It’s only night 2 and I’m struggling

[nacadee]

@yeshuafollower I ignored the crying and did hourly potty trips the first couple of nights, then 2 hourly for the next couple, then 3. After about 5 days, if I woke up from my alarm and heard no crying then I'd go back to sleep until the next alarm. You could get a nanny cam and check to see if she's asleep from your room without waking her if she is.
I would avoid using the crying as your prompt to take her out as she'll quickly figure out that's what she needs to do to get your attention.

 

[christiangal2015]

@yeshuafollower Hi! I am in almost the exact same situation as you, this morning is my third morning of sleep deprived puppy adjusting and holy heck and I stressed, crying, and truly wondering if I should take him back (while also knowing I ultimately do NOT want to do that in the long run). No amount of reading and researching and trying to tap back into my childhood with dogs has helped. Being able to come here and find posts from others in the same place, and then replies from older puppy parents saying it gets better, is the thing keeping me going right now. We need a “puppy blues” support group

 

[yeshuafollower]

@christiangal2015 Yes we do!! It’s so hard. No amount of research could prepare me for how mentally draining sleep exhaustion is. I knew I wouldn’t sleep, but that doesn’t prepare you to actually do it. It’s a struggle. And I totally agree, I feel soooo much better after reading comments of people who were in my situation but are now doing better. It’s like there’s light at the end of the tunnel after all lol.

 

[adosdall]

@yeshuafollower Of course she cries and howls. Your baby is terrified being separated from mom and litter mates. She has never slept alone in her life. There is a time to crate train but it's not now.

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/training/sleeping-with-your-new-puppy/

 

[pazuzil]

@yeshuafollower I’m at the same place as you. My boy had never been in a crate before, so we’re having to work up to that. But he has a pen attached to the crate so we’re starting there.

Last night one thing that helped me was sitting next to him holding a bully stick for him to chew on while he settled. I also gave him a couple of treats.

This was 3:30 in the morning and he was wild. It took 42 minutes to settle and sleep.

 

[yeshuafollower]

@pazuzil Somehow the pen makes it worse for her. It’s like she has more room to throw a fit lol. But, I feel your pain. It’s so hard. We are in this together!

 

[pazuzil]

@yeshuafollower Haha yeah. I have started timing how long it takes him to settle because I realize my sense of time is really off. The middle of the night crazies did take a long time, although he wasn’t really crazy for more than a few minutes. I’ve also realized sitting quietly with him works best, because when I talk to him he thinks it’s time to play.

 

[abusedrugtreatment]

@yeshuafollower I may have skipped over this… but sounds like you’re puppy was living in a different time zone?

 

[yeshuafollower]

@abusedrugtreatment Yes but only one hour behind, so it almost makes less sense

 

[rjnavarrete]

@yeshuafollower Absolutely ZERO judgements here, OP. This sounds just like my first nights too!

A couple of things I can recommend:

• if your pup can go to sleep when it cannot see you, maybe having the crate in another room may help? Then the conditions will be the same for naps as they are at night. I know everyone says "next to the bed" and whatever, but gotta adapt to your individual puppy!
• i used to play Relaxing Music for Dogs (YouTube) on my tablet in the room at night. My pup really enjoys music and so this helped her a lot.
• at one point, every time my pup cried we would go outside to the toilet, wait and then back into the crate. I think this deterred her from doing it as she didn't like being taken out to the cold so much.

Don't get me wrong, my 18 week old 100% still grizzles when she is asked to sleep in her crate at night but now it's down to a medium level grizzle, and she will soon go to sleep before waking me at 6-7am with a toilet cry.

Good luck OP. What you are feeling is completely normal! It will pass and start getting so much better.

Edit: also highly suggest looking up the 3-3-3 rule for dogs. Your pup is mentally still unsure where it is, who you are and it's probably feeling a bit scared in a strange place.