[laurenc]

Hi everyone,
I just got a mini dachshund puppy, she is 10 weeks old and we got her 4 days ago. My boyfriend and I were able to be with her during the day for her first week with us to try to get her acclimated to us and our apartment. She is great during the day, becoming potty trained quickly and sleeps a good amount of the day and plays. But then night comes and I totally dread it! It's been 4 nights but it feels like way longer! I read so many articles about how when crate training you have to try your best to ignore their crying which we are, the first 3 nights we would trade off sleeping next to her on the floor but that just made us feel like crap in the morning and felt like we were rewarding her crying by being there to soothe her. Last night we put her in her crate, with a cozy blanket, peanut butter kong and blanket over the crate with a heartbeat sounding app playing on my phone and she cried for 30 min then fell asleep and then woke up around 3:50, I took her out to potty and when I put her back in she cried until 5:45. Her crying is so loud and ear piercing, if she was just doing a soft cry the whole night we could get through it but it is so loud! We have apartment neighbors and try to close everything up so they can't hear her but shes just a very loud crier. Is that how dachshunds are? Do other dogs cry that loud and then over time she will eventually learn to stop? We have thought maybe she hates being caged in and we should let her just sleep in her bed on the floor next to us, but we really want her to be crate trained. I would love any advice!

 

[CptJack]

This is, sadly, completely normal. It's going to take time, and you're going to, yeah, be losing a lot of sleep either by being on the floor with her, having the whole crate on the bed, or listening to her cry. If it's still happening in another month, worry. Until then, hope it only takes another week or two, grit your teeth, and get used to coffee and naps.

Not being snarky, I empathize a lot, but it's just. Part of the deal.

And, yeah, by that I mean "Screeching blue murder/yelping" is part of the deal.

 

[Lillith]

Yeah, it's normal for new puppies. They just came from a place where they got to sleep with their litter, so it is distressing for them. You have to push through it.

Some people have tried one of those puppy pal things that you put a hot water bottle in and kind of simulates another puppy, so you could try one of those to help.

During the day, play crate games to teach her the crate is a good place. You can look them up on the web for instructions.

 

[Alisa♥]

[...]Some people have tried one of those puppy pal things that you put a hot water bottle in and kind of simulates another puppy, so you could try one of those to help.[...]

Snuggle Puppy! Yes, we used this from night one and it seemed to work. On the one hand, it will feel stupidly expensive for the couple of weeks that you'll really need it, but on the other hand it's nice to just wake up for bathroom breaks. We started out using the warming insert plus the heartbeat, then went down to just the heartbeat, then eventually took the Snuggle Puppy out of the crate altogether.

I also had success allowing my puppy's crate in my bedroom for the first couple of months, draped on only the top and sides so she could see (and of course smell) me and/or my boyfriend during the night.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

What king of crate is it? If it is a wire open crate, cover it with a towel. If it is a plastic crate with a see through door on it, cover the door.

Not being able to see out can help a lot with some dogs.

Also, crate when you are around and only let her out when she is silent. I would also get plain yogurt and put it in a Kong and freeze it. Have some ready and frozen. When you return her to her crate at night, give her one of those to work on (frozen and all.. the cold will make her teeth and gums feel better) and then cover the crate.

 

[laurenc]

THANK YOU for the snuggle puppy suggestion!! We got one yesterday and used it last night and it worked! She only cried maybe 10 minutes initially and then nothing after! Even after we got her up to go potty and then put her back in, not a peep!! Hope it continues to work!