prosodic | Trial and Error

Our couple of nights with Reece so far have been pretty dramatic.

We crated her on Saturday night and then went to bed. After she watched us retreat into the bedroom, the whining started. Then the crying. Then the full-on howling.

At that point, I was worried about it disturbing the neighbors. So we came out and sat outside her crate until she calmed down and went to sleep, and then we snuck off to bed, leaving the living room light on.

Around 4:30 AM Sunday morning, I got a leg cramp and jumped out of bed. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but she heard me, and the whining started again. So Lance went out and slept on the couch until I woke up for good.

Yesterday morning, we found that she had pottied in her crate overnight, so we washed her crate liner.

We left the house yesterday for about 90 minutes without it being super traumatic for her. We went to Home Depot and Target and she seemed to be really good when we left and when we came back.

Last night, we got out a radio and put it on easy listening. We put her in her crate and stayed with her until she drifted off to sleep. There was a minimal amount of whining and crying.

We set the alarm for 2 so that I could get up and let her out in the middle of the night, something we had overlooked doing the first night. The process then started all over again...once we got her back in the crate, the whining, crying, barking, howling, etc. Lance ended up spending the rest of the night on the couch while I went back to bed.

I leave for work in about 45 minutes and I'm not sure how to handle it. Lance leaves before I do, but she's a Mommy's girl anyway. It's much less traumatic for her when Lance is out of the house. I have a Kong, and I plan to fill it with peanut butter and put it in her crate (she also has a water bottle attached to her crate). And I hope that will keep her occupied enough that she won't notice that I'm leaving. That's probably wishful thinking. Lance will be coming home at 11 to let her out and give her some exercise. He's going to change his work shift to work from 6-2:30 so she'll be alone less during the day.

So far, injuries sustained by me are minor, but numerous. Reece thinks that Mommy's arms and fingers are chew toys, and I have bite marks all up and down my arms. Plus, I was prying a piece of mulch out of her mouth last night (she loves eating mulch and grass) and got a really nasty splinter on my left index finger.

Welcome to Puppy Parenthood, I guess.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We have had the same EXACT problem with crating, whining, crying, howling, barking... I would really look into a collar to control that. It has done WONDERS for us. Each and every single time we crated our dogs, they would cry and howl for a good 10-20 minutes after we left them in the room by themselves or whenever we left the house. We picked up two static collars (shock collars) and they stopped it the second we started using it on them. However, since you have a pup, I'm sure you don't want to shock her, so why not try a citronella (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751019) collar? Same desired results, less traumatic and harmful. We're actually thinking of switching to citronella ourselves for the pup's.

Aww, poor puppy! I'm sure she'll get over it, it's just the first few days that are hard for her right now. We had Jodie's bed in our bedroom and she was fine as long as Aaron had his arm hanging down the side of the bed LOL I think it took three or four nights until she slept without crying.

I have had a lot of trouble with Sadie behaviorally, but I can honestly say the crate isn't one of those problems. We started her in the crate when we brought her home at 3 weeks though, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. The other thing that we have done is get her a stuffed duck that is made to hold scent. She got it the night she came home as well. I made sure I held it a lot so it would smell like me, then into the crate it went. The only time she cries at night is when her little water bottle is empty or that night she lost her first baby tooth and it freaked her out. She cries A LOT when I put her in there during the day so we can leave, but she's always calm when we come home, no matter how long we were gone. Excited to see us, but not overly freaked out.

When she was going through her "Bite Mommy" phase, she got a very stern "NO BITE!" any time her teeth touched my skin. Then I would distract her with a suitable chew toy. For us, Nylabone has been fantastic. We also do the Kong full of peanut butter, but it's getting too easy for her now - I need to find something more challenging.

Crate training will be so good for her. It will. And good for you guys, too. If/when it seems hard, read up on it, and know that transitions are always hard. :HUGS:

Have you read anything by the monks of New Skete?

I haven't, but Jon Katz refers to them in his book Katz on Dogs, which I am currently reading.

Crate training isn't easy, from what little I know of it. Remind me again - was Reece crated on a regular basis before coming to your home? I'm assuming she has been, but if she hasn't, I'd look over the recommended steps from the Humane Society. Either way, I'm sure it's got to be a huge change for her in a new environment that she's still acclimating to.

Reece was crate trained prior to us taking her home. Her foster mom said she responded well to it.

We're making progress. She is just super attached to me.

just curious, but have you thought about having the crate in the bedroom at night so she can see you? I mean, obviously she'll have to go out overnight for the next few months, but it might make that transition back to bed easier if she can see you settling back down too.

When my parents were crate training their puppy Mia last year, they found she did very well, as long as she could see mom at night. She happily sleeps in her crate every night now with no fuss.

We discussed doing that, but all the comments about it here have convinced me that moving the crate into the bedroom at night is really the best option.

Put the crate in your bedroom. Seriously, dogs are pack animals, they want to be with their pack - and you are now the pack! We did that after 2 bad nights with SFD and he was fine as long as he was in the room with us.

As soon as she starts nibbling, jerk away and say "ouch" loudly (a 'that hurts' reaction). She'll eventually get the idea that nibbling stops play and upsets mummy. There will be an object chewing phase later on, by which time she needs to learn "bad dog" (have a rattler around to distract her).

If she's not used to being left alone (without any doggy friends or humans around), then you need to wean her off gradually. Leaving her for half an hour one day, and work up to longer periods over a week. Always say the same thing when you leave her so she learns that it means that you'll be back. I thought that you were sending her to Petsmart puppy playgroup (???) anyway ? It'll traumatize her to be wrenched away from all her friends and then left alone for hours on end. She'll start to hate the crate because it means separation from mummy, and she'll get even more clingy.

I agree with overnighting in your bedroom at this stage. Make sure you have plenty of washable bedding, she'll need to go quite frequently until she gets a bit older.

I can't keep quiet on the shock collar. If you don't have the time or patience to train a pet without inflicting pain, then you really should not have a pet.

We want to send her to Petsmart, but she has to be at least 5 months old...we're one month short of that.

Oh, and I DO NOT...DEFINITELY DO NOT believe in shock collars. Just wanted to make that clear.

Also, put one of yours or Lance's worn (and not washed) T-shirts in the care with her. The scent will help calm her. If you have any blankets that came with her from her old house, that would be even better for a while.

It's an adjustment. I remember when we brought SFD home, he walked right into my living room and lifted his leg on my couch.

It will get better.

We crate trained our first Retriever and expected to be up all night the first night she came home. She didn't make a sound -- we were very lucky. After losing our first Golden, we got a second and had a false sense of security with the first not making a sound in her crate. WRONG! She howled ALL NIGHT LONG. It was unbearable! My husband and I were tired out of our minds. Plus, the new puppy pooped in her kennel at least 10 ten times. We went through all our dog towels and then had to use our brand new bath towels as it was o'dark thirty and we didn't have anything else to use in her crate. We needed matchsticks to keep our eyes open the next day. I was seriously thinking about sending our puppy back to the breeder. Long story short - perserverance. It took a few nights and a few more howls, but it's best to ignore them if you can otherwise the puppy will keep crying to get your attention. Finally, you will be able to get some sleep. Hang in there!

If you haven't already got some, Nylabones (http://www.nylabone.com/) are the best things for chewing dogs. They are much safer than meat bones as they do not splinter. Our dogs have loved them. They are a bit more expensive initially than regular bones, but they last forever. I would definitely recommend them. You can get them from dog.com for a reasonable price.

The Kong with peanut butter is a great idea. We have a hollowed out ball that we fill with PB and it helps to entice the puppy into the crate. Once the puppy associates the crate with good things, they will want to go in there. I also put the food bowl in the crate when feeding our puppy and that helped too!

Good luck with the puppy.

Just posted last comment - crate in the bedroom with you!

Trial and Error

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