Hi Everyone,
So glad I found this website, lots of useful information posted here that has helped us already. Over the weekend, my fiance and I got our newest addition to our family, a 6 week old black dane we named Zoe. We really would have preferred her to stay with her mother for another 2 weeks or even just one but it unfortunately just wasn't possible.
Now, a bit of a background to our little girl, she was born on March 17, and to everyone's surprise - she was the only puppy in the litter! The breeders had decided before she was born that this would be their last litter, as they decided to retire from breeding to move back into town since they started a family and just didn't have the time anymore. This, is mostly the reason we wish she could have stayed with them longer.
Since we got her, she really is super great, very smart and very playful. But very much a baby. We are trying to crate train her, but she goes pee and poop in the crate (being that young, her bladder is out of control and its hard to catch before she does it) and makes a complete mess. On top of that, she HOWLS ALL night long and we just don't get any sleep at all. Last night, we decided to baby gate the kitchen off, and leave the crate door open for her so she could go in and out of it (she went in a few times willingly yesterday, and even took a nap during the day in it) but so that she could go to the washroom. We are afraid of getting up in the night to let her out, because I tried that last night and once I left, her whimpering got REALLY bad - so we are wondering if just letting her go in the kitchen at night is okay?? At least until she can hold it a little longer??
Also, how long does the whimpering and howling generally last? We are really afraid that she has / will develop separation anxiety, because of her young age and having been the only pup in the litter.
One last question - any suggestions on how to train the puppy to not bite? We understand she is teething, but she can be quite aggressive with it and we'd like it to stop now while she's young and little.
Any advice would be very much appreciated!
So glad I found this website, lots of useful information posted here that has helped us already. Over the weekend, my fiance and I got our newest addition to our family, a 6 week old black dane we named Zoe. We really would have preferred her to stay with her mother for another 2 weeks or even just one but it unfortunately just wasn't possible.
Now, a bit of a background to our little girl, she was born on March 17, and to everyone's surprise - she was the only puppy in the litter! The breeders had decided before she was born that this would be their last litter, as they decided to retire from breeding to move back into town since they started a family and just didn't have the time anymore. This, is mostly the reason we wish she could have stayed with them longer.
Since we got her, she really is super great, very smart and very playful. But very much a baby. We are trying to crate train her, but she goes pee and poop in the crate (being that young, her bladder is out of control and its hard to catch before she does it) and makes a complete mess. On top of that, she HOWLS ALL night long and we just don't get any sleep at all. Last night, we decided to baby gate the kitchen off, and leave the crate door open for her so she could go in and out of it (she went in a few times willingly yesterday, and even took a nap during the day in it) but so that she could go to the washroom. We are afraid of getting up in the night to let her out, because I tried that last night and once I left, her whimpering got REALLY bad - so we are wondering if just letting her go in the kitchen at night is okay?? At least until she can hold it a little longer??
Also, how long does the whimpering and howling generally last? We are really afraid that she has / will develop separation anxiety, because of her young age and having been the only pup in the litter.
One last question - any suggestions on how to train the puppy to not bite? We understand she is teething, but she can be quite aggressive with it and we'd like it to stop now while she's young and little.
Any advice would be very much appreciated!
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