# First night



## Vizely (Mar 15, 2017)

Hello out there. We are getting our first V in May. So excited..and a little scared! I am hoping to get some feedback on peoples thoughts regarding the first night. Ive read many contraindicating opinions (not breed specific). I have read that you should put them in the crate the first night. And if you do that Ive read you can either keep them far away OR that you keep the crate in the room. Ive read another way for the first night is to have a dog bed beside your bed wth a leash so they do not wander away. The reasoning behind this was explained that the first day is so traumatizing from leaving their litter and being in a new environment and that the isolation of the crate might be too much. We do have a 3 hour trip home from the breeder so I am not sure how much time we will have when we get home to get the pup used to his crate. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I know I will be reaching out more in the future.
Thanks!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

You get different opinions, because different things work for different dogs. 
Some settle easier if they can't see you, and others feel more comforted if your near.
You just have to play with it some, until you figure it out.


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## karendm (Nov 19, 2015)

Congratulations on getting your first V! To be honest, the first few nights are most likely not going to be easy so be prepared!  The puppy may be so exhausted mentally that the first night may be ok, it's the nights following that will be a challenge! All I can recommend is that you start the way you want to keep going. It's easier if you don't question whether you should move the crate or let her sleep in her/his bed...then you change things and it takes more time for the dog to get used to it. Ultimately, your V will want to be under the covers in the bed with you so anything less than that will be reason to complain. I suggest you plan on sleeping close to where he/she will be for the first few nights. We chose to have our V sleep in her crate downstairs in the living room. She complained a lot! I slept on the couch a lot those first few months! She did get better eventually and now has no issues sleeping the whole night. I make it a point of getting her by 7am so she never whines to get out and she even gets to go back in bed with me for an hour on the weekend although when she was younger, I just let her sleep with me on the couch as I didn't want her to think the bed was an option. I warn you that these dogs are persistent...a trait we love in the V and at the same time a trait that can be exhausting! Good luck and have fun with this puppy time, it will go by fast so take lots of pictures.


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## Pippatheredvizsla (Mar 13, 2017)

That's so exciting! We got our little girl about 4 months ago and I can only tell you what worked for us. She was our first V and first puppy. We picked her up at the breeder and had an 8 hour drive home where she slept almost the whole way so we were a bit worried about when it came time to go to bed that night. We have a daytime crate in our living room where she stays while we are at work and we have a nighttime crate in our bedroom. The first night she whined a bit and my boyfriend slept on a mattress on the floor (right at the door of the crate). The whining probably only lasted 5-10 minutes and then she went to sleep. We had to wake up once to let her out that first night and got up with her around 5:30. That was the only night he slept on the floor. After that we slept in our bed with the crate a few feet away and the odd time she would whine a bit when we put her in there but our conversation seemed to soothe her and she would fall asleep within a few minutes. The first couple months we would get up once or twice to let her out. We ended up waking up at about 5:30-6 for the first few weeks and playing with her for 20 minutes or so before she would fall back asleep on the couch until about 7:30. At 4 months she is now sleeping through the night in her crate and getting up with my boyfriend at 6:30 to go to the bathroom and then comes in to bed with me until I get up. Some mornings she wakes up with me but most of the time she sleeps in until I go to work around 8. She is not a morning dog! On weekends she comes into our bed after she goes to the bathroom and sleeps in until 9/9:30. I think all dogs are different but we were insistent she slept in her crate from night 1 and now she doesn't whine at all. We waited awhile before letting her come into our bed because we didn't want her to have accidents and we didn't want her whining to come into our bed instead of sleeping in her crate (which she did do for a night or two at around 3.5 months but we didn't give in and she stopped). I totally agree with karendm that they are very persistent (I call it stubborn). Just don't give in to their whining but be open to trying different options if one isn't working for you. Biggest advice I can give is that if they are whining, don't let them out. Wait until they have calmed down to open the door, you don't want to give positive rewards for negative behavior.




From the reading I've done on here it totally depends on what you want. We didn't want our dog in our bed all night but were happy to have her in our bedroom so this was the best option for us. Lots of people let them sleep in the bed from night one and others like having them in different rooms. I do think that she likes being near us and hearing us talk calms her down however pick what you think will be best and give it a try. We also had a towel with her mom/littermates scent on it that we kept in her kennel for the first week. Not sure if it helped or not but it made us feel better after taking her away from her family. 


Goodluck with everything!


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## TSeymour (Feb 4, 2017)

We are getting our first V in May also. This thread is helpful!


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## Vizely (Mar 15, 2017)

thank you!! that makes sense to me. I just want to do what is best for him and start off on the right foot. Thank goodness for this website


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## vizlil (Aug 17, 2016)

Congratulations! As other people mentioned, be prepared but allow room for some surprises as well. We kennel-trained our pup, he is now 9 months old. I too found this forum EXTREMELY Helpful! 
There will be some crying/whinning, need to potty and night wakings during the first few nights. Once the pup gets used to his new home, things will get easier. 
I cannot say enough about how happy we are to kennel-train him. He seems to be content when we send him there, goes there happily waiting for his treat and stays there as long as we need him to, which is usually somewhere between 1-4 hours and during the night.
Good luck and don't forget to take lots of photos AND videos. They grow VERY fast, before you know it, you have a full grown vizsla (albeit a puppy still).


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## Gatsby2015 (Oct 26, 2015)

Congratulations! Our first vizsla is almost 2 and I agree that whichever you decide to do, to start out with that and stick with it because our vizsla, at least, is very much a creature of habit, and doesn't like change. He has slept in my bed since day one, but is happy to go in his crate while we are gone during the day. When I'd feel him stir as a puppy, I'd carry him down to the yard and set him in the grass. It's funny because he now almost always goes in that same spot. That seemed to work for us, he's been easy to housebreak. Best Wishes!


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## GunnV (Apr 19, 2017)

TSeymour said:


> We are getting our first V in May also. This thread is helpful!


Me 3. I guess May is the time of the V :grin


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## Anida (Jun 10, 2016)

I would definitely advise getting a puppy in the spring/summer if you are in an area that gets colder  . We had potty training issues due to getting Kaylee in December and she didn't want to be out in the snow/cold. She's great now just added to the potty training difficulties.


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## suzannethemom (Oct 27, 2015)

When we got our Vizsla two years ago, we were just as nervous and scared. I got the book PUPPY'S FIRST STEPS: the whole-dog approach to raising a happy, healthy, well-behaved puppy. It was like our bible. It teaches how to help your puppy adjust gently and peacefully. They recommended having the puppy sleep with you the first week while you crate train. It helps with bonding. It worked for us because our puppy was very scared and cried a lot the first day. By day 7, she was sleeping in her kennel, which we keep in our bedroom. Our feelings are that if there is a fire or emergency in the house, we can easily get to her. Also, if she is sick during the night, we are quickly alerted.


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## Michael Reit (Mar 14, 2017)

Great thread, and exactly what I needed to read after waking up from our first three fitful nights with our new V, Maggie. 

Quite similar stories to those posted here, we had about an 3 hour drive from the breeder to our home. She was obviously exhausted after the first day, as we went on quite a few walks. It also helped that she came from a rural area and we live bang in the middle of the city. She really had a culture shock. Coping really well, and she's now happy to go outside when we get her leash. 

The first night she slept in her crate in the living room, with me sleeping just a few feet away in our guest room. These rooms are connected by a large double door, so she could see and hear me. She slept through the entire night (11pm til 6am). We thought we lucked out. Not so much, it turned out!

The second night she whined right from the start. I took her for a walk before I put her in the crate and went to bed. Me still in the guest room. Now, I read a lot of advice about ignoring your dog when she start whining and barking (she's only 13 weeks but boy can she be loud!), but that just isn't an option for us. We live in an apartment and have neighbours on all but one side. There's no way I'm going to let her bark at 3am and have the wrath of our neighbours rain down on us. 

After initially ignoring her whining (which isn't so bad), I corrected her sternly when she went full bark-mode. Mind you, I only correct verbally, of course. I had to do this about twice until she settled down. She needed a potty break at 3am and then we repeated the procedure. Is this okay? Has anybody else on these forums had the same approach work long-term? I'm especially interested in hearing how other apartment dwellers coped 

On night three, I took her for a long walk before bed-time, about 45 minutes. This tired her out and she went straight to her crate. We then went to bed, me in the guest room still. All was fine until she woke up at 3am for a potty break. Did her business quickly and I put her back in her crate, this time with a chew treat. I thought that might help. Well, I was wrong  It only meant that she stayed awake for a lot longer to keep chewing until she decided she needed to whine and bark. 

This time I moved myself over to the couch right next to her. She continued to whine. I then tried something I haven't read about before, and I'm not sure if it'll work tonight but sharing it anyway. I started to breathe in and out real loud. It helped me settle down (I was becoming a little worried about our neighbours if she kept barking) and after a few minutes I heard Maggie settle down and sleep. 

So, this morning I had a bit of a break-down, questioning whether this'll go over and whether I'm doing things right. I'd really appreciate if anybody has tips to my approach! I really just want our little girl to be as happy during the night as she is during the day time! And, this'll pass, right? It's only day four!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

It sounds like she's dealing with her new home very well. I haven't owned one that didn't protest some to crate training. 
They've went from sleeping with a litter, to sleeping alone. That takes a adjustment period. 
Cash was my worst, when it came to crate training. But he has always been the most hard headed of the bunch. If I would have lived in a apartment at the time, he would have probably got me thrown out. But even rotten came around to sleeping in a crate. There was a night or two, I threatened to put the crate in the garage. Just because I was so dang tired.


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## Michael Reit (Mar 14, 2017)

Thanks *texasred*! Do you think it's a mistake not to ignore her? It seems all advice I've read insists I should ignore her.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

While I wouldn't want one to howl for hours, to some extent you have to ignore them. If we open the crate every time they whine. We teach them whining is the way to get out. It then continues, and can carry over to other areas. We are also trying to teach the puppy to settle on its own. And being quite is the release. 

The only time quite isn't the release, is when they wake up during the night to potty. We need to know when it's potty time.


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## Michael Reit (Mar 14, 2017)

Thanks again. I actually only open the crate when she needs to to pee, which I've found is around 3am (about 4 hours after going to sleep). The rest of the time she's in there during the night 11pm-6am. Up 'till that point she's also been quiet so I think we're on the right track! I feel we just need to get past that 3am point.


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## karendm (Nov 19, 2015)

I think you're doing great and yes it will pass! We live in a house but very close to neighbors on all sides and that was a huge worry for me because my girl could be loud!! I did correct her when she got too loud and it did seem to quiet her down some and I think that was ok. Of course you know not to let her out of the crate when she's making noise. When mine was young, I would set a timer for a couple of times during the night (yours is older once might work) and let her out to potty that way. It seemed to work well because she didn't get out after whining so it didn't reinforce bad behavior and also she was sleepy when I took her out, I did not talk to her as I took her out to potty and then swiftly put her back in the crate so she was still sleepy from having just woken up. They do learn to accept the crate eventually so hang in there!


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## Michael Reit (Mar 14, 2017)

Thank you Karen! We followed your tip on setting the alarm a little ahead of when we'd expect her to wake up.

It worked!  My girlfriend had 'couch-duty' last night and she just picked Maggie up from her crate, still groggy and took her outside. She peed and my girlfriend rushed her back inside with minimal fuss or interaction. She then slept comfortably until we got up at 6am.

Here's hoping she'll be awesome again this night  I guess the next step will be moving away from the couch in a few nights.


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## gumpo (May 9, 2017)

My V is just over 2 years now and the first few weeks were torture for both of us. He hated being downstairs and would cry for the whole night for at least 2 weeks. Once I'd got rid of my crate he settled more easily but was cold a lot and slept better with a jumper on. My advice is to be strong or you will end up with separation issues later and that's even harder to deal with.


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