My puppy cries, howls, and barks all night — I haven't slept properly in days...

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies. Just to remind you, I’m Cendre’s other "owner" alongside Kyrieh :).

Yes, we have! And I think that’s really helped to improve the situation. She keeps our clothes right next to her in her bed, which confirms that it's a solution that really comforts her.

In my humble opinion, it really depends on the people, the dogs, and everyone’s lifestyle. The main thing is to be consistent. If you’ve chosen to sleep with them, I think that’s great, as long as you always do it :). Not allowing it is just a different point of view.

From what I’ve gathered, it seems the only thing that could be (temporarily?) harmful is depriving dogs of things they’ve already got used to.

Thanks again to everyone for your help!

Hmm... why not just sleep with her? And why not on the same level? My mum and I both sleep with our dogs and everything’s fine... is this that whole 'dominance theory' thing again?

"from the start you have to tolerate what is tolerable and scold what isn't." -> the dog would actually have to understand human social cues first to know what isn't acceptable, and therefore understand why they're being told off...

EDIT: Oh, and regarding feeding routines, a dog can eat at the same time as humans, it doesn't make any difference...

Hi Kyrieh!

That’s brilliant news!

Hang in there, things will definitely start looking up. The first few months are always the toughest :)

I’ll be putting up a little post soon to introduce you all to my Louvia!

By the way, did you get Cendre from a breeder? If so, which one?

Hi everyone!

It's a MI-RA-CLE!

Well, I couldn't really tell you what worked best because we followed ALL of your advice.

When we got back yesterday, our first walk: the first few minutes were tough; she didn't like the lead and didn't want to move. She was scared of everything: cars, the train, the gate, the path, people, leaves—absolutely everything. So we just took it metre by metre, calling her over and reassuring her every step of the way. By the end of the walk, she was trotting along, responding well when called and hardly pulling on her lead at all—it was pure bliss! She said hello to some people and other dogs and really burnt off some energy...

When we got home, she got a Kong (they really are magic!) and played with her ball.

At bedtime: we plugged in an Adaptil diffuser and she went to her bed all by herself! My partner and I each gave her an item of our clothing and we left the telly on for some background noise (she watched a Paris Opera ballet, completely mesmerised, and fell asleep) and we left a light on. She slept alone in the living room all night without crying; she didn't have any "accidents" and just weed on a puppy pad we'd put by the door for that purpose... such a relief. We actually slept for the first time in days, and so did she.

So I don't know which bit worked best, but either way, it’s a total success... A massive thank you to everyone!!!

@Jador: You’re right, our schedule is quite tight, so we’re looking into arranging some days to work from home. Today our flatmate is with her all day!

We're being very careful not to make a ritual out of leaving, but we definitely need to do more "fake" departures and short trips out, and stop doing the same things right before we leave (shoes, bag, coat, etc.) because she saw it coming this morning and got anxious.

@Tania: I'm at work at the moment, so I've uploaded the only photo I have with me, but I'll add more later!

It’ll all come together slowly but surely with a bit of patience; you’re off to a great start, keep it up! And I (I’m sure I’m not the only one) would love to see a little photo, please! 😳🙂

Careful with the pigs' ears, don't overdo it as they can make a dog put on weight! I had that happen with Génésys.

Your little one is very young. She's just left her litter and is finding her feet in a brand new environment with a whole new set of rules to learn.

As mentioned, she's on her own a lot. It would really help if you could break up her day a bit. Looking at your schedule, it sounds like she only sees you for about 4 hours in the evening and maybe 1 hour in the morning while you're rushing around getting ready to leave. That's not a lot.

So you're throwing everything into that evening time with her, and in my humble opinion, that's probably creating a massive burst of excitement that she simply can't handle at her age.

You say you play with her loads... and then put her in her room for the night. Imagine having a mad kickabout with your kids right before bed and then saying "right, lights out" five minutes later. I'd bet there'd be absolute chaos at bedtime!!

Shorter, less intense bursts of attention, spread more frequently throughout the day, would suit her much better.

If your schedule doesn't allow for that, at least take her out as soon as you get in. Then a calm half hour with no fuss, followed by ten minutes of play or training, then another half hour of downtime — and carry on like that until bedtime, making sure she's had a quiet half hour before you settle her down. If you put her to bed straight after playing, she won't understand that sudden shift.

Also, try not to build up a big leaving or bedtime ritual — things like "right then, off to your bed, be a good girl, in your basket, stay, here's your teddy..." — loads of words that mean nothing to a dog but create a sort of stressful routine, because they learn that all of that is followed by being left alone.

Personally, at bedtime it's simply into the basket — no "night night, sleep tight," just turn and walk away without a word or a backward glance.

Hopefully some of that is useful. Either way — be patient. It will come. She's very young and only just arrived, so she needs time to find her bearings and settle into her new life.