I Need Help With My New Puppy
 

Since there are a lot of dog lovers on the board I figured this might be the best place for me to go for help. I got my wife a puppy for X-Mas and it's the cutest thing in the world. 7 weeks old Daschund girl named Chloe. My wife has owned a dog before but I have never. The dog is great while we are with her but as soon as we leave the room she starts crying and whimpering like someone is torturing her. If we put her in her kennel she starts crying and whimpering again. As soon as we show up in the room or take her out of the kennel she quiets down and she's an angel. She curls up next to us and sleeps. I read in books and talked to some of our friends and they all say you have to let the dog cry and whimper and not to give in to it. Is this true ? Is there any other way ? This crying and whimpering is breaking our hearts. Also if anyone would share their own experiences about dog training it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance...

wow! that's a sweet dog you had there.

I used to breed dogs and often found that if you leave an article of your clothing with your scent on it with the pup then that often clams them. Don't use a precious clothing article though, as it'll get chewed up or worse.

I've often heard tell that wrapping an old fashioned ticking clock up in an old bath towel and putting it in the pups basket can remind the pup of it's mothers heartbeat. Don't know how true that is though - and obviously don't put a plastic one in with the pup as again it'll get chewed.

Unless you suspect something is genuinely wrong with the pup then your best bet is to harden your heart and let her cry. If you keep going downstairs to her then she'll soon learn that the more noise she makes, the more it'll get her some attention.

Don't worry too much. Puppies break their hearts for some attention at night - she will get over it, though you may not get a whole lot of sleep for a while.

That actually worked, thanks Rosie ! :) I put an old wrist watch into a sock and then put the sock into her kennel. Then my wife put her shirt that she was wearing all day on top of the kennel so the pup could smell the scent of her. It actually worked. There was no crying just a little whimpering a few times at night. When that happened we got up, took her our and let her potty then she went back into her kennel and slept some more. At 6am (after peeing) she came back to bed with us and she was so happy (and quiet) that I've managed to squeeze in another two hours of sleep. This night was much better then the first night.

One thing I've always been curious about... how exactly do you potty train a pet? Trial and error? Reward and punishment? A big sign?

we never punished the pup when he peed in the room, just kept a good eye on him and when he woke up after a nap we immediately went out and rewared him when he peed or took a shit. Also we just took him outside every 2 hours the first few weeks. He only peed in the house once and we never had any problems at all :)

:1orglaugh thats god damn awesome

If it's not crying for food or cos it's hurt then leave it and let it cry, it will eventually get tired and get used to being alone or you'll be stuck with a dog you can't leave anywhere or do anything...
Gotta be cruel to be kind.

Glad it worked.... here's hoping all your nights be quiet ones from now on :)

Rosie hit the nail on the head perfectly. Been there done that a number of times. :)

Good luck with the new member of your family.

I've always wondered about that myself but now I can see for myself. When Chloe (our pup) came into the world she was in a box with the rest of her brothers and sisters that had newspaper in it. The breeder told us that when we take her home she is trained to go on the newspaper. At home we lined half of our kitchen with newspaper and when we felt it was time for her to go we put her down on the newspaper. The first time she missed but we pointed to the newspaper to indicate to do it over there. The next time when it was time for her to pee or potty she did it on the newspaper. When she gets it right we praise her verbally and pet her. Also everytime she get it right we take a piece of the newspaper up. She's been home with us for the past three days now and instead of laying down 7 or 8 sheets of newspaper we only put down now 3. When there is only one piece of paper left we can put it on a wee-wee pad to get her used to going there..

Unfortunately this is true. It doesn't matter how much it breaks your heart or how bad you feel when you her your pup cry you have to let her finish on her own. A good pair of earplugs always help. It's tough but when the dog stop and understands it will be better for everyone.

with my first dog when I was younger I had a stuff animal dog and we put it in the cage with him. It shut him up.

As for leaving it alone, yes you have to. It's like a baby. Once they learn that if they cry you will run to it, it will continuesly cry. Eventually if you ignore the dog it will learn your not going to come and give up.

Once they learn that if they cry you will run to it, it will continuesly cry. Eventually if you ignore the dog it will learn your not going to come and give up.