Puppy question

Just adopted a brother and sister. Hound, Chow, Something else mix.

The boy is great. Got him housebroken in just under two weeks. Loves his crate. Chews on a few things, but that's just being a puppy.

The girl's giving me a few issues and wanted to know if you have any pointers.

1. Cries incessantly at night. When I say cry, it sounds like she's getting murdered. Loud and long. I've tried playing a radio quietly. Tried covering her crate. Need to get a ticking clock and try that. She also whimpers a lot during the day while doing everything. Is this normal? How long should I wait before deciding this is more than just being a puppy and I need to see if she has other problems.

2. Housebreaking. I know she gets it, because there are a lot of times that she'll sit at the back door to be let out. But there are still times that she'll go on the ground. Also, she's peed in her crate twice. I was under the impression they would never do this. We let them out more than enough and get up in the middle of the night to let them out too. Again, just being a puppy? Will she out grow that?

3. We've decided that our new favorite game is to stand in our water bowl and splash around. It was cute the first two or three times. Now I can't even put the thing down without hovering around her to make sure she doesn't dive in. How do I break her of this? It makes an awful mess and then I have to chase a wet dog. I can't just take away their water.

Any thoughts?

when it comes to the crying thing at night, have you tried any of the toys that you can put peanut butter in to keep her busy at night?
My puppy cries allot when I am at work, I bought her a little chew toy (that helps with her teething also), at one end I put Peanut butter and I fill it with Chicken broth then I freeze it so when I leave for work in the morning I give it to her and when I come home she is usually still licking on it, it makes a little bit of a mess so I always have to change her bedding but it may work with her screaming at night..

Hope everything works out and keep us posted!

Sounds like she needs a checkup just to make sure there's nothing physiological going on.

How old are they?

She may be one of those dogs that just can't abide a crate. Being a bit claustrophobic myself, I tend to think about that. Some dogs just aren't ever going to love that crate and are going to regard it as a prison. Also, if they were in cages in a shelter it may have imprinted a very negative experience with being locked up; and remember, they have no real choice but to void in those cages. It just can't be helped; even the best rescues are often scrambling to find one more minute in each hour to get everyone taken care of.

Puppies have accidents even after they seem to be housebroken, and it will vary from dog to dog. When your male gets a bit older he may suddenly start lifting his leg and peeing on things in the house again. He probably won't if he's been neutered, but it can be more of a "look how I learned to pee!" thing than marking.

Oh, the water! Bimmer did that. He splashed it all out and would lay in it. It was purely an instinctual hunting behaviour instinct in his case - the wolf in him - hiding his scent. Now that he's an adult, whenever he goes out for some serious hunting he finds a puddle to lay in to cover his belly and legs with mud. Thankfully he gets in the wading pool and cleans himself up when he's done! Yours may have some water-dog, like retriever, genes (are the feet webbed between the toes) and just be indulging in some instinctual fun. There might be some kind of watering gizmo (kind of like what they have for hamsters) that would solve the problem until she's old enough to have a little more self control and grows out of it.

By adopting the two, I'm assuming a shelter/rescue? I'm just wondering if you are separating the brother and sister now that you have them, but they were together at the facility? I'll hold my comments until you answer. It could mean the difference.

Really great point, Avenlee!

Thanks so far

Thanks for the quick responses.

I did get them from a shelter, and they were caged together, but they're only a little over 2 months old. I'm trying to crate train the, both for me, but also for them. I figure it's good for them to have place of their own. Right now they're in seperate, small crates, but we'll definitely have to upgrade when they get a little bigger.

I'll try some of your suggestions. Keep 'em coming.

I really appreciate it.

They do need a safe place that's all their own. Bimmer's is a big, thick fuzzy rug at the foot of the bed. Shiva's is the laundry room. She can almost stay out of trouble there. Kharma's still trying to figure out which spot she wants, but seems to have settled on the end of the sofa (where she can prop her head up on the arm and watch TV, especially football).

Being as young as you say, the sister might be missing her brother. Renee has brought up this trick before in threads and I think it might work here. Surprised Renee didn't say it in her last post ! lol But I'll say it, maybe try placing a blanket or something that the brother has gotten his scent on in the crate with the sister. I'd even try, and I'm chuckling while typing, purchase a stuffed dog and get the brother's scent on it. That might work too. It seems to me she's missing the comfort of her brother. And, at this young of age, you can't really spoil them at this point.

soooo sweet ....

Yep, good call Saje. I got stalled out thinking about a baby critter being stuck in something that has negative associations. But I'll admit I'm not an advocate of 'crates for all.' They have their uses, and are almost a necessity for some dogs, but I do think of them an extreme solution.

Not me. I think you're referring to Avenlee.