Aa
how long to leave a pup at night?
i have a 9 week old puppy and when i put her to bed an night she cries and it breaks my heart so i took her to bed with me, brought her bed and bowls and training mat upstairs aswell, she pooed on the floor which is okay cause its early days but she still cried and was awake every hour.
i really need to leave her downstairs because i had no sleep and had to do an 8 hour shift the next day.
we put a dog guard up in the kitchen door and she has bowls toys bed and blanket and training mat but she cries.
can i leave her on her own at night? i dont mind cleaning up her mess as its my fault she cant pee anywhere else.
will she stop crying and go sleep or will it be torture for her?
any advice would really help because i need my sleep but i dont want to do anything to hurt her
thanks
i really need to leave her downstairs because i had no sleep and had to do an 8 hour shift the next day.
we put a dog guard up in the kitchen door and she has bowls toys bed and blanket and training mat but she cries.
can i leave her on her own at night? i dont mind cleaning up her mess as its my fault she cant pee anywhere else.
will she stop crying and go sleep or will it be torture for her?
any advice would really help because i need my sleep but i dont want to do anything to hurt her
thanks
Good job therese! Yes, young pups need to be let out of a crate at least once during the work day. If the owner can't do that, a kindly neighbor or even a paid dog walker can help in that area. The idea is not just to help with potty training, but to accomodate one of the pup's natural "energy bursts" that happen throughout the day.
Once a pup is house trained, you can use baby gates to gradually increase the pup's territory and cut down on the mischief. A bored dog is a frustrated and destructive dog, so hired dog walkers are well worth the money. Any responsible youngster who loves animals would likely jump at the opportunity to have a paying job of this type. :-)
One thing that can help a fretting pup sleep better in a crate is to put an unwashed article of your own clothing into the crate. Having your smell right there can be a calming influence. There are also toys made to help entertain crated dogs. You can make your own with a hollow Kong - those hard rubber, cone-looking things. Fill the center with cheese and/ or peanut butter and maybe a piece or two of kibble and freeze it. Your dog will have to use his mind to figure out how to clean it all out of the hole, and being frozen it will last longer. Use those in the morning as you leave for work to help distract the dog from any separation anxiety and reinforce the crate as a good thing to go to.
Once a pup is house trained, you can use baby gates to gradually increase the pup's territory and cut down on the mischief. A bored dog is a frustrated and destructive dog, so hired dog walkers are well worth the money. Any responsible youngster who loves animals would likely jump at the opportunity to have a paying job of this type. :-)
One thing that can help a fretting pup sleep better in a crate is to put an unwashed article of your own clothing into the crate. Having your smell right there can be a calming influence. There are also toys made to help entertain crated dogs. You can make your own with a hollow Kong - those hard rubber, cone-looking things. Fill the center with cheese and/ or peanut butter and maybe a piece or two of kibble and freeze it. Your dog will have to use his mind to figure out how to clean it all out of the hole, and being frozen it will last longer. Use those in the morning as you leave for work to help distract the dog from any separation anxiety and reinforce the crate as a good thing to go to.
Hi
What will you do with the Dog while you are at work? I am just wondering what others do.
I have just learned through this site that it is not right to leave a puppy and go to work
I am now coming home in my breaks, I am lucky I live near by and tomorrow she will be in my car + we are going out at lunch time.
I am learning a lot here and my dogs are inproving greatly!
What will you do with the Dog while you are at work? I am just wondering what others do.
I have just learned through this site that it is not right to leave a puppy and go to work
I am now coming home in my breaks, I am lucky I live near by and tomorrow she will be in my car + we are going out at lunch time.
I am learning a lot here and my dogs are inproving greatly!
The quickest, easiest way to housetrain a puppy is to crate train them. Purchase a crate or borrow one from someone with the understanding that you will need it for at least a few months. You want to be sure that the puppy has room to move around in the crate, but not so much room that they can sleep down one end and poop and pee at the other end. The idea here is that a dog instinctively will not poop or pee where they sleep.
Next, set up a strict schedule and DO NOT DEVIATE FROM IT FOR ANY REASON. Dogs learn well through structure, and if you adhere to the same structured schedule every day, you will find that the puppy quickly understands what you expect of it and acts accordingly.
You'll find that by crate training the puppy, it will be quieter during the night, because being descended from wolves, all dogs have a natural denning instinct, and the crate represents the den.
Until the puppy is reliably trained, unless you are playing with the puppy, grooming it, exercising it, or otherwise keeping a close eye on it, it is in the crate. A sample schedule for crate training would be as follows.
The minute you wake up, take the puppy out of the crate and take it outside so it can go potty. Don't stop to have your coffee, talk on the phone, or whatever, puppy comes first. After he goes, praise him like he found the cure for cancer, bring him back inside and give him his breakfast.
After breakfast, take him right back outside again. Puppy digestive systems are small. When food goes in, something has to come out because there's only so much room in there. When he goes, tell him he's the most wonderful puppy in the world!
Play with the puppy for a while, groom him, maybe give him a short training session in something, and when you see him starting to slow down a bit, put him in the crate and let him have a nap. While he's napping, use the time to get a couple of chores done.
When you hear the puppy up and awake in the crate, go get him and take him right outside. Let him potty, praise him to the heavens, and maybe play around outside for a while. He'll soon get sleepy again, and at that point, bring him inside, crate him, and let him nap. Maybe mid-afternoon sometime give him another meal. Repeat the step from the morning where you take him out again right after he eats. Always remember to heap praise when he does anything outside.
Maybe get some more chores done, things you can do with the puppy following you around so you can keep an eye on him. If you have to do things that won't allow you to watch him while you do them, crate him while you're doing your chores. Just remember, every time you crate him and he naps, as soon as he wakes up, he has to go potty.
Give him his dinner late in the day, take him outside again to potty. Bring him in, play with him a little bit before everyone calls it a day and goes to bed. During the night, if you hear him moving around in the crate for longer than it takes him to change positions while sleeping, go to him, take him out of the crate and take him outside to potty. Re-crate him and go back to bed.
In the morning when you wake up, start the whole process all over again. Your life, at least for a few weeks, is going to seem like that movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray, where every day is EXACTLY the same from sunup to sundown while your puppy learns the routine.
Some things to keep in mind - once you take him out for the last time and crate him for the night, if you KNOW that he did everything he needed to do outside, and he's whining and crying in the crate, don't go to him. Don't even acknowledge him. Don't yell "SHHHHHHH!!!!" or "Quiet!" - nothing. He is whining and crying for attention, and even negative attention is attention. He is getting a reaction from you and that's all he cares about, so don't play his game. Totally ignore him when he fusses in the crate unless, of course, he has been sleeping for a couple of hours, because at that point, he's probably fussing because he needs to go outside to potty.
You will be amazed at how quickly he will not only get used to the routine, but also become housebroken. I crate trained Katie starting when I got her at 10 weeks of age, and within TWO WEEKS she was housebroken. She will be seven years old in May and the only time she had an accident in the house was one time when I tried to switch foods on her and it gave her loose stools. I kid you not, ONE ACCIDENT in SIX YEARS.
The other good thing about crate training is that when you wake up, or come in from a night out, if your house was in one piece when you fell asleep or when you went out, it will still be in one piece when you wake up or when you come home. Believe me when I tell you it's so nice to be able to spend first thing in the morning or coming home from being out petting and playing with your puppy (after you take him outside, of course!) rather than picking up shredded whatever that was chewed up while you were sleeping or out shopping.
The most important thing to remember, however, is that when used correctly, the crate is an invaluable training tool. When used incorrectly, it, like many other things, can be an instrument of cruelty.
A crate IS a training aid.
A crate is NOT a substitute for training. It's not a place to keep your dog because you don't have time to teach them how to behave properly.
I know I've probably left out a couple of important points. I worked from 7am until 3pm today after working from 3pm to 11pm last night and then being on call from 11pm until 7am this morning, so I'm a bit flaky from being tired right now. If anything is written in such a way as to be unclear, please let me know and I'll do my best to rewrite it in "human" for you. I really need a nap. :)
Ghilly
Next, set up a strict schedule and DO NOT DEVIATE FROM IT FOR ANY REASON. Dogs learn well through structure, and if you adhere to the same structured schedule every day, you will find that the puppy quickly understands what you expect of it and acts accordingly.
You'll find that by crate training the puppy, it will be quieter during the night, because being descended from wolves, all dogs have a natural denning instinct, and the crate represents the den.
Until the puppy is reliably trained, unless you are playing with the puppy, grooming it, exercising it, or otherwise keeping a close eye on it, it is in the crate. A sample schedule for crate training would be as follows.
The minute you wake up, take the puppy out of the crate and take it outside so it can go potty. Don't stop to have your coffee, talk on the phone, or whatever, puppy comes first. After he goes, praise him like he found the cure for cancer, bring him back inside and give him his breakfast.
After breakfast, take him right back outside again. Puppy digestive systems are small. When food goes in, something has to come out because there's only so much room in there. When he goes, tell him he's the most wonderful puppy in the world!
Play with the puppy for a while, groom him, maybe give him a short training session in something, and when you see him starting to slow down a bit, put him in the crate and let him have a nap. While he's napping, use the time to get a couple of chores done.
When you hear the puppy up and awake in the crate, go get him and take him right outside. Let him potty, praise him to the heavens, and maybe play around outside for a while. He'll soon get sleepy again, and at that point, bring him inside, crate him, and let him nap. Maybe mid-afternoon sometime give him another meal. Repeat the step from the morning where you take him out again right after he eats. Always remember to heap praise when he does anything outside.
Maybe get some more chores done, things you can do with the puppy following you around so you can keep an eye on him. If you have to do things that won't allow you to watch him while you do them, crate him while you're doing your chores. Just remember, every time you crate him and he naps, as soon as he wakes up, he has to go potty.
Give him his dinner late in the day, take him outside again to potty. Bring him in, play with him a little bit before everyone calls it a day and goes to bed. During the night, if you hear him moving around in the crate for longer than it takes him to change positions while sleeping, go to him, take him out of the crate and take him outside to potty. Re-crate him and go back to bed.
In the morning when you wake up, start the whole process all over again. Your life, at least for a few weeks, is going to seem like that movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray, where every day is EXACTLY the same from sunup to sundown while your puppy learns the routine.
Some things to keep in mind - once you take him out for the last time and crate him for the night, if you KNOW that he did everything he needed to do outside, and he's whining and crying in the crate, don't go to him. Don't even acknowledge him. Don't yell "SHHHHHHH!!!!" or "Quiet!" - nothing. He is whining and crying for attention, and even negative attention is attention. He is getting a reaction from you and that's all he cares about, so don't play his game. Totally ignore him when he fusses in the crate unless, of course, he has been sleeping for a couple of hours, because at that point, he's probably fussing because he needs to go outside to potty.
You will be amazed at how quickly he will not only get used to the routine, but also become housebroken. I crate trained Katie starting when I got her at 10 weeks of age, and within TWO WEEKS she was housebroken. She will be seven years old in May and the only time she had an accident in the house was one time when I tried to switch foods on her and it gave her loose stools. I kid you not, ONE ACCIDENT in SIX YEARS.
The other good thing about crate training is that when you wake up, or come in from a night out, if your house was in one piece when you fell asleep or when you went out, it will still be in one piece when you wake up or when you come home. Believe me when I tell you it's so nice to be able to spend first thing in the morning or coming home from being out petting and playing with your puppy (after you take him outside, of course!) rather than picking up shredded whatever that was chewed up while you were sleeping or out shopping.
The most important thing to remember, however, is that when used correctly, the crate is an invaluable training tool. When used incorrectly, it, like many other things, can be an instrument of cruelty.
A crate IS a training aid.
A crate is NOT a substitute for training. It's not a place to keep your dog because you don't have time to teach them how to behave properly.
I know I've probably left out a couple of important points. I worked from 7am until 3pm today after working from 3pm to 11pm last night and then being on call from 11pm until 7am this morning, so I'm a bit flaky from being tired right now. If anything is written in such a way as to be unclear, please let me know and I'll do my best to rewrite it in "human" for you. I really need a nap. :)
Ghilly
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