Hi List,

After having out 9 week old puppy for 3 weeks I am at the end of my tether. Noah - 3/4 lab, 1/4 blue keeler will not stop crying/yapping.

We both work during the day, so he has our large backyard, countless toys and a big kennel. He continues to cry.

I understand he is prob missing his pack mates.

Can anyone suggest anything that could help.. we have tried a "snuggle mate" complete with heat pad and heart beat to no avail.

He is walked every evening and fed morning and night and bedtime.

Thanks!!!

Sleepless in Sydney hahah Renee :)

-- Renee Culley (renee@virtualfrog.com), June 25, 2001

Answers

Renee, Can you afford another puppy? He is probably lonely and this would help him. I have always thought it was wrong to have only one of any 'pack' animal. Good luck.

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), June 25, 2001.

Do you have someone nearby with a dog that can keep him during the day? A full day of puppy play usually wears out any pup enough for you to get to sleep. Also, heelers are sharp, he is trying to train you! How you handle scolding him, your reaction to his barking, all of this might need a different approach or advice from a more experienced dog handler. Play with him, teach him the usual sit, stay, heel, roll over, ect but when you are through and disengague take note of your tone and body language, use the same tone and language when its time to sleep.

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), June 25, 2001.

Has the pup had a complete exam by a vet .Normally the crying slows down .2 puppy is way to hard to train , I would not suggest it .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), June 25, 2001.

Renee, How much time are you spending with your puppy? Realize you must work, however, the first thing you need is a GOOD BOOK! And the second is a commitment to obedience classes. Why obedience? You are then spending time with your dog, and learning to communicate with your dog, getting excersize for the dog and teaching the dog to have fun and be civilized. Fun for you too, and rewarding. Why let all those brains and all that potential go to waste? Why be frustrated and feel guilty? An excellant book is "Mother Knows Best, The Natural Way To Train Your Dog" by Carol Lea Benjamin. Try a used book store and go cheap if you can. A good dog/owner training book is worth it's weight in gold though so don't begrudge the price if you need to buy it new. Your pup needs lots of time with you getting excersize for it's brain and it's body. My motto is "A Tired Dog Is A GOOD Dog!" If you invest the time now, it will pay off later. Also, when you are doing right by your pup you then have no reason to feel guilty about leaving it when life deems it necessary. Your pup is feeling anxiety about not being with the "pack" this is true, but this can be overcome with spending quality time with the pup. Forget another dog. From the sound of things you dont' have the time for one! And another dog doesn't just double your trouble and commitment, it' squares it! Then you must find the time to give quality time to two dogs who each should have time with you alone, not together. There's lots of things you can get done with a pup on a leash that's tied to your waist. You can run around the house picking up dirty cloths, do laundry, dishes. garden, make the beds(my Cattle dog still, at the age of six, loves to help me make the beds! Make the pup part of things you do, make it "part" of your pack. Play games when you are doing the household things you have to do. You won't believe how quick a pup is to pick up on things. You want a dog you can be pround of, you gotta put in the time now. Our Cattle dog, Howdy loves helping around the house. He will open and close doors for me(no couth invoved here, he slams doors!), pick up dirty cloths, retrieve anything I drop. Go "find" any particular person. bring my shoes and socks when it's time to go out, "find" the car in a parking lot or out in the wilderness. And is a valuable warning system when someone comes to the gates. He'll come and get me where ever I am on the property whether it's just my cousin, the neighbor or a stranger. Make your dog a part of your family, invest in it now and you won't be sorry later. Hope this help give you a path to follow. Little Quacker

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), June 25, 2001.

1 question I have is why did you get a pup so younge?Maryland has a law that pups cant leave the bitch till 8 weeks,I have a feeling that the younge age has alot to do with it. Pups need to learn from their bitch and litter mates alot of dog social skills,how about adopting an older mature dog from the pound to help the pup learn "dog" things?

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), June 25, 2001.

I wouldn't suggest novice dog owners try to pick a grown dog from the dog pound to "teach" their puppy. You're taking a real chance with a dog pound dog (and don't go getting all upset with me, every dog I have EVER owned was a stray, but that doesn't mean I have taken every stray that ever crossed my path).

Dealing with one problem animal is quite enough. You're taking a pretty big risk if you try to bring another unknown quantity into the equation now. Imagine some of the reasons some of those "mature" dogs have ended up at the pound. Imagine how many neat little tricks the puppy could "learn". That's ASSUMING they get along - not all "mature" dogs, even ones secure in their position in the home, get along at all well with rambunctious, high-energy, ANNOYING (no matter how loveably) puppies.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), June 25, 2001.

I have a (now 3 month old) puppy that I got at 7 weeks (Border collie/ Bernese Mt. Dog mix) She had been 1 of 10 in her litter and boy did she cry for the first few days. I think a lot of your problem is just that your puppy was taken so young. He'll probably adapt fairly soon. In the meantime, is there a neighborhood kid or a friend who might be able to come by and play with or walk your puppy in the middle of the day? Eight hours is an awful long time to be alone for a young puppy. If he's alone all day he'll sleep a lot & be awake (and whining) at night.

-- Mary S. (1deal@quik.com), June 25, 2001.

Renee you might try putting a wind up clock(one that ticks loud enough you can hear it) in a sock and put it in your puppies bed. That works sometimes the ticking sounds like a heart beat. Good luck.

-- Wynema Passmore (nemad_72039@yahoo.com), June 25, 2001.

Just FYI, puppies sleep around 20 hours a day. They don't like to be alone in big places like back yards. If they are in a proper-sized crate and have had some exercise, they will sleep contentedly for a good long time. For the noise, first, give your dog a good run morning and evening. The idea about tying it to your waist was also a very good one. The idea is the dog should be mentally and physically ready for a rest when you crate him up.

Put the crate next to your bed and go to bed early because you won't be sleeping for a while and you don't want to be so tired you lose patience with the pup. When the pup whines, speak to him gently and let him know you are there. You can poke your fingers in the crate so he can see that you're there. If he still whines, firmly say "quiet!" or the command of your choice, and rock the crate suddenly back and forth a bit. This will startle the pup and he will likely be silent for a few seconds, long enough for you to tell him several times in a very kind and enthusiastic tone "good quiet!." When he whines again, say "No, quiet!" and shake the crate a bit. Praise again when he falls silent. Keep this up and in a while, he'll get the idea and likely calm down and go to sleep.

Keep him in your room at night until he is of a more independent age. Remember, too, he may whine in the middle of the night because he needs to go outside. If he's by your bed, you will know when he needs to go out, and this will help with housetraining. He may start trying to manipulate you, getting you up every few minutes because he "really has to go outside." If he has done his business, he won't have to for at least a few more hours, so he should just learn to lay there and be quiet.

This method has always worked well for me.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), June 26, 2001.

I forgot to say . . . if his crate is too big, he could be feeling insecure, which will cause him to whine. Put a box or some other spacer in it to make it more puppy size. He'll feel more secure, and he'll also be less likely to soil his crate.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), June 26, 2001.

Excellent post Laura. Crate training is an excellent idea! And Renee we also get our pups young so that they don't learn any bad habits from their dam either! We try for 6 weeks, so that they can bond with our stock. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 26, 2001.

I've heard that if you hear a young dog bark ignore it, but when an old dog barks, you better pay attention. We have three dogs and they are older dogs, only barking when they have serious business to attend to - such as trespassers at night especially, coyotes whom they get serious with to keep them off the place (they speak each other's language and the dogs speak in a different tone to them than to any other person or animal), bobcats, certain other dogs such as rabid ones (they sense when things are out of order and warn them away).

I agree with the pack animal theory. They get lonely and they need real love which is hard to always give when you're worn out with them barking. Believe me, dogs are exceptional animals. Ours kill snakes on the sixteen acres here. They are good at it, and with so many poisonous ones it's a comfort. I wouldn't have one by itself either. More than two can become a roaming pack depending on their bloodlines and how closely they bond to form a hunting pack which neighbors wouldn't like.

-- Wanda King (wanda7@edge.net), July 01, 2001.