Hi all, I've been a lurker on this forum for months (if not years) and have made the most of all the great advice given out. Unfortunately I really need help with problems I'm having with my pup. On Saturday I brought home our newest addition at 8 weeks old making us up to a four dog household (all Siberian Huskies).

I had everything planned for sleeping arrangements. Puppy was going to stay in the kitchen with a baby gate separating him from the others and I was going to sleep in the kitchen with him and slowly move the bed away. He screamed to high heaven about being in the kitchen, even with me in there with him. So we ended up leaving the kitchen and sleeping in the living room (with the other dogs who have free run of the downstairs) and he was asleep in no time. I was getting up every two hours for toilet breaks with him which were well received!

Second night and third night was much the same scenario. Screaming unless we moved into the living room and I slept on the couch. I did try to ignore this and speak calmly to him but nothing was working and he was clearly distressed.

His much delayed crate arrived on Tuesday so I spent pretty much the whole day acclimatising him to it. He was being fed in there and happily running in and out on his own accord. Following advice on this forum, I decided to take puppy and crate up to bed with us as this seemed to work for most people. Oh no. He screamed and howled in our bedroom worse than ever before. Nothing was consoling him, literally nothing. I opened the crate door so he could have free run of the room but he simply continued his baying outside the crate. At 1.30am I moved puppy and crate back downstairs into the living room. Put some blankets over the crate and there was silence! I managed to sneak back upstairs and sleep through to toilet break time at 3am. When I put him back in the crate after toilet break he cried for about 15 mins which was a massive breakthrough and I managed to sleep in my own bed.

Yesterday evening I gave him a Kong frozen with food and put him in his crate while I had a shower. There wasn't a peep from him and he was still going when I came back downstairs. So at lights out (about 1am), I gave him his refreshed Kong, pulled the blankets over the crate and went to bed. The moment I touched the bottom step he started howling. He went for his first injections yesterday and the vets had said to leave him when he cries and he'll get used to it. Being at my wits end after having had on average 4 hours sleep each night I did exactly that. At 4am when it was toilet break time, he was still crying :( Following advice from all over the place I was very matter of fact with the toilet break and popped him straight back in his crate and went upstairs. His crying continued and my oldest dog came upstairs into our bedroom to escape the noise. By the time my alarm went off at 6am, there was silence.

I feel horrific and cruel but absolutely shattered at the same time. My emotions are everywhere and I don't know how I can solve this problem - in tears writing this now I've put it all into words. He has a heatpad, lots of cuddly bedding, an Adaptil diffuser next to his crate, a big teddy to cuddle up to but he just wants to have free run of the downstairs and not to be separated from my others. And that's the one thing I can't give him as it simply wouldn't be fair on my oldies to have the pup crawling all over them and god forbid they lost their rag and something happened all because I wasn't there to supervise.

So sorry for the long post, I thought it best to give as much info as possible. It's been 13 and a half years since I last had a puppy as my most recent two were both rescues. And I'm so sure my old boy didn't go through these problems.

I, by no means am an expert. Neither do I have Sibes but I do have a very high maintenance, energetic, demanding breed.

I have also just gone/going through the puppy stage after 10 1/2 years, so it did come as something of a shock again. I also swear that none of my others were ever as noisy and demanding as him but I have been told that I was viewing them through rose tinted glasses lol ;-)

My first impression is that you need to get him into a routine. Easier said than done, I know. You need to decide where he going to sleep and stick to it. I also crate train and my latest addition slept, from night one, in his crate, in my bedroom. I didn't move him or let him out, regardless of the blood curdling howling and throwing himself around. Apart from toilet breaks every couple of hours, a nice blanket and teddy bear for cuddling, this was all that was offered. I had him situated by the side of my bed and would talk often to him in a quiet voice when he was distressed. It was exhausting for those first few weeks and I felt like I had a new human baby all over again. It is very hard to look at the bigger picture when you are sleep deprived...I really do sympathise.

I fed him and let him play in his crate throughout the day and leaving him in it for very short amounts of time, for example when he was sleepy or when I had to pop out quickly, in which case he was also left with a stuffed kong. Nighttime routine was he had his last meal around 7 in the evening, toilet time, playing, toilet time, a small treat after I put him in his crate around 11 and then lights out. It took him around 10 days to acclimatise but once he knew what to expect and where he slept, then all was calm. They absolutely thrive on routine and the quicker you can enforce it, the better they will be, in my experience. Don't give in when he howls. If you know that all of his needs have been catered for, I.E. toilet, food, drink, he's not too hot or too cold, then he needs to learn to settle himself.

You know that it will get better but it takes time.

I hope this may have helped and I am sure that you will get plenty of other good advice. In the meantime, hang in there, it does get better and they are pups for such a short amount of time. My boy is now 9 months old and he has come such a long way, although at times it doesn't feel like it Lol.

Hairypooch, thank you so much for the kind words. It's always nice to know someone has been going/has gone through the same thing!!

I really do need to work on a better routine. He was meant to be crate trained from day one but we had problems with the company we bought the crate from and it wasn't delivered in time for his arrival. However, the crate has been in use for the last two nights and it will continue to be kept in the living room. It is remarkably hard to ignore those awful screams and cries but you're right, he had absolutely everything he needs: recent toilets, fed at 8pm, water available, temperature is good. It's just me that needs to get my act together. I was so relieved when I woke up before my alarm this morning to hear silence!

I'll keep at it. I know I have to for his sake let alone everyone else's! I do keep popping him in the crate when he crashes out on the floor during the day and leaving the door open for him - he doesn't make a desperate attempt to wake up and get out which is a relief. I've never crate trained before either so it continues to be a steep learning curve for me as well as him. Crates were an American abnormality thirteen years ago when my oldest was a pup lol!

Thanks again for your kind words. I think in my sleep deprived state I need dog people to tell me it will all be ok and an end is in sight as non-dog people just don't get it...

Just a thought, but how about letting him have an old t-shirt\jumper/whatever of yours, worn until it really smells of you?   

That way, when he goes to bed, his whole bed will smell of you and he should settle a lot quicker :-)

Does he have a warm thing to cuddle up to?  An old hot water bottle wrapped in your old sweaty top might just do the trick :-D

Of course, if it's the dogs he's wanting to snuggle with, then an unwashed blanket/vetbed of theirs might be just the thing :-D

He has my worn PJs in there with him at the moment but the idea of getting an old sweaty top and wrapping that round a hot water bottle is great. He has a snugglesafe heatpad at the moment but that's quite hard and goes under his bedding rather than something he can cuddle up to.

I love your idea of giving him some unwashed bedding from the other dog's. Why didn't I think of that? Thank you so much!

As I type he is currently in the crate having a snooze with his teddy. He chose to go in there all by himself and settle down after having crazy run arounds with the others in the garden. I'm over the moon that he chose to go in there without any ushering/bribing. The simple things hey? :-D

As you'll probably start remembering pretty soon (unless you've always been very lucky before, though I doubt it with Sibes), you need a judicious balance of contradictory imperatives.

On the one hand, as others have said above, it's all about consistency, patterns, routines, positive reinforcement etc. On the other hand, you shouldn't be dogmatic, should listen to your dog, sometimes adapt what you're doing to what he's trying to tell you, and so on.

Both imperatives are vital, yet they're clearly in direct contradiction with each other. That's why it can be difficult and can make you feel like you're losing your mind.

Success (and sanity) lie in the middle ground between creating and sticking to a structure, and changing things you're doing that aren't right for that dog.

If you've got three Sibes already, and have had them for years, you'll have a pretty good instinct for the breed and how their minds work, and you'll soon start to feel your way through it. I think you're trying all the right kind of things, just try not to try too many too quickly, and try not to get too stressed yourself (which just makes the dog worse).

I don't think you're doing anything terribly wrong, I think you've just forgotten how hard it can be with difficult puppies. What you should also try and remember, in which case, is that it doesn't last very long at all, with a good owner like you it will all turn out great in the end, and it's worth it.

Another much appreciated response. You're quite right, I need to get the balance right and the not getting it right has been making me go nuts.

I had forgotten just how hard puppies are. This one is so different to my old boy when he was little. Bordering on polar opposites! I think the struggle has been that I've always had three very happy and content dogs. To have one wailing through the night is agonising.

I must admit that I do like hearing it won't last long though - it can seem never ending. At 4am in the morning on one hour's sleep, you begin envisaging this happening for months! On a positive note he is the cleanest little pup I've ever known. We haven't had an accident in the house since Monday!

A good response from BeagleBaggie - sometimes you just have to be flexible and think creatively (which of course is almost impossible when you're tired!!)

It's worth turning things on their head and managing your older dogs differently just whilst the puppy learns your house rules.  I well remember one of my older dogs being put to bed at regular intervals during the day - just to keep the pup company.  He was a bit nonplussed but very obliging and it certainly made my life easier.  I used to sneak him out once the puppy had fallen asleep :)

Do use the crate at all times of day - not just at night and make sure that your pup sees this as the only comfortable place to sleep.  I used to spend hours hanging around in my kitchen and utility room (for the wipe clean floors) and moved my pup back to his crate if he fell asleep on the floor.  If you consider the environment your pup came from - small whelping bed, then larger run, lots of company - it's easy to understand why they get a bit outfaced when they come home with their new owners. 

I know this probably sounds obvious but do whatever you can to ensure your pup doesn't get distressed - just from a practical point of view, as it's so much harder to calm them down!  I often shift my schedule to theirs for a few days and if that means falling asleep in the afternoon then so be it.  One of mine couldn't get past 6am til he was 5 months old so between 6 and 7.15 every morning, after a pee in the garden, we'd fall asleep on the sofa together.  He'd tuck himself behind my knees and konk out with warmth and company.  Even now at 7 years old, if I ever grab a blanket to lie on that sofa I find I have a 30kg dog behind me and I'm half on the floor :)

Thanks dogs a babe. I have been moving him to his crate when he crashes out on the floor (or even in another dog bed!) and he has started going in when I wake him and say 'off to bed'. I wasn't sure if this is what I was meant to be doing but it seems to get him in there. 

I did put in some of the others' bedding with him last night as suggested above. He cried for 11 mins firstly when I put him in at 11pm. He didn't make any noise when my husband came home at 1am and let him out then put him back in his crate and waited until he was asleep before he came upstairs. However he did howl for about 30 mins after his toilet break at 4am when I put him back. This is a breakthrough in our household and I'm hoping it's the sign of the end?!

He was also left alone for the first time today. He was asleep when husband left and had a stuffed Kong to wake up to. When I got home 20 mins later I couldn't hear a thing which is also amazing!

I have also found myself falling asleep in the afternoon and felt ridiculous for it but you've made me feel slightly better! I'm back at work on Monday so won't have this luxury sadly. Just glad my husband works shifts to hopefully help a bit more with the ungodly hour toilet breaks!!