This happens a few times each night and is exhausting! I know this probably Isent the best solution but I'm worried about waking our neighbours.
He always has free run of the kitchen and dining room; plenty of room to play. We also have a crate in there with his bed which he will sometimes go and sit in. If I try to shut him in he starts to whine. Basically I can never leave him alone unless he's sleeping.
In the daytime if I leave the room he will start whining, barking and howling again. I love him but he is driving me crazy. Im on holiday at the moment but next week I have to start work again and I know he will be whining the whole time I'm gone.
We live in an area with lots of retired people and I don't want them to start complaining about him. At the moment he go to toilet on puppy pads; I do not want to let him outside yet as he has not had all of his injections.
If I were to put him in his crate in my room at night then I know he would just end up whining and doing his business in it, as he goes to toilet every 1-2 hours.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can stop him from making so much noise? Thank you! :)
Answer
Verulam:
Use a crate and bring it up in your room overnight. There's no maybe about it - this very young puppy understandably hates being alone - he is bewildered about what's happened to him, moving from everything he's known so far in his short life, familiar surrounds, smell, and the company of his siblings, even if mum has been off the litter for a few weeks now, as she should have been. This is about the most trauma any dog will, hopefully experience in his whole life.
And is another reason why we held onto our puppies until they were at least 10 weeks, before I was sure each one was ready for the next stage in their lives. He doesn't understand about being confined to a small space, probably, either, It's a good sign that he's going into his crate when the door is open so work on that - play with him during the time he's awake, then take him out to empty and back to his crate with a few biscuits, closing the door. He'll complain but if you have timed it right, so he's not full of energy still, he should settle down for a nap which is a routine he needs to understand and is when you get other things done.
I am worried about how he's going to cope when you go back to work. Best practice for puppies is not to crate them for longer than 2 hours during the daytime, unless they are sleeping on.
And then there's pee pads! If you allow a puppy to use these, or anything else that suggests to him that it's fine to empty indoors, you have a very confused puppy when you do start to housetrain him properly. And he CAN go outside, provided you have a contained outside area which you'll need in any case (fencing), to use.
And he should be taken out there roughly every hour during the day, and once overnight, for now. If you have no outside contained area, you should have had your breeder keep the puppy back until he's had all his vaccination shots. I'd suggest it's not too late to do this, rather than use pee pads.
Adults don't mess where they sleep, normally, but until your puppy understands (and can) about holding until you do let him out to empty, he will just go in there. Which means limiting the need to empty in a crate by getting him into a routine where he doesn't need to.
He will need to pee roughly every hour while awake, for now apart from overnight when apart from the once you'll have to get up and take him out, he should be sleeping - nothing in, nothing out. He will have more need to pooh at the moment because of the number of meals he's eating.
But he should only need to empty as many times as the number of meals he's having. Any more (diarrhoea) and something isn't suiting him - have you switched his food without doing it gradually? Has he been wormed?
As for working - how long are you intending to be leaving him alone because believe me, he will kick off and you will have neighbours at your door, retired or not although obviously only the retired will be home If he had all his vaccination shots, you could find a good day creche to take him to - but not yet. You might find somebody to come in with him while you are out? Otherwise you, and him, are in trouble!
Darekenel:
The first week with a new puppy is an extremely an trying time. It sounds like he has YOU well trained. He whines, YOU respond....hmmmmm??? That is not really the plan. Explain to your neighbors and offer them a peace offering! (Lol) then get serious about his training (and yours). An 8 week puppy (depending on the breed) should be able to hold it for about 4 hours.
Play with puppy and tire him out. Put him in crate, cover the crate with a sheet, leave the TV or radio on low, and go shopping for a few hours. IMMEDIATELY upon return let him out to do his business. Do not leave water in the crate while gone during the training period.
Do not leave food in crate while gone during this time. Feed and water upon return. Repeat this several times a day. Your pup will catch on....and HE will be the one being trained rather than you!
A great idea is to take your neighbors with you to a movie or to dinner! A small and thoughtful act will go a long way to mending fences!
