First Night with A Young Puppy?

Question

We are picking up our new puppy tonight and the puppy is only 6 weeks old. We do not want to let the dog sleep in the bed with us, so we have a wire crate that we want to use as it's home.

We want to make this transition as easy as possible for the little gal, and were wondering if it would be a good idea to sleep on the floor next to the crate for the first night....or should we just bite the bullet and sleep in our bed and deal with the yelping all night? We are going to have the crate next to the bed if we do that.

Do you think if we sleep on the floor by the dog...will that set us up for failure?

Any other tips for the first night with a new puppy would be appreciated.

Thank you

Oh yea, for all you smart asses. The parents are moving out of the country at the end of the week. So I have to get the puppy tonight.

Whoever said it was against the law is simply retarded!

Answer 1

1) See if you can get the owners to give you a toy, blanket, or towel that she's been with so far. Since it will remind her of mom and littermates, it may ease her transition. Take one with you and try to get the smell of her current home or siblings on it (just in case the owner doesn't have something).
2) Go to PetSmart (if you can before you get her) and look at the Life Stages brand of toys. They have one that you can heat up in the microwave a bit to soothe new puppies. If you can't do this, try to find a medicinal hot water bottle at a drugstore if you don't have one, and put warm water in it and wrap in a towel to put with her.
3) Play with her A LOT before bed - get her to run around and wear her out. Tired dogs settle down more easily.
4) Set up her crate in the room where you'll sleep - preferably in a spot where she can see you. Expect that she'll cry some (about 10-30 minutes, usually) but she should settle down after that. If she wakes during the night and cries, take her out to potty - pups can't hold it very long and she may be 3-4 months before she can hold it overnight.

Answer 2

First night away from the litter will be hard for her. If you let her sleep in your bed though, it will just be harder later to move her off. If you want to let her sleep in your bed for the rest of her life, cool, do it. But if you don't plan on continuing to let her sleep in your bed, use the crate.

When I got my puppy, I let her sleep in a crate by my bed. She cried most of the first night, and still cried a lot for the next two nights, or so. After that she only cried if she needed to go to the bathroom (young puppies sometimes can't make it through the night, so plan on trekking outside in the middle of the night). Now she never cries in her crate, and actually really enjoys it.

A tip for getting her used to the crate is to feed her in the crate for the first week. I didn't know to do this... but I wish I had. If you feed her in the crate she will think it's an awesome place to be, and not be so upset when you close her in.

It really is best to leave a puppy with its litter and mother until 8 weeks. And some states do have laws preventing puppies from being sold before a certain age. In my state, the law is 7 weeks. I guess it is not possible for you to leave the puppy with its mother for another 2 weeks, but if there is any way, that would be best.

Answer 3

wow... congrats.

six weeks is a bit young, optimally 8-10 weeks is a lot better and a lot easier on you. During this time, they mature a lot, they develope social skills and bite inhibition, and they are able to hold their urine a bit longer.

At six weeks, i would say, put the crate by the bed and bite the bullet. The puppy will feel better seeing you and smelling you. You may also want to take a small baby blanket with you to pick up your puppy and let all the puppies there lay and play on it. You want it to smell like "home". Put that in the crate with your puppy and make sure there is no draft. Your puppy is going from sleeping with warm bodies to sleeping alone. a warm water bottle secured in a cover is a great help the first few nights.

Now the fun part... remember, the rule of thumb is that the puppy is in the crate for one hour per month of age plus one. So at six weeks, you are looking at no longer than 2.5 hours. I would strongly recommend every 2 hours the first couple of nights though. Your puppy will need to go out every 2 hours day and night. This is the only way to ensure that the puppy learns to not go in crate.

Also, check out the ultimate puppy toolkit. It was a life saver with our puppies, and i know other people who have had great success with it.

Congratulations! and remember to ignore that puppy tonight unless it is time to go outside.

Answer 4

Okay, for one thing, its not against the law! i just got a puppy yesterday and she is 6-7 weeks old, so dont worry about it.. i got really lucky with my puppy because she actually likes being in her crate and doesnt mind it, she falls asleep right away so when you get her, try to find out whether shes good in a crate or not, if she is, then just put her in the crate and sleep in your bed, and see if she calms down when others are around her, because if you sleep next to her crate then she might want to come out wiht you, maybe putting the crate by your bed would be a better idea because she would know that you are close, and what i do is, if i wake up in the middle of the night i take her out for a few minutes. I hope I helpedf! good luck!

Answer 5

Make sure the crate has a comfy blanket in it. Put a hot water bottle and ticking alarm clock to make the puppy hear it's mother's heartbeat and feel her warmth. If that doesn't help your new baby, put a radio very near the crate so the dog can listen to very quiet and restful music. That helped my new pup once. Don't sleep near or fuss with the dog at night or when your going away from the house. She will develope separation anxiety, then you will have a serious problem. She should learn to love her crate. My dog (from long ago) loved his crate so much that he would go into it and shut the door himself.

Answer 6

Well i would say for the first night let the dog sleep with you. Its going to be terrified being in a new place and its going to want to feel loved. Locking it up is going to make it feel unloved. Make sure for the first 24 hours you show the dog how much you love it and play with it.During the next day,let the dog explore and play in the crate. Come that night,put it in the crate. Make sure there is a nice comfy pillow or blanket for it to sleep on. Tell him/her good night. When she starts to bark or wine,just nicely tell her goodnight and no bark. If need,GENTLY tap her nose and say no bark. She will learn that when in her crate at night,its sleep time. Also a suggestion,wear her out before bed. That way when she goes in there she'll fall asleep quick and won't wine. She should only wine for the first few nights. ALSO,you need to make sure she goes potty before you put her to bed. If she's not potty trained you'll need to get up with her 1-2 twice a night to let her out. Only do this until you know she is potty trained,otherwise she'll get use to being let out.
Have fun and good luck. Puppies are so fun!

Answer 7

I would put her in the crate with something soft maybe a stuffed animal. I did that with my puppy and she didn't really cry. I also put a blanket over the crate so she felt safe and hidden. I kept the door uncovered. She will get used to it and you won't have to train her twice. Remember that she is too little to hold her bladder long so I would let her out about every 4 hours or so.

I have read that it's good to have the crate in a central part of the house to make her feel like part of the pack. I agree with that, mine is in my bedroom at night.

Good luck with her!!!

Answer 8

No matter what you do a new puppy is going to cry the first week at least but they get used to it. Something that worked with my puppy was putting a clock that ticks next to the kennel and it soothes them. Eventually they will just get used to it and start going in the kennel on their own once it's bed time. Eventually you can even put a puppy pillow down and start having her get used to sleeping on the pillow instead of the crate.

Answer 9

well don't sleep on the floor with the pup , i would make sure that his sleeping area is nice and warm so that she'll comfy . And also put some toys in there so that the pup can play . Also in the beginning the pup will be withdrawn but that nothing unusual it just because everything is new and she'll need some time to come around . Also make sure to let the pup out before going to bed so that she can do her business .
Good luck .

Answer 10

Put a warm blanket in there that she can chew on. Under the blanket put a warm ( not hot) squishy bottle of water under the sheets. Also a place a ticking clock under there or next to the crate. The clock is like mommas heart beat and the bottle is the warmth of momma. This will give some comfort to the lil blind gal.