Please help!! So stressed and confused :(


hannah8288

New Member
Hi,

Myself and my partner purchased an 8 week old miniature dachshund puppy 4 days ago, and are having some difficulties which I'm not sure are normal.

Our little man is very happy in his new home when he is around us. He plays lots, eats and drinks well, and is getting better at using his training pads. He is also becoming more settled at night when in his crate in the kitchen, however cannot be left alone during the day. Even after being along in his crate for a few seconds, he starts to whimper, and after about 20 seconds this turns to barking and almost screaming after a while. It is not that he hates his crate, he actually seems to quite like it. It has plenty of blankets and a couple of toys, and when we let him out of it to toilet he often just jumps straight back in. He eats in there happily and will even play in there by himself as long as we are around, but as soon as we leave he goes absolutely crazy, to the point that when we return he is shaking a drooling :(

We have tried leaving him in there for just a minute, but by this point he is already yapping, so we feel that returning to him would just teach him the wrong thing. We then get stuck though as it will get to his feed time, or toilet time and we have to let him out. This makes it feel like we are just giving in to him but because he can't settle himself we have no option. The longest we have left him to see if he will settle is about an hour and a half, but by this point he was really traumatised.

It is also not purely the crate that is the problem, as he gets equally as distressed if just confined to the kitchen area or left in a room by himself.

Please could somebody give me some advice as I am really finding it emotionally draining hearing him cry every time i leave, even if its just for a few minutes, and i am really struggling to know what to do.
 

CaseyKC

Active Member
At only eight weeks old, he has probably never been alone in his whole life. He is used to being with his mother and litter mates. Now, all of a sudden, he is in a strange place, with different sounds and smells, he doesn't know where his mother and siblings are and he is all alone. He is scared, lonely, and bored. Make the crate a pleasant place for him when you can't be home, but let him socialize and bond with you when you are there. He should not be crated while you are at home.
 

BBRex

New Member
Our girl struggled with the crate, too. She's now almost 5 months and is just coming around to being comfortable with it.

Make sure his crate is someplace familiar and where you spend time, not in a corner or room where you and he never go. We put a cover over the crate, too. A couple of old towels were sacrificed to make a comfortable bed that we could still wash, then used a third to prop up and make a little back stop for her to snuggle into. Then we used Sentry calming spray on the towels. You give it a quick spray, and it really seems to help. The drops with the little lamb are good, too. (Don't get the room diffuser.) I'm sure a puppy would like something with your smell, too. Then we put on some soothing music to help cover up the sounds of outside. Then just keep working with him.

Our puppy was skittish in general, and we found a place that works specifically to socialize puppies. The first class was a disaster, but she quickly grew in confidence, and that seems to have helped her in the crate, too.

Good luck!
 

Penny

New Member
Hi there! How's it going?
Have you talked to the breeder for some suggestions?
I hope there's pics of the baby.
 

BBRex

New Member
Update on the crate -- our girl is five and a half months now and she loves her crate. She recently started going in on her own. She used to want me to hold her when she napped, and now she just goes to the crate.

I hope your pup is taking to the crate now.
 

Rlblanchette

New Member
My doxie had problems at night in the crate too he was scared so we put his crate in our room on top of my night stand. He calmed down because he was able to see us and would go to sleep. When we would leave to go to work we got a baby play pen for him put his create in the pen (it was big enough) so that he would get used to it as his little house. He seemed to get used to the routine. Now he is older so we just leave him out I give him a treat and tell him to stay on the couch. At night he goes in his create on his own and I just close the door when I go to bed and left him out of he has to pee. Overall there isn't a right or wrong way it just takes time puppies are like babies over time they grow up and get easier. It's worth it dachshunds are great dog companions .
 

penbh

New Member
Hi!
I feel your pain with this one my little one was exactly the same. I used to leave her in the living room to sleep and she would cry all night. I didn't sleep for weeks.
What solved it for me was putting the crate in the bedroom and she's slept in there ever since.
We did loads of training with the crate, lots of "in your beds!" and "outs", lots of treats.
We didn't close the door for a while either and slowly built that in to the routine - just touching the door and throwing the treat at first, until I could close and lock the door.
After this I graduated to sitting on the bed before opening the crate, then turning my back for a few minutes. It took about 2 weeks of doing it every day until I could leave the room without her crying.

When I had to leave her for work etc I just had to close the door and run because I felt horrendous when she cried.
Eventually, and I mean it took about 8 months, she is finally okay and I can leave her at home. I usually come back every 4 hours but she's been okay for up to 8 before.
It will take a lot of time and effort (I was a nervous wreck thinking she would be scarred for life) but eventually she will be okay. Pm me if you want to talk! X
 

Tikki

Active Member
Reading back, the OP was a year ago but has posted since and I was pleased to see that her pup seems to be fine in her crate now.



I had never used a crate before but was advised not to feed the puppy in it, or even leave water in it, as she would let me know when she wanted. And only to keep the crate where she would be for the night. As she was barely three-weeks old and had to be bottle fed, and her crate was [and still is] in my bedroom, the slightest "eep" woke me. The same as my children woke me when they were newborns and needed nursing.



The suggestion was to put two soft toys in her crate - they actually were my beloved epi's favourite toys and probably still smelled of her, plus a shirt of mine that had been worn and was waiting to be washed. And at 16 months old she is now happy to go in her crate at night, but with no toys. She knows she will just has a small bikki and races into her crate waiting for it. Bribery to get a dog into a crate? Well if she is sitting in her crate waiting for her bikki and once eaten curls up on the blanket at her sleeping end of the crate, is that bribery?
 
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