New Puppy Mom!

[Tanya]

My two cents:
- always throw in treats (good ones) when crating him. Even my crate lovign adult dogs get treats or a handful of kibble for going in the crate - every time. If it's one big treat maybe break it up so it takes him at least a few seconds to find them all.
- crate in your bedroom
- ignore barking other than putting your had on the crate so he can touch a finger.
- google crate games on you tube and you will find some great crate desensitization videos for free. the official program is by Susan Garrett.

Feed him in his crate. randomly throw in high valu treats in there. ALWAYS equate going in there with somethign good. Look into stuffed kongs.

Having said that, there will be good days and bad.

[zd262]

Thanks Tanya! We are currently doing all those things, except at midnight we can only ignore the barking for so long. We live in a condo/townhouse sort of thing so we share a wall with our neighbors. I know this is probably our biggest problem because it reinforces his behavior.

Bubba isn't overly excited by kongs. Maybe I got the wrong size? He'll lick them until whatever easy delicious spread is gone but he doesn't try to get the treats out. I've tried frozen and unfrozen.

[Tanya]

puppies (and any dog really) need to learn to use the kong. just licking the pb or whatever is on the side is a good start. Unforzen until they get used to it. Loose kibble just just fall out really Maybe start a new thread askign about ideas for puppy kongs

He may need to go pee at midnight? if this is the case you'd want to wake up before him and take him to pee (super boring trip, no talking or playing) and put him back in the crate.

Does he not quiet down some when you put your hadn on the crate?

[zd262]

He definitely doesn't need to go to the bathroom. We take him out and he goes right before we try to put him in. When he barks in the middle of the night it is to go and we take him out and he usually settles down again quickly.

He just bites our hands and continues to howl, doesn't seem to have any impact.

[smartrock]

If you have a wire crate that's open on all sides, some puppy owners find placing a blanket or towel over the crate helpful in making it more enclosed and den-like. I started my 2 most recent pups out in either a small fabric crate or a plastic varikennel and both of them settled very quickly into sleeping in there at night, only brief periods of fussing for a night or 2. I have no idea whether the enclosed nature of their crates helped or whether they'd have been just as good in an open crate, but covering Bubba's crate could be an easy thing to try (and might slightly muffle the commotion).

If you can, do sort of a pre-emptive visit to the neighbors who might be disturbed by Bubba's nighttime songfests, introduce them to him, make sure they know you're working on getting him to be quiet at night, apologize, bake them a fruit cobbler, anything to make them more sympathetic to you, Bubba, and your cause. If they know you're working on it, maybe they'll be less crabby if he does wake them up. And it won't last forever! (It only feels that way.) Good luck!

[wendy]

Hello and welcome! What a little cutie! Thankfully the housebreaking is going well!

[FourLabsAndATri-Pawd]

Dreama (our 5 month old) did the biting frenzy thing when she was over-tired and I would have to put her in the crate and just let her bark it off until she fell asleep. I soon learned how to "read" her and realize that she was headed for that frenzy and head her off at the pass. A schedule was the best thing…she took three naps in her crate until she was about 14 weeks, then it was two naps until on her own she began to sleep for one long nap in her crate about a month ago.

I agree with speaking to the neighbors and letting them meet the puppy…as for daytime, I also agree with setting up a schedule for him during which time you leave for a few minutes at a time, come back in quietly and wait for him to settle down before letting him out again. Gradually increase the time you are out of the house so that he gets used to you leaving and returning. He will get over the barking once he trusts that you are coming back.

They have been through a lot in a very short time - they were weaned from their mother, then taken from their siblings and placed in an unfamiliar home. They need to learn to trust that this is where they will be forever. It takes a bit of time.

[fidgetyknees]

You will do great - go to class, train hard, play hard and everything should turn out great. I had the feeling "oh my gosh, when I have I gotten myself into" feeling after I got my first dog almost 10 years ago. It took me a month to adjust to the responsibility and then I wasn't so stressed about it after that and totally enjoyed.

I am having the same feeling now as we went from 2->3 a few weeks ago and were just starting to enjoy that when we inherited another (but what were we to do? The least we could do for an elderly family member was take care of his dog - permanently). So we went from 2->3, and 3->4 within 2 weeks and it is going to take a lot of adjustment .... hubby and I totally have the blues.

[4Thelove]

Hello and welcome!

[Jollymolly]

Welcome