7 Week Old Staffy Pup - Help!

[Rowie]

Hello All,

This is my first post, and I am stuck so so stuck. My darling husband blessed us with a puppy over the weekend, and she is beautiful, BUT she is very young only 7 weeks today.

I work at night, so I am home all day with pup, and my husband is home at night with her, so she is never really alone for great lengths of time. Though as soon as the lights go out at night or we go out of her sight she cries. And it is so constant and heart-breaking.

We have tried warm snuggly bed, ticking clock, hot water bottle, toys...but I just do not know what to do from here?

Any thoughts?

I know they do have seperation anxiety for a while, how long exactly?

Any thoughts or advise welcome.....

[Alyosha]

Hi there!

Your baby is really too young to be away from mum and siblings. This makes life much harder for you and your OH - as she is going to cry I'm afraid, and miss important lessons her mumshould be teaching her.

The upside of course is that she is very young and will bond very closely with you both.

Making her warm and full is your best bet, and just riding out the worst of the crying. Make sure she has a pretty routine existence, doing things in the same order and times - like feed her, take her to the toilet then put her to bed. Once she figures out routines like this she'll settle, as she will come to expect what comes next.

Best of luck. The folks on here a a wealth of info and will help you out wherever they can.

[Sandra777]

As you know she is too young to be away from her litter. However, that's done. As you're working nights sleep is going to be an issue for you, so what I would do in this case would be to get a high sided box she can't get out of, put it beside your bed and let her sleep in that - a crate but with an open top. If she cries when put to bed you can dangle your hand into the box (don't speak to her, pat or fuss her, just have the hand there as a living warm "thing" for her) until she goes to sleep. Obviously you still need to do all the usual stuff of letting her out to toilet very regularly, tiring her out before bed time, good meals etc. Gradually wean her off your hand being there to reassure her by slowly letting her cry a it longer before reassuring her and just as gradually move the box away from the bed until she is sleeping where ever you want her to be. During the day, when you aren't working or whenever it is convenient for her to cry a bit more, you can do your alone training.

Edited May 11, 2009 by Sandra777

[Rowie]

I have her outside now, it is so heart breaking to hear her crying. She is eating alot, I have been feeding her, as her mother passed away early last week (hence the early leaving) My daughter has been playing with her, basically for all the light hours of the day and I am surpised either can keep their eyes open. Like I said it is when she can not see us that she gets sad.

How long can I expect this to last? And how long is 'safe' to leave her to cry?

[Clyde]

Have her inside with you and let her sleep in your bed. Let the pup feel safe and secure, then later on you can move pup to where you want them to sleep as an older pup.

I think it's awful to let a pup cry at that age. Poor little thing just wants some love and reassurance : )

Edited May 11, 2009 by Clyde

[poodlefan]

Is she sleeping outside?

[Cockerlover]

Hi & welcome to the world of pet ownership .

As has already been said ,she is to young to be separated from her siblings & will be missing them .

it is ok to let her cry ,she will learn very quickly that if u respond to her crying she knows she gets attention ,make sure she is warm comfy & fed a good diet ,also check she has been wormed .this could be the reason for the excess food consumpion.

It all takes time & patience with new baby"s keep to a routine ,re play, sleep, feeding & toilet training.

[persephone]

I will suggest that she NOT be with someone 24 hours a day... give her some time... 15 min /half an hour somewhere warm with a big bone, her dinner, a ball ... and leave her be. She will cry. Do NOT fuss over her when she cries... or she will learn very quickly that noises bring attention

[Stitch]

What Persephone said!

If the pup always has someone with it, naturally when someone is not with it ie. bedtimes, it is going to cry and wonder where the company has gone!!

Ensure it has some quiet times without company during the day so it learns it is OK to be alone.

[SoL]

One of the things I tell our new 'parents' is that their new babe will cry. Guaranteed. It's what all babes do and I also warn them that the first week is always the worst as you have taken a young (in your case a very young) babe from all it knew to live in a world completely alien to it.

Personally I think she is too young to be sleeping outside, if I have read that rightly. Bring her indoors but define her sleeping and feeding areas and stick to them. Dogs love routine, they find security in it. Staffords especially need human reassurance and comfort, but you need to find a level of coddling that is not only appropriate for your puppy but for your puppy when it becomes an adult. What I'm saying is start as you mean to go on. If you want your adult dog to be used to going in a crate (highly recommended) then I would suggest you go and buy one now and use that for puppy's bed (also highly recommended). This can also help with the crying because your pup will come to view the crate as it's safe haven and will readily go to it for sleeping and rest times etc. It can also help with toilet training too.

Definitely have periods where she is left on her own for a time. Make sure she has things to keep her occupied. You will need her to learn that it's ok to be on her own for a bit and that you will come back. Otherwise you may find yourself with an extremely needy and destructive adult on your hands (speaking from experience here) if you have to go out.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your babe.

Em