My partner and I have adopted a female miniature dachshund called Samoa, who is 2 months old. She has been with us for 4 days now.
We've already started training and play (teaching her to be left alone, the "bed" command, "sit", etc.). She's picking things up quite quickly.
We take her out into the garden regularly to do her business and give her a little treat when she goes outside. On that front, I think things are going pretty well.
But the problem is, nighttime is a nightmare.
Samoa has a bed with a soft mattress, a t-shirt with my scent on it, a blanket and her toys.
After reading lots of articles on various forums and sites to get her house-trained quickly, we put her bed inside a large cardboard box (with the top open) and a puppy pad just in case.
During the day the box is left open and she has no problem going in there.
At night I close the entrance to the box to stop her wandering around the living room (we live in a flat and don't have a separate room where we can shut her away quietly for the night).
She whines, howls and barks all night long!! We’re only getting about 30 minutes to an hour of sleep at a time. It’s starting to get really difficult. We take her out once or twice during the night for toilet breaks (usually at 2am and 4am).
I’ve read plenty of threads saying to leave the box or crate open so she can move around, but that seems to contradict the house-training we're working on. I mean, she might be less stressed if she could wander, but she’d almost certainly have accidents indoors. And as I mentioned, we don't have a closed-off room for the night. Is letting her roam the living room at night really a good idea?
I get the feeling the bed-in-a-box setup doesn't suit her (she's been attacking it for the last two nights, tearing bits off and trying to climb out). What can we do to get some peace and quiet? I know she's only been with us for four nights, but I don't see any improvement (in fact, we're getting less and less sleep).
Thanks in advance for your advice.
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I don't think you should just settle for a simple yes or no; you really need to look into it and get as much information as possible. Listen to both sides of the argument, and then you can make up your own mind on the matter. You also need to pay attention to your dog – even if you’re convinced you’ve made the right choice, if your pup reacts negatively, then it clearly wasn't the right thing for them :)
"Hyper-attachment might be a problem, but a total lack of attachment would be much worse. You've taken this baby away from its natural family; the least you can do is become its adoptive family. He deserves a bit of pity at the very least, if not love. How can anyone leave a living creature to howl all night in terror, distress, and despair? Throw your books away and just open your heart a bit!"
Don't worry, our puppy isn't short of love. We spend plenty of time with him, we take him out regularly, and we play with him. He gets plenty of strokes and affection.
I understand your point, but regardless of the book, the website, the breeder, or whatever else, you always find one opinion and its exact opposite. Should you let your puppy 'cry it out'? Some say yes, others say no. Should you use a crate? Some say yes, others say no. Should you take your puppy out during the night? Some say yes, others say no. I've asked myself dozens of questions like that, and the thing is, there are no right answers. We’re trying our best, and that’s why I’ve shared our situation on the forum—to avoid making mistakes in the future. I've taken the previous comments on board and we'll do our best.
Over-attachment might be an issue, but a lack of attachment would be far worse.
You’ve taken this baby away from its natural family; the least you can do is become its adoptive family. It deserves at least some compassion, if not love. How can anyone leave a living creature to cry out all night in terror, distress and despair??
Bin the books and just open your heart a little, for goodness’ sake!
You can let her wander about, but you’ll need to tidy everything away to avoid any nasty surprises.
As for reassuring her if she cries, it really depends. If it’s just a little whimper, then no – just talk to her a bit. If she seems genuinely distressed, you can settle her down by giving her a bit of a stroke. But keep things calm; you shouldn't play with her, and definitely never get cross with her.
I realise that Samoa is still very young, but she’s coming along so quickly with her house-training. At first, she was having accidents in the house (even though we'd just had her outside for 20 minutes 😥), but it's now been two days since I've had to clean anything up. Even better, she’s starting to stand by the patio doors when she wants to go out.
Last night, despite only being taken out once at 4 am, she didn't mess on her puppy pad or in her bed.
I think tonight we’re going to try sleeping on the sofa with Samoa’s box left open. Does anyone have any advice for this? Should we keep reassuring her, or should we let her cry a little? If she gets out, should we put her back in her bed or just let her wander around the living room? Also, when do you think we’ll be able to go back to sleeping in our own bedroom?
Hi there,
It’s completely normal for Samoa to be whining at night, mainly because she was taken away from her mum and the rest of the litter too early. You haven’t had her for very long, so she first needs to get used to you and her new home. Being in a cardboard box makes her feel far too lonely for her age.
Plus, when it comes to house-training, if she stays in that box all night, she’s basically going to learn to do her business where she sleeps, and that will be a real nightmare to fix later on. Using puppy pads isn't a good idea either, as she’ll just learn to go on rugs and carpets.
Ignoring her is advice you see everywhere, but it’s not appropriate for a puppy, and even later on, it’s pretty useless. She just needs patience and kindness right now; at her age, formal training isn't the priority.
I totally agree with what’s been said already: sleeping next to them for the first few nights won't have any negative effects, quite the opposite actually... I did this with my little girl (I slept in the lounge with her so I could comfort her whenever she got anxious or started whimpering). Within a week, it was all sorted and we could sleep upstairs while she stayed by herself in the downstairs lounge.
Don't worry, having the odd accident in the living room overnight won't stop your puppy from making progress with his house training.
Whining during those first few nights is totally normal. He doesn't really know where he is yet, he’s suddenly all on his own, and being in a closed box might be a bit scary for him. It’s all about finding that happy medium between a healthy bond and hyper-attachment.
If you go by the rule of thumb that a puppy can usually hold their bladder for about an hour for every month of their age (so a 3-month-old can manage roughly 3 hours, and so on), it’s only natural that it’ll take a bit of time before he can make it through the night.
To help him learn, take him out whenever he’s likely to need a wee—after meals, after a nap, or shortly after having a drink—as well as first thing in the morning and just before bed. In my opinion, accidents shouldn't be seen as a relapse or a sign that he's falling behind with his training.
The thing is, at this age, a puppy needs to bond with their owners for a relationship to develop.
Of course, you need to encourage independence, but since you’ve only had him for four days and he’s still very young, I don't think reassuring him with your presence (without making too much of a fuss) will cause hyper-attachment. :)
