My 7wk old Toy Poodle WONT sleep alone! HELP!??

Question

I got a toy poodle 3 days ago. She is 7 weeks old. Weighs 1 pound. She is a good puppy throughout the day. She is doing fairly good with her potty training. She follows me and my husband everywhere!! When she takes naps she wants to be in my lap, but i refuse to let her. I make her sleep on the floor. She usually passes out at my feet (where she is now ; ] ) ....BUT at night when im ready for bed, she REFUSES to go to sleep. Iv trired putting her in her "play pen", the bathroom, or just letting her roam free throught the house... NOTHING works! No matter what i do she WHINES and SKREIKS! Last night it lasted 10 hours!!!!!!! I read that you just had to let them whine and they would stop, but it didnt work! SHE CRIED ALL NIGHT!...I always make sure she has her bed, blanket, food water, toys, potty pad... i even put a clock that ticks by her bed, bc i heard that helped...
What do i do??
How long should it take to break her of this habit??
PLEASE HELP!!!!

As i said, i tried the clock. Im gonna try the crate tonight, maybe the pen is to big for her. I had no idea that 7 weeks was to young. Is 10-12 weeks just a recomended age or is that really a law, as the one person said?? She only weined her from her mother one week ago. I have never let her in my bed, its high up and im too afraid she will fall off and get hurt.
The breeder seemed to know what she was doing. She says she fed her eukanuba puppy food and that she slept with a heat lamp. How do u know if a breeder is "bad" or "unprofessional"? This is the breeders website:
www.furreverfriendz.com

Answer 1

First, 7 weeks is much too young for a puppy to be away from her mother and siblings. That is part of your problem. Toy breeds are not usually sold until 12 wks of age. Sounds like you either got a pup for a pet store (puppy mill) or a backyard breeder.
Next, you need to be consistant in training. You have only had her 3 days and have tried 3 different areas for her to sleep. Roaming loose is a bad choice. I'd say the bathroom and her play pen are too large an area. Get a crate. She will learn to sleep all night in the crate, but at this point, because of her young age and the fact you have responded to her shrieking, it may take a week or two. Just stick with it and be consistant.

Answer 2

Please DON'T let a 7 week old puppy roam around the house unleashed! That's way too dangerous, she could swallow something toxic or choke on something. I would say put her in a crate and put the crate on a chair beside your bed. Make sure she had some water, went to the bathroom and everything. Then put blankets, pillows in the crate and leave her there. If she whines just put in ear plugs or something. I perfer not to let my dogs sleep in bed with me, and since she's a puppy I don't think that's safe, she could run off somewhere when you're asleep. So I would think the safest bet is a crate. Good luck.

Oh and maybe the reason she wont sleep is because she didn't have enough exercise? Exercise her throughout the day (like play and stuff) let her take short naps, but never let her sleep for more than 4 hours straight. She won't sleep at night then! She'll become nocturnal!

Answer 3

OH. I am such a big dog lover I'd have her in bed with me not a chance she'd be in a pen. First, dogs are pack animals and that is why they want to be with their alpha male or female ans this is a baby and misses the mom and any siblings. I would not make her sleep on the floor, why did you buy a toy poodle if it wasn't a lap dog? That is what they are for and you are her mommy now. She is so small and very young to be just ignored like that. Please hold her and let her be on you they are pack animals. If you keep this up well. So, it may take a while. What I have done in the past is use a small crate and put the dog by my bed with blanket and everything so they felt like the were with me and they can hear your voice and feel you are with them. Close enough so she can see and you can reach the front of the cage....maybe a chair or table beside your bed. Maybe try this and talk her to sleep, start early the first night or don't allow her to sleep later, keep her awake so she is really tired when you all go to bed. Then put her in the crate by you on the floor and talk to her and let her know you are right there. This is all I can really recommend. I have raised and fostered and rescued many animals. Puppies are the hardest. It takes time. This is the best way to train too. When they first wake up get them outside ASAP. this gets them trained to go out first, they don't like to go where they sleep but their bladders are still small and they have to learn how to train the bladder to hold it and it does take time. Poodles are the smartest of all dogs. So, you are lucky. May God give you patience through this and it and you will be having a great friend for about 10-17 yrs. Miss Mary

Answer 4

You really have two options. 1. Go ahead and give in, and let her sleep in the bed with you. 2. Put her in a crate to sleep with a warm water bottle. She's still just a baby and misses her litter mates. She's in a strange place and wants to feel safe at night. The crate should be small (but big enough for her to stand up and turn around easily in) so she feels secure -- like her own little den. The warm water bottle (or some other warm object) will make her feel less lonely and frightened. Remember, she's only 7 weeks old.

Answer 5

First off the breeder letting you have a puppy at seven weeks is completely unprofessional. No puppy should be placed in a home less than a full EIGHT weeks of age. Some won't until 12 weeks!

Puppies need the security of their family. Either let the dog sleep with you. Or put her in a crate right next to the bed so you can put your hand down to the door and she know that you are there.

Answer 6

She's only 7 weeks old meaning she is one week too young to be away from her mom and all of her siblings. She is scared and lonely. If you aren't going to let her sleep with you (which I wouldn't do either), get a crate and put it in your room. You are just going to have to deal with it until she gets used to sleeping alone.

Whoever sold you this dog is breaking the law and should be reported to animal control.

Added:
Based on the location of the breeder (Mississippi), they didn't break the law. Mississippi has no puppy age laws.

How do you know they are bad breeders - frankly, they are bordering on being puppy millers, but are probably just bakyard breeders?
1. They offer lots and lots of breeds and they say that if we don't have it, we can get it for you. There are only 3 people shown on the page, but they offer 9 purebreeds.
2. They sell designer dogs.
3. They have a webpage! There in it for the business not the dogs and not the breeds.
4. They are not listed in the breeder referrals for their respective breeds.
See:
http://www.poodleclubofamerica.org/pcamemberdogavailable.htm
http://www.dachshund-dca.org/kennelads.html
http://www.papillonclub.org/indexmain.htm
5. Most of the dogs are CKC registered. The Continental Kennel Club only requires two people to say that a dog is purebred to register it and it is free. IT IS A SHAM Registry.
6. They SHIP animals.

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_adoption_information/how_to_find_a_good_dog_breeder/

Answer 7

She is rather young to be with you already, but only about one week short.

You need to buy her a crate - only large enough for her to stand up and turn around in - and she goes in here when she can't be supervised. A golden rule for raising puppies: when they can't be supervised, they need to be crated. It's far, far too dangerous to let a puppy roam the house unwatched. Not only does it give her tons of opportunities to have accidents or chew things, thus undoing any training you might have accomplished, it also poses dangers to her - she could collapse a table that could fall on her, bite through an electrical cord. Puppies are incredibly curious and what they find, they will try to eat, much like a toddler in this respect.

Place the crate next to your bed or in your room. Put in things to reassure her - a hot water bottle; something that smells like you, be it an unwashed shirt, a pillowcase, etc; a clock; a toy from her old home if you can get one.

The fear of being away from the litter is something every pup must go through and get over...don't worry, it will pass.

EDIT
I forgot - work her out in the daytime! Don't take her out until she is fully updated with shots, but until then, play games with her in the house - fetch, tug, hide and seek - that will really knacker her out.

Weaning is the least of your worries...at 7 weeks, she is almost certainly weaned already, but still has social skills that are usually learned in the litter. You will have to pick up where they left off since she left a little early - read up on bite-inhibition, socialisation and check out links on puppy developmental stages here:

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/earlysocialization.html
http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/socialization.html
http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/DevelopmentalStages.html
http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/biteinhibition.html

Edit, again:
I'm sorry to tell you this but the breeder you got her from is almost definitely a backyard breeder. For one thing, she sells "designer dogs" which no good breeder would do; for another, she breeds more than one breed; for another, she advertises litters around Christmas which no responsible breeder would do due to irresponsible gift-givers. She feeds Eukanuba - which is pretty much a terrible food. She also makes no mention on her site whatsoever of hip scores, specific tests like OFA, CERF etc, just "vet checks" which are vague and don't really count for anything.

If there's nothing you can do about it now, then try to forget about it and give your pup a loving home.

Answer 8

First as you know she is WAY to young to be away from the mother. When puppies are that young, esp. toy breeds, they do not have enough body fat to maintain their body temperature. They also have to eat often. If they don't their sugar will drop and they can go into shock. Her bladder is also very small and she cannot hold it very long. Dogs do not like to potty in their house so you should set an alarm and take her out often. It is going to be a rough time. Also she needs to see a vet asap.
The breeder needs to be reported. It is ridiculous to sell a puppy that young. Whats wrong with people?

Answer 9

every poodle I know has done this. don't give in, and don't give up. make sure she is safe, secure and happy. giving her something to sleep with that is similar to siblings (like a stuffed animal) sometimes helps. Oh, and some puppies self-wean at four weeks, so age may not be a factor. Also, try to remember that like any baby, she won't sleep the night through for quite a while.

Answer 10

You have obviously heard that the pup is too young, and I absolutely agree. The best thing to do is to put her in a crate next to your bed. Also, adding a small heating pad (the ones that can be heated up) may help. (You can get these at your local pharmacy). I have had toy poodle litters in the past, and I gave only one pup at 10 weeks, and the others at 12 weeks. Also, putting one of those furry toys that they sell at petsmart tends to help also. It will take a while, so just be patient.