We were so well prepared... at least that's what we thought xD

[p1saint2]

On Saturday we got our 9 week old Cockapoo Puppy Loki. She is an amazing and cute dog, but just not at all what we expected. We watched so many dog training and puppy videos, read books etc. and we had a "great" plan that involved positive crate training and a dog pen to give her a safe place, learn being alone and make the management easier for us and prevent accidents from happening when we won't have time for 100% puppy watching.

So on day 1, I did some feeding and playing in and out the crate and she was fine with it. But the moment I closed it, all hell broke loose. It was not only whining, she was frantic! Barking, scratching on the gate etc. Unfortuantely we were using a soft, Material crate first and she managed to get free by moving the zipper (defenitely our fault). We tried later again with a different one but I guess the damage was already done there. It went on for minutes and not at all like the mediocre whining we saw in the youtube videos, it's a HUGE stress for her. Same with the pen, she doesn't like at all to be separated from us.

So we stopped with the crate and closed pen on day 1. The crate is within the pen and now always open, so is the pen. We feed her in it, praise her when she goes in (which she started doing again on day 2 but only a few seconds) but in general, she prefers her dog bed way more - also located in the pen right next to the crate.

The first 2 days were hell. We were so stressed and couldn't eat because none of our plans were working. But when we changed the tactic it got so much better. We now let her basically walk freely (of course always watching) and went back to our normal routines, that of course include a lot of puppy time now, but also cooking, house hold, watching tv. and she is very happy to just hang out with us! she can relax 3h with us next to the couch. Basically if we relax, she will too.
There is no destruction, no peeing or biting. just a happy and lazy puppy next to our feet or on them. and she also listens!

During the night we move the dog bed next to our bed and she also stays there until 6:30am for the first potty walk. Only occasional whining during the night and checking if we are still there but she is calm the minute I let my arm hang out the bed, just for a second.

At the moment she IS very calm but super focused on me and like my shadow, even if I ignore her. Slowly getting better with my husband on day 4, she was scared of him because he is quite big But in 2 days she will be alone with him for 2h. and in 3 weeks I will go back to the office 2 days a week where she is also with him.

So my question - is it ok to do it like that?
It is important for us to have a dog later on that is calm, confident and can chill on her own and even be alone for a couple of hours.
I'm worried that letting her chill next to us will make her clingy?

Sorry for the quite long text And yes, we are first time dog owners

 

[hmarie30]

@p1saint2 She’s only 9 weeks old. She’s a baby, and that’s how babies are. They’re needy, want attention, are playful and destructive, and that’s okay.

You’ve had her for less than a week, and it’s going to take much much longer than that to get her to used to her crate. Crate training takes time, so continue what you were doing with feeding her in it and just letting her be comfortable in and around it.

Dogs need structure, and you have to sometimes enforce it.

Start small and make crate training a game. Put her in there, shut the door and immediately reward. And then very very slowly increase the amount of time she’s in there. Play these games for a couple of days, and then eventually, walk out of the room. Increase the duration you’re not in the room slowly and she’ll get used to it.

Give her something to do in the crate. Get a kong and fill it up with her food. Look up how to do this on YouTube. If she’s busy and gnawing on something tasty in the crate, she’ll eventually get used to staying in there.

You’re on the right path. But you have to sometimes just ignore all the crying. They’re tougher than they seem to be, but you also have to be patient.

It’s a marathon, so take it really really slow and focus on the long term. It’s not all going to work immediately, but you’ll see results.