Dog Appeasing Pheromone

[Bracken]

So, I'm going to be getting my first ever pup in about 2 months and I was looking into what I should get for her. I've read about a product called DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) which plugs into the wall like an air freshener and releases pheromones which can help to calm dogs down in stressful situations such as going to a new home.

I was wondering if anyone has ever used a product like this, and if you found it useful?

[koalathebear]

I think all puppies are stressed when first going into a new home but most settle down. My first pup took 3-4 nights to settle down, my second pup settled down within 2 nights. Maybe see how you go without the DAP first before you try it? We have DAP on hand but to be honest, you can usually settle your pup on the first few nights by:

• putting the crate near your bed. Generally ignore the pup but if you have to, you can put your fingers in the crate so the pup can lick your fingers
  
• putting something that smells like you near in the crate
  
• put an alarm clock in the crate
  
• put a little radio with late night radio (Radio National is nice and boring enough) near the crate
  
• put a soft plushy toy in the crate
  

I'd only use the DAP as a last resort. Not saying the pup could get addicted or anything, but 'arrival anxiety' is so normal that it's worth just working through it normally before resorting to chemicals. Elbie was an angel by day but a complete screaming, crying, howling demon at night. He seriously cried ALL NIGHT LONG for about 4 nights and it took us a bit to figure out what we were supposed to do about it because we had tried most of the tips people give you.

[Bracken]

Ok, So just work through the first few days then. I wouldn't want to get my puppy addicted to chemicals after all!

hmm.. I think I'll be camping out in the sunroom with the pup for the first few nights! I'll try putting on an audiobook I guess. If I let her listed to something by Alexandre Dumas or Dickens all night then she should turn out to be a very cultured and civilised dog

I hope she doesn't scream ALL night! What did you do with Elbie to stop him crying? Or did you do the things you just listed until he settled in his own time?

(I love all the little videos of him by the way, I keep stumbling across them all over the place!)

[koalathebear]

Ok, So just work through the first few days then. I wouldn't want to get my puppy addicted to chemicals after all! :p

Good plan :p I'm sure your puppy will do fine. Hoover only whimpered for part of the first two nights and then was very well-behaved. Some puppies wail for a week, some not at all.

hmm.. I think I'll be camping out in the sunroom with the pup for the first few nights! I'll try putting on an audiobook I guess. If I let her listed to something by Alexandre Dumas or Dickens all night then she should turn out to be a very cultured and civilised dog

Is there any way you can put the crate in your bedroom, at least for the first few days? You can slowly migrate the crate away and off to the sun-room after a few days? The puppies seem to settle much better when they know you're nearby and it's less disruptive for you if you can be in your own bed and bedroom

I hope she doesn't scream ALL night! What did you do with Elbie to stop him crying? Or did you do the things you just listed until he settled in his own time?

We were told that you're supposed to ignore the dog's crying so as not to reinforce bad behaviour but the problem for us is that we couldn't tell the difference between:

(1) I am crying because I miss my mum and my littermates; and

(2) I am crying because I need to go to the toilet :p

So when Elbie was howling and crying the whole night through, when we did take him out, we discovered that he had soiled his crate beyond belief.... That was even with the crate in our bedroom just a few metres away from our bed! I felt so bad because the poor little thing was probably screaming because he was stuck in his own filth and very uncomfortable.

Elbie's very stubborn and he didn't get tired so he was literally crying, howling, screaming barking the whole night long - then he'd nap during the day to regain his strength. :D We were seriously worried that the neighbours were going to report us to the RSPCAS. Most pups shouldn't carry on the same way, Elbie was a special case because we discovered later that he was used to sleeping in a human bed with the kids ... no wonder he didn't like his crate :p

In the end (on day 3 or 4 when I was exhausted, ready to burst into tears and return the damned dog), what worked for us was that we put a box next to our bed and the crate on top of that so that Elbie could see us. Then we put our fingertips into the crate so that he could lick them i.e. we stopped him crying in the first place. When he fell asleep, we withdrew our fingers and washed our hands. He slept very peacefully and then only woke up and whimpered if he needed to go to the toilet. We were taking him out to toilet every 2 to 2.5 hours anyway so basically there was no more crying. After a few days, we moved the crate to the floor next to the bed, then further back from the bed then after a week, we moved Elbie into the kitchen and he was fine. When we moved house and Elbie was in a 'new kitchen', he whimpered for about half an hour the first night but then he was fine.

With Hoover, he cried for a few hours (his crate was next to a long-suffering Elbie). The distress made him soil his bed and we cleaned him up and then moved his crate next to the bed. Second night, we tried putting him in a different crate but he got upset and soiled that crate, too - howling for hours. Soooooo for Hoover, we just fed him earlier, made sure he was as close to empty as we could get him by bed time and put his crate near the bed. He was fine by night three and hasn't messed his crate since then. Hoover we got at 12 weeks so we only toileted him at bedtime, once at 3.30am and then once first thing in the morning. Good luck though - the crate-training/toilet-training/settling in period for a puppy is pretty stressful but it does pass

Now both dogs are great and know how to ask to be let out. They MOSTLY toilet in the designated spot in the yard and know to return to their crates after that for a further snooze if required. Having one fully toilet-trained certainly made things a lot easier because Hoover copies Elbie these days. They'll go out and wee in unison and when Hoover sees Elbie doing number 2s, he copies him.

Edited November 6, 2010 by koalathebear

[Bracken]

Raising the crate up next to the bed sounds like a good idea, makes it easier to spot at 2 in the morning! I was a little nervous about having the crate near my bed, incase I bumped into it when I dragged myself up and scared the poor pup.

Hmm the first week is going to be verrrry interesting by all accounts! I've planned it so that I'll be getting the pup during my uni break, so I don't need to worry too much about sleep deprivation! :p

All the same, here's hoping the little one will act a bit like Hoover!

[lady0421]

koalathebear, your post was so informative!! I'm getting my puppy in 3 weeks, you really helped getting me to think more about what could be done differently/creatively during the first few days!!

[koalathebear]

koalathebear, your post was so informative!! I'm getting my puppy in 3 weeks, you really helped getting me to think more about what could be done differently/creatively during the first few days!!

You're very welcome! There were a few things I would definitely have done differently the first time around with Elbie. We did it better the second time around with Hoover although in hindsight, I could have avoided the panic poos by feeding him earlier and keeping him closer :D

Another recommendation is for the first few nights, only put very washable toys and blankets in with the puppy - I'd opt for towels over blankets to be honest. I put in my favourite cute little hot water bottle with a knitted penguin cover for Elbie and it was so covered with poo that I just had to throw it out ...

Have a bucket ready on the deck for any soiled blankets so that you can dump them in there and then do all your washing in the morning ;) Keep plenty of paper towels and Urine-Free/other similar sprays handy so that when the accidents happen you're prepared and not scrambling around looking for stuff. :D

[Xyz]

I like DAP, and have used it with great success. Your pup won't get 'addicted' to it, but it just helps to take the edge off her anxiety, and I can only imagine leaving the safely of the home, mum and littermates she has had since birth must be the most stressful time of a dogs life..

It really seems to help them settle. The collars are great also, but hard to get in Oz. I really think anything to help is nice for babies!

[Xyz]

I like DAP, and have used it with great success. Your pup won't get 'addicted' to it, but it just helps to take the edge off her anxiety, and I can only imagine leaving the safely of the home, mum and littermates she has had since birth must be the most stressful time of a dogs life..

It really seems to help them settle. The collars are great also, but hard to get in Oz. I really think anything to help is nice for babies!

[Nekhbet]

dogs have to learn to cope and they're quite good at it, we just seem to coddle them and create more problems.

All my dogs slept like logs when they first got home because I pick them up in the morning, spend as much time as I can, keep them up past 'bedtime' and no once screamed, bashed, cried etc because they were so exhausted they slept like logs.

Bring home something that smells like the litter (like so rags or blanket) give them a soft toy and put them in a crate in your room so they're not 'alone'. The pup will be fine it doesnt need a DAP and all that rigmaroll.

[koalathebear]

dogs have to learn to cope and they're quite good at it, we just seem to coddle them and create more problems.

All my dogs slept like logs when they first got home because I pick them up in the morning, spend as much time as I can, keep them up past 'bedtime' and no once screamed, bashed, cried etc because they were so exhausted they slept like logs.

Bring home something that smells like the litter (like so rags or blanket) give them a soft toy and put them in a crate in your room so they're not 'alone'. The pup will be fine it doesnt need a DAP and all that rigmaroll.

I can't agree with Nekhbet enough on this one. I'm not saying never use DAP, I'm just saying that I wouldn't go to it in the first instance. If your pup doesn't settle after days and days, then maybe use it but it really is so NORMAL and expected for the little ones to holler and carry on when they first arrive that it's best just to let them work through it.

[aussielover]

DAP is very expensive for what might only be a temporary problem.

My pup fell asleep straight away for the first few nights or only cried a bit for around 20 mins/half hour.

Unfortunately about 2 weeks later she became very noisy all night. The solution was to move her into my room.

[Nekhbet]

if you're resorting to a DAP for such a young pup and it wont settle down there's 2 things to do - have a look if you're inadvertently encouraging the behaviour or not doing enough to remove opportunity (like wear the pup out etc) or give the pup back to the breeder if it's screaming like a possessed banshee after long a while. I wouldnt take a dog with such a screaming problem that wont make any effort to try and settle in (and I mean screaming constantly no matter what you do)

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I've used DAP diffusers and spray for years. It's not addictive and it can help calm common anxiety-producing situations such as new home, travel in the car, etc. Works to a degree for noise phobias too.

If you have tools available and it doesn't do harm, why not use them?

[Bracken]

how much is the normal cost of DAP? I've seen the 'air freshener' style ones on ebay for about $40, and the spray ones for a bit less.

I'm thinking I might get the spray so I have something on hand just in case (does DAP have a long shelf life? I might not use all that much of it all that fast).

I was thinking it could be helpful for when I introduce my current border to the new pup, Just spraying it in a room in advance so that they (hopefully) are in a calmer frame of mind during the first introductions.

[koalathebear]

If you have tools available and it doesn't do harm, why not use them?

I don't have a problem with using DAP - just saying there might not be a need to use it at the first instance when other measures may do the trick. That's just me, though and it's of course totally a matter for the OP if they want to use DAP.

[Nekhbet]

I was thinking it could be helpful for when I introduce my current border to the new pup, Just spraying it in a room in advance so that they (hopefully) are in a calmer frame of mind during the first introductions.

training and guidence will set the tone and frame of mind, not a poof of DAP into the room.

[WreckitWhippet]

I was thinking it could be helpful for when I introduce my current border to the new pup, Just spraying it in a room in advance so that they (hopefully) are in a calmer frame of mind during the first introductions.

training and guidence will set the tone and frame of mind, not a poof of DAP into the room.

+ 1

[Bracken]

training and guidence will set the tone and frame of mind, not a poof of DAP into the room.

:D good point! Basically, I'm just being a neurotic first-time puppy owner.

Also I read a thread about bitches killing each other and scared myself silly a few days ago

[WreckitWhippet]

training and guidence will set the tone and frame of mind, not a poof of DAP into the room.

:D good point! Basically, I'm just being a neurotic first-time puppy owner.

Also I read a thread about bitches killing each other and scared myself silly a few days ago :p

If only DAP would fix that problem