Joined
·
6 Posts
So, I'm a fairly experienced dog owner (or, at least I've taken the time to attend obedience classes with my dogs, so I guess that makes me kinda experienced?) but I've always gotten adult dogs. Last night I brought home an 8-week-old terrier/min pin mix and even though I did quite a lot of research he's still managed to surprise me! I think he's having a hard time adjusting, and I was hoping someone with more puppy experience could tell me if I'm going about this right?
We adopted him from my husband's coworker who had an "oops" litter (he's since gotten the father altered and the mom has her spay scheduled - yay!). The pups were all super friendly, clean, and sociable. They played for a really long time while we were choosing, so by the time I decided on "the one" he was practically falling asleep in my arms. He seemed kinda confused when I put him in his new crate in the car, but went quietly. He started crying softly after a few minutes, which didn't surprise me. I was actually surprised he didn't make more of a fuss. Then we got home and I had my dog lay down and wait politely for him to come out of the carrier. It took him several minutes to work up the courage to leave the crate, then he just stood wagging his tail and crying softly at my dog. He, um, has't really stopped.
Crying, I mean. He quiets down in his crate but with us and with my dog it's just a constant stream of pathetic whining. This morning he wouldn't even come out of his crate to potty! I think he held it for about 10 hours before the sound of my husband rough-housing with our adult dog roused his curiosity. I didn't want to force him out so I'd just left the door open and fed him bits of food (he'd eat out of my hand but not a bowl at first).
I left him alone in his crate for about 4 hours this morning to attend a class and when I came back he started throwing an absolute hissy fit and has peed in his crate. I was told by housemates he'd cried a lot while I was gone. I have no reason to believe he thinks it's OK to pee where he sleeps; he wasn't raised in one of those awful puppy mill cages. I think he just got extra confused and frightened. What do you think? The crate shouldn't be too big, I'm using my smallest cat one. He did come out of his crate pretty willingly this time, at least (I waited until he stopped crying before I opened the door). I promptly took him and my older dog outside and he cried the whole time, his body language waffling between excited and frightened.
Right now I'm trying to catch him during his brief moments of silence, and try to only give him attention then. I'm mostly ignoring him when he jumps on me or climbs on my feet (he seems to want to be in my lap 24/7). I'm kinda taking cues from my adult dog, who seems to enjoy having him around, but generally ignores his carrying on and gives a soft growl when he jumps on his face. Right now he's fallen asleep on a towel behind me. I'm happy he's not hiding in his crate for now!
I'm wondering if maybe I should try some freeshaping training with him already? I'm thinking my home is so different he just has no idea what to do, so if he has a "job" he will be more confident here? I'd love to hear any ideas to help him feel comfortable here!
We adopted him from my husband's coworker who had an "oops" litter (he's since gotten the father altered and the mom has her spay scheduled - yay!). The pups were all super friendly, clean, and sociable. They played for a really long time while we were choosing, so by the time I decided on "the one" he was practically falling asleep in my arms. He seemed kinda confused when I put him in his new crate in the car, but went quietly. He started crying softly after a few minutes, which didn't surprise me. I was actually surprised he didn't make more of a fuss. Then we got home and I had my dog lay down and wait politely for him to come out of the carrier. It took him several minutes to work up the courage to leave the crate, then he just stood wagging his tail and crying softly at my dog. He, um, has't really stopped.
Crying, I mean. He quiets down in his crate but with us and with my dog it's just a constant stream of pathetic whining. This morning he wouldn't even come out of his crate to potty! I think he held it for about 10 hours before the sound of my husband rough-housing with our adult dog roused his curiosity. I didn't want to force him out so I'd just left the door open and fed him bits of food (he'd eat out of my hand but not a bowl at first).I left him alone in his crate for about 4 hours this morning to attend a class and when I came back he started throwing an absolute hissy fit and has peed in his crate. I was told by housemates he'd cried a lot while I was gone. I have no reason to believe he thinks it's OK to pee where he sleeps; he wasn't raised in one of those awful puppy mill cages. I think he just got extra confused and frightened. What do you think? The crate shouldn't be too big, I'm using my smallest cat one. He did come out of his crate pretty willingly this time, at least (I waited until he stopped crying before I opened the door). I promptly took him and my older dog outside and he cried the whole time, his body language waffling between excited and frightened.
Right now I'm trying to catch him during his brief moments of silence, and try to only give him attention then. I'm mostly ignoring him when he jumps on me or climbs on my feet (he seems to want to be in my lap 24/7). I'm kinda taking cues from my adult dog, who seems to enjoy having him around, but generally ignores his carrying on and gives a soft growl when he jumps on his face. Right now he's fallen asleep on a towel behind me. I'm happy he's not hiding in his crate for now!
I'm wondering if maybe I should try some freeshaping training with him already? I'm thinking my home is so different he just has no idea what to do, so if he has a "job" he will be more confident here? I'd love to hear any ideas to help him feel comfortable here!
