HELP! My Shepherd is still crying!?

Question

My Shepherd pup has not stopped crying since we brought her home. She is seven weeks old. I know that she is still very little but I thought after a week or so that she would be use to us and stop crying. We tried the crate training, didn't work. Let her sleep with us (I know, giving into temptation...) Let her sleep with our older dog, who she loves....nothing. She cries all night long. Whimpers, barks, you name it, she does it. I am exhausted trying to comfort her night after night. I have tried a snuggle buddy, toys, hot water bottle, sheet over the cage, EVERYTHING! Please help! I love her to death but I want to do the right thing by her…We both need sleep!

Answer 1

Hmm an old remedy (not making any promises) is a watch.  Laying a sort of loud clock (the tick is loud) next to her while she's in a crate supposedly reminds them of a heartbeat. (it's parents heartbeat)

Otherwise, yea it is a problem and a hard one to fix.

I would also say, if sleeping with it (and you aren't having problems sleeping through the night) then let it sleep with you as long as it's quite.  I had a great dane a while back with the same problem, only time it'd be quit is when it was sleeping with me or around people.

Answer 2

Puppies are a heck of a lot of work.  Worth it, but a lot of work.

She is young yet, so your first concern is trying to figure out what she needs when she cries.  Does she need to go outside to potty or is she crying because she's lonely?  Take her outside on leash and see if she has business to do.

Back in her crate she goes.  Like others have stated, I like to keep the crate in my bedroom.  She has the comfort of having you near, but now it's bed time.  For most of her life thus far she has had her littermates to depend on for comfort and warmth.  Cries are what used she used to use to let her mother know she needed her and she is using what she's learned so far with you.  

You can cave in occasionally and bring her up next to you, but to make a habit out of it is teaching her the way to get what she wants is to scream her head off.  It works so she will keep on doing it.  Tell her gently to go to sleep and then, heartless at it seems, ignore her and try to go back to sleep.  Generally speaking, she's still too young to hold it through the night, so you can expect an early wake up call that will need attending to unless you want to be cleaning out a crate and possibly bathing a puppy.  The sooner you let her cry it out, the sooner you're going to start getting a bit more sleep.

Stick things out a bit longer than what you've been doing.  Think of the kid in the grocery store throwing a huge tantrum until she gets what she wants.  Is that the kind of Shepherd you want?  I'd keep using all the things you've been trying, but the sheet.  Being able to see you during the night may comfort her enough to save you a wake up or two through the night.

She is also probably going to take her screaming and carrying on to new heights for a few days.  It's worked before so she will probably cry a little louder and longer to see if that works.  Don't give in.

Seven weeks isn't too young to get a pup.  In the last few years 8 weeks has now become the optimum time (except for the toys), but farther back 7 weeks was supposed to be the perfect time.  Get her into puppy kindergarten to help cover the missed socialization with her littermates or I can almost guarantee you will regret it.

Hang in there.

Answer 3

from everything ive ever heard, in all the states ive lived in, its illegal to sell any puppy before they are 9 weeks old... you got a very young dog, who was probably not weined correctly and shes missing her mother and littermates.. poor thing.. well you have her now... so,,, id call the vet and get a check up for her and tell the vet what is going on.  

Answer 4

I know this sounds so mean but we put pennys in a sobe bottle and everytime ours would whine (Malamute mix BTW) we shook it...After a couple times hed stop and go lay down.

Answer 5

well,she is a bit young to be all alone w/o the litter mates.

I would hold off on the crate training....

get her a bed, small enough for her and a toy, put it right next to your bed and keep her there. She is going to cry, like human babies, but there will come a time where she will know you are right there....

if she fusses touch her with your hand, but don't pick her up. She will settle down.....

Give her time. It isn't going to be perfect. You are going to lose a little more sleep but once she gets used to the routine,  she will settle

I did this with my bulldog. Now at 4 years old, I have a 52 pound blanket weight that sleeps right in my back.....

good luck, don't give up

Answer 6

I know this may sound cruel, but stop trying to comfort her.  She has learned that crying will get her the attention that she wants.  I went through this with my Catahoula/Pit Mix.  I ignored him, and after a couple of nights he stopped.

Answer 7

aw the poor little thing. why don' you try putting her crate in the room with you guys. i would take her to the vet  

Answer 8

7 weeks old is a young puppy.  Most puppies are weaned by 8 weeks and then begin to be given up for adoption.  It sounds like she may have been cut off from family ties to early.  

First, what I would suggest, is do NOT give up on the crate training.  This is by far the most effective way to potty train and housebreak your dog.  She needs to stay in the crate at night for sleeping, and during the day when you are not ACTIVELY watching her.  Take her out of the crate and directly outside where you will give her a potty command (i.e. Go Potty!) then throw her a potty-party when she does her doodle.  This will make the potty training progress way faster when she knows how happy you are when she potties.

As far as the crying-at-night thing goes, you may want to have your family members and/or other dog sleep on an old pillowcase for a few hours or night and then put it in the crate with the puppy.  She may just need reassuring smells.  Also, put a puppy Kong with puppy-safe treats or peanut butter in the crate with her before bedtime.  

She may also be teething, so what I did with my dog when she was a puppy, get some old washcloths or buy some cheap ones, wet them in clean water, roll each one separtely into a washcloth-cigar, and put in the freezer to freeze for several hours until hard.  You may need to play tug-o-war with her first before she realizes these are for her to chew on.  The cold will help her mouth feel better and give her something to be active with if she wakes up at night or during the day in her crate.  

Also, try a soft radio near her crate at night and during the day while you're away.  It will get her used to different noises and voices, to help even socialize her a bit more.

And if worst comes to worst, put her crate behind closed doors in a bathroom or spare room as far away from your bedroom as possible at night.  She will eventually grow out of the crying, but she first needs to get used to her crate (again, do not give up on the crate), and being a part of the "pack".  She needs to learn you are the leaders.

Good luck!!!  

Answer 9

   put the radio on, it usually calms them down

Answer 10

Could she possibly be in pain? I would take her to the vet to get checked out..

Answer 11

We used to put a clock in the crate she was in.  It would have to be a clock that you could hear the ticking sound, not a digital clock.  Make sure the alarm is not set and that its off of course.  The sound of the ticking clock was like a mothers heart beat, it always did the trick for us, and the crying stopped.  

You may want to check with your vet though if the crying dosen't stop, there maybe something else going one with the puppy.

Answer 12

I have 2 puppies right now.. both are 8 months and I have had them since age 8 wks. I put each one in their own crate, turn out the lights, and left them to bark.. Do not take them out when they bark.. only take them out when they are quiet.. they will get the hint. Mine stopped after a few days... they go to bed now at 8pm and dont get up until 7am the next morning. My husband even goes to work at nite and they do not bark at all..    

Answer 13

She misses her mother and littermates.

Puppies are not supposed to be taken from their mother until they're 8 weeks old, so that they're completely weaned and know how to be a real dog.

Answer 14

Awnnnnnnnnn !    Poooooooooor little pup. I feel sooo bad right now. What if you take her out of the cadge? Maybe it makes her feel locked up? Where did she come from? Was she staying in hay or a comfy bed before? Maybe she misses something !  What if you bring her in your bad, and keep your arms around her and fall asleep that way? -When i first got my pup, she wouldn't sleep unless i held her in my arms. She always had to be with someone to stop crying and to sleep. Please ! Trust me, let her sleep with you, hold her in your arms while you fall asleep together. Try that for 3 days. If you still don't see a change, bring her to the vet, maybe she has a soar stomach or a broken bone and it's giving her pain. :(  Please bring her to the vet if she doesn't stop crying. Poor little pup !  And good luck. ;)  

Answer 15

put an windup clock [donot set alarm] in the bed whith it and a worm blanket  she was taken from mom to early at least 8 weeks take her to vet and old pappers inthe bed[crate]

Answer 16

you have to be consistant. I know its hard to hear her whine but she is getting confused now. Put her in there and ignore her completely. Give her a treat when she goes in. She has to know its a positve place.

PS: OR she could possibly be constipated...have you been keeping an eye on her bowel movements?

PSS (side note after reading some of these answers) 7 weeks is fine! I got my saint bernard puppy at 7 weeks and he whined for 3 nights when he was in the kennel. I ignored him and he knew whining wasnt going to help him out. After that he LOVED his kennel.

Answer 17

Your dog is too young to be away from mom.  Dogs should not be taken from mom until 8-10 weeks for med-large dogs and 10-12 weeks for toy-small dogs.  

You have a dog that's underage, missing mom, and from a bad background.  She's scared, is too young to have been corrected by mom, and may have something wrong due to the bad breeding.

If it were me, I'd return this pup to the breeder.  Of course, I wouldn't have gotten a 6 week old pup to begin with unless mom was dead and there was no surrogate, but that's besides the point.  If that's not an option (which is probable with a bad breeder), then she needs to go to the vet.  If she check out, then you'll just have to bear through it for the next 4-8 weeks until she's old enough to sleep through the night more.

Sorry!

Answer 18

pups shouldn't leave the mum till they are 8 weeks in my opinion it should be longer, i think that may well be the prob or shes ill take her to the vet to check her over and maybe see if the pup can stay longer with its mum.  

Answer 19

If you have a tiled hallway buy a gate and put a bed in it, the crate might make her feel scared.

Answer 20

wow.  Sounds like you have tried everything.  What you havn't seemed to try is consistency.  You need to do the same thing every night for a week and then start to wonder if anything will work or try something else.  but if you do something different every night, of course she will be confused and scared.  Ask yourself one thing.  When this baby is a big dog, where do YOU want her to sleep?  then once you have that answer, that is where you start putting her to bed when you go to bed.  If it's her crate, so be it, if with other dog, fine.  but what ever you do, do it every night and I bet you will see results within five days.  good luck, and don't give up on her.