As i have posted before we have just got a 6 month old puppy who has a few problems, could anyone tell us what we can do to stop him barking and crying for us when we go to bed? as we have to sleep!!!! Other half had to have the day of work today as we didn't get much sleep, he wasn't like this for the first two nights so i am assuming it's something we have done.

Yep, you've made him want to be with you :D Its perfectly normal to have some disruption with a puppy - you'll soon get used to it :D

Can you tire him out with fuss and playing then a milky meal before bed - he'll sleep better tired with a full belly :)

Anything is woth a try, what do you mean by a milky meal? Also on the subject of food we went to our local petstore and were advised against feeding wet food which i have never heard of before do you have any knowledge of this chloe? Thanks for help.

Hi

Whats he fed on at the moment?

I always gave mine a weetabix with goats milk before bed :)

I give him toast for breakfast, then he is eating pedegree puppy and dried food. Do you have any idea how to make him more independant?

He's a puppy - he wants to be with you - he doesn't want to be independent ;) He will calm with time and be less clingy...

Let me ask you - are you ready for a puppy do you think? Does he fit with your lifestyle? If not, its going to be difficult for you both to adapt....

That is not the problem, the no sleep issue is, had another dog before but she was totally different, just think it's going to take time for us to get used to each other.

can the crate go in your room?or just the dog? till he settles in!

Hi michelled, did you mean in the bedroom? as i don't really want to start that upstairs is a dog free zone.

yes i did mean that!
all of mean sleep in my room,but i realise its not for everybody.
hes prob unsettled & glad hes found you!

could always try a plug in dap diffuser,(can get from vets),which may soothe him abit

My pup cried every night all night for the first 6 days. Always make sure that the pup has had plenty of play time and been out for a pee. She has a ball into which you can put small bonios and we gave this to her at bedtime in her crate.We just ignored her as advised by the breeder. I was about to give up, in consideration of the neighbours and allow her upstairs. Guess what on the 7th night not a peep. I think they get worried that your not coming back but eventually the penny drops. I was lucky and not working at the time so I slept when she did. My other half however was working but only home at the weekend so we just covered the crate with spare duvets to muffle the sound. Helped a bit but he was relieved that on his second weekend, silence reigned. Stick with it, if you keep going down or shouting all you will be doing is prolonging the sleep deprevation. She is 1year old on Xmas Eve and still has her ball at bedtime. 

I know what you mean gaby i am a little worried about the neighbours, we do not shout at him but have to been down to turn the lights on to see if that helps, we take him for 2-3 walks a day once on a morning then if my partner is not at work we drive to the park for a walk and then for a walk in the evening about an hour or two before we go to bed. We just need to persevere i think.

You could try what some of my frinds who prefer to have bedrooms dog free, did and that is sleep down weith the puppy until he settles, and after a few days he will be used to his bed and you can go back upstairs.

Will only be a couple of days before he settles again ;) What time is his last meal?

DAP diffusers are very helpful usually for de-stressing but may take a few days to start working.

I always keep pup with me now, as per the thread on crate training. Makes for a quiet night and gives pup confidence I reckon :)

Lindsay
X

i would also reccomend a dap diffuser, you can get them from the vets, my bitch had mange last yr which the vet said was stress related, this upset me a bit because she is spoilt and has a great life, in the end we put it down to her first season and moving house, i used the diffuser and it worked, havent needed to use it since but at least i know its there incase. im sure you will get there with your baby, good luck!

Just been to the vets got these post afterwards, will ask about the dab diffusiors ( is that the right spelling)?

That could be the next move brainless but wouldn't that be difficult to get him used to sleeping on his own afterwards.

Well not really as he will be happy with his bed, and if you move gradually further away it won't upset him, the point id to get him happy to settle in the alloted place.

Another thing of course is that he may actualy need a loo break.  A pup that I bred that wouldn't settle first few nights I advised them to go in take him outside, but apart from giveing toilet commands no fussing or eye contact.  they then came in and ignored pup while they quietly made a cup of tea and just waited until he settled down on his own, as the person stadning there was not acknowledging his existence (in other words calling them had not given him the reward he was looking for).  Once he had gone to his bed they quietly sweitched off the light and only had to repeat this one more night before the penny dropped that night was for sleeping, and that all he would get calling them was be taken outside to pee, no fun or games or fussing.

His last meal is about 10 just after we have eaten haven't been eating till late no time, then we go out for last walk, i think i know where you are coming from chloe, maybe we should feed him after his walk.

Yes, feed him after his walk.

Nice walk, quiet time, dinner, out for a wee, leave the radio on quietly, lights off...leave him a bonio or chew to distract him from you leaving and he should settle down nicely :)

Will try that tonight chloe hope it makes a difference. Thanks.

Just out of interest but maybe because I'm nosey what happened to your other Golden Retriever called Meg, you still had her in August and now don't mention her at all.

How does the new pup get on with her??

All puppies are different, and some settle in very quickly.  Our puppy didn't settle very well, I had to hand feed him and at night it was awful.  I also wanted upstairs to be a dog free zone, as my other dog used to sleep on the bed or on the floor in our bedroom, but this time I didn't want that, specially as I have a dobermann and they are rather large.

We coped for 5 nights of him crying, barking etc, we were all totally worn out it was like having a new baby again.  I decided to try sleeping downstairs with him and see how that went.  At least then we could get some sleep.  I put some cushions on the floor and a sleeping bag (not very comfortable), our dog settled in his bed (which was in the crate) he then got up and kept coming over to me but I ignored him, he even tried cuddling up to me but I made him uncomfortable and he ended up on the cold tiled floor, he went back into his crate (warm and cosy), (also I never spoke to him), had a little groan and went back to sleep, he kept coming over to me through the night but after 3 nights he eventually settled down in his crate and I went up to my own bed.  He had a couple of little moans but I then just called "Ssssh" from upstairs and he settled back down.  I must admit people said I was mad to do this but it did work - everyone upstairs slept well, but I didn't for those 3 nights but in the end on the 4th night it was bliss back in my bed.  In total it took 9 nights.  Also he only had the crate for a couple of weeks, he didn't like the front being dropped down, so I got rid of it as there wasn't any point if he could just go in and out as he pleased, so I got him a dog bed, with a quilt and a blanket.

I think you just have to be patient and try all things, every dog is different, he will settle!  Mine obviously just liked the feeling of you being there, now he sleeps in our hallway, he doesn't like sleeping in the kitchen.

hi louise,how did tyler do last night?

i was really surprised he barked when we first put him in the kitchen at bedtime but that only lasted a couple of minutes so we are all much happier today i guess he has realised he does get let out of the kitchen in the morning, it happened quicker than i thought feel awful for moaning now. All we need to sort now is his feeding and socialization with other dogs.

one thing i can recommend is a nice hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket then placed under his bedding
lil sleeps from 10.30 till 7.30 the next morning tried this after 3 sleepless nights and she is sleeping thru the night now
highly recommend it

georgina

That sounds brilliant Georgina!!!

I'd be a bit wary of this with the Goldie as he's older and might well chew the bottle. Lil's only a wee pup. When I got Zymi at 6 months he'd have destroyed a hot water bottle in minutes,mind you he destroyed everyything in minutes :-D

Anne

Hadn't really thought of that i guess his teeth would pierce a hot bottle, he seems to be getting used to the routine a bit more.

One of my retrievers always slept with a cuddly toy. May be worth a try

a ticking clock can work in the room or at least it did for my youngest. 

I had two bad nights when my pup first arrived, on the third night I put the woolen jumper that I had been wearing all day on his bed and he slept soundly for six hours, went out for a wee then back to bed for another four hours. Never had any more problems with him sleeping after that.
Dylan

The cuddley toy has worked wonders he loves it and carries it round all day!!!

I just hope it is replaceable. My retriever helped herself to one of the kid's toys . She was a small ten weeks old and it was ALF - Alien Life Form- a rather ugly alien which was bigger than her but the same colour.
He deteriated over the years despite, or perhaps because of , regular attention from the washing machine.( When he was hung on the whirly to dry she would jump up and try to pull him off.)

Fortunately second child also had one so no problem.

Once this one also went where old ,unrepairable ALF's go we tried a golden coloured teddy bear- no go!

So we went round the charity shops without succes. Eventually we found one at a car boot sale. From then we regularly searched these two places and bought any available so we had a stock in hand!

She carried it about and also used it as a pillow. It went on holiday with us. She always rounded him up at bed time and took him to bed with her.

So be prepared.

lol, he has two at the moment, one is replacable as it is one of the many soft toys i got from boots last year, i hope they last a long long time.

you have done knothing it just simply a dog so what you should do is buy him a crate put it in a room and put a cover over it then you or you should get him a bed and put in your room and see if he will stay or tie to like a desk then he be where you are or at least should help if continures just when he starts try a punishment

im not sure what you mean???

put him in a crate like a cage at night in another room and simply if he does still whine put a bed down in your room for him and if you dont want him on the bed tie him to something it is natural but just try a number of things

Have you tried giving him a jumper or something you have been wearing to help him settle? I have done that with my 8 week old BC and as soon as she had 'my smell' to sleep with all night, I didn't hear another peep out of her!!

Yes we have done that, with his toys as well it seems to have worked fingers crossed.