Ok, so Ive never had a dog before. I really wanted one to go for walks and car rides and geocaching with us. I got a rat terrier on Thursday night. She is 10 weeks old. Im exhausted. If this is like having a kid I really dont want one.

Now dont get me wrong I love her to death. She wont sleep unless im holding her. She cries all night (I have tried a large crate and now she has a pet yard setup in a room). I thought it would be a good idea to bring her to work so she isnt lonely but she cries and barks when I put her in the carrier. Right now she is sleeping on my lap, If i try to set her down she will cry again.

Is it better if I leave her at home and let her cry all day? She seems to be doing fairly well with the potty training, I take her out a lot. I have 2 cats so she certainly cant have free roam of the house.

Last night we tried a hot water bottle, didnt seem to help. A friend told me today to put a dirty shirt in the pen with her and something that makes a ticking noise in the room. Is there anything else that I can do to get her to not bark and cry all night or all day when left in the crate/pen?

Sara

I know that puppies are tiring and a lot of work. That is why I often think people should look into adopting rescue dogs that are trained, tested, and past the extremely needy baby stage. However, you've already got your girl and thus you have a baby.

Try to keep in mind that dogs are pack animals that prefer to be with their packs all the time. In fact the happiest puppies are the ones who get to sleep in a big puppy pile chewing on each other.

So you, of course, need to get her to work within our HUMAN ideas of how a dog should behave. It's understandable that you want sleep (grin) and peace. For comfort try to give her something to chew, something to do, something to listen to (music, tv, radio, something) and time. I prefer when possible to use the methods found here:

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/index.htm#puppy

Good luck and I wish you success and patience.

here is her picture


btw i cant post on this site with safari (mac) whats up with that.

I think i did I recognize the name, I checked their website just now and the only one they had in california was a male and I wanted a female. Maybe after I get used to Pixel and the eldest kitty passes on I can get another and will look at adoption again.

Let me tell you Sara, when yaz was a puppy I was the one that did a whole lot of crying. And I MEAN a WHOLE lot. I have three kids who were at the time 8, 6, and 2. Yaz was SO much work than I remembered a puppy being. And this breed does seem to have alot of seperation anxiety issues. It DOES get better. Yaz just  turned 2 a couple of days ago. Now don't get me wrong, she still has her moments when I want to scream. But, for the most part she is the best dog I have EVER had.

Tink was very young when she came to us, and I was up at night for several weeks.  We crate her, but her crate is right next to me on the floor.  Also, we wadded up an old pillow and stuck it in the back of the crate so that her space was small enough for her and not too open.  She also has a fleece blanket that she snuggles into.  When I first had to leave her I would put her crate (door open so she could enter and exit as she wanted to), food, water, toys and puppy pads in a small bathroom with a radio turned on outside the door. Now we have an exercize pen in the garage with all her stuff since I have to work for 6 hours - she's four months and I don't think it's safe yet for her to roam without us.  We also got these dental chews from the vet that Tink loves!  They were a little spendy, but she'll chew on them for hours.  They look like a rawhide strip.  We got the large dog size so she can chew till she falls asleep.  Hope this isn't too long!