I seem to be doing everything wrong with my 'velcro' pup

[RoSEbuds6]

So lovely pup is nearly 9 weeks old, we have had her for 6 days and she is an absolute smooshy delight, but I seem to be getting so many things wrong. since the first night she has been in a crate (with the door open) and I have slept in front of it offering comfort when needed (I read the dog behaviour FB units), each night she simply crawled out of the crate and wrapped herself around my head. I then reread the unit, and noticed that it said 'pop them in the crate 'and shut the door''. Doh! so for two nights she has basically just been sleeping on my head. Night 3 DH slept with her and tried closing the crate door and she just cried (not suprisingly). SO last night, as we were both so tired she slept upstairs in bed with me. She had a wonderful night, but again wrapped herself around my head. Now I don't mind her sleeping on the bed with me, but I really don't want her to permanently sleep on my head!
Also both DH and I work from home, and she is happy to chomp on a chew in her bed next to us, but that only lasts so long, she doesn't want to be in the garden on her own, or in a different room (unless she has fallen asleep there and we sneak out).
Sorry, I am rambling a bit, I guess I don't know quite what is breed related (Vizsla) or age related (nearly 9 weeks) and what I can do make a little more self-reliant. I feel that a lot of this is because she is still so young and is still settling in with us, and that when she is fully jabbed and can go out for nice snuffly walks she'll get more confident.
She really is a loving sweet-natured dog, but I just want to be able to sleep comfortably and at some point be able to concentrate on my work!
Thanks for reading and sorry for rambling (again!)

She is still a baby and has been with you less than a week! Give the poor thing a chance. You’re possibly in for several weeks of interrupted sleep. If you’re not up for investing the time then you really need to think about it.

I have a lab- super easy dog, but for ages i remember having still to go down at 4 or 5 am to let her out then spend the rest of the night on the sofa so as not to disturb the rest of the house. But she is fine now.

You seem to have some very unrealistic expectations for a 9 week old pup. Are you taking any time off work?

At this age DPup was sleeping in my room, either in her soft open crate or in bed with me, frequent getting up for wees, during the day lots of going out for wees, attention, cuddles etc. She's a baby who has recently been removed from her litter. I also think you have unrealistic expectations.

Also IMO I personally didn't really follow any dog training manuals, one size doesn't fit with all dogs. Ddog is now 8 months old, happily sleeps in her bed, clean at night and has never chewed anything. It's early days!

It will likely take a good few weeks for her to go to sleep without crying and stay quiet/calm through the night but the biggest thing is to keep with it otherwise you’ll never break the cycle. The more you interfere from establishing a routine at this point, the more you’re setting yourself up for failure. So every night you want to be putting her in her crate at the same time, going to bed at the same time, getting her up to go out for a wee at the same time etc. It needs to become familiar for her.

I’d expect sleepless nights for at least a couple of months if I’m honest, and I would begin to stop sleeping next to her and go about your bedtime routine as normal.

I found with our pup that once he had his jabs and was going for walks his behaviour changed a lot and he wasn’t so restless, but a lot of it is getting them into a routine, and settling in, both of which takes some time.

She's just a baby, missing her mum and her siblings. She needs warmth, love and comfort. These things take time. Just think if she was a human baby - thank goodness it won't take that long!

Enjoy it, it changes as they get older. We’ve got a cockerpoo and I honestly thought I’d never be able to shower on my own again.

They build confidence as they get older. You can start doing tiny alone time. But really your puppy is tiny now and needs love reassurance and you.

I don't want to give the impression that I blame my dog, because I absolutely don't! I just wish I hadn't got the crate training wrong from the start. I don't mind getting interrupted sleep at all, I just don't want to be doing the 'wrong' thing by her in the long term.

Viszlas are velcro dogs too by nature. So this is normal.
Be patient, have a good routine, but she's a tiny baby who wants to be with her family.
You can focus more on independence & not creating seperation anxiety when she's a few weeks older.

And I think crates are overrated

Vizslas are known as velcro dogs and this isn't something that changes much going into adulthood I'm afraid.

However I do think your expectations are hugely unrealistic - you're not going to get a full nights sleep or an un-interrupted day at work with a 9 week old puppy in the house. There's a big reason why it's recommended to take a good chunk of time off - we took a month between us to help our beagle settle and then he went to daycare while we worked (three days a week) and on the other four days, someone was home with him.

Getting a vizsla to sleep on their own in a crate is going to much harder than if you had, say, a Labrador or a more independent breed. They're Velcro dogs for a reason!

My cousin left hers once and it ate her mattress. Tried again not long after and it ate her sofa

I wouldn't introduce the crate until later. We were very much advised 'start as you mean to go on' with our puppy so persevered for far too long making her sleep away from us.
She will now not even take a long nap in a separate room and I will never be sure that we contributed to this in the early weeks but I think we did. If I had another puppy I would let them sleep cuddled up with me for at least the first two weeks after getting them home.

Thanks everyone, you've made me feel much better. She is utterly wonderful.
We had my previous dog from 14 weeks and she was a terrier, so I have never had these little puppy weeks before. I have been approaching her as I did my DD when she was a baby with loads of affection and cuddles.

I also don't expect uninterrupted sleep or work, I'm just trying to start to create some good habits that they may be achievable at some point in the future.

You really shouldn't be working, you need a good couple of weeks to fully focus on dog and toilet training and settling her in. Then introduce the schedule of working

Haha your post made me laugh OP! She is really an infant at this stage so don’t worry or be concerned that she’s a Velcro pup! We have a spaniel and myself and partner slept alternating nights beside his crate (closed door lol) for two weeks. After that I frequently would have to lie beside it until he settled before sneaking back into my bed once he was asleep. For weeks after that it was frequent crying and settling and sneaking back into bed, up for toilet break, sneaking back etc etc. He successfully slept in his crate until about 9 months at which point he was over it and now sleeps alone in lounge. I would HIGHLY recommend sticking with the crate and then sleeping in lounge rather than ever in bed with you because now our pup, despite growing up during lockdown and only knowing us WFH, doesn’t have separation anxiety and can so far (touch wood) be left for hours at a time no problem. Our neighbour with same breed let hers sleep in her bed and it can’t be left at the moment and they’re dealing with separation anxiety. I think having them successfully spend 8 hours alone overnight sets them up with the confidence to be alone in the day. Don’t worry about them being Velcro right now, that’s natural and not an indication of any issues to come. good luck and enjoy your pup! They grow up so fast and you’ll eventually miss your little shadow when they’re too lazy to follow you around anymore.

I'm only doing 3.5 hours a day and working when DH is not, so she isn't being ignored, I'm just trying to work out how we will keep her occupied when I do have to work more.

That’s exactly where the crate training will help. I’d pop her in the crate with it next to you whilst you work/they sometimes need to be almost forced to take nap time like a troublesome overtired toddler so it won’t hurt and she will get used to sleeping whilst you work. Will also help for when you do have to leave her at times so she doesn’t eat your sofa as above!

@RoSEbuds6

I'm only doing 3.5 hours a day and working when DH is not, so she isn't being ignored, I'm just trying to work out how we will keep her occupied when I do have to work more.

Honestly, your best bet will be doggy daycare or a dog walker. Vizslas don't do well on their own and are a breed prone to separation anxiety.

Even if you're working at home they'll need to be left in a safe, secure area so they don't eat your stuff

And if she likes to chew then antlers are great.
Our puppy also has one of those cuddlies that you can heat up with a heart beat (spoilt girl) and loves to listen to the posh radio 4 lady overnight

Puppies need to be encouraged to sleep enough, and sometimes this is up to 20 hours a day, so don’t worry about having to entertain her too much. Short bursts of play, then something to chew, bit of training, then sleep?

You can put her in her crate with the door shut but when she cries at night put out a hand to reassure her and gently sooth her

Some dogs (especially gun dogs) love the toys that have a heart beat in them, so this may encourage her to sleep on that.

Keep the crate close to you, let her know you are there and give her all the confidence she can have. You can not over love them at this point. A confident puppy will be a puppy that feels secure but this may take more time with some dogs than others.

Work at her pace.

heart beat toy

I have got a dog walker/day care lady lined up already, which I think she will love, crashing around the woods with some pals.

Re antlers, I've been trying to find some puppy ones, but they all seem a bit big, do you have the split ones or the little pointed ones?

The heated heart-beat toy sounds good, at present she likes to be cuddled to sleep and then we gingerly try to slide her off our laps so we can hang the washing out, or go to the loo!

She is great at sleeping though! Will come up and ask to be picked up, and then immediately snuggles into my chest and close her eyes. She is such a darling.

No picture? I only clicked for a look at the baby!