Crying Puppy - Does is last long / can it be stopped?

ruberix

Hello,

I collected a lovely Cavachon puppy two weeks ago, he is about 15 weeks old. He screamed the place down for about a week which we managed to get through. (just!) We are now at the end of week two and while he's settling better at night time he's still whining a bit during the night and then seems to wake for the day very early. This morning he started whining at 6am. I tried ignoring him for ages but at 6.45 I went down and let him into the kitchen (I would normally take him out for a toilet break but I was beyond exhausted) I came down after 45 mins more 'sleep' and he was happily sitting on the couch having pooped all over the floor.

The early starts are too early and I'm wondering if he will be happy, eventually, with our routine rather than his? He has a lovely area for night time. It's the whole area under the stairs, I have a little half door on the entrance for him. Comfy bed, water bowl, newspaper for accidents and two chew toys. I also started leaving a lamp on in the hall at night time which seemed to help him settle at night better.

I'm keen to get everything right from the start. Is he too young to know better still? Will he get it eventually? Should I punish him for whinging by putting him outside for 10 mins or so?

With the house training I've been taking him outside often and he's been rewarded with a tiny treat when he goes. If he goes inside he's taken outside immediately with a firm 'no!'

If there are no good answers for the above, does anybody want to buy a Cavahon puppy?!!!:eek:

westies4ever

its just going to take a bit of time, hes only a baby. its only been 2 weeks and hes already improving. dont punish him for whining. if you're sure hes not whining to go to the toilet and he has water and a full belly, then ignore him (thats providing hes getting plenty of interaction with the family). he will soon get the message.

If hes had all his vaccinations then you can also start taking him for short walks and training him on is basic commands - this will tire him out as well.

you're giving up very quickly - did you really think getting a puppy through?

ruberix

Looking for reassurance from people who have been through it that it sorts itself out. That's good info in the reply.

People tell you lots of positives when you ask before you get a puppy, they are not so forthcoming with the negatives! :rolleyes: 'Oh he'll only cry for a night or two'

It's normal, that's good. Once I know there is an end in sight I'm happy.

aN.Droid

I would say don't give him any water at night as this may be a reason for him crying as he wants to go wee.

Of Course a more likely reason is because he is a puppy in a new house and needs to settle in

It takes a few weeks but the worst thing you can do is give into the crying as they will learn they can get their own way by crying for everything then!

ruberix

I'm keen not to give into him alright. Good trick on the water. I would hate for him to be dehydrated or anything though? I'll start giving him smaller amounts though. Good idea.

He's a lovely little guy apart from all that anyway. Lots of cuddles from him and play time. He's good on the lead already but not able for a lot of walking just yet either.

westies4ever

ruberix wrote: »

Looking for reassurance from people who have been through it that it sorts itself out. That's good info in the reply.

People tell you lots of positives when you ask before you get a puppy, they are not so forthcoming with the negatives! :rolleyes: 'Oh he'll only cry for a night or two'

It's normal, that's good. Once I know there is an end in sight I'm happy.

puppies are seriously hard work but is worth it to put the work and training in when they're small and you'll have a fine dog.

they're all different. my female never cried at night but cried during the day if left alone when a puppy (), my male cried non stop for about 2 months and he was 7 months old when i got him!

hes already improving so he'll settle a bit more everyday. loads of great advice on here so ask away for any issues that arise.

ameee

Your doing grand it can be hard you dont realise what your getting yourself into with a puppy but they learn fast The fact that he pooped when yoi didntt let him out means he did need to go have you tried letting him out last thing at night to go? As he gets bigger he will have a lot more control and hold it until you come down. I had a long lie on one time (accidentally) and I swear my dog had his legs crossed when I came down to let him out. My dog only moaned for the first night but he had been living in a shed unsocialised before we got him so he wasnt used company. People say to put something with your scent in their bed like an old top and a ticking clock or low radio in the room can help. Hang in there is does get better. Have you a few toys and things to chew on in with him as he might be teething and they will distract him.

westies4ever

ruberix wrote: »

I'm keen not to give into him alright. Good trick on the water. I would hate for him to be dehydrated or anything though? I'll start giving him smaller amounts though. Good idea.

He's a lovely little guy apart from all that anyway. Lots of cuddles from him and play time. He's good on the lead already but not able for a lot of walking just yet either.

he'll def not be able to walk too far yet but a couple of very short (5 mins or less) per day around the neigbourhood etc will tire him - get him introduced to the neighbours and other dogs as well - he needs to be socialised right from the start.

ruberix

We've been socialising him alright and he's great with other doggies which I'm delighted with. There are a lot of doggies around here too. I've been bringing him out for toilet breaks right up until I'm falling asleep myself. It's good that his bladder control will improve with age so.

Great advice folks! Thanks so much. Perhaps I needed a semi rant more than anything ha ha. Man was I tired this morning.

I'll keep working through all those tips and tricks. My 9 year old keeps saying she'll let him out for wee breaks if he wakes early, she doesn't feckin wake up though! ha ha

In the first week I was letting him out at 5/6/7am when he woke up for his toilet breaks. I was worried about that becoming a habit though.

So we'll just keep going for now and his bladder control will improve and he will become more comfortable too. Last night I sat next to his bed and cuddled him and reassured him that his house was a nice place to be and he seemed to like that!

NeonCookies

It will get easier! When we got our lad, he was only 8 weeks old and cried a lot at night and would wake you up every morning as soon as the sun came up (being summer, that's obviously very early for you now - so I do feel sorry for you!) Now, even if I don't get up until 10am he's there fast asleep in his box and looks at me as if to say "I have to get up now??" then lazily wanders to the garden to do his business haha. Your pup is only a baby really! You wouldn't expect a baby that young to sleep late, or hold their bladder for a long time.

As your puppy pooped when you didn't let him out, then you know now that for now he needs to go at that time. As he gets older he'll be able to hold it for longer, don't worry too much about it becoming a habit. Definitely let him out last thing at night, that'll help. Puppies are definitely hard work! But it all pays off

borderlinemeath

Leaving a radio on low volume at night might help with the whining. If you can find a talk show with voices rather than music may reassure him.

Also if you got a crate for him you could put a blanket over it to block out the light so it would stop the very early starts. You would still need to get up for toilet breaks in tne night though as he's still very young.

Puppies are like babies, tough work and exhausting but adorable in the early stages:D

tk123

Are you letting him out to the loo during the night or just hoping he'll use the paper? You'd be better off imo taking him out - he may be crying because he doesn't want to soil his area. As for the early morning starts I'd suggest filled kong to keep him busy while you have a snooze?

ruberix

I know people use crates very successfully but my hearts sinks when I think of putting him into one to be honest. Especially when I have a perfect little area under the stairs for him. I might stop leaving the lamp on though to keep it a bit darker.

I've learned today that the crying and the house training are more closely related than I realised. I knew he needed the toilet this morning and I knew I'd come down to one but man was I tired, so far I've taken him to the garden each morning first thing. There was a wee on the newspaper in his house this morning and it seemed fresh enough. So he must have been barking about needing the jacks alright!

I'm actually happy if he was barking to tell me he needed the toilet! I'm sure I'll happily hop out of bed tomorrow at 6am now ha ha. It's great to see progress on the house training.

Last week I was bringing him out to the garden until midnight and then again at 5/6/7 am (whenever he woke). I was still doing the night time but trying to ignore the crying in the morning. I'll go back to that for a while until his bladder can hold it for longer.

borderlinemeath

ruberix wrote: »

I know people use crates very successfully but my hearts sinks when I think of putting him into one to be honest. Especially when I have a perfect little area under the stairs for him. I might stop leaving the lamp on though to keep it a bit darker.

Your heart will sink even further when he starts teething and chews everything that he thinks is appetising while you're out. Wires, remote controls, cushions, rugs, table legs, skirting boards. Just some of the things that may look far more appealing than his flavoured chew toy.

Don't think of a crate as a prison, but as somewhere where your dog will want to go and spend some rest time, it's his bed, where he can eat if he wants and somewhere safe for when you have to leave him for a while so he doesn't damage your belongings or eat something dangerous.

ruberix

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm................... I'll think about it so.

westies4ever

have ye any pics by the way?

Blazer

we're in the same boat..bought a cavador puppy last night and it was his first night away..
Was whimpering but I took him down to get some water and he had his poo.
Once I put him in the bed beside me he settled down for the night and was grand..
Off today to get a crate for him and start his house training etc..

below seems to be a good guide on how to achieve it.

http://www.wikihow.com/House-Train-a-Puppy

tk123

jebbtools.ie guys for cheap crates!

ruberix

He's a pic of the little scamp stretched out having a snooze on my legs. How cute is he like!

ruberix

Blazer - Good luck! We'll be swapping notes I'd say.

westies4ever

ruberix wrote: »

He's a pic of the little scamp stretched out having a snooze on my legs. How cute is he like!

ah now. too cute. I'd forgive him anything and he'd probably be sleeping in the bed with me by now! what a lil teddybear.

ameee

ah he is only gorgeous I imagine it would be hard to stay mad at him

madalig12

Try giving it a big soft dog toy.

ruberix

He has two chew toys and a tennis ball, he has one fave chew toy so far. It is very hard not to let him up the stairs or into the bed etc but I want him to know who's boss from the start and then we can fully enjoy his cuteness when he knows his boundaries.

Just took him for a nice walk around the park and he went mad in some long grass. Super cute.

madalig12

Yeah but one his size he will take as companionship at night and be less lonely.

Blazer

Here he is not a great pic so trying to get better ones at the moment.
I'm keeping him in a separate room with me at the moment as unlike the other dog we can't trust him around the baby yet ..wasn't so bad..he was cuddled upto me last night so he was obviously well used to it as he didn't fancy the dog bed late at night




He's mad to chew everything at the moment especially the baby's legs so we're watching him like a hawk.
using the crate for during the day and confining him to the kitchen area so we can house train him and also keep a separate safe zone for the baby.
The other dog (pom) is already house trained and is fantastic with the baby and extremely protective of him and so far they seem to be getting along fine.

ruberix

Ah lovely doggies and lovely baby too!

Well last night I put himself into his house to go to bed and before I got into my own bed he had stopped whimpering. Brilliant! He woke at 6am so I took him outside and he did a poo, usually he does a wee first, I hadn't given him water last night as advised so I thought maybe he didn't need to go so I took him into the kitchen. Set up his bed and put some news paper down in the corner where he goes if he's inside and sure didn't he wee on it before I had even finished. LOL That's not the end of the world though. I went back to bed for an hour then and he hand't had any accidents in the meantime.

Nettekee

It must be a Cavachon thing, I have 3year old, when she was a puppy she was the same, now 7am every morning I am woken to her cries wanting to go outside, once her poopy business is done she happily scurries back to (my) bed to sleep the rest of the morning. Be careful of forming the habit that it is ok to wee on paper in doors as that will continue. I've made that mistake and if she can access the kitchen where the papers are during the night she will go there, if she can't, she'll hold on until 7am! but then If I don't have papers down, she wont go!
They seem to be a very intelligent cross breed, take lots of puppy photos early on as they do grow so quick! have fun with him he will be the a great family addition.

slightly off topic, but as your little fella seems to have the same hair type as mine that I can see in the picture, get him used to brushes, combs & grooming now, as the hair can be prone to matting around the collar and/or harness.

andreac

I second the paper thing. Def get rid of it. It will only prolong the training process and confuse the pup. When you bring the pup out, make sure you wait until it goes and praise it then. Even if it takes a while to go, dont go back inside until it does a wee.

ruberix

Oh thanks for that. We got a brush and a comb alright but we haven't been good with actually doing it. I'll get cracking on that so.

I put the paper down when he's unsupervised so that he doesn't go on the wooden floor (it soaks up the wee ugh!) but we lift it when we are with him so it's not down much. I've been reducing the amount too so that hopefully I'll just need a few sheets in one corner and eventually nothing when he's house trained.

This morning when I was waking my daughter I grabbed the pup and popped him onto the bed instead. Well she woke up in a VERY good mood having a puppy licking her face! Best alarm clock ever ha ha

1100010110

With the toilet training, best advice we got and stuck to is a rule of thumb of the pup needing a toilet break which corresponds to how old they are, i.e.
2 months old = every 2 hours
3 months old = every 3 hours
4 months old = every 4 hours
5 months old = every 5 hours
6 months old = every 6 hours
7 months old = every 7 hours
8 months old = every 8 hours, then they should be good to rock and roll. Take them outside according to the schedule and do not go back inside until they relieve themselves and once they do, make sure to make a really big deal about how happy you are that they went outside, they will begin to associate you being happy they did it outside and do everything they can to make you happy again, all they want to do is make you happy.
Another tip was to establish the pecking order, make sure that you eat before they do, no matter how much they beg, ignore them completely until you are finished your food, then feed them, sounds a bit harsh but they very quickly learn that they are not the boss in the relationship, also only ever feed them from their own bowl, then they know that if it's not in their bowl, it's not for them.

andreac

1100010110 wrote: »

With the toilet training, best advice we got and stuck to is a rule of thumb of the pup needing a toilet break which corresponds to how old they are, i.e.
2 months old = every 2 hours
3 months old = every 3 hours
4 months old = every 4 hours
5 months old = every 5 hours
6 months old = every 6 hours
7 months old = every 7 hours
8 months old = every 8 hours, then they should be good to rock and roll. Take them outside according to the schedule and do not go back inside until they relieve themselves and once they do, make sure to make a really big deal about how happy you are that they went outside, they will begin to associate you being happy they did it outside and do everything they can to make you happy again, all they want to do is make you happy.
Another tip was to establish the pecking order, make sure that you eat before they do, no matter how much they beg, ignore them completely until you are finished your food, then feed them, sounds a bit harsh but they very quickly learn that they are not the boss in the relationship, also only ever feed them from their own bowl, then they know that if it's not in their bowl, it's not for them.

Oh dear . Such outdated, old fashioned advice.

People have moved on now from this old fashioned dominance theory. Theres no place for it really in dog ownership and most qualified trainers will agree with this.

1100010110

really? enlighten me

ISDW

1100010110 wrote: »

With the toilet training, best advice we got and stuck to is a rule of thumb of the pup needing a toilet break which corresponds to how old they are, i.e.
2 months old = every 2 hours
3 months old = every 3 hours
4 months old = every 4 hours
5 months old = every 5 hours
6 months old = every 6 hours
7 months old = every 7 hours
8 months old = every 8 hours, then they should be good to rock and roll. Take them outside according to the schedule and do not go back inside until they relieve themselves and once they do, make sure to make a really big deal about how happy you are that they went outside, they will begin to associate you being happy they did it outside and do everything they can to make you happy again, all they want to do is make you happy.
Another tip was to establish the pecking order, make sure that you eat before they do, no matter how much they beg, ignore them completely until you are finished your food, then feed them, sounds a bit harsh but they very quickly learn that they are not the boss in the relationship, also only ever feed them from their own bowl, then they know that if it's not in their bowl, it's not for them.

This way of thinking is very outdated. The dogs don't think that they are the boss, and don't try to take over the world just because they get fed first. They also don't if they are allowed to walk through a doorway first, or are allowed up on a sofa. Treat your dog with kindness and consistency and you should have a great, life long partnership.

andreac

^^^
This.

1100010110

so.. a dog from the same litter who knocks kids over, takes food (a sandwhich) from their hands as they bring it to their mouth, that is what we should have aimed for?
Also, the parents and 2 of her siblings had to be put down as one of them bit an electrician visting the house (from where we got her).

andreac

1100010110 wrote: »

so.. a dog from the same litter who knocks kids over, takes food (a sandwhich) from their hands as they bring it to their mouth, that is what we should have aimed for?

Not exactly sure what the point of this is?

This would be down to basic training, nothing to do with dominance or showing them whos boss.

ISDW

1100010110 wrote: »

so.. a dog from the same litter who knocks kids over, takes food (a sandwhich) from their hands as they bring it to their mouth, that is what we should have aimed for?

Sorry, I don't understand your point, unless it is that someone with another dog allows their dog to eat first, and this is the result? What I see is someone who didn't bother training their dog at all, which is why it now behaves badly. Nothing to do with pecking order.

People who work their dogs, and who depend on them for the livelihood (or lives sometimes) will always look after the dogs first, feeding them before they eat etc. Yet they have a relationship that allows them to work in partnership.

Of course a dog needs to be trained, so that it understands what is expected of it.

1100010110

sorry my bad, is there a right way and a wrong way? I presumed that positive reinforcement and working with the natural instinct of the animal as opposed to attempt to antagonise it was a safe bet.

andreac

1100010110 wrote: »

so.. a dog from the same litter who knocks kids over, takes food (a sandwhich) from their hands as they bring it to their mouth, that is what we should have aimed for?
Also, the parents and 2 of her siblings had to be put down as one of them bit an electrician visting the house (from where we got her).

What has this got to do with what we are talking about? Im confused?

1100010110

I'd also like to point out that I do treat my dog with love and kindness (and consistency), I hope I didn't give the impression that I show agression to her, sorry guys, guess I'm getting a bit defensive about my relationship with my dog.

1100010110

andreac wrote: »

What has this got to do with what we are talking about? Im confused?

My bad, sorry

ISDW

1100010110 wrote: »

sorry my bad, is there a right way and a wrong way? I presumed that positive reinforcement and working with the natural instinct of the animal as opposed to attempt to antagonise it was a safe bet.

Totally agree about positive reinforcement, but what do you mean by the natural instinct of the animal?

1100010110

This is the point where I leave with my tail between my legs

ISDW

1100010110 wrote: »

This is the point where I leave with my tail between my legs

Aw no don't go, I loved your house training advice, its a discussion forum, discussion is good, even if we don't always agree with each other

andreac

Agree with ISDW, you were spot on with the house training advice.

borderlinemeath

Dogs natural instincts aren't to be the boss of the house.

There is a certain TV 'personality' that considers himself to be a trainer than compares dogs to wolves because they evolved from the same species all those years ago. He has perpetuated a LOT of bad advice on dog training and in particular the 'dominance theory' that the human needs to be the Alpha of the pack. Dogs were domesticated from wolves a long long time ago and none of them are looking to be the alpha of anybodys pack. They just want food and shelter, exercise and companionship. Simple really.

IIRC he's actually come out and said he was wrong on some of his theories. I can't confirm because I won't watch him and the few bits I have I get upset at how he treats the dogs. But his books are still on shelves and repeats still on TV:(

ruberix

Our wee fella is loving his bed more and more now. No real crying at night at all. I get up in the morning and let him out for a toilet break. I'm taking him in and out all the time for toilet breaks and treating him but he's still doing wee's and poo's inside, even if the door is open it won't occur to him to go outside. Ugh.

I'm sure it's still early days on the house training though.

Everybody loves him and now my mother wants to get one he's so gorgeous. They already have one working dog so not sure what she'll make of a house dog taking over her turf. My fella and my parents lady got on great at the weekend though, lots of playing and butt sniffing.

Lamina

Crate training is a great thing. I know a lot of people have this idea that the puppy thinks of it as a prison and hates it. It's actually the opposite, well it is with my puppy anyway. She cryed for the first two nights when she was first put into her crate, but after that she settled down and within a week she knew that her crate was her safe spot. If she was tired or the house was noisy she'd go to her crate. If you give her something tasty she'll also run to her crate with it. When we are getting ready to go to bed, she's knows it's time and will trot away in herself. It's lot like you've to shove them in there every night She also goes in it if I'm out during the day for a few hours. That way she can't do any damage to the house and more importantly can't harm herself!

Your puppy is gorgeous, even though I'm not a supporter of the whole mix breeding two cute dogs, slapping a makey uppy name on it like Cavachon and charging a few hundred. :P

Blazer

+1 for the crate training..onlything is the other dog's bed has to be out of sight before I lock him in for the night...the 2 pee-calls during the night are a pain though..although I reckon I can cut it down to one around 3am or so hopefully soon enough