puppy cio

We got a new puppy on Monday. She's 8 weeks old and a sweetheart, part lab and part border collie. We were prepared for the nighttime whining and crying, but she does it waaaaay more than we expected. Is it normal for them to stay up literally all night and cry? Is it really okay to ignore them? At several points last night she got so hysterical one of us got up and took her outside to pee then sat with her till she was asleep, but the rest of the time we ignored it and tried to sleep. How long does this last? Any tips on helping her adjust and stop the crying? It's breaking my heart!

[ranade3]

That was my problem 4 weeks ago!!!!! In our case after I sat up with puppy he would go back to sleep and he only got up 2 or 3 times at night. But after the 4th day he got sick and had to spend the night at the vet's, after that he became inconsolable at night and I couldn't stand it, I took him out and let him sleep with us. I'm not sure you want to do that or not, esp. because your dog will be much bigger than ours and then you would have huge dog on your bed! I'm sure someone with more experience will have some advice for you. I'm also horrible when it comes to the crying that goes on and on and on.............

My friend kept our puppy over the weekend and crated him way more than I was doing and she got an earful from our little guy. But now I am reaping the rewards because I can crate him when he starts to get crazy, too wound up, and he is fine.

I definitely feel for you with the crying though. The high pitch yipping is enough to bring me to tears too

[DogwoodMama]

We went through this with our first cat too... meowing & clawing to get in the bedroom... But our second was OK, I assume b/c he had the first! I think they are just used to being with other animals... their littermates, etc.

[AmyDoll]

Could you maybe "transistion her?" I'm thinking maybe put her in a crate in your room that you later move to where ever you want her to spend her evenings? I know that animals aren't people - but I can't help but think that they have legitimate feelings.
Amy

[domesticzookeeper]

I would make sure that the evening leading up to bedtime (and all day, if posssible) is very structured.

For instance:

• Dinner
  
• Play time
  
• Belly rubs and all over body massage (not only does this totally relax a dog, it's a great way to get to know how your dog feels, and therefore notice quicker if there is a change or problem)
  
• Walk
  
• "Bedtime."

If you need to walk her during the middle of the night, do at a set time every night, so she doesn't think that crying is what rouses you. Routine will really help her settle .

Do you have a special blanket and maybe a special toy in her crate? My puppy was a total blankie freak, he loved being in his crate if he could snuggle with his blankie

[cannuke]

With our puppy, we put his kennel right next to DH's side of the bed at first because we weren't totally sure that he wouldn't wet on the bed. We figured he wouldn't wet in the kennel (his space and all that). When he cried, DH would reach over and put his fingers through the door of the kennel and he would settle right down. Maybe he was afraid that we would go away or something.

When we were sure that he was housetrained, we let him sleep on the bed with us (our first experience with co-sleeping, I guess). He usually sleeps quite happily at the end of the bed or works his way up in between us (he likes to rest his head on a pillow, too!). Lately, we've been leaving his kennel door open and he's been sleeping in there nicely because he knows it's his space. That, and because I have WAY too many pillows on the bed these days and he probably feels that there's no room for him!

[CelticJourney]

The puppy has probably never been alone before - kinda scary! Also dogs are pack animals, they are wired to be in a group where they have some hope of safety. When we got our first pup, dh was determined she would sleep in the kitchen, so I let him try (I freely admit I wanted him to learn on the dog and not on our babies). After about an hour of 'cry, cry, escape, find mom and dad, dad takes her back to the kitchen, tried to figure out how she escaped, cry, cry, cry..' Dh finally relented and put her in a box next to his side of the bed and slept with his hand in her box all night long. That was the end of puppy cio at our house and her sleeping place for most of her life - they bonded, he jokes that she 'loved him best' because of the arm in the box (notice mom gets no credit for getting him to relent).

We have had a total of six dogs. Two were crate trained, one of necessity (police dog that had to travel) and one that was already trained and liked his crate. Both have been un-crate trained since then - the german shepard thought as long as he was out of his crate it was WORK/PLAY TIME and I had to work with him to get him to understand that night was for sleeping (he had worked night shifts, so it was an issue for him).

I freely admit that I am anti-cio for my animals as well as my children. Try moving the crate into a bedroom. You also might try putting on a radio, with voices if possible. We just finished fostering puppies about a week ago and I wrote a summery for their adoptive families and included the fact that the dog may attempt to give money to NPR because whenever I left them to go somewhere I left on the radio and it was pledge week.

Thanks for all the responses. As it happens, the puppy started sleeping better the night after I wrote my original post. Since then, she whines a little as she's settling in, but then she sleeps beautifully. We think a couple of things helped. First, that day I left her twice in the crate when I had to run out for quick hour-ish errands. So we think she learned that she would be let out of her crate and that it was an okay place to be during the day and that transferred to nighttime (though seems to me it'd take a lot longer than one day for a puppy to learn this...). Second, we moved her crate so she was not able to see upstairs to the bedroom, and also so she couldn't hear every rustle from our room as we slept. Third, we covered the top of the crate with a blanket, which made it feel more nesty (crate's in a cathedral ceiling-ed room, so maybe she was feeling too open?). I have no idea if it was one or all or none of these things, but thank goodness she is sleeping better now.

I do feel bad for having let her cry. We would have been unable to put her crate in our bedroom --room is way too small - but I was sorely tempted to try it anyway. It felt completely wrong to lay there listening to her crying. And it absolutely reinforced to me how glad I am to have never tried baby cio. It was hard enough hearing the puppy cry. I could never have let my baby do it!