We are confusing our puppy (long)

[Boxer Newbie]

Hello! I am new to boxers, and last week we brought home Link, who is now 9 weeks old. I havent had a dog in 15 years, and have never had a boxer. (I must say though that I've fallen in love with the breed!) He's a sweetie, and LOVES playing with the kids and the neighbor dogs.

We are having the usual problems with the crying at night, hating the crate, etc (I've been reading everything I can on this site) ... My issue is that my husband will not stay on the same page as myself. He works evenings and I work days, so except for a 3 hour gap there is always someone home with Link. My husband will NOT ignore Link when he is crying in his crate, so we've given up on it for now. He started going to Link when he was crying and letting him sleep on the couch with him.. We gated off the kitchen, and have Link sleep there with his crate open. He sleeps on the floor outside his crate, and still barks and whines most of the night. Hubby will still get up and cuddle him at night, instead of ignoring him. (It's hard, but our son has slight allergies and we need upstairs to be a safe haven for him so they don't get worse - otherwise Link would be in bed with us) Link has learned to get what he wants by being VERY vocal.

I know we need to be consistent with Link, but I think we are just confusing him! He'll start getting slightly better about night time, and then my husband will start over letting him sleep on the couch with him and it's like we are starting over again. (It's ironic - my husband has never had a dog, and didnt want one - now he is so in love with Link that he calls from work several times a night to check on him)

Sorry about being so long winded in my very first post - but I've been reading BW for weeks now and I know this is the best place to get good solid advice. Does anyone have any "horror stories" about confused / spoiled rotten (not in a good way) / poorly trained puppies that I could show my husband???

Thank you so much, I'm so glad I found this site!

Angela in Buffalo NY
Link - Feisty Brindle male, 9 weeks old

 

[mom2ash]

Your husband sounds a lot like myself when we first got Bo. I tried putting him in the crate too, but he cried so loud and sounded so pitiful that I couldn't stand it. So, now in my queen size bed, we have me, my 6' 3" husband, my 4 year old daughter, and Bo our 6 mo boxer. Needless to say, in the middle of the night, I usually get kicked out of my bed and have to go to my daughter's room.

I don't think Link is confused at all! He knows exactly what he's doing I would suggest that you guys find a happy medium with your puppy and go from there. Crating isn't for everyone. However, I do believe all dogs are capable of being crate trained, but not all owners are capable of crate training. I think you guys will be fine. Your sleeping arrangements may change now that you have a boxer baby, but you will never regret it!!

 

[Millie "2"]

We had the same problem when we got Millie at 7 1/2 weeks old (she is now 5 months). The first couple of nights we ignored her, didn't work. We then went to Petsmart and found a high frequency device the is supposed to emit a high pitch tone when it senses constant barking. That worked for about 2 nights then she just barked right through it. I then tried sleeping downstairs with her on our rollaway bed but with her still in her crate as a test and it worked. She just needed to see that I was still there. Just recently, I've taken her out of her crate at night because she seemed to be getting upset again at night, waking up more and someone said to try leaving her out of her crate now that she is housebroken. She's been doing great so far, sleeping sounder and longer, which is good for me! Good luck with whatever you do decide, just hang in there, it does get easier.