Hey guys, long time lurker here. Two days ago I purchased a female sib. She's just shy of 8 weeks old, and is all white with medium blue eyes. Her mother was red, so the skin of her mouth, nose, and eyes have the distinct "red" coloring, and has the slightest tint of coloring around her neck. My boyfriend and I haven't settled on a name yet. I'm thinking Astrid or Balt (short for Balthazar. Not very effeminate, but I doubt she would mind).

As someone who is not a mother, and who has never taken on their own puppy before, the past two days have been wrought with tears - on both of our ends. No matter how much research I did, I wasn't really prepared to deal with a non-potty trained puppy without her last set of shots (we cant spend a lot of time outside), that is dealing with not being with her mom for the first time, and who absolutely abhors being crated.

Any advice or words of encouragement that anyone can offer would be immensely appreciated. I'm having doubts, but I've been told that this behavior is normal the first couple of days. I have crated her in a bathroom because my boyfriend and I desperately need sleep, and she cries incessantly. I'm deeply worried that I'm going to do permanent damage. Despite hating her crate, however, she is a loving puppy who loves the chilly patio and roaming around free (which I cant let her do just yet, haha), as well as pooping and peeing in the house right after I've taken her outside, haha.

Here is a picture of her on the ride home:

We've all been right where you are! When my husband and I brought Koopa home, he was the first pup either of us had without our parents.. Needless to say we freaked out too. Sadly, we were in an apartment at the time & also worried about our neighbors sleep as well as our own. He cried so much in his box we tried putting him in the bathroom and he still cried. He would also chew us out every time we would let him out of his box.

BUT, we put a radio in there with him when we left him in his box, and we have him ice to coax him in there. The crying eventually stopped. So it does get better!

As far as the potty training, Koopa was the worst! We would be outside for an hour and come inside and have an accident about 5 steps from the door... But we just gave him a treat every time he went outside (and took him out often) and eventually the accidents stopped too

Koopa is now a year old, and he is so great. He has so much personality. It's well worth the month of suffering to gain such an amazing companion in the end hang in there, it does get better! but enjoy the puppy stage, they grow up fast!

I hope I can help witht he potty training:

One thing I learned was that it doesn't matter if they were outside for an hour. Puppies at 8 weeks have a bladder that is not fully developed. The can only hold their pee for about and hour! So if you took her outside for an hour and she didn't go then it probably means she will soon. I have a few things you could try that helped me.

Next time you bring her in do this.
First, make sure her state of mind is out of play mode. So try relaxing her for a minute.
Then once her state of mind is not on play take her immidiately outside. I bet she will go.

Another thing you should definitely do is give her a treat every time she goes outside and say good potty or bathroom. Really anything you want. This teaches her that going outside is good and she gets a treat for it. Another good thing about this is it is actually teaching her the command bathroom (or whatever you say). This is great for those cold nights you want to go back in the house quick. I like to give a treat even older when Zoe goes quick and its cold lol.

Early on make sure that if she goes outside to use the bathroom and her state of mind gets into play mode and then she pees, that you don't take her in right away. Because to her this is saying hey I want to play, but when I pee she takes me inside. I hope that makes sense. Just change her state of mind by say giving her a treat for using the bathroom and walking a big circle and then going in.

Lastly, don't punish her for going inside unless you catch her in the act. Dogs live in the moment and if she is not in the act she will have no idea what you are punishing her for and it will have adverse effects. If you catch her in the act great! Tap her on the nose and say no (or whatever u do to punish her) and take her outside. If she finishes outside then give her a treat.
I kept a ziploc baggie of treats in my pocket for about the first month so I would have them handy lol

Hope I helped or at least gave you hope lol.

You'll get there!!!! GL

I crated Beowulf downstairs, and he would cry all night. I moved his crate right next to my side of the bed in place of the nightstand, and he slept through the night knowing I was right there. I would even sleep with my arm or hand up against the crate for comfort. He would wake up, lick my hand with some kisses, and fall back asleep.

Nara got to sleep in the bed with me, and she would snuggle up against me. As soon as I felt her moving around, I would pick her up and run her outside to go potty. She never whined, as I was right there with her until she was potty trained, and then she was crate trained without an issue. She never had an accident on the bed, but as soon as her little feet hit the ground, so did her pee or poo. That's when I learned to just pick her up from the bed and not put her down again until we were outside.

Welcome to the forum! Your new baby is beautiful! I love the whites!

My husband and I were in your shoes exactly 1 year ago. Our puppy is currently 14 months old, however, I remember vividly how difficult it was. Thank God for this forum. Not only does it offer you incredible information, but also gives you the peace of mind knowing you are not alone! Most of us have gone through the same situtations, especially with bringing very young pups home.

When we brought Q home, he cried (screamed, howled, yelped scratched, shook the cage) for about an hour the first night. So when we woke up we thought we hit the jackpot! We thought the second night could only get better! WRONG! It was so much worse. The next night was even worse than the second. It truly was the worst time in my life! We don't have children either, so we felt completely out of control and out of our element. Day by day, it does get better.

Regarding potty training, one thing we did was keep a journal of all food times and potty times. You get so busy and so distracted that sometimes you don't realize that an hour went by and then an accident happens. It's a ton of work in the beginning, but you just have to be consistent. Lots and lots of praise when she goes outside will help.

I don't want to give out too much personal advise, because I really don't feel qualified. One thing I do want to say, is do what feels right and what works in your home. Each dog is different and not everything goes according to the text books.

One last thing I want to say, is that even though your dog hasn't had all her shots, many believe that the benefits of getting her out and socialized greatly outweighs the risk of her contracting something. That was advise we were given by our trainer and our vet, and as of today, our puppy is incredibly well socialized and absolutely loves all people and all dogs.

I've cried many many times over Q. In fact, I actually told my husband that we needed to give him back to the breeder after just two weeks. It was heartbreaking for both of us. But the night I made that decision, I decided that I would just sleep on it, and we'd make the phone call to the breeder the next day. And by the grace of God, when I woke up the next morning I was able to just take things one day at a time from that point on, and now a year later we are mostly settled in.

Hang in there! And don't be hard on yourself! I've cried many many times over my beloved puppy. Bset of luck ot you!

I can't give you too much advice, because I haven't done the crate or potty training thing in quite some time (my next pup is about 3 weeks old now and coming home in May), but I can definitely offer encouragement. Puppies are hard work and once you get them potty/crate/everything else trained, then you have to deal with the teenager issues. You'll have tears, anger, frustration, and laughter through the experience of the puppy growing up. If you can make it through the hard parts, eventually you'll look back and realized how blessed you were to have Balt/Astrid in your life, and how truly you love her. Then you'll have to let her go, but if you can make it through, the love and the bond you create with her is so worth the sleepless nights and the pee on the carpet. Even though these issues are dominating your life right now, at some point you'll look back and think, 'what's a little pee on the carpet for everything she's given me.'

On a lighter note - I love the name Astrid. Fringe is one of my favorite shows! My humble opinion is that Balt sounds more like Balto then Balthazar, and most people are going to jump that direction. But, both are great names. Good luck with everything. I'm sure I'll be on in a couple months crying because I'm totally sleep deprived from my boy keeping me up all night crying in his crate and by then you'll be a pro!