Confused owner

[dhernandez]

Ok guys, I have a little problem here. I got a little eight week old. He's very well behaved most of the time. One problem I have is that when I leave him in his cage at night he'll usually wake up and start barking uncontrollably. We've come to realize that every time he wakes up, he has to go to the bathroom...so this is somewhat of a warning for us. Now he also cries when we come back from outside and he goes back to the cage (sometimes we'll stay and play with him for a while, but when it is 2 in the morning...we just can't and he has to go back to bed). I've tried to calm him down a bit by staying with him until he falls asleep again, but he won't stop crying when he's in the cage. It seems though that he has now learned that him crying like that will get him out of the cage and he'll cry whenever he's locked in the cage now. And he doesn't mind being in there. He'll walk in there himself and eat or lay down a bit. But when he feels like getting up and roaming around, he doesn't like to see that cage door locked.

So to try to sum up our dilemma:

Our little guy cries every time he wakes up and this lets us know to take him outside to use the bathroom. At the same time, I think it may be teaching him to cry whenever he wants to get out of his cage. I know it is just a matter of time before the people upstairs start complaining. Is there anything I can do to prevent this? or maybe change his ways?

 

[Biff]

At 8 weeks, he will have little or none bladder control yet, so it's unlikely that he is actually barking to let you know he wants a pee, and more likely that he is barking to get your attention, and it seems to be working, so he'll continue to do it imo.

How long have you had him? I suspect he is missing his Mum and littermates. Have you tried a ticking clock or a hot water bottle, to simulate his Mother's heartbeat and warmth. Maybe leave a light on, or soft background music for him?

 

[drewkins]

Do you have any soft reminders of home he can have in his crate? If the breeder didnt provide you with something wear a t-shirt or sweater for the day and give it to him in his crate at night, your scent may help to sooth him.
Also, where is his crate?
My puppy had trouble when his crate was in the other room, it is now in our bedroom, and he goes right to sleep. You can however still expect him to wake at night for a little longer. When ours woke, we would bring him out for a pee, and then put him back in the crate, he usualy didnt carry on for too long after that, as long as you don't cave!!!

 

[dhernandez]

At 8 weeks, he will have little or none bladder control yet, so it's unlikely that he is actually barking to let you know he wants a pee, and more likely that he is barking to get your attention, and it seems to be working, so he'll continue to do it imo.

How long have you had him? I suspect he is missing his Mum and littermates. Have you tried a ticking clock or a hot water bottle, to simulate his Mother's heartbeat and warmth. Maybe leave a light on, or soft background music for him?

Yea, I know about his lack of bladder control, but his crying usually means he just woke up and he usually has to go to the bathroom when he wakes up. So, it somewhat works in our favor that he cries. I understand he's trying to get attention, but I have no choice unless I let him do his business all over his cage.

It has only been a couple days. We got him Friday, so it could be that.

As for the hot water bottle...how hot is the water in there? Is it warm like a mom would give warm milk to a baby? and do I just put that in a bottle and lay it in his bed?

But thanks for this info, I will definitely try it tonight. I do not have a ticking clock yet, but I will get one tonight and test it out. We also thought of buying a night light for him.

I will say this though. I had some success later on this morning by sitting with him and saying "ssssshhhh". It wasn't a hard sush, I tried to keep it very low tone and soothing so that it doesn't sound like a scolding. Whenever he calmed down and sat or laid on the floor, I gave him a little treat. Whenever he got loud, I repeated the process. He seemed to calm down, but I will also try these other tips you gave.

 

[dhernandez]

Do you have any soft reminders of home he can have in his crate? If the breeder didnt provide you with something wear a t-shirt or sweater for the day and give it to him in his crate at night, your scent may help to sooth him.
Also, where is his crate?
My puppy had trouble when his crate was in the other room, it is now in our bedroom, and he goes right to sleep. You can however still expect him to wake at night for a little longer. When ours woke, we would bring him out for a pee, and then put him back in the crate, he usualy didnt carry on for too long after that, as long as you don't cave!!!

I do not have anything like that, but I will try giving him something I wore in addition to these other things. I'll talk with my fiance about putting him in our room, it may require a little rearranging, but it could be well worth it.

I'll keep you guys posted on the progress. I'm sure he'll do well with these. He's a really good pup and I guess I feel kind of lucky that he isn't too much trouble for us. He even made great progress yesterday on learning his name and learning "sit".

Thanks so much for the help guys.

 

[gmacleod]

Where do you keep his crate at night? If it's not in your bedroom beside your bed, you might want to consider it. Then he can hear and smell you, and is more likely to sleep for longer.

You're right that he's going to have to pee if he wakes during the night. That applies to pretty much all of us, not just to baby dogs. And at his age, it's unlikely that his bladder would be big enough to sleep right through anyway. So another thing you could consider is setting yourself an alarm for part way through the night (maybe two alarms at this stage) to get up and take him out. The beauty of this system (bearing in mind that he was going to wake you anyway, so it's not as though you wouldn't have had to get up) is that if you time things well, it can be you waking him up. That has two advantages - one is that he doesn't learn that crying gets him out; the second is that he's more likely to go back to sleep quickly since he didn't make himself wide awake by crying till you came. As his bladder grows, you can push back the time of those alarms until first one potty stop, then the second, is eliminated.

And if he wakes at other times - you can just put a hand down to him (without leaving your bed), speak gently to settle him back down, but not get up to let him out. Worth a thought, anyway.

 

[Indy's mom]

All of the suggestions you have been given are excellent.

When Indy came home to us, we immediately put his crate in our bedroom, right next to the bed. He only woke a few times. Potty time was handled almost silently. Meaning, I didn't turn on lights in the house, kept it very low key except for praising the 'deed'. Returned to his crate. If he whimpered, I would sit outside of his crate, reach in and gently touch and shhhh him. This grew less and less very quickly. Truthfully, he was sleeping thru the night within a week. But please keep in mind, that just like our human babies, they will vary on that to a huge extent.

Good luck!

 

[dhernandez]

In regards to the last two posts, we currently have the crate in the living room area. We spend most of our time there while we are awake, so we thought it would be good to have it there so if he wants his food or to take a little nap. He doesn’t like to go wandering on his own much, so when we do move the crate to our room, we’ll have to either move his food/water bowls to the living room or walk with him to our room when we feel he should eat (unless he gets used to wandering eventually???)…or buy two more bowls? We are new to this and are trying to do the best we can for him. We will try to incorporate all these ideas. They all sound really good and hopefully they will make us all a little happier. Again, thanks so much for the help.

 

[gmacleod]

I think that placement of the crate is a very good idea for when you're up and about. A pup isn't likely to be happy parked in a crate for a nap, or for safekeeping when you cannot watch him, if that crate is away in a bedroom and isolated from the rest of the 'pack'. So I'm really not suggesting that you move it on a permanent basis.

But when you head off to bed, it's possible that you might find it advantageous to take the crate and pup with you At least for the first few weeks. Each pup is that bit different - for some staying out in the main living area is better, but if that's not working well, then you may well find that it's worth the inconvenience of having to pick up and move his crate for nighttime if it helps him to sleep through sooner.