PLEASE HELP!!

My Shih Tzu puppy won't sleep downstairs alone, I have a travel crate for her and she won't settle at night in it. We have had her 10 days now and she is 11 weeks old. She is settling into our family life, but I am off work atm so she has all my time and attention, but when it comes to bedtime it's a no go!! The first night I kept her downstairs and she cried a lot so I came down and she was so distressed I let her sleep in the living room with me, so the next few nights I put her in her crate upstairs first in our sons room then in ours as I have to get her up to toilet. If I don't get to her in time she wee's in her crate! Last night I thought I would try her downstairs in the kitchen, so we played with her before bed, then settled her down for the night, (we left the crate open) so she could get out to pee if she needed to! She slept for a couple of hours then woke up and just cried all night! In the end I came down and she had pee'd everywhere, all her legs were wet! I am at the end of my tether and really need some help as I am obviously not doing this properly!

I really need to her settle at night as I need to train her soon to be ready for me to go back to work! Please help me...

Your biggest mistake was that first time when you went down and let her sleep in the living room.

A lot of people think "awww it's her first week here, let her out"

That just creates bad habits.

You will need to be firm with her, and yes, you may have to put up with some crying through the night.

When you put her to bed that's it. No more attention after that.
If you feel the need you can go out and just giver her a sharp "no" if the crying gets too much but it is best to ignore her completely.

You could try a few things to help her settle, such as leaving a radio on low volume, or giving her a toy to snuggle up to.

When I was training mine there were maybe 2 nights of crying that I had to endure but after that it gradually got better.

Should I let her out to pee during the night though? As I am getting confused whether to leave her or not?

I am going to buy a bigger plastic covered wire crate today, should I out the bed on 1 side and a pee pad on the other, or just make it a bed for her?

Sorry for the questions! Thanks again

No problem.

If you buy a very large crate then you can put her bedding on one side (prefferably at the back)
And then newspaper or puppy training pads at the front.
Dogs are usually pretty clean and will not go on their bedding unless they have no other option.

Usually breeders will have a set up similar to this so it is what they are used to.

As she gets older she will be able to hold it all night and you can just have the bedding in there.

I think the average ratio is about one month for each hour.
Meaning at 5 months they can go 5 hours, 6 months 6 hours and so on.

Hi Shazamataz, I thought id let you know how I got on last night!

I introduced a new bigger crate for our pup Willow and she went in it, I made it all comfy with blankets and cuddly toy and a pee pad at the front, I closed it up and put a big dark blanket over the top and left her, she slept for a while but she did wake up at some point through the night and cried! She cried quite a lot, but I was strong and I left her till 6am when I came down and let her out. She was running around when she got out and I had noticed she had pee'd in the crate, not on the pad but where she sleeps!! Any how I will keep persevering with this and hope she starts to settle (eventually!)

She's asleep now, do you think she is sleeping a lot through the day as she is up crying all night, and should I try and keep her awake a lot, or let her nap?

Thanks again

Sounds like a great set-up you did!

Just keep perservering, good on you for not getting up to her, it's the only way she is going to learn. :)

You could try making sure she stays awake and play with her a lot at least an hour before bed time. Resticting water an hour before bed may be a good idea as well.
My boy seems to have trouble holding it in over night so I take his water away an hour before bed and have had a lot less accidents.

Ok cool, I will try this tonight!

Thanks again, I'm a first time dog owner so I am taking little steps at a time, and all tips and help is greatly appreciated!

X

No problem, let me know how it goes and if you have any more questions feel to ask! :)

Hi Shazamataz,

We didn't have a great night last night :( She went to bed about 11 and I settled her in etc, we all went to bed and she woke up about 2 am and cried solid for 2 hours! In the end my husband went down to her and let her out to see if she needed the bathroom, anyway she did a big poo and wee, then he put her back she she carried on crying for another 2 hours!! We left her though as we knew she was just doing it as she wanted to get out! She's not going in the crate during the day too much, do you think I should get her to nap only in there and not on the coach or floor near out feet etc.. She's sleeping a lot during the day and I think this is because she is not sleeping of a night!

Not good :(

It certainly wouldn't hurt to get her to have a few naps in the crate during the day.

My mum just got a new puppy, I'm trying to remember her routine!
I know that the puppy goes in the crate during the day for an hour or so, what time/when would be up to you.

Maybe after lunch, and after she has had a big play, try to wear her out and then hopefully she will settle down and sleep.

Putting up with crying would be much easier during the day than in the middle of the night that's for sure.
She will probably not settle down at first but be strong, as long as she has been to the toilet before she goes in there is no reason to let her out.
You can put her favourite toys in with her, then when she goes to sleep just watch her. If she wakes up let her out before she gets a chance to cry, or if it has been an hour or so then you can wake her up and get her out yourself.

We had another sleepless night last night :(

She went into her crate willingly, but by 1.30am she was up crying again!! I left her for a while then went downstairs to take her out to see if she needed to pee, she didn't, she had pee'd in her crate! I cleared it up and put her straight back, but she just cried on and off all night till 6am!! I am literally at the end of my tether now! Should I perserve with the crate, I feel like we are not getting anywhere? Will this get any better?? :(

I can promise you it will get better.
A lot of dogs are just a lot harder to get used to the crate than others.
My mums little guy cried for maybe a week during the night but then he settled down and understood that he had to stay there until she got up.
Even my boy still cries for the first 5 minutes he is in there but once he knows he isn't getting let out he just goes to sleep and you don't hear a peep out of him until the next morning.

I don't know if it is an option or not but could you move the crate into the bedroom with you?
She might be a little more settled with you in the same room.
Then once she has gotten into the routine od night time = crate. Then you could move it out of your room back to where it is now.

Does she have trouble being away from you in general?
Crying when you are in another room and she can't get to you or is it just in the crate overnight?

She does cry when I leave her in the kitchen to have a shower or make beds etc and I can't keep eye on her... this is really hard as I have to go back to work soon and need to leave her, so she's got to start getting used to it, I will post on here tomorrow and let you know how we get on tonight! X

Let me know how it goes tonight!

I will post an article I wrote about separation anxiety.
I am making a website but I haven't uploaded it yet so sorry for the long post!

--------

Does your dog cry when you leave the room? Urinate only when you leave the house?
These are a few signs that your dog may be suffering from Separation Anxiety.

Some dogs do not like being left alone and some will think you are leaving them permanently and not coming back. Here are a few tips to help fix this problem.

When you leave, no matter how long for always have fresh water available. Toys are also a wonderful training tool as it will keep the dog distracted, I use kong toys stuffed with yummy food as a cure for boredom, having special toys or treats that the dog gets only when you go out are also a wonderful idea.

When training my own dogs for separation anxiety I first distract my dogs with their favourite toy and then exit my house through the front door.
I only leave for a minute or two, just long enough so that the dog does not bark or cry.
I then re-enter the house and give them praise for not crying.

Next time I go out I leave for a few more minutes, again only entering the house if the dog is not crying and giving praise.

Increase the amount of time you leave for and always come back before the dog starts crying (you will learn how long that threshold is pretty quickly)

This teaches the dog that you are going to come back and they are not being left alone forever.


Another technique is to not "baby" the dog.
Some dogs become overly attached to their owner and don't even like their owner being out of their line of sight, in this case the training needs to begin before you start going out

Start paying less attention to the dog, when he pushes for attention, don't give it to him
If he wants to be petted, make him wait.
As harsh as it sounds it is the only way to get the dog to start becoming less dependent on you.

After you have trained the dog to be less clingy you can move onto things like leaving the dog in the living room while you have a shower, or leaving him inside while you are out hanging up washing on the clothesline.

Hi Shazamataz, Had another bad night! She was very tired yesterday as we had visitors all day so was sleepy at 9, so I put her in bed at 10, she woke up at 12, so I came down to let her pee, I made a mistake by letting her have the run of the kitchen as I thought maybe that would be better! It wasn't! In the end I went down at about 1.30, calmed her down and locked her in crate, she cried for about 10 minutes then settled down till 4ish, I came down again to let her pee and then put her back, she cried for longer this time, but I'm sure she feel asleep at some point? I came down this morning at 6am to let her out for food and now we are up for the day!

Am I doing the right thing by letting her out to pee, or should I let her cry all night, it seems she's is starting to realise that I won't come down if she cries, but some of the time she just constantly cries (which is very frustrating) Our kitchen doesn't have a door, my husband wants to put her in the dining room tonight as it has a door and then we won't be able to hear her cry so much, I'm not sure if this is such a good idea moving her when we are onto day 5 of the crate training!! HELP ME PLEASE!!

How well is she toilet trained?
There are two options...
1) Leaving her in the dining room with her crate open and have a puppy pad or newspaper in there for her to relieve herself on.

2) Having the crate with the bedding at the back and newspaper or pad at the front.

The needing to go to the toilet in the middle of the night isn't uncommon because she is so young but a lot of pups have no trouble holding it all night.
This is just my opinion but I would stop getting up to her altogether.
If she wees on her bed and not the newspaper then she will soon learn that when she does that she has nothing to sleep on.

It's good that she is starting to learn that the crying isn't going to get her attention. I know it's hard but now is the best time to do it while you aren't working, that way you aren't a sleep deprived zombie at work!

Have you tried the radio and the toys?
Something like a kong might be a good idea. They are a rubber toy that you put food inside (dry dog food or even dried liver treats) then when she wakes up she can spend some time playing with that.

We have tried toys, radio, ticking clock, cuddly animals, the lot! I am going to be strong today and keep her occupied as much as I can and let her have little naps through the day. I am going to put her crate in the dining room tonight with the door closed so I can't hear her, as I think that is half of the problem, I hear her and think I must go down and let her out for a pee! We have made the crate with the bed at the back and puppy pad at the front, its not a huge crate but sufficient for her as she is only small. I will go and by a Kong today as well, thanks for all your help I appreciate it so much, its also a way of me talking to someone other than husband, family friends who I think are all getting a little tired of my moaning!

No problem, I hope I gave you some ideas on how to fix it.
Every dog is different so what has worked for me might not work for you but it's certainly worth trying.

Good luck, I hope you get it sorted, and if not... feel free to come back and have a moan about it, I don't mind haha :)

She finally slept!! Hooorahhh! We kept her awake till 10.30ish, we played, carried her around the block for some fresh air and then played a bit more! She was so tired we put her in bed about 10.45 and she slept till about 5am, I heard her whine for a little while but I left her till 6am, I came down she was going crazy in the crate and she had done a pee on the puupy pad. I am so pleased, I am hoping that this is the routine for her now and she will just get better and better?

I know have to teach her to stay home alone for a while, to prepare her for when I go back to work! Today my son and I are going to to the little shop down the road so will be gone about 10 minutes, wish me luck!

Thanks again Shazamataz, you're a star :) xx

That excellent!
Hopefully she keeps it up!

Yep, good luck at the shop, it's a good idea to make short trips before you go back to work.

I'm very happy you finally got to sleep all night!