nonstop crying at night!

[Catty1]

I'm not a dog person, but I have read a few ideas over the years. Just suggestions:

1. Ask the breeder for advice.

2. If you put her in her kennel and then go right up to bed - try putting her in a few minutes before you leave, so she sees you around for a bit. Otherwise, she might think being in her kennel means she is alone. Can you put her in for short periods during the day when someone is around?

3. Heating pad or one of those grain bags that you heat in the microwave...wrap it well and hopefully she will find some comfort in it...missing the body heat of her fur-family is a big change for her.

4. I don't know where you get one these days - but I have heard that a clock with a loud ticking, well wrapped, will remind a puppy of a heartbeat.

5. I know she is a puppy! - but see if she can get a good run, chasing a stick - some exercise before bedtime. The idea is to tire her out...but she IS a puppy!

Good luck - I know you will get great advice from the dog people here. I just wanted to help you too!

[WELOVESPUPPIES]

Oh the old familiar puppy crying through the night. Well as you can see below, in my siggy, I have a chihuahua pup named Chopper. He is now almost five months old. We decided when we brought him home to just keep him closed in the bathroom at night with his toys, food, water, potty box and kennel with the door open(we worried about hypoglycemia as he was only 1.3 pounds so I was afraid to crate him at first without food). The first night he was home he was as quiet as a mouse. For the next week to ten days he about barked his little head off. We did the same thing, ignored him, hoping he would realize his cries did not get him attention. He literally cried all night long. You know it is bad when you say to your son, 'I came in and took Chopper out of the bathroom when he started barking this morning' and my son said, 'started, he never stopped'. Finally we decided to put him in his little kennel on the floor next to our bed and the other dogs beds. He has slept quietly ever since. He just wanted to be in the same room as everyone else. He even gets in his kennel all on his own when told it is bed time and goes right to sleep, not even a peep. Where is your puppy being kept? Is she in a kennel? I would just try bringing her in the same room as you. I think they just like to know we are close by and I think closing the kennel door made him feel safer. I hope this helps. Good luck.

[KittyGurl]

If your dog isn't kept in a crate, then you should buy one. Every time you go out (even if you are going to be out of a minute) or going to bed, you should put her in the crate. If he barks, completely ignore her. Do you go check on her while she is barking at night? If you do, this is attention to your dog so she will think everytime she barks you will come down and give her attention. Another idea is tire her out before you go to play. Take her on a long walk around the neighborhood or in the park. Play with her. When you do this, she will most likely sleep instead of bark all night. Good luck and keep us updated!

[d_ciao]

a crate isn't the same thing as a cage, right?

we don't check on her when she cries at night for the exact reason that you stated, but she's been crying like that for a week now... it's really bad.

i wouldn't mind putting her in a crate in my room, but
1. my room is real small
2. i'm going back to school in about a month
3. what will she do when she needs to go potty?

right now, we keep her in the area near the front door, we fenced it off 'cause there's tile floors there.

she's in there as i type, and she still cries even when she sees me, she wants to be let out! but we're trying to train her so that she'll be okay when there's no one home.

this is really depressing

[KittyGurl]

A crate and a cage are the same thing.

All dogs hate to be left alone by their family. But all show it in a different way. Your dog cries when it is left alone. Maybe when you go back to school, maybe someone can watch her for a couple hours like a neighbor or a family member so your dog isn't alone all day.

[Canis-Lupess]

I would definitely not allow her to sleep in your room with you to keep her quiet. She NEEDS to learn how to spend time on her own and allowing her to be with you all the time will just cause seperation anxiety because they never learn how to cope with spending time on their own. There will always be times when they need to be left alone for some time if you have to go somewhere and if they haven't had a chance to learn how to be alone...these times will be very distressing and thats when the symptoms of seperation anxiety set in.
It might help to make sure she spends some time on her own in the day too. Even when you are at home, make her spend a little time in another room. If she's allowed to stay with you ALL day, no wonder she suddenly feels all alone when night comes and it's harder for her to deal with then.

Some pups can be a bit stubborn when it comes to learning how to quieten down but they do eventually. Maybe provide a toy that keeps the dog occupied for a while that has some food in it for example that takes time to get out.

I agree about trying to tire her out before bed time.

Saying all this, it is never good if a dog is left alone too much and only sees you in the morning and then is left in the house all day until the evening etc...
When you go back to school, make sure she does still get adequate human contact during daylight hours although they don't need to be there the whole time.

[d_ciao]

i'm at home right now, and she's in her little fenced off area. she's crying even though she can see me. i know she wants out, but we can't really allow it right now. she cries even worse when i go into another room where she can't see me... it seems to be inevitable should i just leave her be? the crying's getting worse as i type.

[boricuajenny5]

I had this fight with my Cockapoo and honestly, she won. I live in a duplex and she was only 2 months old when I got her. I bought her from a run down pet shop who kept her in a crate day and night. I guess this gave her the impression that creates were bad because she never liked it at my house. She cried and cried for hours at a time. I was afraid she would wake up the landlord and I would have to get rid of her. I had the crate by my bed where should could even lick my hand if she needed to know i was there. I took a couple of days off from work just to help her with the crying and spend more time in her crate while I was home but nothing worked. Since she was small (and stayed small) I decided to let her have her way and sleep with me. Its not the best thing to do but it worked for me and I really dont mind since I only have 1 small dog. She sleeps calmly with me every night and doesnt bother any more. She is almost 2 years old now. She does alot better without being caged in when I am gone too which I do not recommend unless you can stay on top of EVERYTHING and make sure there isnt anything around that your puppy could chew. I tried putting a gate in the kitchen doorway but she managed to jump over it then crawl underneath when I put it higher. Maybe its in poodles to crave so much attention?

[Canis-Lupess]

Even if you don't go to her, make sure you don't speak to her or pay her attention when she cries...even from over the other side of the room. Some time should be spent with her in one room and you in another out of sight although not all the time.
If she cries louder, it's obvious that she's having a hard time being left alone at the moment but allowing her to be with you all the time would just make that even worse because there is bound to come times where it is impossible to not leave her on her own...and I can't imagine you wanting that being as she sounds pretty vocal as it is. With full on seperation anxiety, it's not just the noise, it's also the destroying of anything they can get hold of and defecating all over the place...not so much because they need the loo but out of pure stress.

The breeders may have played a part in it if they reared the pups in the house and always had somebody there with them and they were never left in a room on their own. With seperation anxiety, it is usually the presence of people that matter...not other dogs.

When we have had pups or taken one of our own pups from the litter, they've all been pretty good and may only whine a few times whilst they still hear you moving around but then quieten down for the night. My sisters Border collie pup was good like this too. He slept in the kitchen at first and then moved to the outhouse at night but that was partly his own choice....he went out there and wanted to stop so they put his bed in there and now he has a dog flap to get into the garden. Making as much racket as yours doesn't happen with most pups as people often believe.

Still, creating a routine might help. Dogs like routine. If you tire her out during the times she's allowed out of her pen, she'll more likely sleep once she's put away. Pups do need to sleep often so I can't imagine a young pup having the energy to cry non stop 24/7.
If she does ever spend time on her own without making a noise, even if it's only a few seconds, if you're there, go back in and give her plenty of praise and then up the amount of time gradually that she is required to stay silent. This helps reinforce their confidence at being left on their own. They realise you always come back and are happy and rewarding when you do.
Also, don't make too much fuss when you go to leave her. This reinforces the noisey behaviour. A cool departure and a warm return are what it's about.
With dogs that have seperation anxiety, you find it's the opposite...the owner knows the dog hates being left and that they destroy things so they make a lot of fuss, telling the dog to behave or trying to reassure it and then when they return and find another total mess, they get angry at the dog and so it's a warm departure and cool return....this just makes the whole behaviour worse.