Big Paws Only Dog Forums
Newfoundlands => Newfoundland Discussions => : Astrids mom August 10, 2005, 11:58:19 AM
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Hi I am so glad I found Big Paws Only. I am a new newfie mom and I am having a bit of a hard time. Astrid my puppy is so sweet but seems to have a lot of seperation anxiety. She cries and barks herself hoarse while in her crate at night or when I have to leave her at home. She also poops and peas all over her crate and then I have a very yucky puppy. I drove her home friday night 8/05/05 and I have not slept since. Pleaes tell me that it gets better then this. She does pretty good with going potty or as I say doing biz in the day time. I do get up to bring her out at night but she has already gone all over herself!!
Has anyone else had any issues like this? Im new to this puppy stuff and now I get why people say having a puppy is like having a baby!
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Hi and welcome to Big Paws. I feel terrible for you and Astrid and don't know what to say - the pros will step in shortly I'm sure.
I can tell you this tho - it does get better! It sounds like Astrid is going to need a little more patience and work but he will certainly come around.
Michael~
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Hi Astrid's Mom!
Don't worry, it definitely gets better than this! :) A new newfie puppy--yippee! We have a 7 month old newfie girl, Sasha. We didn't have this exact problem, but there are lots of helpful, knowledgeable people here who I'm sure will help you. Poor Astrid, scared to be alone and Poor Mom, no sleep since Friday! :(
Welcome to BPO and don't worry, it will get better!
Best wishes,
Jessica and Sasha
P.S.--when you get some sleep, be sure to share lots of photos with everyone here--we love newfie puppies! :)
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Good luck with the pup. I can't say I know of a situation like that with a Newf. Newfs are usually very good at crate training. I would like to recommend that you take your Newf outside a little more frequently. When I bring my pups home I take a couple weeks off from work and keep a constant eye on them. My Moses (my most recent Newf) trained in about 2 months. If you can get any additional help to take out the pup she will do much better. As for the separation anxiety each dog is a separate case I find. Best of Luck w/ Astrid. Also remember positive reinforcement.
John
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Hi Astrids mom, I'm a new newfie owner as well. My first night with our new dog was in a hotel room and he whined so much my wife had to slept in the other bed in the room while Angus slept with me as I pet him down almost the entire night. We do not have a crate for him and gave him his own area in our front porch to sleep, we left it up to him to go there as we put his toys and food there for him but he slept in our room for the first 3 or 4 nights. Every day when I got home from work I sat and played with him in the front porch, gave him treats and combed him. Now he goes there on his own, after only 2 weeks! He would still like to come to our room but it is a 2 story and we don't want him to climb the stairs so much. Make that crate seem like the best thing since sliced bread and maybe he will change his ways.
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How old is your puppy? I remember potty training my pups and it was go outside (at night) every two hours. Then a couple weeks later, three hours, etc. They're just babies and can't hold it for a long time.
As far as crying - where is her crate? You might have better luck if you put the crate in your room.
I'm sure there will be others along with more ideas. Congrats on your new baby!
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Oh - I am so sorry about you and astrid... I know it will get better. I have a dane pup who is 12 wks old and I know how frustrating it can be. I am by no means an expert and my crate is currently in route (I hope). I did crate train my poms though. Make sure the crate is only big enough for astrid to stand up and turn around...a larger space will just cause the pup to poop and pee in it. Make sure you take her out to the bathroom right before she goes into the crate and as soon as you let her out...praising them when she goes where you want her too. Never use the crate for punishment... should be a positive thing being in the crate. My pom had terrible sep. anxiety. So we started out by putting lots of really good treats and favorite toys in the crate. i Would let her sniff it out 1st and get used to going into the crate. Then I would close the door and use the command home. Then i would sit near by so she could see me and go on about my business... then I would keep doing it getting farther and farther away. I never rewarded whining and crying by letting her out of the crate. It took a good week or so before she was ok with being in the crate and then she actually liked it and would go in by herself sometime.
I know I am going to have a hard time with Willow cause she is a velcro Dane...but hopefully it will go ok.
How old is your new pup?
Timmie
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How old is Astrid? Cooper would mess in his kennel thru the night when we first got him. He was about 7 weeks. He also cried alot the first 48 hours. But that all resolved itself with a little time and development. As far as house breaking him- we had to take him out every 15-20 minutes early on or else he'd have an accident. I remember feeling like it would never get better (with the biting too) but it will, so keep up the training and don't lose hope.
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Our Newfie cross is 6 months old now , I can honestly tell you that it does get better. Takes a while though.
My suggestion for what it's worth : can you move the crate close to your bed so Astrid is not alone? We had Moose on our bed in between the two of us , now he has moved to the foot end of the bed and he sleeps there.
As for training, I took Moose outside all the time , thought at times I was going to go crazy , lol. But it worked. If he pooped or peed outside I'd praise him like crazy and give him a little reward ( one bit of dry cat food worked ) . If he peed inside I'd say nothing but simply cleaned it up . Once you get into a routine it becomes easier, but those first 14 days or so were not very enjoyable poop and pee wise. He simply went when he had to go, he didn't care where he was. So it was up to me to constantly monitor him.
Now we've pretty much got it figured out, but Moose still doesn't warn me. He'll wander to the back door but if I don't catch it he still has the odd accident.
Mind you, he more than makes up for it with love and affection.
hang in there, it does get better!
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Thank you all so much for such fast supportive responces!! Astrid just turned 9 weeks on monday so she is just a little baby girl. Another issue I have is that I got her crate big enough for when she is older so I have sectioned it off for now but she still goes in it. I have a friend at work who is going to lend me a smaller crate that is much more portable and I will try her in my room for a few nights (kitty will be very mad at me) that may help.
She really is adorable pooping and barking aside. She has already learned to sit and it is so cute. She will run over to me and just sit down as if to say "ok im sitting where is my cookie". Im just a bit overwhelmed with lack of sleep. Thanks again for all the warm welcomes. I will post pictures soon.
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Hi Astrid's mom!
It will get better WE ALL PROMISE!! I have Chester who is now almost six months old and he's completely housebroken and totally wonderful. YOU WILL GET THERE! I agree with everyone else about taking him out often and spending as much time as you can with him. In The Monks of New Skete's book, they suggest having him sleep right next to your bed and then keeping them with you on a lead most of the day for the first few weeks so that he learns that you are his companion and his needs will be met by you. We did that with Chester and he's been SO easy to train after that. We haven't used a crate, although most people swear by it, because a Newf crate is just so HUGE. Remember that Newfs don't think of themselves as dogs...they completely identify with humans so the more time you can devote to him at these earliest stages, the closer the bond you'll have for the rest of his life.
We are all so excited to see pictures and PLEASE keep us posted on how it's going. We have all vented frustrations here and celebrated successes together. We want to celebrate with you!!!
Chester, Cowboy and Me
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First of all, welcome to BPO!
When did you get Astrid? I'm guessing a week ago since she is 9 weeks and pup's are generally kept with their mother and litter until 8 weeks. If you got her at a younger age than that, it would deffinately slow down the potty training process since the mother teaches them hygeine.
As far as the seperation anxiety goes, I would deffinately say that it is because she is young and new in your home and scared. If you can have the crate in your room it will make a huge difference - instead of waking up and thinking 'where am i? i am so scared and alone' the pup will wake up and think 'where am i? oh yeah, i see my new mom over there. she will protect me'. If you can't do that, perhaps you can put a rag or something with your scent on it so that the pup can at least smell you there.
As far as messing in the crate, there are two problems. One is that you need to have the crate small enough at first that the pup only has as much room as she absolutely needs,. so that she can't go pee in one corner and lay down in the other. The other is that, like other people have said, at such a young age you have to take the pup out every couple hours, even if it means setting an alarm to wake you up 3 times a night, because there bladder just isn't physically big enough to hold it that long. Limiting water at night is also important, as is making sure that you don't put the pup in the crate for the night without making sure they both poop and pee.
You want to try and get the messing the crate situation under control as soon as possible, because once the pup is forced to soil the crate, they will start to think it is normal to go in the crate and loose all the good 'dont potty where you sleep' lessons that their momma dog taught them.
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Grace is a little over 6 months and is going biz during the day when we're home and in the evening very well. In her crate at night and the day while we're at work she will have an accident once in a while. It was every day for a long time...but it's once in a while now. She has a towell in her crate to keep it off her while she's sleeping.
She's awake at 4:30 am or lately since she just got fixed and I have tranquilizers for her she is sleeping till 5:30. It's not unnormal to have accidents on the towell. It's just the personality of the dog. Lady took no time to potty train...Grace is a high energy dog and wants things her way.
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YEAH! Rubbing the towell on you is a great trick. I do that for Gracey, but she still is an early riser.
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Hello Astrid's Mom! I am so glad to have another Newf owner on board. :) I remember the sleepless nights and am glad that I don't have them anymore. ;D Things do get better with time and patience. Just keep doing what you are doing and incorporate the advice from the pros here. They know how to help you and ease some of your stress. Where are you located?
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Well last night Astrid and I slept together in the guest bedroom as my kitty must sleep with her dad every night and I promised her I would not take that away and she does not like Astrid yet. No barking tilll horse I took her out right before bed and then agian at 1am and then 3:30 am things went pretty good although she did have 2 accidents when I left the room for a minute.
Astrid is a cling on does anyone else have a cling on puppy. I cant even leave the room and she starts barking up a storm.
Jabear I am located in southern Maine.
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I'm beginning to think all newfs are cling on's! The dogs, not the people. Okay, some of the people to.
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Absolutelyl Cling-Ons! I'm sitting after just getting out of the shower and as usual, Cowboy is right next to me, just out of the shower too!!! He showers with me every time I shower! As a result I'm a little dirtier, all the time, and he's a little cleaner than we should both be ALL THE TIME! Sometime I just don't feel like mopping up the bathroom floor so we skip a shower! If I close the bathroom door, he just continues to pound on it and scratch and whine. The worst bit was earlier this week when Chester came in as well. NOT AT ALL a pretty picture!!! Two newfs and a naked middle age woman. What a horror film!!!
I will not be posting pics!!!
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Hi Astrid's mom! Everyone here has given you a lot of good info. I would echo what the others have suggested and recommended. You're in the right place for support and newfie info ;D
We have 2 Newfs, and our youngest is 5 months. After recently going through 2 puppy phases i can honestly tell you it WILL get better. That saying is right, having a puppy is like a having a baby. Which is true, as these pups are babies....just BIG ones ;)
What we did is we crate trained....and at night we have the crate next to our bed. Rocco, our 5 month old, feels comfortable and safe in his crate, and at bed time will walk in his crate to "retire for the evening"! He has always liked his crate whereas Bella our 1 yr old never did like it. But she'll go in it if we want her too. When we got Rocco the weather started to get warmer, and he heats up pretty quick, so we bought a small fan we set next to his crate. He fell in love with that and loves the fan now. When he didnt have it and was hoot he wouldnt sleep well and was always moving around trying to get comfy.
As I babble on, my only suggestion would be to move the crate near you in the bedroom, so Astrid feels more safe and comfortable. She's going through an adjustment, being away from her litter mates and mother, and is probably feeling unsure right now. That will soon change. Newfs like to be near and with you so this should help her at night.
Keep us posted. Just know that things will change for the better. Hang in there. We understand :)
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newflvr that is so funny!!! They are somehting else!
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Yep. They are truly something else...and I wouldn't change a single thing for the world! Cowboy is next to me while I cook dinner....didn't know my arms could get so long stretching across his big, ole self to saute the mushrooms! and Chester is next to him!!!!
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Well it sounds like things are getting better....that is good. We did not have one accident all night here....very good.
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Thanks everyone for the great advise and support!! I took a couple days off next week so I can really work on a schedule with her.
Twonewfies thanks for the fan suggestion I will be going to get her a little fan today. She was very restless last night and was shifting all night long.
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I agree that newfies (doggies, I mean! ;) ) are cling ons! My husband calls Sasha his shadow. She follows him everywhere during the day. When she gets too hot, she'll take a little break in the shade and then come right back. It's really pretty cute! :)
I'm glad to hear that things are a little better with Astrid...it sounds like she's settling in. I'll bet she's a real sweetie! :)
Jessica and Sasha
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First of all I want to say welcome to BPO. I love the name Astrid, that is such a cute name on a little girl.
You have already gotten great advice here. and from what I read it seems to already be getting a bit better. Real great advice is to NEVER let the crate be a punishment, the crate should be someting nice and comforting and safe. I am personally not a crate person, I have done crates when really needed but other than that I just let my dogs get used to being in the house from get go.
One thing you could try also, a little while before bed time, make her tired. do some playing, tug of war and the kind she can do even if still so young. take her out for a last pee and poo and then maybe she will sleep a little longer when she is all "played out"
As for cling ons, we can add mastiffs to them too lol...... Both Hera and Galahad are velcroed to me most of the day. Newflvr..... I totally understand the shower issue. And I could add a chapter to that book, with two mastiffs and a middle aged woman lol.... we have glass doors on the shower, so when I take one, well I have two dogs sitting outside almost pressing their noses to the glass. When I go to the bathroom, they just have to come with and sit infront of me as an audience hehe (you get used to it) when watching tv, they are sitting or lying on me or having at least a butt sitting down on my feet. When in the kitchen, I am constantly tripping over giant dogs who very smoothly and quietly manage to move and put their big bodies right behind or infront of me. I think it is a big dog thing....... At heart they are all little mojos and dont realize how much room they take up ;D
Marit
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Definetly gets easier..I just got to sleep two nights in a row until my alarm went off!..WooHoo! :)
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Hang in there!!
Wow. Only just 9 weeks. Ya know, this is no criticism, but you truly have a baby. Newfie babies are not usually released until 10 or 11 weeks old. They need certain socializations from their mother until this time.
So, you are going to need to have some super duper sensitive understanding for Astrid!!
Crate in the room, in fact by your bed if need be. Both my boys slept by me or hubby for the first month! In a crate mind you. And always in our room. They are still in our room only with open kennel doors. SO see! It does get better, it just takes time.
I agree with everyone else, we too set our alarm for every 2 hours. You don't want accidents in the kennel, and when that happens, it's not the baby's fault. During the day, the baby cannot be left for more than 2 hours--4 at the most until she is older.
During the day...boys were leashed to one of us most of the time. This was to know where the pup was and if the sniffing and whining started, out the door!! LOL
Out the door on a leash and pee pees but no plays. Plays was directed at a different time. This way when pup was outside to go pees, pees he went. THen play!! Try to take puppy potty at the same place!! They can smell the last pees or poos. It reminds him or her that they have to go!! LOL
As a friend once or twice told me, newfie babies have the attention span of a mouse. They forget what they are doing at the moment they start doing it. So be consistent!!
After the first couple of weeks we hung bells on the door. Bryce would ring the bells to go out!! It is totally amazing how fast the little fellows or gals learn!! Smart Smart Smart!!!
luvmenewfs
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Hello, I don't know if this had been posted, so I apologize if it has. Seperation anxiety is a hard issue to deal with. My new pup had it when i got her and she is doing alot better now ( i have had her 7 wks) Couple of suggestions:
1. when you enter or leave the room do not be emotional, i would go as far as not to even talk to her for 3-5 minutes
2. whenever you do leave her, give her a high value bone ( stuffed kong, bully stick, greenie) when you return , practice "drop" and take it away from her. DO this many times during the day.
3. a tired puppy is a good puppy. excercising her mentally and physically. I train my pup probably 8 -10 times a day ( 2-5 minute session) and she gets lots of excercise with other dogs and one on one with walking.
4. leave classical music on when she is in the crate.
5. If you can have her sleep in a crate in your bedroom. ( I just moved my pups crate out of my bedroom a nd she is doing great)
6. If she is throwing a tantrum ( my puppy used to get anxious when getting out of the crate and all she would jump on my and paw at me, do not correct that physically it will only intensify it. Just ignore it and look away).
7. I would get the pup checked for a uti and a stool sample for parisities. Although it does sound like she is getting herself so worked up that she is eliminating. IF you can calm her down on the inside, the toileting behavior shoud get better.
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You know this is nothing against you astrids mom
but i get so dang frustrated,
first,
the age you got your pup.
horrible!
i cant believe it!
i have pups here till ten weeks and believe me, they pee and poo a LOT!!!
HUGE; often, a lot!
they go poo an hour and a half after eating, and the younger they are the more they poo at night.,
SHAME ON YOUR BREEDER
becouse here we good breeders are, cleaning up the mess they leave, i cant tell you how many people contact me, and only care about the price.
dang it.
if we could sell them for less we would.
but tonns of work, socialization EDUCATION TO THE OWNERS and tonns of tears go into each and every litter.
i dont think 1700 dollars is a lot considering everything i put into these pups.
and believe me, there is a difference in the personality of a pup from myself and good breeder, than a pup bought at six and seven weeks, that sat in a run or barn or in a side room apart from the family and just fed played with and that is it, than shoved out the door at six weeks or i will sell it to someone else becouse it is eating my profits and peeeing and pooing and tonns of work.
gosh darn it.
did this breeder educate you in the least?
i get so many calls from people at witts end becouse their breeder is not there for them, they take the money and run, it is sad to, becouse these BYB or Mills or Shoddy breeders are charging now 1200 bucks for a newf.
i cannot believe people would go to someone like that, who does not even socialize those pups
my litters have gone for several car rides by the time they leave for their new homes.
they have been used to crates, they play in them, they are socialized for hours with mom and the other adults per day.
we work on commands like go potty , and go outside, and work on eye contact, we also go thru the steps of imprinting on them,
there is so much more to whelping a litter than putting them in a run and letting them run amuck and at will till the owners come to get them.
arrgggggg
sorry for the rant but i get so frustrated.
there is a lot of good advice here, and i hope you have learned your lesson, buying a pup to young, the potty issues are gonna be there, even at ten weeks they are there, they are small inside their organs are not developed enough that they can hold it for more than two hours, .
it takes time and patience, and watching them like a hawk, they should be crated in your bedroom so they feel part of the pack.
take care, good luck to you.
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Got to agree with you, Sar. We got Chester at 12 weeks. The breeder had been feeding all the pups in crates for weeks. They were well socialized, used to being groomed and overall it was a breeze to bring Chester in to the family! As I understand it, (please correct me if I'm wrong), Newfs, and maybe all the giant breeds, mature later than other dogs. So it would make sense to have them stay with the litter longer so they have time to get all the lessons from the mature dogs that they need.
I wish there was a code of ethics for breeders!!!
Thanks for your wisdom!