Hey guys, this seems pretty straight forward bu t im still going to ask, just to make sure im going about it the right way.

we've had zac, our terrier pup, two nights now and basically we think he's been abused by the previous owner as his brother (considerably smaller but were told the same litter) is the most inquisitive and hyper pup your likely to meet.

the first night i let him sleep in my room and he was fine occasioanlly wimpering when he couldnt see me until i sat up and reassured him.

last ngiht he stayed downstairs and wouldnt sleep constantly crying until about 2-3am. waking up at 6am to do the same, do we just ignore him or do something about it?

last ngiht we just ignored it and i imagine he'll learn this way but it feels unfair...

To be honest I doubt he was abused just not socialised enough and with having a different character to his outgoing brother needs to have this deficit made up.

This is why you will see so much written on this forum about the right and wrong way to breed and what is a good ethical breeder and what is a casual or commercial puppy producer without the skills care, knowledge, time or inclination needed to do it properly.

All is not lost, get yourself a book like the Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey (will arrive in a day or two if you buy from Amazon), and take remedial action so that you are able to bring him up to be a well rounded little chap.

ah poor little thing - let him stay on your bed  :)

Start as you mean to go on, if you don't mind the pup sleeping in the same room as you when he is older then keep him in your bedroom.  If not and you want him to sleep in a certain place, then leave him his bed, maybe keep a radio on low and give him an item of your clothing (with  your scent on) in his bed, do not go to him when/if he cries.

thanks perry Im wanting to get him used to being alone just on the off chance that he needs to be.

I gave him my fingerless gloves which he seems very fond of, hopefully tonight he wont be as bad. i imagine he'll stop this by the end of the week though!

Certainly hope so!

Hi there,

personally I dont think anything with pups is necessarily written in stone so "start as you mean to go on" doesn't really apply to me or mine :)  I have never and will never leave a puppy to cry overnight (that's my exception to the "written in stone clause" :rolleyes: :P :D ) - they have more than enough stress IMO being whisked away from their mum and littermates into completely new surroundings and without the company of the humans that raised them, tended to and coddled them to date.  That's a heck of a lot of trauma for a little thing to go through without being completely abandoned by the new *stranger* too ;)

I would either recommend that you sleep overnight in the same room as the puppy or that you bring the puppy into your bedroom.  Either way set your alarm, take him out after around 5 hours to relieve himself and settle him back down in his bed/box/crate whichever specific area you have him sleeping on/in :)  Dont fuss, play with him etc, just ensure he is comfortable and then he has no need to cry, whine, howl etc :)  Over the course of the next couple of weeks you can always move the puppy and his bed into the room you would prefer him to continue to sleep and, as suggested by someone else, keep something with your scent on for him to snuggle up to when you're not around.

This is all very new to your puppy and if you're worried about how best to proceed imagine just how frightening it all is to him (unless he can be trained to log on to CD for instant reassurance :D )

HTH, Teri

We wanted our pup to sleep on her own but she cried so much the first night. I would have left her but we were worried the neighbours would complain so we put her in our room. She slept in our room for about 4 or 5 nights and then when we left her downstairs she was fine. Didn't cry at all and hasn't done since. I'm not sure if its because in the time she had been in our room she had got used to the new house and had begun to see it as her own but hadn't slept in our room for enough nights to consider it part of her routine.

My little pup (6 mths now) did cry the first night he was on his own downstairs overnight, but I left an old T shirt of mine and a couple of cuddly toys in bed with him and after the first night he has never cried.  It is hard sleeping when you hear them but if you keep going to them throughout the night they will continue to do it to get your affection.  Now you just say 'bed' and he pops into his bed no problem, and there have even been mornings where I have to wake him up he has slept so soundly! 

The first night here as a puppy my dog was fine - probably exhausted after such a busy day.
The second night he started to cry. It was sad, but until he was 100% houstrained I wanted him to stay in his playpen (his bed was in there) when we were out or at night. Also, I didn't want to suddenly make rooms off-limits to the cat as it wouldn't have been fair.
Anyway, second night, as soon as I heard him cry I crept downstairs just putting the landing light on. I didn't put the light on in the kitchen where he was - too much attention). I didn't say a word to him. I simply picked him up and placed him in the garden, I knew he'd need a wee after waking. Then I placed him back into his bed, not talking to him or fussing him at all. In darkness I hid just outside the kitchen door. As soon as he whimpered I just shouted "No" really firmly. This happened about six times - in the end he got the message and it never happened again.
Also - it was this time of year and I figured he was cold - having left the warmth of the litter - a hot water bottle wrapped up (so it isn't too hot) did the trick.