Am I doing the right thing?

1030 Views 8 Replies 8 Participants Last post by traciek88, Aug 4, 2016

traciek88

Discussion Starter · Jul 28, 2016

I'm currently pet sitting a 10 week old Bolognese (if you don't know it's like a smaller Italian Bichon). I spent two nights with him last week and I spent last night with him as well. The spoiled little floof is now resting on my chest because he woke me up nearly an hour ago.

His owner is rather wealthy and has a very large house. At first I was shocked that she gives him free reign of the house AND free feeds, but his breeder apparently paper trained him really well. Hell, he's better housetrained than Tyrion and we've owned him for a year! So allowing the puppy free reign hasn't caused an issue that way, but...boundaries is a bit of an issue. His owner doesn't like crating (though she has a carrier he arrived in) and doesn't feel safe leaving him in the canvas playpen she got because he once got his claws stuck in the mesh and had to be rescued. When he's alone in the house he's left in a very large dining room that's gated off. It's actually so large I wouldn't leave a Dane puppy there unrestricted, nonetheless a puppy barely larger than a guinea pig.

But in general this isn't a problem...except at night. His owner said she allows him free reign of her bedroom on the floor at night, but there's wires there and I consider that dangerous, especially since he's now very into chewing wires. So at night I leave him in the dining room but he is VERY upset about it. He will yip and howl for a long time until he falls asleep. But last night he not only cried for a long time when I put him in the room (a little after midnight) but I was woken up by him crying again at around 3 am, and then 5:45. After about ten minutes the second time I couldn't take it anymore and came down and went into the living room with him. I'm worried I'm going to give this puppy separation anxiety--he's a super velcro puppy. And I need sleep! Should I just try to force him to stay in the dining room a floor below me? Should I insist to the owner he has to be in a crate or playpen with me? What do you think? I'm tired and unsure of what to do!

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travelingswift

· #2 · Jul 28, 2016

I think you have 2 options:
1. Tough love: Let him cry it out and after a few nights he'll realize that you come back in the morning and that he sleeps by himself downstairs. Will probably take him a week or so to adjust.

2. Crate for safety: Explain to the owner that because he's shown an interest in chewing electric wires that for his own safety it's better for him to be kept away from the wires. That the dog seems to prefer being close to people, so the best way to manage his desire to be nearby and keeping him safely away from wires, is to crate him at night in the bedroom.

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Lucillle

· #3 · Jul 28, 2016

Buy a $2 night light for yourself if there is no ceiling light and the nights you puppysit unplug and roll up the wires, and put them back in the morning.

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Turtle11

· #4 · Jul 29, 2016

I say let him sleep in your bedroom next to the bed, either in a dog bed or crate. Has the pup shown any interest in wires? None of my pups did. But if you are concerned, I'd get the wires out of reach. It's a little traumatic for a pup that age to be left alone for that long, but then, I'm somewhat of a sucker

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jagger

· #5 · Jul 29, 2016

Turtle11 said:
I say let him sleep in your bedroom next to the bed, either in a dog bed or crate. Has the pup shown any interest in wires? None of my pups did. But if you are concerned, I'd get the wires out of reach. It's a little traumatic for a pup that age to be left alone for that long, but then, I'm somewhat of a sucker

Pretty much. If I were to take someones dog for a bit, I wouldn't be adverse with it or put any training into it. Proof your home as much as you can. If it does find a wire to chew, it'll only do it once and you can't be blamed for that.

A friends cat chewed through a TV power cable once, blew the TV and half it's tongue off.

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Moonstream

· #6 · Jul 31, 2016

I would probably not mind letting a puppy roam a room with wires- I have yet to find a puppy that chews wires. I don't neccessarily think it's the safest thing, and I wouldn't really want a pup that small and young roaming around freely when it wasn't being watched, but I also think for house sitting a client's dog, I would just go with them. Maybe bring up the wires (I would do it over text, so you have proof of it, just to cover your bases) and have them agree that it's OK (clearly they think it is if they've been doing it), that way if something did happen you would be a little more covered. That said, I wouldn't worry about a puppy and wires- even my most destructive puppy never showed an interest in them, though I'm sure some dogs out there do.

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Jenibelle

· #7 · Jul 31, 2016

((just pointing out that the OP said the pup does chew the wires))

I would talk to the owner and say for your own piece of mind, and the safety of the dog, while under your care it will be crated at night. If they feel overly uncomfortable with that, they can find a new pet sitter.

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wideturn

· #8 · Aug 2, 2016

I'm a little more into "tough love" than others, but I crated my puppy in the basement until he stopped crying in the night, because even waking me was reward enough to keep doing it. I put him where I wouldn't be woken, and he wouldn't see me wake up so the behavior stopped. I then moved him back to my room and he never cried after that. If you have a room to put him in a basement thats the best! Also maybe put a fan on in your room, I find that it muffles any outside noises.

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traciek88

Discussion Starter · #9 · Aug 4, 2016

Just so you know the owner was really good listening to my suggestion and that night he slept in his playpen in the bedroom with me. It went so much better and we were both happy. We have another sleepover on Tuesday so that's what we're going to do again!

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