[ElvisVizsla]

Hi there,
This is a fantastic forum and some really useful tips and info. There is some much information available and much of it conflicting (vets say one thing, breeders say another and then seasoned dog owners something else).

Our puppy is beautiful and full of life and we love him to bits and he gets plenty of love. There is clearly a shared view that the Vizsla is a very sensitive dog and does not respond well to 'harsh treatment and shouting' which is fine because we dont want to treat him harshly, but I found myself standing over his crate at 2am again this morning while he was barking and crying, shouting 'quiet' and pointing at him. He tends to wake, 2am, 3am, 2am, 3am and so on and wont go back to sleep unless i pick him up and take him to our bed in the adjacent room. last night I decided enough was enough and just stood over his crate shouting 'quiet' while he rolled around and had a tantrum and yelped, and after 20 minutes he settled down but was clearly upset and he went back to sleep. How do you discipline a puppy at 10 weeks old who wont settle down and the neighbours are being really nice but have a limit, and do this without having to raise your voice becaus he doesnt respond to anything else? I hate to do it, but we are not getting sleep and its tough when you wake at 3am to be as calm and levelled when it happens every night? What is the difference between tough love and being harsh to a puppy that 'may' have longer term consequences which we desperately dont want. I am not as patient as my girlfriend sadly, I wish I was. Any ideas would be well received.

 

[gunnr]

Elvis

Everyone that has had a Vizsla puppy has been where you're at currently. I wish there was an easy way to get through it, but they can be a real trial the first few weeks. It takes lots of patience,patience,patience and persistence. Don't yell, or kick the crate. It's not doing any good. Let him know you are there, but other than needing to go out to relieve himself, there he is staying. Let him cry it out. Realize though that at this age your puppy does 4 things. sleep, eat,play, go to the bathroom. If he's not doing one of the first three, he's looking to do the fourth.
When he wakes you at nite does he need to go to the bathroom?
People have put hot water bottles wrapped in towels in the crate with the puppy to settle them. May be worth a try.

You don't "discipline" a 10 week old puppy. They won't understand it. They're too young for it to do much other than create behavioral issues later. You gently restrain them, or put them in their crate, or help them to the door, etc. If they start to bite your finger, you very gently push your finger and a flap of their gum into their mouth and let them bite themselves.

You'll get through it. Don't lose your temper at this stage, or you may have to overcome issues in a few short weeks/months. You do not want the puppy to work out of fear, or be afraid when you are finally able to start training him. He'll shutdown out of fear
10 weeks is actually a good age to start gentle leash training and games that begin the pattern of behavior. Fetch,come stay. Do it in sessions that only last a few minutes at a time, multiple times during the day. This may also help you with his antics at nite.

 

[ElvisVizsla]

Hi, thanks so much for the response, and wise words.

yes discipline is too strong a word and would NEVER kick the crate. I have put my hand over his mouth and said 'quiet' and he tries to move my hand with his paws, this is what the breeder did when he was barking, very softly while saying quiet. Doesnt seem to work.

I potty him probaly 2-3 times a night, basically when ever he needs it, i take him outside, but sometimes on the third time he clearly doesnt want back in the crate and when he is put there he really goes for it and we live in a unit so cant let him cry himself to sleep as neighbours on both sides wont have it. We are moving to a big house with garden in 6 weeks so that will help. HE is a really good puppy and after reading some other questions in here I realised just HOW good, its just the waking up at 3 or 4 and wanting out of his crate we need to work through. Will be more persistant, thanks for your tips too.

 

[Crazy Kian]

we must have lucked out with Kian because I do not remember him being that fussy after the first 3 nights.

have you tried covering his crate? I am not sure where I read that but we started it from day one.
we cover his crate with a breathable blanket to darken it at night, also, make sure he has lots of blankets and his favourite toy, maybe even one of your garments that has your scent.

good luck, and as gunnr mentioned.... patience. Once you get thru this hump you will see how great these pups can be.

 

[bridget247]

I don't have too much to add, but I agree with Gunnr regarding patience and persistence. 10 week old puppies interpret us raising our voices as barking - if they fuss and bark louder and we acknowledge it - even with a stern "quiet" - they view that as getting our attention. So they do it again. If you know your puppy does not need to go outside, the best thing to do is ignore it - the habit will break eventually.

The first three nights with our puppy, she cried uncontrollably in her crate. We took her out to go to the bathroom, but then we put her right back in her crate. It was tempting to let her sleep with us, but once you do that with a V, there is no turning back (we have a 6 year-old V who sleeps in our bed). When our puppy would occasionally bark or whine in her crate (and we knew she did not need to go out and she was not hungry), we completely ignored her. When she was quiet and happy in her crate, we lavished her with praise. During the day, I sneak treats into her crate and she now views her crate as a happy, safe place. She never fusses when she is in there.

 

[vizslandobes]

We sleep with our dobe and vizsla in bed with us. That is our preference though, and it's not for everyone. Actually they've decided that sleeping on the dog bed in our room is best...even better


It was a solid 1-2 weeks before Grady finally settled in his kennel during the day..even while we were home. He still does not go in willingly. Our dobe, Nina, was a nightmare at crate training. She was a nightmare in general raising though (nothing like Mr. Sweetpants Good-boy Grady ) and it took her almost a year to accept the kennel.