[ZMan]

I am brand new to this forum.

We just got our puppy yesterday. Her name is Bailey and she is 9 weeks old today. She will start obedience classes next week.

Question on crate training:
Bailey was sleeping on a rug, so we decided to put her in her crate if she was going to sleep anyway as she needs to get used to it. So we took her out to potty and gave her a treat and put her in her crate and closed the door. She's been in crate before with the door open. We wanted to close the door so we could get some work done without watching her for potty activity. When we put her in the crate today and closed the door, she yelped for about 10 minutes straight. Since she was sleeping before, we decided to open the door and let her back out. We did wait until she stopped yapping for about 10 seconds.
So here's the question- Do you just ignore their crying and yelping or firmly tell them no? (Remember, she's been out to pee and I can see she is not hurt in the crate)

Question on activity:
Bailey just lays and sleeps in the house. Has only been in a circle about 4 feet from her crate door and the door to outside. Outside she does play some, but hardly plays or moves indoors. Just newness and scared? That's what we're hoping. The breeder did give her a shot the day we took her (it was her 9 weeks puppy shot) Thought that may be contributing to her non-activity and she has diarrhea - breeder said the shot can cause that.

She has her first vet visit tomorrow if I can get an appointment scheduled.

Any HELP GLADLY welcomed.

 

[Guest]

Welcome!
I'm not sure about the crate question, but I can answer the calm and quiet question. Enjoy her calmness, because it will not last! :lol: :lol:
She is adjusting to everything being new and will become the active puppy very soon. She is also still very young and needs her rest. I'm sure the vaccine is contributing too. Just give her some time. :lol: And we would love to see some pictures!

 

[karenl]

Hi and welcome,

You sound like I did when I brought my Daisy home at 8 weeks. Daisy was very sad the first few days we had her. She really whined quite alot. It broke my heart. I tried to make her comfortable and gave her a ton of love and attention during that time. I believe that worked because in a couple of days she was no longer homesick and the crying stopped. She also cried when I put her in the crate at night. What I would do, (maybe I am crazy), but I would lay down next to the crate until she fell asleep. I think I did that the first week or two. Now she goes in her crate at bed time with no problem.

Her activity also was low. I also posted a question about that. She did have cocidia (Treated and cured with an antibiotic) but I do think that they are just lonely and scared babies those first few days.

 

[movistar]

thing to watch for after a shot is swelling.

Some pups take a few days to acclimate It is not unusual for a pup to be rather wellbehaved (timid!) for three days and then voila devil dog!! lol
I wouldnt be worried at all if I were you. Do you have a vet appointment scheduled? I would mention it to your vet when you go if you are going soon to activate your guarantee or anything.

As far as crate training Do Not Let Her Out If She Cries!!! 10 minutes of yelping is ok as you said she is loved, fed, pottied and not hurt. I have had the most real life success by introducing a crate to a previously unintroduced pup at night. By acclimating them to sleeping in the quiet dark and in my room they begin to understand that you are not leaving them forever, they are not being punished and they learn to love their own little home! Put a toy and treat in with it and give them a few days to get used to it. I then do small day cratings to acclimate them to that as well, but I do it normally while I run an errand so the house is quiet and they dont think they are missing anything. Of course this isnt always practical but everytime I come back to a content pup. Also, leave the crate opened when they are not in it so they can go lay down when they want!

You guys will be fine! Its a period of learning for all of you

 

[gene]

i agree about the calmness. my mom still asks what happened to the calm puppy i brought home 3 1/2 months ago! :wink:

our crate experience wasn't very good at first. jonah would cry and whistle and mom would go in and sit with him, then he was okay, but she wasn't getting any sleep during the day(she's 90). we moved the "whale" (kennel) into the living room and bam, problem solved. it's still tough to get him to go into it. toys and treats don't help. he knows if i ask him to go in, it means that i'm leaving. he will go in and sleep occasionally, if i'm home. if i'm running late for work, it gets to the point i have to carry(oofff, 60#'s now) him and put him in. :roll:

 

[Jac]

Congratulations Zman...and welcome to the forum!
I have a site that I often refer people to, regarding crate training. It is a good site with great info, including potty training: http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html
Hope you will check in often...and post pictures of your pup!

 

[Maddie]

Hey Zman

Congrats on your new puppy and welcome to the forum!

I am a newer puppy parent like you. We have had Lexi for about 6 weeks, so I hardly know more than you. But I can still remember the first days quite clearly. I'm glad you have a vet appointment, and I hope you get a clean bill of health. That said, I can tell you that my pup was about 9 weeks old when we got her. She was very quiet, and slept quite often for the first 2-3 days.

On about day 4, she started comming out of her shell, and now it's all I can do to contain her. She is playful, energetic, and yes always getting herself into some sort of trouble.

So if your experience will be anything like mine, enjoy the peace...it won't last!

Maddie

PS *don't forget to take pictures and post them!

 

[MaxandMe]

hi congrats on bailey!!

we've have Max for 2 mos ...we got him when he was 3mos old and he cried/whimpered pitifully it broke out hearts. So:

night 1: my fiance slept on the floor with him to comfort Max
night 2: max sleeps in bed with us and snuggles on pillows
night 3: same
night 4: max no longer whimpers and sleeps at end of bed.

now enjoy the calmness hahhhahhahahaha ohhh your little bailey will show you what the tazmanian devil triathalon run is real soon.

also it took Max 3 weeks to stop barking/HOWLING etc in his crate. he knows when we leave it's crate time and goes in somewhat agreeably now.

some puppies take to it right away others can take months. the only rule of thumb is I don't take him out unless he's quiet and i've been home for 5-10min first.

 

[Darwin]

Hmmm, Darwin has never been calm! We only crated him while we were out and only for the first 2 weeks. The first 2 weeks he slept in bed with us, but then he decided it was too crowded, and now sleeps on the floor next to the bed. He jumps on the bed when he decides it's time for us to get up.

 

[ZMan]

UPDATE:
Things have gotten WAY better as we close out week one.
Night One: hell; cried almost all night, but we kind of expected it.
Night Two: cried first half of night. Wife took dog out to potty, then put her back in crate, but forgot to latch the door. We hear NO crying the rest of the night. Reason - she got out and slept on the rug in front of the crate for the rest of the night. No messes - no mischief.
Nights 3-6: Great! Sleeps all night in crate - which is only from around 11:30P til wife gets up for work at 4:30 A.

Thanks for all of your replies.
I've been doing lots of reading and learning on this forum.

Also, she just started her obedience training at PetSmart today.
We call it Puppy Kindergarten.

 

[movistar]

great news! thanks for the update!

 

[MaxandMe]

congrats zman ....you did so much better than us