"First Night" nerves. what to do?

We are collecting our new Kooiker pup in a couple of weeks and would like some advice on how to get through the first night! At present, the owners take turns to sleep in the lounge next to the pups nest(!) They are now 5 weeks old. Is it best to start as you mean to go on, and ignore the cries and barks until the morning, or do we keep going down to reassure him? I have had a dog before- but 20 years ago, and all this didn't seem such a big deal then! Somehow bringing up puppy seems to have evolved into a canine "artform"! Any help or advice on the first few days too please! many thanks,Dee

OOOoooo a new puppy lovely!
People have different opinions on what to do but i chose to have Tonks in a high sided box next to my bed for the first few nights. I didn't pay much attention to her crying, just laid my hand in the box for her to sniff. A couple of times she got her self worked up, i didn't say anything but massaged her until she fell asleep.

I did take her out for a wee every two hours.

For the next couple of nights she stayed by the bed and i gradually extended the time she could go wihtout a wee.

On the fourth night i put her in her crate next to the bed and didn't respond to any crying and giving her gentle praise when she settled after crying. - only taking her out for a wee once.

After a couple of nights with her in the crate next to the bed i put the crate in the kitchen, with a snuggle pad and a ticking clock. I took her out for a wee when howled for one, but didn't go until she had stopped whining for a few seconds. I didn't talk or look at her, just let her out for a wee and put her back in her crate.

five weeks since we got her now and she sleeps in her crate in the kitchen all night. I would strongly recommend crate training.

Have you got any puppy books - having a puppy after such a long time can be a bit of a shock! I would recomend The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey, or any of the books by Ian Dunbar.

Thanks for that, Catrinsparkles! By coincidence, a friend who trains dogs for a living has already promised us the same book by Gwen Bailey! We are planning to get a crate for him to sleep in, but, as we don't plan to let him upstairs, we'll have to keep him in the kitchen where he'll sleep. I guess we're going to have a few sleep deprived nights!

Hi Dee I always take new puppies to bed with me in a box.

I find it speeds the bonding process which makes for easy training.
When Puppies feel safe and secure they quickly grow in confidence and can gradually learn to be left without problems.
I was talking to my vet about this recently and she agreed, puppies who are forced to be alone can become fearful and may develop separation anxiety, puppies treated with care have few problems.
This article may help...
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8974

Oooo that's good. It has a lot of good advice in there, although i find the routine she descirbes a bit unrealistic.

I don't have Tonks in the bedroom either, but did have for the first few nights. They are so tiny i think they soon forget they were allowed in the bedroom for the first few nights. ..... i think it helped Tonks settle quicker having her next to me for the first few nights.

I forgot to say, i have only ever met one kooiker, but she was absolutely gorgeous, i really sweet little pup.

Hi Dee Gwen Bailey is good , the one niggle I have with her puppy book is she advocates the use of newspaper for house training.

This little booklet , 'The Fast Track Puppy Survival Kit' costs just £4 and I would recommend it to anyone getting a new puppy It is written by two APDT trainers and covers the basic essentials .

http://www.dog-games.co.uk/newshop/p...en+Roberts.htm

I didn't notice that bit minihaha - but i don't think paper trianing is great either, seems to me that you just have to retrain them later.

What usually work's for my puppy owner's is.
1. A teddy for them to sleep with help's, one a wee bit bigger usally help's(check eyes won't come out of teddy)
2.Radio on low so they don't feel alone.
3.Only go to the puppy when he is quite no whingeing or he will feel it is ok to whinge and you will come running.
4.A jumper of your's with your smell on also help's on top of his own bedding.
Hope this help's it work's for us.

Oh hooray for a new puppy!
It's so nerve-wrecking isn't it? When I first brought Brogan home I just felt absolutely terrible for taking him away from everything he knew back at the house with the breeder, her dogs, and his siblings. He was just so shy of everyone the first few minutes and I felt nothing but guilt for taking him away from all of his comforts
He did do wonderful the first night-and every night since then for that matter. I kept him in a small crate next to my bed with the top open. He whined for maybe thirty seconds before settling down and sleeping solidly through the night! I was prepared for being woken up in the middle of the night, and I know I didn't sleep much that night-but he was a joy. For the next few nights, he continued to wine-every time for less than a minute, and then would sleep through the night until my alarm clock would go off around 5 in the morning. I guess I just got lucky with him as he has never pottied in his crate either.

My best advice would be that if he sleeps, but then starts whining-I would take him outside. He may whine for a while when you first put him in the box, or crate, or whatever you decide to use. I wouldn't pay too much attention to him, but occasionally stick a hand in there to relax him. Too much attending-to-his-whining will teach him that whining gets him exactly what he wants. Brogan's breeder sent me home with a small blanket that was put in the room with he and his brother and sister the day before we picked him up so that it had their scent on it-see if your breeder will do this for you as it may comfort the pup to smell his siblings while he is in this new place. Also play with him before going to bed just to make sure he is good and tuckered out

Oh its so exciting! Just hope you don't turn into a big softy like I did and start crying over how bad you feel for taking the poor pup away I really felt silly for it, but just couldn't help myself!

Just want to say....congratulations on your new puppy. Sorry am not going to give advice on this....except we don't have dogs in the bedroom either. We were VERY lucky when we had Bruce at 7 weeks, Skye immediately took on MOTHER role, and he slept the first night with both her and Reah (who has become Gran to him)....Just as Skye did with Reah and Meg (sadly passed away now), I did stay down stairs on the settee for awhile, but no noises were heard.......he had two big sisters/Mother, Gran to cuddle up to fortunately we have never had the 'crying, sleepless nights' Hope it all goes well Best of luck and enjoy your new puppy.XXXXXX