New puppy, grumpy old dog!

[Scoutman]

I have a 4 year old Patterdale terrier who is very easy in the house. Has no issue being left at all and never cried as a puppy. As soon as he came to live with us he settled in well. We now have an 8 week old springer cross from dogs trust. We got her on the 13th Dec.

She cries at everything. We tried to leave her downstairs the first night. She cried for 20 mins, until 11pm and then setted until 3.30am then she cried on and off til 5.30am when I gave in and went downstairs. I realise now I should have taken her out when she cried for a pee but as the other dog never made a peep i thought it was for attention. I have no problem with letting her cry until she accepts that it's night time or having to get up to take her out but my terrier and her are separated by a baby gate so she is in the kitchen and him in the living room. He was so stressed by the crying he got diarrhoea and was in a filthy mood all day. So the next night we brought her upstairs and she slept from 11pm til 6pm. No accidents but a bit of wandering. Then last night she came up again. She cried at 2.30 am and 5.30am. Both times I took her out and she had a pee which is great but I want her downstairs and not so clingy or dependant on me. Now i worried that because she has been upstairs shell make more of a fuss when we try to get her back downstairs at night.

If we are apart she is so excited /relieved when we are together again that she fussed and cries for about 10 mins

We also went out in the car to see a friend last night. Puppy on the boot, dog in the foot well with me. We thought it might help her as she could hear us but she cried all the way there and by the time we got there my dog was so irritated and stressed he was ready to snap. This isn't helping them bond!!

Has anyone got any advice or tips for this situation. I'm scared I'm going to be trapped by a spaniel and never leave the the house without her again!!! Our Patterdale is so laid back I have no experience of this and I don't want to re-enforce her behaviour or anxiety.

She's 8 weeks old. All her behaviour is totally normal. She's tiny. She needs comfort and reassurance. Very few puppies are as independent as your Patterdale was.

To be honest spaniels are fairly renowned for being 'velcro' dogs and will stick with you but yours is still v v v young and is scared, when you put her in the boot she couldn't see you so was scared of the new experience. She is an 8 week old puppy of course she is dependent on you, i think you were lucky with your other dog. To begin with you should be taking the puppy out every few hours through the night so that she can go to the toilet. Would you consider using a crate a night?

I've never used create training before, i appreciate I'm the suggestion but not sure how it will help here? Last night she went behind the baby gate in the kitchen with a hot water bottle, toys, blanket but she cried then barked for two hours before we gave in and I slept on the sofa with puppy in her bed next to me and the old dog upstairs.

I'm tempted to see what they are like left overnight together. We haven't so far as everything I've read says they should be supervised for at least a couple of weeks. They have bonded well and play lots of rough and tumble but when they are finished the dog is very quick and sharp to let her know it's done and he is tired. I'm worried leaving them, she might get hurt if he is too forceful or he objects to her sneaking in to bed with him. Sometimes he let's her, sometimes not.

It would perhaps give the puppy a safe place and reduce the crying, would also allow your dogs to be in same room at night but with a safety net. My dog loves her crate and if scared (by the hoover!) will take herself in there. It's not for everyone but worked for us.

Thanks for the advice. We have got hold of a crate from a friend so we're going to give it a go.

If you can get hold of a copy of Gwen Bailey's book The Perfect Puppy it has good advice about crates and everything else actually!

It's a shock when you get a second dog, thinking you're fully prepared as you already have one, and they're very different. We were lucky in that it was our first who was a total arse very challenging and our second was a dream by comparison.

If the puppy adapts to being crated for naps it should give your Patterdale some peace too. I read a piece by someone who trains service dog puppies that helped me adjust my expectations about our dogs and bonding.

www.clickertraining.com/what-to-expect-introducing-a-puppy-to-your-adult-dogs

They do get on really well now.

I bought a copy of that book yesterday! Had a really good read through and there is certainly ideas I'll try with both of them.

It is getting better and she seems happier. They are playing loads together, it gets quite rowdy! The older dog is still telling her off quite randomly, to us, but I'm guessing they both understand the unwritten rules!

Tonight will be the first night in the crate.

Can I ask if your dog's now sleep together and if they do, how long you wait until you let them?

They do now but they weren't left in the same pen overnight until she was about 5 months old. We could have done it sooner but we weren't in any hurry. It was more that she grew too big for her crate!

On her second day at home she curled up to him on the sofa. He reacted as though he'd been burnt, leapt up and went and sat on the opposite side of the room. He was curious about her, tried to wake her by squeaking toys near her head when she napped and was happy to play with her but he wanted his space too. By the time she was about 16 weeks he barely registered it if she clambered over him to get to a toy.

We tried to make sure that we let them play and only stepped in if he ignored her 'mercy' cry (though there were times that she cried and on closer inspection she had his ear in her mouth ) or if she wasn't taking no for an answer when he didn't want to be a chew toy play. He seemed to understand that we were protecting him from her as well as vice versa.