New Puppy won't sleep

[ksaett]

My seven week old Beagle won't sleep at night, just howl and yelp in her crate. How can I help her get to sleep?

[Renee750il]

Give her an old T-shirt or blanket that has your smell on it and try the old ticking clock trick. Just get an old fashioned wind-up alarm clock (you can get one for less than $10) and set it in the room where she can hear it. Make sure she has a safe chew toy in the crate with her, too. The Orbee-Tuff bone is a good one. Even my huge monsters haven't been able to put a dent in theirs, and they have a wonderful squishy but firm texture that they love and won't hurt puppy gums.

And whatever you do - No Rawhide!

Seven weeks is really at least a week too young to have left her mother, so you're going to have to put some extra time into working with her on things like mouthing and training. She's also going to need extra play time and affection from you since she has left not only her mother, but her littermates early. It's not the end of the world; you just need to be aware and take care of some of the 'puppy learning' her mother would have been teaching her.

[shazyswimmer]

whats mouthing

[Julie H]

I got my Chesapeake Bay Retriever at 7 weeks, but she was ver good in the crate. I did use the wind up clock and I kept her crate in the living room, she soon learned yelping would not get her out. My arms and hands showed mouthing all over them. Ripley and her litter mates would tear each other up when they played, that's why I got her at 7 weeks. Puppies have to learn what to bite and what not to bite, giving them good chew toys and praising them when they use them is a great start.

[Renee750il]

Originally Posted by shazyswimmer

whats mouthing

Mouthing is when a dog wants to bite and chew on you, or it's mother, it's littermates or another animal. Puppies have to learn when mouthing is okay and when it's not; usually it's taught by the mother when the pup is between seven and eight weeks old.