My Pomeranian puppy is only ten weeks old and I have had her for the last two weeks. I have some areas of concern that have caused severe stress and sleep loss. Firstly, I made the mistake of sleeping with my puppy for the first week. She is a very sweet girl who barks and gets upset when I so much as take a bath even when she is in the room with me, due to a small barrier between us regardless that she can still see me. Secondly, since I work and live alone, I had to put my puppy in a crate when I left home in spite of her obvious reluctance to be locked inside. When I do, she tries to get out of the door before I can shut it but by the time i return she is lying there peacefully waiting... toys undisturbed.
Last week, due to sleep loss, I decided to put her in her crate at night. Each night is worse than the last. She went from only barking fifteen minutes to barking for hours and hours off and on. Each lunch break I go home to let her out so that she does not spend more than four hours in her crate at a time. Today, she was still willing to voluntarily eat and drink in her crate, but still hates being locked in it or in any room where I am not with her. What do I do? I read about slowly introducing puppies to the crate and will work on rewarding her in the crate, but still have to leave her alone for four hour increments in the day and sleeping in my bed is no longer an option.
Last week, due to sleep loss, I decided to put her in her crate at night. Each night is worse than the last. She went from only barking fifteen minutes to barking for hours and hours off and on. Each lunch break I go home to let her out so that she does not spend more than four hours in her crate at a time. Today, she was still willing to voluntarily eat and drink in her crate, but still hates being locked in it or in any room where I am not with her. What do I do? I read about slowly introducing puppies to the crate and will work on rewarding her in the crate, but still have to leave her alone for four hour increments in the day and sleeping in my bed is no longer an option.