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The doghouse

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Original poster

New puppy

27 replies

buntybanana · 17/01/2022 08:20

We're picking up our new puppy in a few days and I'm a first time dog owner (have always had cats before). The 12 week puppy currently sleeps in the human bed with his doggo parents and his human parents, but we'd like to have him sleeping in his basket downstairs. Is this going to be super difficult at first and does anyone have any tips for the transition? I imagine he's going to find it stressful at first being away from everyone he knows. A friend suggested I sleep downstairs next to his basket for a few nights? Thanks for advice!

OP posts:
JustJam4Tea · 17/01/2022 08:31

Sleep downstairs with him for a few days. He’s tiny, taken away from everyone and everything he knows…just write off that week. It’ll be worth it in the end.

You can either take him out if he needs the loo, he’ll wake you up, or put puppy pads down at night and concentrate on daytime house training.

You’ll need to be at home the first 2 to3 weeks pretty much all the time.

Buy the happy puppy book and read it before he arrives, it’s so helpful and has lots of tips to prepare.

The FB site dog training advice and support is amazing on new puppies.

Huntswomanonthemove · 17/01/2022 08:34

Are you using a crate? We used one for our puppy. He travelled home in it, all set up with a very cosy bed and toys. He had a soft toy that you could warm up in the microwave and this stayed warm for ages.

The first night, we left him settled in his crate in a corner in the kitchen. We left the radio on for him and a small heater. He cried for about 20 minutes but then he settled. I set my alarm for 2.30 am and took him outside for a wee. He went back to sleep straight away.

No way would I have done anything else. It just prolongs the puppy settling.

Photo required please.

languagelover96 · 17/01/2022 08:57

Photos please too and you are in my prayers.

Original poster
buntybanana · 17/01/2022 10:24

Thank you everyone!! Much noted. I've heard the first few weeks is pretty much a write off haha - I'll prepare myself.

OP posts:
Original poster
buntybanana · 17/01/2022 10:25

This is him!

New puppy
OP posts:
youreabeluga · 17/01/2022 10:29

Join this group:

www.facebook.com/groups/dogtrainingadviceandsupport/?ref=share

Read the unit/guide about puppy's first nights.

Puppy is a tiny baby and needs to be with you at first. Don't leave puppy to cry it out, it's not fair.

youreabeluga · 17/01/2022 10:30

Good luck and congratulations! He's beautiful. Smile

Huntswomanonthemove · 17/01/2022 10:56

@youreabeluga

Join this group:

www.facebook.com/groups/dogtrainingadviceandsupport/?ref=share

Read the unit/guide about puppy's first nights.

Puppy is a tiny baby and needs to be with you at first. Don't leave puppy to cry it out, it's not fair.

It's not a baby it's a puppy. Our puppy adjusted really well to his new home, without him being with us. Puppies are ready to leave their family, when we adopt them.

Start as you mean to go on.

Lovely puppy @buntybanana

MintyGreenDream · 17/01/2022 11:19

Weve had our puppy for 3 weeks and the first few days were hard as we kept her in our room but she kept waking like a newborn for comfort.This was fine as she is a baby but we wanted her in the kitchen the same as our adult dog who is crate trained.
After a week i bought a large crate big enough to put her bed,puppy pad and food and soace to move around and water in and started a bedtime routine.

Wee/poo
Puppy biscuit as i closed the crate door
Blanket over the crate
seperation anxiety music for dogs on youtube on the Google Home,low volume.

Worked like a charm and sleeps 10 hours without crying Smile

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 17/01/2022 16:50

It's not a baby it's a puppy. Our puppy adjusted really well to his new home, without him being with us. Puppies are ready to leave their family, when we adopt them.

They are still baby animals who have been taken away from everything they've ever known. If yours settled downstairs alone from day one, you were very lucky - many puppies take days if not weeks to learn to settle by themselves overnight.

Huntswomanonthemove · 17/01/2022 17:05

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

It's not a baby it's a puppy. Our puppy adjusted really well to his new home, without him being with us. Puppies are ready to leave their family, when we adopt them.

They are still baby animals who have been taken away from everything they've ever known. If yours settled downstairs alone from day one, you were very lucky - many puppies take days if not weeks to learn to settle by themselves overnight.

Anthropomorphism, is a great word and I think many people are guilty of going down that path. I know I do sometimes.

I've had three puppies, all different breeds and we've always started as we meant to go on. There's a real danger of having to start all over again when you change circumstances for a puppy. It's far better to get them used to where you want them to sleep, right from the start.

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 17/01/2022 19:23

Maybe some people don't intend to ignore their puppy's/dog's cries for help in the future so start as you mean to go on isn't leaving them to cry from day one.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 17/01/2022 19:24

I've had three puppies, all different breeds and we've always started as we meant to go on. There's a real danger of having to start all over again when you change circumstances for a puppy. It's far better to get them used to where you want them to sleep, right from the start.

We started as we meant to go on as well, which meant not leaving our puppy alone when he wasn't ready, and not ignoring him when he cried in the night.

bollocksthemess · 17/01/2022 19:48

If he’s slept in a human bed with his human and dog parents it’ll be quite a change if you want him to sleep alone.
My litter spent the nights without their mum from 6 weeks, and slept between four crates with the doors open at night so they were in pairs. Then from 7 weeks they had their doors shut and we got up every time one cried to let them out for a wee. By 8 weeks they were sleeping 10pm until 5am shut in their crates with a friend each. They went home with their own smelly blanket and toy.
Now at 10 weeks they’re all established in their new homes and all are sleeping through 10pm-7am in crates, including mine that I kept.
I think you’ll have to sleep downstairs with yours for a while until he settles in, it would be brutal to crate him and expect him to sleep on his own without any preparation.

Huntswomanonthemove · 17/01/2022 19:53

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

I've had three puppies, all different breeds and we've always started as we meant to go on. There's a real danger of having to start all over again when you change circumstances for a puppy. It's far better to get them used to where you want them to sleep, right from the start.

We started as we meant to go on as well, which meant not leaving our puppy alone when he wasn't ready, and not ignoring him when he cried in the night.

Puppies mature so much faster than babies. When you get your puppy, it will be ready to leave it's mother and it's perfectly possible to settle a puppy quite easily. You might get a bit of crying at night but the perfect way to make this worse, is to respond. Provided your puppy has a nice warm, comfortable bed and they've been out for a wee and a poo, they will settle.

When they first come home, at night, set your alarm and get up and take them outside for the toilet. This will stop the puppy from developing a habit of crying in the night.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 17/01/2022 20:00

@Huntswomanonthemove

Well, I raised my puppy in a way that suited me (which meant not leaving him to cry and not leaving him alone in a strange house) and it worked out just fine :)

XelaM · 17/01/2022 20:15

Puppies are very similar to babies (I've had both) and just like I wouldn't leave my newborn baby to cry for 20 minutes, I wouldn't leave my puppy to cry himself to sleep. Never used a crate and our puppy has never destroyed anything in the house and slept through the night very quickly

XiCi · 17/01/2022 20:39

you might get a bit of crying at night but the perfect way to make this worse, is to respond. Provided your puppy has a nice warm, comfortable bed and they've been out for a wee and a poo, they will settle
I really, really wish I hadn't listened to bullshit advice like this when I got my puppy. It made the whole settling process so much harder and was awful for us and our pup.

Huntswomanonthemove · 17/01/2022 21:04

FFS puppies are not the same as human babies. A human being lives for about sixty years longer than a dog. Puppies mature at a much faster rate than a human baby. They are ready for their new homes when we adopt them.

Go figure.

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 17/01/2022 21:41

If they are so ready, then why do you think they are crying? I genuinely don't understand how you can ignore crying! I'm so glad we responded to ours when he needed us.

youreabeluga · 17/01/2022 22:02

You might get a bit of crying at night but the perfect way to make this worse, is to respond.

I really don't mean to hurt your feelings but this is really old school thinking and things have moved on. Very much like how things have moved on with raising babies. We know now that letting babies and puppies cry it out doesn't do them any good long term. I'm really sorry as you probably don't want to hear that having raised three puppies the way that was "right" at the time, but things move on and we know better now. Puppies need their needs met and that includes someone responding to their cries.

OP I'm sorry if my initial post was a bit blunt, I know you gave no indication of letting puppy cry. I was just trying to explain how much puppy is likely to need you in those early days so you didn't have unrealistic expectations of him sleeping through in his basket, especially given his current sleeping arrangements. But he'll get there! Good luck.

Largethighsbadeyes · 17/01/2022 22:35

I would be concerned about how good a breeder this was tbh. Allowing the puppy to sleep in their bed is not preparing it for life outside their home. Screams of inexperience

Thunderclapnewwoman · 17/01/2022 22:53

It’s hard to believe they would have the puppies in their bed, just imagine the mess. Puppies aren’t house trained.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 18/01/2022 06:30

@Thunderclapnewwoman

It’s hard to believe they would have the puppies in their bed, just imagine the mess. Puppies aren’t house trained.
We had our puppy in the bed from day one and he never, ever had a single accident overnight.

Every time he stirred, one of us got up and took him out to the toilet.

The best way to toilet train a puppy is to be there when they wake up so they don't have the opportunity to go in their beds or on the floor.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 18/01/2022 06:32

@Huntswomanonthemove

FFS puppies are not the same as human babies. A human being lives for about sixty years longer than a dog. Puppies mature at a much faster rate than a human baby. They are ready for their new homes when we adopt them.

Go figure.

They can be ready to be away from their mum and with their new family and and not be ready to be left alone at night.

Your way of thinking and training is now considered quite old-fashioned - it's now recommended that you don't leave puppies to cry and howl in the night. You comfort them, look after them and reassure them instead.