# Progress report - Days 1-4



## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

I'm attempting to quantify the changes in my Pup since her arrival. Not for bragging rights - I'm positive other pups are farther-along...that is to say, they have much more-capable owners...nevertheless, this is our journey.

The past four days taxed me in ways I was not equipped to understand FIVE days ago.

Since bringing Aoife (Eve-ah) home she's changed. Not so much physically, but I can see lightbulbs - okay...CANDLES...flickering in her eyes.

Biggest changes are in the areas of Potty and Bedtime.

Because my wife works nights, and I leave early-morning we haven't been able to do the 'leave her in the crate crying like she's being dipped in hot oil until she calms down and sleeps alone'. We can't afford the sleepless night. So - Since night one we are progressing with her slowly.

Night one: Aoife slept one-step-up from our sunken livingroom. I slept with her out there. To get to sleep, she curled up beside me. After a few minutes I placed her in an open-door plastic crate. I set my alarm for two-hour-intervals. By the time each alarm sounded, while I slept, puppy moved from the crate back to me. Outside in the potty area she'd sit and look at me. I'd make a few kissy noises causing Aoife to stand and prance. After 5 minutes or so, she might pee. Maybe. When she'd eliminate, or I became satisfied she was empty I'd give the command "Go inside!" as I steer her through the garage to the door leading to the house. At the door mat, I coaxed her to sit and look at me with the command "eyes!".

Night two: My daughter slept beside a play-pen/kennel, with puppy in her open-door crate. While puppy was falling asleep, we'd put pup into her doggy-bed - but leave her beside us. As sleep fell harder, we'd pick up the bed - with her inside...sorta like a Taco, where the bed is the shell, and she's the meat and fixings - and place the whole thing in the crate. Aoife would sleep fine there - but occasionally wake and make her way back to the 'fenceline' between my daughter and she. I don't know how potty breaks went because my poor 12yo daughter was too tired to remember. 

Night three: Same deal with my daughter, however, we placed pup onto her bed, then into her crate before Aoife fell asleep. 

Brings us to last night. 

During the day my wife worked with pup to become even more familiar with the crate. My wife would give chew toys/snacks to Aoife while the pup was in the crate; she'd lead the pup to the crate with the snack, but keep the snack in a closed-fist until pup was inside of her own will. 

Last night/evening, each time pup would try to nap I placed pup inside the crate (now moved to the livingroom) - butt-first, so pup is facing out. Thanks to this post, as I placed puppy inside, I stuck my head in, and gave Aoife a couple kisses and soothy-smoothy talk. Worked like a charm. With that I shut the door of the crate and turned my attention away. Puppy slept/stayed there for hours at a time. 

About 9pm, I gave puppy a bit of water, and a snack, and placed her in the crate. 15 minutes later, I removed her to potty. She went to the pee/poo area and within about 30 seconds eliminated. When done she looked up at me, while seated. "inside!" I said. Put darted for the door to the garage, ahead of me. When I got there Pup was seated, and looking up at me. I opened the door and invited her inside. 

All these things seem silly, or tiny - but to see her actually learning...yeah, I'm a little giddy about that. 

Friday night we'll start the suffering as we leave her for progressively-long times in the crate. I can almost imagine the 'OMG!! YOU LEFT ME!" crying she'll do as I put her to bed about 9:30p, and leave her, except for potty breaks, to learn to be better in another room from the family. Who would have thought such a little body could make such HUGE sounds? We quite honestly NEED her to go at least an hour or so alone, as i leave for work at 4:40a, and the kids don't wake up until 6am to get ready for school. Ideally, I'll get to sleep (gasp!) in a real bed, with only a couple-few trips per night for potty breaks, until Aoife gets older. 


So - this slow-but steady move to all-night-crate may not work as efficiently as possible, but we're doing it the way we think will work best for everyone. We're compromising...which sucks - I typically hate compromise...lose-lose, ya know? Nobody gets exactly what they want. 

So - as always, feedback/tips/criticism = good. Makes me better. Better as a 'dad' for Aoife. Whom I love dearly.  


OOH! Forgot part!

We have two cats, Kenji and DJ. Kenji is smaller, about 13lbs, but a 'master-mind' type. DJ is lovable and "slower" - he's our Forrest Gump.

Anywho, because Aoife has a hurt leg, I carried her into the house from a potty-break. DJ was on a bar-stool watching as we entered the kitchen area. With puppy looking the other way, I scooted over and put Aoife's rump into the face/nose of DJ. DJ sniffed a greeting for about 10 seconds before turning around on the stool, and arching up in his "You may pet me now" pose. I took this chance to introduce DJ's rump to Aoife's nose. Aoife sniffed the kitty pretty good before the cat slightly moved. In the new position, with the cat still looking away, Aoife started licking/grooming the cat's back! My little puppy licked away while DJ, oblivious Arched WAY high and purred for all he's worth. 30 seconds later, DJ moved again and noticed the dog licking him. DJ JUMPED! As if to say "WHOA!! I thought YOU were doing that, Dad!" I pet DJ a bit to get him calmed down, and Aoife went back to the grooming. This time, knowing the source, DJ only let it happen about 15 seconds....BUT...progress...eh?


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I think it's a fair statement, dmp, to say that you are in love! ;D


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

You sound like you are on your way to being a V blogger! RBD and Ozkar can guide you. The slow steady approaching is working for you and that is great. It is up to you to figure out your pup and you are really taking the time to do this.


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks much; 

Not much for blogging but I do like feedback on technique, or tips.


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## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

i hate to say this but we messed up by not letting him cry it out the first few nights and now he hates his crate!!! he sleeps with us but during the day he just hates it. he will go #2 in there and stomp on it by the time i get home. so he's in there too long i get it now so we are getting a pet walker starting next week. my wife couldn't stand the crying so she wouldn't let it cry out....i wish i would have overruled it like i wanted too!

but that is his only flaw so far so i guess i'm lucky he could be a digger/ a chewer/ a accident in the house guy/ a biter / a barker / a puller...he's none of that and the dog walker should eliminate the poo in crate problemo....

good luck just stick to your guns and don't let them get TOO big of a head or they will run you...you must run them while loving them to the utmost of course! lol!!!


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

oh those first few days....they are exhausting. I think the first few weeks are the worst and then it starts to fall into place. Ruby would scream her head off in the crate for weeks. We put the crate in the furthest place from our bedroom and then closed the bedroom door and drowned out her sounds with fans all around us. I noticed that covering the crate helped her a bit and also put a sound machine by her...she likes cricket (night time sounds). We still use the sound machine a year later but stopped covering the crate. The older she got she didn't want it covered and pulled the cover into the crate...lol. Now she is a good sleeper and goes in the crate when we give her the load up command. I really think that was our worst hurdle. Everything else was pretty easy as for potty training and listening.

Also, I have noticed every few months that first year they go through spurts of maturity. You will be surprised how quickly they pick up on things. 

You are doing great....enjoy every moment of that puppyhood...it flies by!


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## Racer (Apr 23, 2012)

I don't know if this will help or what website I got it from. Right now Racer is incredibly good in his crate. At the end of the day, he'll even go straight to it after his last pee for the night.

But when I first got him, it was a different story. The first night he just wouldn't stop crying. He had the stuffed toy the breeder gave me with the scent of his Mom/litter. It also had the blanket I rubbed all over Mom before bringing him home. 

In desperation, I consulted the web. There was a suggestion of putting a used shirt in it. Since it was winter, I had a shirt on, so I went to the crate, took it off, let him sniff it and then laid it in the crate. He sniffed it, then laid on it and fell asleep. After that, I always wore a T-shirt during the day. At the end of the day, I always took it off, and put it in the crate. Every time I did it, he'd make a beeline for it and then lay on it. It was actually kinda heartwarming to see.

It didn't stop the crying problems during the times he was in the crate during the day, but it definitely seemed to curb the crying at night.


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Racer said:


> I don't know if this will help or what website I got it from. Right now Racer is incredibly good in his crate. At the end of the day, he'll even go straight to it after his last pee for the night.
> 
> But when I first got him, it was a different story. The first night he just wouldn't stop crying. He had the stuffed toy the breeder gave me with the scent of his Mom/litter. It also had the blanket I rubbed all over Mom before bringing him home.
> 
> ...


Racer - I totally forgot we tried the shirt thing too...hahaha. My husband would put his undershirt that he wore that day in the crate with Ruby. Not sure if it helped but we were desperate to find anything. I even found this toy that you heated up to give her the warmth of her litter mates. I think we all agree that pretty much comes down to riding out the screaming no matter how bad it gets. Not easy to do but the payoff is great down the road.


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks folks - I'll try the shirt thing tonite; hoping it coaxes her more into the crate. 

Tomorrow night though...we'll start the boo-hooin' session. 


I am excited to have this sorted. I know, however, to get to place B, one must leave place A. Its a process. 

I snapped a couple pics last night; I think at least one of them is good - will post them in this thread in a few hours.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

I see you have joined the elite club of "have puppy - don't sleep at night" :'(

We had 5 nights of screaming, we were at our wits end. Some of the more useful suggestions that were made to us were covering the crate with a sheet/blanket, a ticking clock (that is hard to find in this digital age), but I think the best one was to leave the radio on a talk show so she hears voices. We tried the blanket from the mother, one our shirts etc - that didn't work for us either. You just have to keep trying them. It is a very traumatic time for these little guys. The other major problem we had was that the puppy was very traumatised by being shut in the crate. When we left the door open, by accident - bingo, he was quiet and could do his peeing and pooing outside the crate on paper by the back door.

dmp - for what it is worth, there is no "correct way" to train a puppy. They are all different and so are we. It is finding what works for you and your pup, and I think you're doing a great job.

Oh yes - when the screaming starts, we shut all doors, I put a story book on my ipod, covered my head with a pillow, and prayed for hush : : :


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## Racer (Apr 23, 2012)

Heh, it's funny to hear that others tried the t-shirt thing. I honestly don't know if it truly helped or not. You often hear of people that play sports are a bit superstitious. When they're winning, they dress the same way/same order, etc. I sadly fall into that camp. So when it seemed to work, it became part of what I did. 

Work is dog friendly, so I bring him in once a week. The first day I did, when I got in, I took off my shirt and put it in the crate. Needless to say, I got some strange looks and had to re-train myself to a different strategy.

Oh, not sure if this is another bit of unproven voodoo, but I also fed (still do) him all meals in the crate. Once he got more comfortable with that, I closed the door on him while he was eating. Now I actually leave many times when he's eating to do some quick errands.

It is a bit of an endurance game as everyone else indicates. Good luck and keep at it. Who needs sleep anyways?


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## kristen (Oct 18, 2011)

I had no idea HOW exhausted I would be the first few nights. It sounds terrible, but I was actually looking forward going to work so I had a few hours respite where I didn't need to either hear a screaming puppy, or be on guard every second keeping him from getting into trouble. It was like I could relax at work, how funny.

The best day we had was to go get baby gates about a week in. That made our lives soooo much easier in an open concept house!

The crate training went fairly easy with us, but now its come back to haunt us. At 8 months Odin has decided he doesn't want to go in his crate. He will stay outside in hopes that you'll forget him. He will feign sleep, he will try to hide under the dining room table. Everything. So we have started crate training all over again, and now he's agreeing to go in on his own, usually with one last contemptuous look and his head down, but he goes in none the less. 

It does get easier in some respects, but then it gets a bit harder. Around 5 months, everything was awesome...but then comes teenagehood. They grow SO fast. I swear only yesterday Odin could fit in my arm, now he takes over the whole **** sofa. 

You are doing GREAT. Keep it up, and you will get some sleep soon, I promise.


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## veifera (Apr 25, 2012)

Hi dmp. A fellow traveler! ;-)

I am fortunate enough to have been able to take several weeks off work (don't ask me about begging my boss on my knees). 

My crate situation seems to be improving. I haven't used a tshirt and only tried throwing just a few treats inside the crate to get her to come in. 

The more I think about it, the more I come to realize that it might be working for me because she's essentially spending most of her time in only one room and the crate is the softest area to lay on. So choosing the crate means choosing comfort. She loves to play in my lap when I sit on the floor and tries to nap like that too, but I get up as soon as she starts to nest. Feels horrible but getting her to love the crate asap is priority #1.

Another reason - when I put her in or take her out of the crate I give her lots of love. Perhaps it's wrong, but I don't think she has any reason to associate the crate with something negative, only with sleep and belly rubs. My sense is that she's only screaming because she wants to reunite with me, not because she hates the crate itself. So she's not at being confined as I first thought, but at being separated. 

Yesterday afternoon was a huge milestone - she was getting tired and went to the crate and laid down (and went to sleep) on her own, as soon as I walked next to it. Didn't even have to give voice command. 

Another miracle is she slept from 11:00 until 6:00 am without making a single sound. I think it happened because she was awake longer in the evening. Typically, our day is quite structured: sleep, play, sleep, socialize outside, sleep, etc. The intervals are fairly consistent. But yesterday I made the evening play/socialize portion longer. I did this because the previous night she would wake up every two hours and I realized that she had slept late afternoon and into the evening. 

Have you taken her out to a car ride yet? My puppy gets into a car without a problem but goes crazy during motion. Crate screaming is child's play compared to this. LOL. I hope you have better experience with that than me.

I called my breeder, in total panic and desperation. She said: when your dog learns that driving ends with something amazing, she'll start racing to the car. Until then - play Mozart.... ;-)


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Dmp - it took GOD 6 days to make our world it then took him 3 years to train his V lol


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Thank you all very much for your help, tips and support. 

Aoife crates in the car pretty well - heard a couple whimpers from her the other day, en route to the vet; that's been the extent of our travels.

Tonite I'll try the shirt AND draping a towel over her plastic crate. I'll try to keep her awake a bit later, too. If I had more than four hours of solid sleep I'd feel blessed.

here's a photo of her from last night, laying on my make-shift bed in the livingroom, after this pic, I moved her to the crate where she slept for about 2.5hrs...until about midnight. She was up around midnight, 1:30, and 3, if I recall. but...its all so blurry...


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

*dmp*, what a little angel she is  I have to tell you the truth! I have no idea how you and others who bring their pups home at 8 weeks do it. I brought my oldest V. Sophie home at 12 weeks and little Pacsirta at 13 weeks. With Sophie, we were sleepwalking looking like zombies for about a month and with the little one just the first two weeks were more tiring. So, hang in there! You're doing a great job!


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## LaVidaLoca (Feb 20, 2012)

Suliko said:


> With Sophie, we were sleepwalking looking like zombies for about a month and with the little one just the first two weeks were more tiring. So, hang in there! You're doing a great job!


Hahaha *Suliko* - same with us the first 3 weeks with our pup. We got her too with 12 weeks and I was able to sleep while standing on my feet somewhere. I was yawning every two minutes....luckily the dark circles under my eyes and my zombie look disappeared 

Strong coffee few times on a day helped me to survive the day somehow....


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Here's the story from last night:

After the Seahawks made the puzzling pick of Bruce Irvin with the #15 over all pick in the NFL draft, I started getting Aoife ready for bed.
I gave her a snacky, a couple sips of water and brought her to the pee-place outside the house. She did her business, walked back to me, and sat at my feet.

"Inside!" I directed. She got up and trotted (she's using the injured leg quite frequently lately) to the door to the house. Again, she got to the mat, sat, and looked up.

"Good girl!" I said, opening the door.

I carried her up the tall steps and straight to her crate. I took the day's T-shirt and placed it just in front of the crate door. Pup went in without too much fuss; I gave her a treat when she got settled.

By 9:30 she was sound as a pound. I slept on the couch about 5' from her.

11pm: Whimper-Whimper from Puppy. Grumble Grumble from me.

I took her out to the potty place without much attention. She piddled and with "Inside!" she went back to the house.

11:10. Whimper, rao-oo, whimper, bite, scratch at the crate. Grumble Grumble from me.

11:15. Okay, that's it. I've had enough. I threw a large towel over the crate, covering probably most of the front gate and the side portholes. I gave her a chewy-toy once she stopped making noise.

Then...like a boss...I went to bed. I figured, come pee or high poo, I am NOT going to be this dog's servant/nanny. 

Here came the rao-ooooohing and the bowowing. I thought "If she does this for 4 hours, I'll get an hour of sleep tonite. great."

30 minutes later everything was quiet. 

When my wife came in from work about 3, I asked if she took the dog out. "Nope"

I let myself over-sleep by 15 minutes, till 4am. Puppy was quiet. As I got close to the crate I hear her moving a bit. I removed the towel and there she was, sitting like a princess, just sorta waiting.

I took her out to potty. She piddled about three times what she normally does (generally at night she'll piddle about 2 seconds-worth). She came back, and we went 'inside'.

I put her in the kennel area whilst I readied for work. I got a couple of rao--oooh type remarks from her. A few minutes before leaving, I placed her back in the kennel with the "I'll stick my head in here and give her a bit of love"

The towel went back, the howling happened, but shut off after no more than about 3 minutes. I left the TV going for her and left the house.

FEELS like success. Day by day, but I think / hope I can reasonably expect at least 4 hours of solid sleep moving forward.

Thanks Forum - you've been great through this.


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