nonstop crying at night!

[d_ciao]

my dog cries nonstop all night long. shes a 4 month old bichon poodle, we got her last week. how long will this last for? and what can i do? we've just been letting her cry and not going down to see her. we dont want her to think that if she just cries, then someone will come. we want her to be able to be okay with being by herself. her area has a doggy bed, a nightlight, toys, and her tray to pee/poo on. (as i type, it's 10:40 pm and she just knocked down her gate after jumping up on it a million times while crying real loud)

WHAT DO I DO? i haven't slept for 3 nights!!!

[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.