Please reassure me, I'm so upset! (Leaving new puppy at night)

This is my toy poodle's first night at home he'll be 9 weeks old tomorrow. The crying is unbearable. I'm sitting at my laptop in tears wanting to run down the stairs and comfort him. I was instructed by his breeder (who is a wonderful lady) not to go to him and that he'll be fine. I feel so guilty and can't bear to listen to him cry.

I forgot to add...he's got a lovely bed with something of mine that smells of me, a toy that the breeder gave me that smells of his mum and siblings, a ticking clock in a towel, a warm blankie covering the crate. EVERYTHING!! I know puppies cry but this is breaking my heart.

You only have to options really hun,
1 - Go comfort him and then he will learn that everytime he cry's he gets affection which in later years will be a pain in the bum.
2 - Ignore him, he is only 9 weeks old, its his first night on his own, these things dont happen overnight he needs time to adjust it may take anything up to a few months for him to get used to sleeping on his own.
As long as you know he cant hurt himself on anything then dont worry he WILL BE fine. It is hard but if you comfort him now he will never sleep on his own and he will cry everytime he is on his own
Believe me it WILL get better i promise xx

I realise what the breeder has said, and that is what most do. However this is such a new situation, away from siblings and Mom, and although it has something of your with your smell on...your a stranger too (at the moment).
Have you tried leaving a night light on and perhaps a radio. a lovely cuddly toy of fur usually helps to (well until the chewing stage)
Tomorrow I would suggest that every so often you pop the little one onto the bed and shut the door for a couple minutes then go back in, Try doing this on a regular basis, so the little one knows you are coming back and not leaving.

poor little baby - 1st night away from familiy and in a strange home
Of course they will cry
If you dont want your dog to sleep with you then I am afraid you just have to be strong - they get used to it
but as you know if you go down then they will expect you to go down every time they want you and will learn to cry and cry and cry

I was actually advised that as I was crate training my dog to have him in the bedroom with me that way I would know if he needed the loo in the night and not force him to go in his bed - when he cried I just took him out to the loo - no playing - and put him back in his crate

But yup you have to work on making the crate a nice safe place during the day - where they can chill out and get peice but know you will come back (only not when they call)

cant really better any of the above suggestions - but just wanted to give you a hug... i have only experienced it with a human baby and that is bad enough !!!! ( although he still comes in my bed - as does the dog

Aw hun,

I know the crying is unbearable - we've all been there but it does get better as has been said.

Now you've put him to bed you can't really go down there but you can alter the way you train him from tomorrow if you wish.

As youngstevie says - try leaving him in bed for little periods during the day so he gets used to it (and never return when he's crying).
Some people prefer to gradually get the puppy used to sleeping alone (easiest done using a crate) and start off with puppy in a crate in the bedroom, then next night move him to the door, then next time out of the door but so he's still nearby, then partway or all the way down the stairs (depends on your set up and what's safe!), and gradually moving into where you want him to sleep.
I've never done it this way, I've only had one dog from a pup and she was left and ignored when she cried. Heartbreaking though it was, it didn't take long and I made sure to leave her a little during the day too.

edit to add: for weeks mum's taught pup that each time he cries, she'll be there so there is some undoing to be done... he will most likely go through an extinction burst when the crying gets even worse before it gets better. He will most likely sound more distressed than he really is because he's been taught by his mum to cry when he needs attention and now it's not working so he will cry louder and harder until he realises it won't work and will stop altogether.

Good luck - I don't envy you! I knew I wasn't very strong so I was going to sleep with music on wearing headphones when my puppy was at this stage!

Oh bless him. I'd have him in a bed/box by my bed for the first night as it is all so strange and new to him, he must be feeling awfully lonely and bewildered.

Just seen his pictures on another thread. He's so cute I'm sure its hard to resist his cries but I don't think there's anything else you can do. You've had good advice from others so just wanted to sympathise and say it will get better.

This article by Minihaha might be of help to you: (don't despair, we've all been through it! )

http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8974