.

basically what I am trying to say is why dont you bring the crate in the lounge room during the day left open, give her treats in there so its a happy place so she gets used to going in there. dont just use it for sleep time she may see this as punishment. she may just need time to get used to it so move it from room to room dont let her associate it with just bedtime.

I hope this helps you have had a lot of advice. lets hope you choose the right advice for you.

and puppies are like babies they are going to need time, patience, fun and consistency.

it will get better dont worry!

[TotemSpirit]

We bought a staffy puppy, we have small children & a toddler, she nipped a bit & jumped on them.

Every time she did it we would say No & Down & gave the kids treats to feed her while I was there & she was behaving.

She eventually got the message but when she was in a crazy mood & kept doing it she was put in the office, her crate is in there.

With sleeping I kind of spoilt her & she slept on our bed & on her bed next to ours, but she has had no trouble adjusting to sleeping in her crate of a night time now.

I think we had 2 nights she whinged, but by then she was about 3-4mths & by then she knew what no means.

I think you are doing well, though I would give the pooch a little more freedom, maybe a playpen attached to her crate with newspaper in the playpen in a room where she can feel she is still a part of the family?

She will get older as they all do & grow more intelligent & understand more what is being asked of her, it's just a little hard when there puppies & when you have children,

but watch out it fly's by, so dont miss out on the joy!

Good Luck!!!

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Thanks for all the advice! We did try putting the crate on the patio (where she hangs out during the day if we go out for an hour) and she loved it I think, I dropped a few treats in too. But carrying it all over the house is a bit tricky... Maybe just for a while. Yes, I've been trying to tell the kids it is not for them, which they mostly respect (apart from the baby! but I haven't put them in the same room yet - crate and baby - as it just wouldn't work).

Last night went well, just a bit tricky for her as we went to bed an hour earlier than normal, but she settled pretty quickly really. Baby was up early, which woke Gerda up, but as baby was off with hubby in the living room (a long way away) I could let Gerda whinge until she went back to sleep for an hour, which was great. At night we took to just saying a firm 'no' when she barked a bit, seemed to work....

So proud of her though, she is doing so well in a full-on family situation. We had a poo this morning inside, ew, but only because I she isn't pooing on command yet, and I find it hard to know when she is going to. She ALWAYS has her nose to the ground, so that's hardly a sign! I guess that one will take time.

After her morning walk (well, garden play), wees and poos, we let her in for a play before breaky, she went nuts, it was so funny. But she was just really happy, so it was fine.

I can't use the laundry as it is right next to daughter's bedroom. We will figure out the crate I think, and move it slowly out. She can already jump out of play pens!!! OMG, couldn't believe when she did that. Very determined to be with her pack, which is kind of nice, I just put it next to my chair and my feet inside, so she settled back down and was still safe from the baby, LOL.

Keeping her awake in the evening.... tricky, she is so hard to handle in the living room with the kids/toys etc. So we encourage her to be calm. I guess that isn't helping her get tired. I take her out from 6.20 - 6.40 for a play and maybe carry her to the shops... but after that its quiet time (toy on her cushion/or in playpen next to us etc). Is that too early to settle down a bit?

Ok, sorry for the essay, SO much to learn though!

[NoodleNut]

Thanks for all the advice! We did try putting the crate on the patio (where she hangs out during the day if we go out for an hour) and she loved it I think, I dropped a few treats in too. But carrying it all over the house is a bit tricky... Maybe just for a while. Yes, I've been trying to tell the kids it is not for them, which they mostly respect (apart from the baby! but I haven't put them in the same room yet - crate and baby - as it just wouldn't work).

Last night went well, just a bit tricky for her as we went to bed an hour earlier than normal, but she settled pretty quickly really. Baby was up early, which woke Gerda up, but as baby was off with hubby in the living room (a long way away) I could let Gerda whinge until she went back to sleep for an hour, which was great. At night we took to just saying a firm 'no' when she barked a bit, seemed to work....

Hi Redmum!

Sounds like you are doing really well.

We put our pup in the crate from the day we got her at night and toileted about every three hours for what seemed like MONTHS!! ... EXHAUSTING!! Up there with demand breastfeeding I reckon! I thought it would never end!

Once Noodle was toileted at 11pm and put in her crate (in the kitchen which is literally the centre of our house) I ignored her. Very very hard at the start ... I tried crating her for a couple of hours intially on a Friday night and went shopping with the family as she would put up a right royal din! This way I didn't get stressed about the noise and she learnt that the noise was pointless. I would give her a frozen chicken neck when she was really little (your pup's age) to gnaw on.

Our Noodle was also in a pen in the kitchen too initially for about 2 weeks (not 24/7!) to give her time to get used to the noises etc ....she would go in there when I couldn't watch her or the kids while I was making dinner for example or the kids were too hyped or SHE was too hyped and needed quiet time. Once Noodle was more obvious with her toileting needs she went on a lead attached to the kitchen drawers (kitchen is the centre of the house and a hive of activity) ... in the mornings when the kids got up as we needed to teach her not to jump up and the kids could easily control their behaviour of turning their backs on her and she could not physically get to them as they would stand just out of her range. They learnt to issue the 'sit' command and THEY learnt how to control their own behaviour as often that excited Noodle..... for us this worked well. The lead again was when we needed to closely monitor/control her behaviour or we couldn't watch her (ie kids and I off having a shower and not wanting her to lick us dry!! LOL)

Noodle is now not on a lead (since 5 months) in the house and follows us (her pack) around wanting to be were we are .. it is great as she also does not jup up when she gets excited to see one of us walking through the front door and can contain her enthusiasm to put her butt and four paws on the floor waiting for a pat.

Noodle is also outside when we are out with plenty of toys and more often than not inside keeping us company. Noodle heads into her crate at about 10:30ish and we don't hear from her until 6:30/7pm now ... she is nearly 9 months old.

Yes, we have been strict with her but we have also got the behaviour we wanted from her ... jumping is a big 'no no' as I have a young neice and nephew apart from it being an undesirable behaviour full stop. For us it has been 'training' the kids too ... they are fabulous with her now! Noodle loves nothing more than curling up on our daughter's lap with a raw hide to chew or playing rough and tumble with our son.

Good luck with your pup - I can only imagine how hard it is with a bub as well .. I honestly thought I had another newborn in the house when we bought Noodle home!! At leas the bub wears nappies!! grin........ can you tell I am well and truly over the puppy poo ???

[penny A]

hello I have been fostering a 6week old puppy for the last 2weeks and have not had any real problems with sleeping at night. what we do is play with her just before bed time. we dont let her sleep too much during the evening we play with her more. that way when its bed time she is really overtired. we also feed her a little just before bed as puppies tend to sleep after eating. (but be prepared you may end up with a mess, no guarantees) we dont give her a lot just a little. we put her in the laundry room and she has only cried twice and it would only be for a few mins before she realises that we are not getting up to her.

In her bed we put a blanket that belonged to our other dog and a cat bed also so she has the scents of her pack. you can do this with one of you old jumpers etc. in the laundrey for the first few nights I put a night light until she was used to the room then eventually turnt it off.

the pup doesnt wake up until she hears my boyfriend get up for work. he will let her out have a quick play a little food then she is put back in the laundry until I get up. which is about 2-3hrs later. she has a little whine but again only last for 1-2mins then off to sleep she goes again.

The key I think is to keep her awake in the eveing as much as possible and tire her out before sleep. willow our fostered pet hates the crate which she has to go in whilst at work but doesnt mind the laundry. so why not put the crate in the laundry left open but with paper down by the back door. that way she can still wee when she needs to. and going by the back door is the start of toilet training anyway.

my dog uses a crate during the day but its left open and only shut up at night. so he sees it as his bedroom. a bit like us shutting our bedroom door at night.

basically what I am trying to say is why dont you bring the crate in the lounge room during the day left open, give her treats in there so its a happy place so she gets used to going in there. dont just use it for sleep time she may see this as punishment. she may just need time to get used to it so move it from room to room dont let her associate it with just bedtime.

I hope this helps you have had a lot of advice. lets hope you choose the right advice for you.

and puppies are like babies they are going to need time, patience, fun and consistency.

it will get better dont worry!

[penny A]

If the puppy is going to sleep at 6ish then she will wake during the night without a doubt. its just like a baby obviously if you put it to bed early they will wake up early.

you cant expect for the puppy to sleep for 12hrs or more.

believe me the pup will soon be grown up so just hang in there.

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Noodle Nut - where do I recognise you from??? Here or EB?? LOL, your Newfie(? sorry if I am wrong, very new to breeds!) is gorgeous! Wow at having her in the house at all! my friend can only just bring hers into the corner of the lounge... (but she is still a puppy). Thank you so much for all the advice. Talk about being like demand feeding ROFL, absolutely, there is just no excuse to not get up to the crying! But that's one reason we have done it now, we aren't having a third child and Gerda is the end of my night wakings!!! Being bitten by both pup and bub is a bit much though, hehe. My daughter is really good at trying to ignore her bad behaviour, and turn around etc, but Gerda doesn't seem to notice she is being ignored... and the height doesn't help, but then they will both grow so much soon... I think the more other training I can do the more it will help her out. The spring-free trampoline has become her haven and safe zone. You have definitely given me hope

The crating at night is going really well now, we endured a bit of whinging, and she is a lot quieter now, yay! She loves having it outside (open) during the day, and takes naps on her own out there, which is great. Just need to get a bigger one now... she likes to lie right out flat sometimes and is getting too long! Gee they grow fast.

[NoodleNut]

Noodle Nut - where do I recognise you from??? Here or EB?? LOL, your Newfie(? sorry if I am wrong, very new to breeds!) is gorgeous! Wow at having her in the house at all! my friend can only just bring hers into the corner of the lounge... (but she is still a puppy). Thank you so much for all the advice. Talk about being like demand feeding ROFL, absolutely, there is just no excuse to not get up to the crying! But that's one reason we have done it now, we aren't having a third child and Gerda is the end of my night wakings!!! Being bitten by both pup and bub is a bit much though, hehe. My daughter is really good at trying to ignore her bad behaviour, and turn around etc, but Gerda doesn't seem to notice she is being ignored... and the height doesn't help, but then they will both grow so much soon... I think the more other training I can do the more it will help her out. The spring-free trampoline has become her haven and safe zone. You have definitely given me hope

The crating at night is going really well now, we endured a bit of whinging, and she is a lot quieter now, yay! She loves having it outside (open) during the day, and takes naps on her own out there, which is great. Just need to get a bigger one now... she likes to lie right out flat sometimes and is getting too long! Gee they grow fast.

Hi! Sorry for being a bit thick but what is 'EB'?? Just sat through a two hour school council meeting and have our youngest sick with an ear infection so I am feeling none to bright this evening.

Nup ... wrong ... not a Newfie .. a Hungarian Puli!!!! Only 14" off the ground and doesn't shed hair so no problems having her in the house. She is just starting to 'cord' (dreadlocks) ... check out the piccies on the Breed Specific thread under 'PULI!' for more pictures of the breed.

Good to hear all is going well with both bubs

Noodle still occassionally wees on the carpet in the study ... my theory is she thinks it is grass! It is brand spaking new carpet too so no smells at all...... it only very occassioanlly happens but no where else in the house but there .... usually if she is in the study when our son is out there on the computer and not watching her ... gives me the irrits! Not Noodle's fault....

Here are some pictures of where Noodle's crate was in the kitchen when she was really little ... surrounded by a pen .. only there when we could not watch her constantly and at night. The there is a photos of what she sleeps in now in the kitchen .. just teh crate .. and then sitting on our 6yr old's lap.

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Oh! She's gorgeous! And not nearly so big as a Newfie LOL. EB is another forum... for parents (Essential baby)... just thought I recognised your name, I must have been on DOL longer than I thought! I like your setup. Gerda loves her crate too, hubby wasn't convniced about it till her saw it work so well *yay*.

Only one carpet wee so far, totally hubby's fault (didn't listen to me!), so that's great.

must dash