New Springer Owners

Hi all,

after doing a lot of research, we have finally got our ESS puppy, we've called him Woody and he's adorable. We collected him on Saturday and he slept for almost all of the 2 hour drive home, then he was very sleepy and tired for much of the rest of the day. We gave him a bath as he was a bit smelly, and after a nice dry off with a low powered hairdryer he started to get his confidence back and livened up, having a drink and going outside to the toilet.

On Saturday night we put him in his crate in the kitchen, and we slept in the lounge so we could get up easily to let him out. He cried for a while then went to sleep for an hour or so , then started crying again, we let him out in the garden then put him back in the crate, again he started crying so we left him and he went off to sleep again for about 3 hours which was great.
When he woke up he went out to the toilet and then ate his breakfast and had a nice day playing in the garden and indoors with our 2 sons and us.

Last night however was a nightmare, he wouldn't stop crying when he was in the crate in the kitchen, even though we tried ignoring it for an hour, and in the end we brought the crate into the lounge where we were sleeping, but even then he still wasn't happy and it was almost 6am before he went to sleep and he was back up again not long after 7.. So we're pretty tired today.

He has eaten his breakfast fine this morning and we are trying to encourage him to use the crate to sleep in during the day, rather than on a blanket on the floor.

What's the best way of getting him settled tonight - and is this fairly normal?

Apart from that he's great, and is very good at letting us know when he wants to go to the toilet, so that's one worry that we had which isn't a worry any more.

He is getting his first vaccination and microchipped tonight, so hoefully that won't upset him too much.

here's a picture of him

user posted image

Any advice on settling him at night would be very welcome, and I'm sure we'll be on the forum all the time looking for advice on the best way to bring him up.

thanks

Niall and Sharon

Welcome Niall and Sharon,

Can I just say that Woody is absolutely gorgeous!! More piccies please!

Sorry you are having such hard times settling him at night. Have you put a soft toy in the crate with him to cuddle up to? We did this (Jasper is 9 weeks) and we bought a bed buddy which you warm in the microwave. We were advised that they are used to living with all their siblings so like to have something warm to snuggle up to.

As a new owner myself, I can't off any more advice. We've been really lucky as Jasper just goes to sleep on his own, but he had a couple of days alone as he was the last in the litter when we picked him up.

Good luck!

Hi&welcome Niall & Sharon

Woody is lovely

When Sam was a pup i put one of my old t shirts in the crate with him. I just wore it for a day so it had my scent on it and left it in his crate. It worked with Sam

Ryan&Sam

Hi and welcome to ST! I didn't really have that problem with Angel, but the advice already submitted is really good, you could try leaving a radio on very quitely so he doesn't feel as if he has been left and just make sure he is warm enough try sitting next to the crate just in case there are any big draughts.

You could try moving the blanket he is on, closer ito the crate than finally put it in the crate, also which is quite important don't always close the door on him - you don't want to associate the crate with being shut in and every one goes. Try giving him a treat in there but don't close the door.

good luck!

Hi again, and thanks to you all for your replies. Yesterday we left his crate in the lounge and put all of his blankets in there, so that if he wanted a comfy place to lay, he had to go into his crate. This seemed to work well, although he did keep trying to pull his blankets out so he could lie on them elsewher in the room. But it did seem to work and he now goes into the crate by choice. Last night we again slept in the lounge with him, but after about 10 minutes of crying he went off to sleep before midnight and he didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 6-30.

He had his first jab yesterday and also got his microchip (he slept through both!), so I don't know if that affected him or not, he was certainly lively enough in the evening. We'll see how we get on tonight, hopefully it will be the same as last night.

Housetraining is still going well with no accidents so that's fantastic. He knows his name now and will come when he is called, and he is learning the meaning of "No" (He hears it often enough!).

Niall

he's adorable and it sounds like he is doing really well

Another little useful trick for getting them to settle at night can be wrapping a warm (not too hot) water bottle in one of his blankets or your T-shirts and putting that in his crate for him to snuggle up to

He is a gorgeous little man and Im sure you'll have a great time with each other

How did I miss a gorg springer pup
Hi and welcome
I remember thoes days so well.
When we brought dottie home I slept next to her for 2 or 3 nights.
Puppies are used to being with their litter mates and they all cuddle up together.
I would suggest making him a den and making it really small so he could snuggle up tightly in there and feel safe.
A ticking clock or hot water bottle is also a good idea.
Dont take him to bed with you unless you will be happy to share your bed forever with him