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Puppies First Week Home

I am new to this website, and my wife and I have Dunder (Miniature Aussie from Simply Spotted in Tampa, FL) and we were hoping for some advice. Before we got Dunder (the puppy) we agreed we didn't want him sleeping on the bed. The problem is of course that he misses his family and wakes up crying about six times a night. Last night was only the second night with him and we broke and put him in the bed.

I can see two problems with this; 1) We are rewarding that behavior. 2) He will expect to be in the bed tonight, and tomorrow night... We just find it hard to not comfort him, we don't want to confuse him later on but have a heart, right? Does anyone have any advice on how we can comfort him properly through his hard times and not have him expecting to sleep in the bed.

Please let me know, thank you.
Jacob T.

Comments for Puppies First Week Home

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Puppy
by: Anonymous

This worked with our puppy. I had a crate that had several doors. One door was in the top of the crate. Puppy was in the crate with lots of soft bed and a towel that had been rubbed on her mom. I kept my hand on her through the top door. That way I was in constant physical contact with her without her being in our bed. This worked just fine and she did not cry any except for twice a night when she needed to go outside to pee. It may have helped that we had been visiting her once a week from the time she was just a few weeks old until we got her at 8 weeks, but I really believe it was just the hand on her.

Crate training
by: Ryan

The key here is stick to your guns with the crate. That crate will soon be his safe place. To minimize crying at night put him in his crate during the day until he stops crying then let him out once he has been quiet for a few minutes and reward him with a treat and lots of love and affection. Do this 3 times in the day. Also no water an hour before bed this will make hold his bladder easier on him. Then at night teach him your routine. Mine is knows at 7:20 we get up go potty an eat. It will only take a week or so. It's like having a brand new baby. Welcome to parenthood and a few sleepless nights.

not bed
by: Anonymous

Aussies are very smart and ypur puppie realizes that he is not with his litter. My puppy used to howl looking for his litter used to break our heart. Everyday gets better. I never let him stay with us in bed at night but in the morning when he's up I let him out on backyard and after that he is welcome to snuggle with us in bed until we leave to work. I would go down and stay with him there near his bed. Be patient he will get used to your routine. Read some dogs books how to house break your puppy. Our will be 2 years old in May ... His first 6 months was very challenging. I enrolled him in obedience classes, well that didn't do anything for him but when I enrolled him in agility class, he really changed to the best dog ever. He is still a handfull but very obedient now. He also goes to walking buddies 2x a week and that wears him off for the whole day. Good luck be patient gets lots of advices with training books or dogtrainer.

Crate Training
by: Neil

I am a big believer in crate training. If a puppy is put to bed (with a treat) and his complaints ignored for several nights, he will decide that is the way it is supposed to be. He will learn that the crate is his safe place and soon will go to bed in the crate and spend a quite night. Always give him a treat (I use small milkbones) when putting him in the crate. Throwing it to the back of the crate encourages him to go in.

My Aussie Jasper was already crate trained when I got him at seven weeks of age. With the exception of times that we are traveling he has spent every night in the crate (four years). When we spend the night in a motel; he sleeps on the floor next to my bed and is very happy with this.

He is very frightened of thunder and hides in his crate when storms are about. I find it amusing that he has learned to associate power outages with storms. If the power goes out on a sunny day you will find him in his crate.

Crate Training
by: Mike

Do you have a crate that is sized properly for him?

Make the crate a welcome place. He will adjust in time. Put him in at night and when you are gone.

DO NOT start with on the bed or anything like that. Remember the first time you learned a word that Mom and Dad did not like and the used a reward to get you to stop? Same thing here! One the bed is a reward for a behavior you wish to stop.

Response
by: Jacob

Thanks everyone for your responses! We made the decision not to crate train Dunder, so we are only left with so many options. The first night we placed his bed on the floor next to our bed. His mom and siblings were rubbed on his blanket so we put that in there also. My fiance did have one hand on him but she was so heart broken that he wouldn't stop crying. Eventually she got on the floor and slept by his side. But the next night we just caved and let him sleep with us. He has slept in our bed now three of the four night he has been home. He loves it!! I am really on the fence about if this is acceptable or not. Assuming we are okay with him sleeping in our bed, will this do any damage to the training process? Will the lines of who is in charge be blurred? We have a similar problem with the couch, during the evening... I am reading some books but I know these first couple days home are vital. Thanks again for the advice!

Not bed
by: Anonymous

Please , do crate him. It's the safest thing for your puppy. If you need to go out for few hours .He needs to be protected and its your duty as parents and owners.Okay u don't want to crate him at night ... put him inside another place gated or like you put your kid inside fenced circle (forgot name). I heard from others ,that their puppies got hurt eating walls corners,chairs and died from suffocation with head stuck somewhere. My puppy hated to be inside the crate at beginning but I was getting him used to the crate gradually. I put treats inside his crate and let him in for 15 min few times a day ... He would eat his treats in seconds and cried the other 14 minutes . He started not minding to go in and day by day he was getting used to the crate.At night I used to gated him inside laundry room,but he got used to his crate and I tried one night to let him stay there and he was fine. I learned from his trainer that they liked dark places to hide its on their instincts .He told me to cover partially the crate and it got cozier for him. Don't cave in with his whinning and demands... he's a puppy and Aussies are known to please their owners but same way if you dont control him ... Well, you got yourself a new boss then. Patience nad determination He will be an amazing dog. A year ago a I was about to give my own puppy away but I read here several advices and also I had 4 lessons with a trainer, got him in obedience (boring) class at * months got him in agility class ( very fun )From a monster dog he's now a very fun doggie, obedient( humm... some days are better than others)but in other words i am glad to have kept him...

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