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Originally Posted by Dzbabykel  Hi there, congrats on your new pup! Everyone on here has given you such great advice, what I did when Oliver was really little was put his cage on the nightstand right next to my bed. Since he would cry at night, I'd put my hand in the cage which comforted him and he'd fall asleep right next to my hand. It worked! I would either do that or actually physically put the cage in bed with me  He was just so little I was terrified if he wasn't in his cage I'd rollover on him or he would fall off the bed during the night. Best of luck to you and your little one!! |
I did the same thing Kelly did. Tibbe was 9 mos. old when I got him but had lived all his life in a crate, was almost feral and was desperate not to be crated at first. I put him in his little plastic dog carrier crate, which was pink of all things with a pink, fuzzy carrier pad in the bottom! I had gotten the crate about a year B4 getting Tibbe when I had planned on getting a female Yorkie. Well, Tibbe loved sleeping next to me on the bed in his new "pink Cadillac" for the first two weeks until I felt he was in control of his bladder/poop urges not to soil the bed. But when he was in the carrier, I would gather it up close to me and stick my fingers through the door grating and touch him, talk to him, soothe him. He would settle down and before long drift off to sleep - and so did I. As far as crate training, don't put the little one in there and leave them for long at first. Just a couple seconds and take them back out. I'd put treats on the floor of the crate and Tibbe would go in himself. I'd close the door and wait 5 - 10 seconds and open it and out he'd come. We worked up to the time in the crate until he habituated to it and then, 15 minutes later, out we went to the backyard for any bathroom action. Soon, Tibbe was playing and falling asleep in his crate and yes, toileting but eventually he learned he was being taken out so often that he learned to hold it for outside and besides, he learned he didn't like a soiled crate. IBut I was semi-retired when I first got Tibbe and had the whole day and night to do this so I had a big advantage on working folks. Whatever method you use, be patient as a saint and persistent as a terrier and your little baby will "get it". Those early panic sessions of whining, crying and pooping are understandable reactions to wanting mamma and siblings back and not understanding what in the world has happened to them. Can't blame the little things! I'd act just the same if I were jerked away from my family to a wholly strange life. Eventually the love you show will win the day and you'll become everything to your baby - and given the choice, you'd win out over momma and siblings all day.