My first puppy.. lots of questions!

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#1
Hi. My name is Heather and I have a 9 week old Cocker/shih tzu-poo named Buddy. We got him at 7 weeks old and undoubtably made some training mistakes right off (i.e. we brought him to bed with us the first few nights. Oops). He's as cute as he could be, and we love him to bits, but there are a few issues that have me at my wits end!

Like, crate training! I've lurked here for a bit and know that not all of you crate, but if anyone does, I'd love some help!! Buddy hates his crate. I've tried feeding him in there during the day and giving him special treats in there so that he has some positive associations, but it doesn't seem to work. The moment the crate door closes he starts to flip out. He's gotten a little better and now only whines, whimpers and howls at bedtime (that's basically the only time we crate him) for about 20 minutes instead of the two hours he spent serenading us the first couple nights we started leaving him in his crate. But all the books say he's supposed to love his crate and feel secure and safe in there and go in on his own.. not happening!! Also, no matter what time we put him to bed, he's up fussing and fretting at 6:15 without fail. I get up to let him outside and he stays revved up and hyper for just long enough that there is no hope at all that I'll be able to fall back to sleep, then he crashes out at my feet and snoozes peacefully. Ack!! I am NOT a morning person.. is there any way I can get him to go back to sleep (or at least be calm) until I'm ready to get up?

Also.. separation anxiety. I think he has some. He follows me everywhere around the house. If I leave the livingroom (which we have closed in with baby gates) he fusses and whines and tries to climb over the gate to follow me. Ditto with leaving him tied up outside. If I go inside for two minutes to get a bag to clean up "puppy landmines" he whines and frets and tries to follow me. He does not like to be left alone AT ALL. I've tried leaving him for just a few seconds and then coming back so he knows I've not abandoned him for life, but it doesn't seem to matter. Two seconds, two minutes.. it's all the same to him: heartbreaking, apparently. :(

I'm sorry about the length of this post. I've been aching to ask someone about this for a while now, and was so happy to find this forum! I'll spare you the rest of my woes (for now) - these are the two biggies. On the plus side, housetraining is going well, he loves people, knows "Sit" already and (usually) comes when we call. I'll be so grateful for any help you guys can offer. I'm hoping to take him to Puppy Kindergarten when he's got his next shots, but there is only one class in my area and I think the next session is full. :(
 
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#2
I'm absolutely no help at all on crate training; I've never used it, maybe because I'm a bit claustrophobic myself. (g) That might be part of Buddy's problem. Some dogs really can't stand being shut in a small space like that.

Part of your problems may stem from the fact that you got Buddy at seven weeks, rather than eight. That last week can be very important as far as a puppy's concerned. They get more independent from mama in that last week.

As far as the early morning wake up calls go, well, it generally gets better as Buddy gets older. And remember, that's a long time for a little puppy to be cooped up in a crate. You might want to consider getting him a bed of his own to sleep in without being in "lockdown." Maybe if you just let him out of his crate and give him something to chew on it will calm him down. One question, though: when you let him out does he have to "go?" If he does, keep letting him out because you certainly don't want to discourage him from that!

When you have to leave him, give him an old shirt or blanket with your scent on it to snuggle up with, and make sure he has some favorite toys. Something like a Kong stuffed with peanut butter is a great way to keep him occupied while you're gone.
I hope some of our others log in with some help. I'm really better with the big working dogs, and there are some real differences.
 
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#3
Thanks Renee! I appreciate the tips! I didn't know that getting him at 8 weeks would have been better. Darn!

I'm glad to hear that the early mornings will improve. And yes, he does "go" when I take him out at 6:15, so I definitely will keep doing that, but I just wish both of us could go back to bed for a little while after that! Heh.

Unfortunately, we live in a (very!) unfinished basement apartment in my in-law's home that's bascially impossible to fully "puppy proof", so I don't feel good about leaving him out of his crate unattended. His "chewies" only hold his attention for so long.. then it's on to unraveling unfinished edges on the carpeting, pulling loose pieces of insulation out of the walls and so on, and that's when I'm in the room! If we leave the room at all his attention is pretty focused on whining, crying and letting the world know he's an unhappy boy. Sigh.

Luckily my in-laws have Buddy in their part of the house while we are at work, but if I don't get a little more sleep soon I'm going to start whining and crying! (g).
 
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#4
crate training

A word on crate training...it is one of the successes we have had so far with our 13 week old Brittany (just realized that I said 9 weeks in another post...oh, well....) We followed the crate training info from the book by the Monks of New Skete and Coco took to her crate quite well. She even goes in there on her own to get away from the hustle/bustle of our household sometimes! Rather than try to renumerate the Monks' process, I recommend that you check their book out of the library (it's been around a LONG time!) and see if that helps. Good Luck!
 
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#5
CoCo's Clan said:
We followed the crate training info from the book by the Monks of New Skete and Coco took to her crate quite well. I recommend that you check their book out of the library.
Thank you! I definitely will look for this book the next time I'm at the library. Unfortunately I've got a bit of a situation today... My MIL, who looks after the dog while I'm at work, was admitted to hospital last night (We're sure she'll be fine.. they're just keeping her for tests). I've got no one else to look after little Buddy and it looks like he's on his own today! :eek: I've puppy proofed his area as best as I can and it looks pretty good, I think. I will make sure he's got plenty of toys, and one of my shirts or something with my scent on it. Hubby will be home from work before I will, and Buddy will only be on his own for a few hours but.. eek! On a positive note, he settled down in his crate almost immediately at bedtime last night! Yay!! Thanks for the suggestions and support- I sure appreciate it!
 

pitbulliest

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#6
I personally have absolutely no experience with crate training, however my pit bull used to have the same problem..she hated being alone and she became destructive, chewing everything in the house. And the thing is we have another dog so technically she wasn't even alone!....

Try not to make a fuss when you leave...don't say things like "ok I'll be back" or "stay..momma will come home soon baby."... if you do this, it is telling the dog that you are in fact leaving and making a big deal about it..try to just leave the dog and close the door behind you without even looking back...however you might want to check out some books on it..every training manual ALWAYS has either a chapter or a huge section dedicated to dogs with separation anxiety since it is quite common...

About the crate training...you might want to check some books on that as well however I agree with a previous post about locking the dog during bed time..this is probably not the best idea..you should purchase a doggy bed for your pup and let him sleep somewhere in the house..its much more comfortable for the dog and they don't have to be confined for the entire night...

Good luck.
 
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#7
pitbulliest said:
Try not to make a fuss when you leave...don't say things like "ok I'll be back" or "stay..momma will come home soon baby."... .
Thanks for the tips! I actually have been saying "I'll be right back" or some vairation on that when I leave. Oops! I'll stop.

Buddy is actually doing a lot better with the crate training.. he goes in a little easier each night, and sleeps a little longer. I know there are a lot of varying opinions about crate training, but I'm going to stick with it. I'm encouraged by his progres.

We start Puppy Kindergarten July 19th and I've got the Monks of New Skete book on hold at my local library, so I'm looking forward to learning lots. This forum has been really helpful so far, too! Thanks to everyone for the help!
 

Lanceb2b

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#8
Hi Buddy's new mom,

I have a 9 week old Female shih-tzu and am also noticing that she follows us everywhere, and will bark, and jump at the gate we have setup in our living room, if we leave the living room... Even if she can see us in the Kitchen... What I recently got, and have noticed a great improvement in this, is a Puppy Kong. I fill it with light peanut butter, and put it in her crate (which is in the living room with us). She runs into her Create (i leave the door open, as the living room is gated) and she is content to stay there till I return. It almost seems like the initial parting is the worst, and if she gets past the first 10 minutes, she's fine.
I start puppy kindergarten on the 15th, and am looking forward to some time with the Trainer to get some of his ideas. He also has a Shih-tzu and am looking for any help he can give us.
 
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#9
Hi Lance2b,

Thanks for the tip on the Puppy Kong. We have one for Buddy, and I've tried putting it in his crate for him to play with and he just gives me this look like "Nuh unh. I know what you're trying to pull, lady. No deal!" and refuses to go in the crate, or, goes in and gets it out of there. :rolleyes:

Like you, though, I've noticed that the first few minutes are the worst, and he settles down after a bit.
 

MEG126

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my golden does the same thing. she hates the porch (it's screened in and has stairs that go down into the backyard). the house is good, the backyard is good, the porch is BAAAD. if she's outside and we're letting her inside, she won't go up onto the porch unless the door from the porch is open and we're not standing near it (that's from us tricking her way too many times- she's too smart for us which is requiring us to become trickier and trickier :D ) also we used to keep her in the kitchen when she couldn't be trusted in the house alone, and we'd give her a treat. she was just like, yeaa RIGHT! we'd come home later and the treat would still be on the floor where we left it; so she'd pick it up and trot on out to the living room rug. lol she just hates to be without us... ;)
 

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