Problems with Puppy
We brought our first Cardigan, Cooper, home one week ago. He is now 9 weeks old. He is such a sweet, happy little puppy and looking into his pretty blue eyes just melts your heart. But… we are having some problems.
Cooper screams all night in his crate. Not just barking or whining – his is screaming. I imagine he does this when he is in the crate during the daytime too. We have tried everything I can think of. We tried a soft crate right next to my side of the bed with the opening on the top so I can reach in and try to soothe him. He has chewed a hole in it and got his little head stuck so no more soft crate. We brought in his metal crate and I have tried sleeping on the floor next to it. Covered, not covered, treats, toys, rawhides, Kongs with the yummy stuff inside. Nothing is working. Nothing will distract him. My husband sleeps with earplugs in now just so he can function at work. I admit that one night I did pull him up on the bed with us after a full straight hour of screaming because I didn’t know what else to do. I try to wear him out completely before bedtime so that he is exhausted enough to sleep. Sometimes this works – until two or three hours later he wakes up needing to potty. I have to Pems, ages 7 and 8, that we raised from puppies and I don’t remember ever having this much difficulty with crating. I know it has only been a week and it takes time but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
We also think that there is a possibility that Cooper is deaf. Sometimes he seems like he responds to certain sounds, but most of the time there is nothing. We even tried dropping a book on the ground while he was eating and he didn’t startle at all. We have a vet appointment tomorrow to test him. I don’t know if that would have some impact on the crating problem. If he is deaf than I can see how being locked up in a small crate could be frightening for him, especially in the dark.
Has anyone else had this much difficulty crating?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Comment
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Comment by Laura Rochette on September 2, 2011 at 10:48am
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Following the advice of a trainer I'm working with, I use hand signals, and my Lucy responds to them wonderfully well.
Have you tried using a DAP? A pheromone infuser, plugged into the wall, that helps calm the puppy (reminds puppy of dog-mom). I used it when I first brought Lucy home and I believe it did help her at night as she slept in her crate (next to my bed).
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Comment by Stephani Shively on August 31, 2011 at 7:18pm
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Update on Cooper
We took him into the vet yesterday to check on his hearing. The vet says that he can hear some but his hearing is definitely not what it should be. He should be startled by loud noises directly behind him, instead, he kind of looks toward the noise. The vet says our best bet is to use hand signals as well as voice commands and over time we will be able to figure out how much he can hear. Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as putting a set of head phones on him and asking him to raise his paw when he hears the noise.
As for the crating at night… we took the top off of our metal crate so it seems more open to him. It seems like it is helping a little. I actually got almost 5 hours of sleep last night!! Also, we have ordered an xpen so hopefully that will help too. I just keep reminding myself – time and patience!
Thank you everyone for your kindness and support! I am so glad I found this site
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Comment by Jane on August 31, 2011 at 11:05am
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So how did the vet visit go? Did he/she think Cooper is deaf?
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Thank you everyone for your kind words and advise! We might have to try an xpen. That is what he was in with his littermates. Maybe he just doesn't like the "den" feeling of a crate. I know that Cardis have a different personality than Pems so maybe it is just something that will work itself out in time.
I am really hoping the vet tells me that Cooper is just stubborn and not deaf. But I have been reading up about signing for dogs and I am confident that we will make it work if he is deaf. He's a really smart little boy - he already sits for treats!
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I would try putting in a shirt you've worn with him and see if that helps any. If all else fails, maybe he would be more comfortable in an xpen near your bed? You could probably buy a cheap linoleum remnant to put underneath if you're worried about accidents. I will admit I was terrible at crate training Henry because he cried so much and he ended up sleeping with us. We did clean up accidents for quite a while in the bedroom though.
I do have to say, when we first got Luke we thought he might be deaf as well. He barely responded to us at all. We would intentionally make loud startling noises behind him and he wouldn't even blink. He didn't respond excitedly to a high pitched "puppy puppy puppy!" like you would assume a puppy would. It turns out he is not deaf at all, but we were so used to the typical happy friendly pem personality that he was a real shock for us.
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Comment by Jane Christensen on August 29, 2011 at 7:31pm
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I would also try the arm near the crate and a shirt of yours...I never have had a big problem in this area. Once he's crated...leave him. If he is deaf that could be what this is about...I have a girlfriend with a deaf Doxie and they use sign language which in a way we do with hand signals and training...good luck at the vet tomorrow:) Let us know what they say!
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Comment by LaRissa L. Head on August 29, 2011 at 7:09pm
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We had a terrible time crate training our puppy Oona.
It started getting better when we put her crate beside the bed and i would drape my arm down until she fell asleep. Also a used a night shirt of mine and wrapped a ticking alarm clock in it. It's supposed to sound like a beating heart. Oona would still whine in the morning (6am) because she was bored, but she would fall asleep and quickly adjusted to being in the living room next to Roslyns kennel.
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Comment by Peggy Woods on August 29, 2011 at 6:59pm
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oh my I have never heard of a pup screaming like that! Well not much to offer until you get the vet's opinion. If Cooper is deaf your vet should have suggestions - maybe a trainer that has experience with hearing-impaired dogs. I have not had any experience personally, so can only offer moral support. Keep us posted as all of us here do care.
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