[Mike.D30]

I brought my puppy home Saturday and he seems to be adjusting well, I'm walking every hour to two hours, feeding him three times a day and he eats everything no problem (actually seems still hungry after eating). He's very nice to my kids and they love him, so everything was going great... Until last night.

Last night was the first night we tried to gate him in the kitchen, he howled and yelped literally three hours. He sounded like someone was murdering him for three hours. Finnally I took him out for his walk and I slept on the couch and he curled up on the floor next to me with no problem. He actually cries and licks my face when he needs to go out, the only time he has had an accident since coming home Saturday was when he was gated in the kitchen, poo and urine everywhere.

We haven't crate trained yet because when I put him in there he goes balistic. I've started puting treats in his crate and fedding him in there so he starts thinking it a good place. But bottom line he won't go in there to sleep.

My wife and I go back to work tomorrow and we don't know what to do with this guy, if we crate him we're afraid he'll mess his crate all over and ruin the crate training by becoming a dirty dog. We don't want to gate him in the kitchen because he messes it and goes crazy I have no doubt he would've cried five or six hours if I let Him (walks in between).

What do we do? I thought I had this figured I would walk him hourly or every two hours during the day and monitored feedings 15 minutes at a time, three hours in the crate followed by a walk through the night. That plan is not going well because this guy can't stand to be away from us and I don't know how he's going to handle us being gone for as long as five hours.

Please HELP ME!

 

[LUV_GSDs]

Can you bring him to work How old is the puppy?

 

[shepherdbydesign]

Micheal, it sounds like you little guy has figured out that if he makes enough noise you will come to his rescue. They usally cry for a little while and then settle down. As for the crate put him in for short amounts of time and try to make it a good experience for him. Puppies can be a bit tring at times but remember that they are just like children and every experience to them is NEW.

 

[doreenf]

Don't forget all this is new for your little one. Can a neighbor or someone you know come over and let your puppy out? Can you put a radio or tv on while you are gone so he feels he is not alone. I did this with Izzy for about a month. She had the tv on and her crate was where she could see it.(She loved watching westerns)LOL! I would still put him in his crate,can you make it smaller? The puppy probably still mess in his crate, that happens sometimes. Bath time after.The crate is still safer than leaving him in the kitchen.

 

[Mike.D30]

The puppy is 9 weeeks and my wife and I tring to be patient we aren't hollering at him or anything. But he literally cried and barked for three straight hours and at that time is time for his walk. He would've continued if I hadn't let him sleep next to me.

I've seen seperation anxiety before but nothing like this, he's a great puppy and I love his termpermant. But we gotta figure out what to do with him. I feel bad because my wife is the one who will come home to the mess everyday and have to clean the crate and the dog. I don't get home from work until 8:00 at night and I leave at 5:30 AM, so I can walk him in the morning and through the night but other than that my poor wife will do with coming home to a messed crate. The dog reacts so adversely to the crate that I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself.

I've started giving him treats and puting him in the crate for short times but tomorrow is plunge time no one will be home all day so he'll be alone and in the crate I can't really put it off anymore.

Unfortunately we are new to the area so we don't know any people yet that could let him out. Thanks for your replies, I'll try leaving a t.v. on for him.

 

[StGeorgeK9]

My Ava had a hard time adjusting to the crate, and we had several accidents along the way, but every evening I spent over an hour with her and treats, everytime she looked at the kennel I praised her, then I would wait until she took a step towards the kennel on her own, then praise the heck out of her, Jackpot with treats!! and so on, I would put some treats in the kennel and wait, if she went in after them, she got another jackpot. I also put a self winding clock in with her, I cant remember who told me this, but the ticking I guess kind of sounds like a heartbeat, I would wrap in a towel or put inside a hand puppet. I wound it every night, I also put her crate in my room, sometimes I had to lay on the floor next to it. This helped me tremendously, now when I say it's night night time, she races up the stairs and throws herself inside the kennel, if I'm not fast enough, she comes looking for me, to tuck her in and close the door. Good Luck, I know how you feel! Oh and sometimes I would wake up with her yelping like she was being murdered in her crate too, the wind up clock helped with that too.

 

[StGeorgeK9]

Oh, one other thing, while you are doing this, dont shut the door, allow her/him to come out, then start praising for staying in there then closing the door for a few minutes.....then opeining and starting all over again. It takes a lot of time, but the rewards are worth it (a good nights sleep

)

 

[tibvixie101]

make sure the crate space for the pup is only big enough for him to get in and lay down. if he has room to walk around he will mess in one area and sleep in another. We used the treat method as well and after about a few days he knew the "bed" command and would run to his crate as fast as he could. if i didnt get there fast enough he'd come back looking for me like "i went in my bed, now where my cookie?!"

Sit with him by the crate and give him a treat. Put some treats in the crate and when he goes in to get it, give him the command you want to use to get him in there and then jackpot treats while hes still in there, but DONT close the door. when he comes back out, repeat the step. When he gets used to doing this, put a traeat in the crate, give the command, and let him go on, try to close the door just while he eats the cookie, then open it so he can come back out. eventually, you can increase the amount of time you leave him in there, once he's in, treat, and walk out of the room, then come right back and let him out, leaving him in longer each time. And be sure to put something for him to chew on when you get to the point of leaving him in his crate. Puppies need something to chew on as their teeth are growing and bothering them. Try a kong toy, or a small tire, something hard he cant break and swallow, but something for him to knaw on to keep him occupied. It will happen, be patient and persistant, and remember when doing these little excersises to keep them short in time, and fun for the puppy. training at this age should be more like a game to them!

 

[Cooper&me]

The thing that does seem like seperation anxiety is the pee and poo otherwise your pup is EXACTLY like Cooper. My first shepherd so I was suprised how vocal they can be. Quite dramatic.
My boy went into the crate fighting and kicking but it was the only safe spot I had to leave him. I have the crate in my bedroom. Every hour the first night he would cry, pant, howl, scream. I would put my hand through the slates until he eventually settled, just to start up the next 20-40 miniutes. I did let him out to potty and then had to carry and stuff him back in his crate. Poor boy. Not a fun first night home. This slowly got better over a week. Now he goes in at night by himself. He still resists his afternoon nap but once in he is quiet.

The difference and your big problem is the deficating. Maybe the kitchen was too large and he will not be so freaked by the crate. Also you have made it worse by giving in and letting him sleep by you on the couch.

It does get SLOWLY better. I could not shower on my own without hearing Cooper howl and pace on the otherside of the door. He is still velcroed to my side but much more secure when left alone.

 

[StGeorgeK9]

Ailyn,
you deffinately said it so much better than I did, by the way, whenI said an hour, I meant we would play by the crate for that long while she got used to being near it, with out having to go in...

 

[wolfstraum]

Unfortunately, I believe that this is as much a confidence - temperament (ie genetic) issue as much as a training issue. These pups have genetic insecurity or lack gtentic confidence. A normal stable pup may protest a bit, but will settle in a crate rather quickly, esp if given positive reinforcement to be there in the form of a treat IMO. They should have some bedding with a familar scent, a toy even, and they should settle within 10-20 minutes MAX. This hours long anxiety is not "normal". I hate to beat a dead horse, but people breeding their pets to sell companion puppies because pups from titled parents are too expensive really have no insight into genetic temperament and why we test dogs via schutzhund.

Sorry if this disturbs any of you, but the board is supposed to be for people to learn from, and perhaps this will make a few people think about why we test our breeding stock.

Hope it goes better for the poor pup.

Lee

 

[tibvixie101]

aw dont be so modest Besty, you said the same thing, lol i just had the time to spell it all out!! LoL have a good day!

 

[Mike.D30]

Wolfstraum the pup's parents are both AKC certified and have both trackers and schutzhund in his lineage. Maybe it is a genetic problem but I did my homework, you have no idea how a pup is going to react until he comes home.

 

[StGeorgeK9]

Michael, if the breeders did not work with the pups by separating them from momma from time to time, this could have added stress. It may be the first time he has ever been alone. I would have him in the same room with you at night, being able to hear you breathe will help a lot I think. Many times you will hear of GSD's referred to as "velcro" dogs, this is so true, they want to be in every part of your life. You now are this baby's provider, for love, comfort, protection, food etc....his momma did that before.

 

[Chris Wild]

Crate him in the bedroom with you. He may go nuts in the crate at first, but he should settle down after a while. He'll be more comfortable and secure in a crate (it's more den like) and near you. Young puppies aren't used to being alone, and it can cause them a lot of stress until they get used to it.

Crating him will also prevent him from having any potty accidents or getting into other trouble which is bound to happen if you give a 9 week old puppy free run of a room overnight and will not only lead to you having a mess to clean up, but will also allow him to build bad habits and learn that it's OK to get into things and potty in the kitchen.

 

[BowWowMeow]

When I brought home my first gsd I thought she should sleep in the very large bathroom downstairs. She had been in a shelter and I figured this would be much nicer situation than that. HA!!!!! She screamed her head off in there! It sounded like someone as killing her! I brought her upstairs in the bedroom with me and never had a problem again.

 

[WiscTiger]

Michael, sounds like you really have a persistent little guy. It can be tramatic for a pup to leave the litter if they weren't the strongest pup in the litter, nto saying at this point your pup has weak nerves. I don't know if the person you got your pup from started giving the pups some time alone before you got him. He is scared and lonely.

Some tips to try:

Leave the radio or TV on, some times human voices are all the need to comfort them.

Get some nice cuddly toys and or get a wind up clock, wrap it in a towel and put it in the crate with the pup.

Bring the Crate in your bedroom.

Make sure the pup has had plenty of excercise before bed time.

Val

 

[WiscTiger]

Michael. I wanted to add pups are use to cuddling with one another.

There is a thread in the breeder section about a single pup, there are pictures of the pup cuddling with toys (it's litter mates).
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=541749&page=1&nt=11&fpart=10

 

[chruby]

I have brought puppies home and the first few nights in the crate were crying and sounding generally miserable for quite a while. So when I got my last puppy I decided to put the crate as far away from my bedroom as possible so when she screamed in the crate initially I didn't hear it. Of course we set the alarm clock to take her out in the middle of the night and she never had any accidents in her crate. After a couple of nights not a peep out of her. I am glad we didn't give in and take her out which would just reinforce the crying.

If I were you this is exactly what I would do. Good luck.

 

[chruby]