First night with new puppy

[CWintersvahn]

Hello!

We are getting our new Cane Corso puppy in a couple of hours. As we have our bedroom upstairs my fiancé and I have decided that I will sleep on the sofa downstairs to make it easier (more convenient for me rather) to take the puppy outside during the night.

We don't have a crate for the puppy but we do have a dog bed. However we do not have anything to close off the room with as the mail can't deliver things on time.

I am wondering if you got any tips to make things smooth for the puppy. We have the dog bed next to our sofa, if the dog cries during the night should I comfort him or ignore it? I am thinking of setting an alarm around 3-4 am so that he can go outside and do his needs. How long should I continue this routine?

 

Any tips for a nervous man is appreciated. 😅

(Sorry if there is a thread like this.)

 

[FrederykBlot]

Hello

 

I hear you, been there too not so long ago

 

First thing : even if you do not have a crate, or don't want to use one, you'll definitely help yourself with some kind of containment device, if it's not a specific room, at least a pen... You never know if your pup would wander around during the night, thats something you'd want to avoid

 

First night we had ours (he was in a bed which was in a pen) my girlfriend would stay close to the pen while he fall asleep.

Few days after we slept in the same room (guest room with a convertible bed), but in sight

After that we moved things a bit, same room, but no more in direct sight

And then our own bedroom back

 

Each step were few days each, making around 2 weeks to sleep in the bedroom again

 

 

About the whining and so, I do not recommand going direct to her. You don't wanna teach "I whine, you come"

However, you also don't want to let high distress too long

We established a 10 min rules, as nurses in baby services : if the whining is less than 10 min, it's just "I dont wanna sleep", if it's more it may be a concern

 

Also in the first days, we really spent time on crate training to make him love the crate. In your case, you can try training to love the sleeping place : spawning random treats in there when he does not look is quite efficient

 

In the end, ours always whine when put to bed, but it never goes above a few minutes, it's just "really ?? Now ?? I want to play more !!"

 

Hope that will help

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, welcome to the forums!

How exciting! I hope your first nights with your new cane corso puppy have been OK. Fredery Blot (Loki's dad) gave you some great tips!

If you don't have any exercise pen, play pen or crate for your puppy, you can temporarily try to close up a section with some large and tall boxes or some other type of bulky items that may block your puppy from wandering around at night trying to play with stuff, chew or soil in some spot. You'll need to sleep lightly though in case he starts chewing on the box or move around needing to go potty.

You may also have to find a way to block him off from climbing up and wanting to sleep with you on the sofa, unless you want a puppy who will always want to sleep with you, which is difficult to wean off later on.

Making the confinement area snug, offers the advantage of instilling some "den instinct" which is puppies instinctively not soiling in the area they sleep so if he wakes up and moves around take that as a sign to take him out. 

In general, it is advised to soothe the puppy the first nights as they may feel disoriented and in distress leaving their litter mates and mom. If your puppy whines, you can be both caring and act matter-of-fact by telling your puppy something along the lines of "What's up pup? You're OK, have a good sleep now!" If your puppy is on the floor next to you, dangling your hand towards you pup can help reassure the puppy you are there. You may find yourself repeating this until your puppy realizes that he's safe, not alone and that he'll survive the night.

Generally, the first 3-4 nights are the most problematic, with the first night or two being the worse. After that it gets better. Being that he is not crated and you're right next to him though may help him ease in easier, although you want to acclimatize him to being in a crate as it will help with potty training and when you need to confine him for naps and safety (like when you cannot supervise). 

Here is a basic guide for crate training puppies/adult dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/

The routine of taking a pup out will vary based on age and other factors. How old is your puppy? In general, with an 8-week old large breed pup, 2-3 tips may be enough over 6-8 hours of sleep. I usually do a very last potty trip at midnight, then do a trip at 2 or 3 AM and then another between 5 and 6. I will just get up 6AM the first few weeks and then gradually work my way to getting up at 6:30, then 7 and then finally 8. I know this is tiring (it's like getting up to babies needing diaper changes), but I take advantage and sometimes take some day-time naps to recuperate and coordinate them with when the pups sleep as well. 

 In general, you know you can start experimenting prolonging and then weaning those nighttime/early morning trips when you wake up to take your puppy out, but he's soundly asleep and you can try to extend it more.   

Edited September 5, 2021 by Adrienne Farricelli

[CWintersvahn]

Hello and thank you for the replies!

The first night went better than expected and the nights after that hasn't been a issue at all. Waking up by him nipping or licking my hand and take him out, this happens 1-2 times a night.

 

However I am now facing another issue. We have a 18 month old toddler, as our Cane Corso is now feeling more confident in the home his attitude towards her seems to drastically change. She is a rather active girl and runs through the house, hardly sit still etc. This ramps up our dog and he barks and growl at her, often in a playful manner, tail wagging and inviting pose hence probably seeking attention.

Now here is my question:

Just about 20 minutes ago he looked at her and growled a little bit, then he stopped, went to her and wanted to play with her feet, started to sniffing on her before he went and laid down next to her between her and close to the sofa and started growling and bark at her for no apparent reason, she just sat on the floor watching a children's movie.

I took her to the kitchen to remove any attention from him and stood there for a minute or two before entering the room again.

I know the breed is territorial in itself so I am not sure how to act in this instance. Should I correct him and leave the room? I don't want to "remove" the growling or barking as this could be very dangerous, especially with this kind of large breed. Therefore I want to make it right from the get go.

Sorry for the long text. 😅

[JMFS]

To me it sounds like attention seeking because she was ignoring him and unless Adrienne says otherwise it's pretty darn normal for a pup.  :)  I know there's a thread around here where someone had a young kiddo who was also active (typical, lol) and their dog kept jumping on the child.  You might try the search if you simply cannot wait (that's usually me) and use child, kids, children as keywords or maybe even clothes.  I seem to remember it mentioning tearing the kiddo's clothes.  That was over 3 years ago so I Could be misremembering, but it's tickling the back of my brain.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Children, and even more toddlers really, do tend to ramp dogs up. A few months ago I worked with a beagle whose owners noticed how calm he was when the child was at daycare and then would get extra hyper and change totally when the child would come home. Some pups may get overly stimulated and even stressed by the quick movements, high-pitched voices. It sounds like he is mostly acting playful, although there may be chances he may be initially confused and uncertain at times.

We expect good breeders to usually get their puppies used to being around children when in their care, but this doesn't always happen. So your puppy may be a tad bit overwhelmed or confused if this is a totally new exposure.

 It could also be of course that the growling and barking is just play and he is waiting for a reaction from her. Puppies in general perceive children as great playmates, but they can get rather rough and too overstimulated. 

In any case, it may be best to introduce the child and pup gradually, like when the child is acting hyper keeping them separated at first behind a baby may be helpful and when the child is in presence of the puppy she should be encouraged to act calm (also because acting hyper around the dog will trigger nipping). It also helps to train your puppy a solid response to a smacking sound so that you can redirect him at a moment's notice. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

Here are some general pointers for puppy/child interactions.

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-puppy-children/

How old is your cane corso puppy? Have you noticed a pattern of what exact behaviors of your toddler seem to evoke the growling and barking? 

 

[CWintersvahn]

On 9/12/2021 at 11:11 AM, Adrienne Farricelli said:

Children, and even more toddlers really, do tend to ramp dogs up. A few months ago I worked with a beagle whose owners noticed how calm he was when the child was at daycare and then would get extra hyper and change totally when the child would come home. Some pups may get overly stimulated and even stressed by the quick movements, high-pitched voices. It sounds like he is mostly acting playful, although there may be chances he may be initially confused and uncertain at times.

We expect good breeders to usually get their puppies used to being around children when in their care, but this doesn't always happen. So your puppy may be a tad bit overwhelmed or confused if this is a totally new exposure.

 It could also be of course that the growling and barking is just play and he is waiting for a reaction from her. Puppies in general perceive children as great playmates, but they can get rather rough and too overstimulated. 

In any case, it may be best to introduce the child and pup gradually, like when the child is acting hyper keeping them separated at first behind a baby may be helpful and when the child is in presence of the puppy she should be encouraged to act calm (also because acting hyper around the dog will trigger nipping). It also helps to train your puppy a solid response to a smacking sound so that you can redirect him at a moment's notice. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

Here are some general pointers for puppy/child interactions.

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-puppy-children/

How old is your cane corso puppy? Have you noticed a pattern of what exact behaviors of your toddler seem to evoke the growling and barking? 

 

Our puppy is only 9 weeks old. Our toddler can sit perfectly still and from nowhere the puppy is trying to nip her and barks at her.

 

It seems to be attention seeking as JMFS also said. I am trying to stimulate him but I am reading alot about overstimulation. What exactly triggers this? Too much toy and play time? What do I do about this? And how do I see difference in understimulation and overstimulation?

 

Man, I thought I did my homework but there are so many variables with a puppy. 😅

[JMFS]

3 hours ago, CWintersvahn said:

Man, I thought I did my homework but there are so many variables with a puppy. 😅

You got that right!  Oiy!  It's been 4 months now and I'm exhausted!  We have a unique situation with a medical condition so please don't take my experience as your future, lol.

Is he on a routine / schedule?  That can help with the overstimulation.  It's a lot like a toddler who needs a nap but doesn't want to miss anything but is too grumpy to participate but too excited to sleep.  If you have a routine for eating, potty, play, rest, it can make things go a lot smoother because then the pup knows what to expect.  At 9 weeks you're not anywhere near adolescence so, if it were me, I would establish a routine now to make life easier when he does hit that age of piercing his nose, spiking his hair, and wearing combat boots.  😆  Especially because he's going to be powerful and Big. 

I was going to show you our schedule as an example but holy crud it's a mess due to the number of trips we have to take and the fact that Esther doesn't really sleep.

5 - 10 minutes of training or play should be sufficient.  Any more Might be overstimulation, you'll learn to read his signals to figure out when he's getting too much.

Settle down (Highly recommend this one:  https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/jazz-up-and-settle-down/)

I don't know your work schedule, or his sleep schedule, but you're basically working through eat, potty, sleep, play at regular times so he knows what's coming up.  If you're not already on a schedule you'll begin to see him anticipating the next item.  For instance, Esther is Totally thrown off if I go straight out of the bedroom instead of hooking a right to take her to go potty because she is expecting to go to the back yard (sometimes there might be a package out front).  When we first go into the office they both go into their kennels to wait for food.  After they eat Esther might get a treat toy and water or she might come to the desk area for her water with Gertie and me.  Gertie goes straight to the beds, Esther picks up a toy and entertains herself for about 20 minutes before her next potty break.  If I'm Really lucky she'll take a nap. 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

On 9/13/2021 at 3:00 PM, CWintersvahn said:

Our puppy is only 9 weeks old. Our toddler can sit perfectly still and from nowhere the puppy is trying to nip her and barks at her.

 

It seems to be attention seeking as JMFS also said. I am trying to stimulate him but I am reading alot about overstimulation. What exactly triggers this? Too much toy and play time? What do I do about this? And how do I see difference in understimulation and overstimulation?

 

Man, I thought I did my homework but there are so many variables with a puppy. 😅

Thanks for the info, being 9 weeks and the behavior being evoked by your toddler sitting quietly is likely a way of asking for interaction, although I would have to see the behavior to be certain. He may be seeking play if the bark/growl it's accompanied by playful body language with the use of metasignals like the "play bow" where the puppy's elbows are lowered and the rump is in the air with the tail moving side-to side. 

Overstimulation  occurs when there is an excess of stimulation for the puppy's brain to process and integrate effectively. When this happens, it leads to sensory overload, with the puppy feeling overwhelmed and possibly living in a perpetual state of hyperarousal, and just general, being on edge and unable to relax. Typically, expect a puppy to be overstimulated when exposed to noises and activities that he struggles to cope with. 

A puppy may therefore feel cranky or overstimulated when the kids come home from school and start playing rowdy with each other or after spending several hours at daycare or following a walk to the city where he was exposed to a variety of stimuli. Puppies can also get cranky when they are overstimulated and tired and in great need of a nap. 

To quote dog trainer Nan Arthur, "This can be equated to kids spending all day at an amusement park and then are unable to sleep because they are so wound up and cranky from all the excitement." Overstimulated puppies  therefore tend to feel tired and overwhelmed, but they struggle to relax. When exposed to too much stimulation, affected pups require some quiet time in a familiar and calm environment.

The signs of overstimulation in puppies therefore tend to appear contingent upon being exposed to certain overstimulating stimuli or situations. Following are several signs to watch for. 

Nipping

Biting

Barking

Jumping

Whining

Growling

Humping

Licking

Chewing everything

Biting the leash

Running around (zoomies)

Acting hyperactive

Understimulation on the other hand, occurs when pups aren't provided with enough stimulation. If we take a look at most dog breeds 'histories will will notice that they  were bred for to carry out some specific tasks. 

It therefore makes sense that puppies and dogs in general struggle when they're left at home with nothing to do. Dogs are built to be social animals and need something to do to thrive. Lack of stimulation can be damaging, leading to potential mental and physical repercussions.

Those puppy brains tend to grow just as other parts of the body and that gray matter development occurs faster during puppyhood than any other time of their lives. It goes without saying that this is a time where early experiences and proper environmental stimulation is crucial for creating millions of connections. Fail to provide sufficient stimulation or raise the puppy in an impoverished environment, and that puppy brain may fail to develop to its full potential. As the saying goes "use it or lose it."

It is estimated that 80 percent of a dog's brain is fully formed by 4 months of age, while the remaining 20 percent develops from the age of 4  months to 1 year. Peak development takes place from 4 weeks and 4 months which coincides with the puppy's critical socialization stage. Once the brain has developed past this time, it becomes more challenging to "change the wiring" so to say.

Under stimulated puppies are therefore pups who are often left alone during the day or aren't offered enough mental stimulation. Even if one was to be there with a puppy during the day, if one fails to provide mentally stimulating activities, the puppy would be missing out on reaping the benefits of learning to entertain himself and keep the brain busy. 

Signs of under stimulation, or a need for more interaction,  include:

Barking when the owners sit down to read, use the computer or watch the TV

Excessive paw licking

Tail chasing

Chewing inappropriate items

Scratching doors

and many more....

While it's true that puppies need a stimulating and enrichment-based environment, especially during their critical period, it's also true that they also need some quiet time  to feel secure and to calm down. On top of this, it helps to provide stimulation in a way that it is not excessive and teaching puppies how to chill. Similar to a thermostat, it feels best when everything is under control and our dogs are neither too overstimulated or under stimulated. 

In other words, you want to take care of adjusting your pup's levels of stimulation to a "setting" that isn't too overwhelming and neither too boring. The amount of stimulation your puppy needs may vary based on breed and individual temperament. Some pups cope better with stimulating environments compared to others. Let your puppy's behavior guide you and remember that a balanced approach is often best.

Tips for Overstimulated Puppies
Make sure your puppy sleeps enough.  Puppies need a lot of sleep, and often they don't know how to relax enough to easily fall asleep. Such puppies may need to be helped. Simply crate or place your puppy in his crate/ play pen with something to safe to chew on when your puppy starts acting cranky from being too overstimulated.  It may take some time to get your puppy to learn how to relax, but it gets better with time. 

Try your best to stay calm. Talk in a calm tone and move slowly. If you act hyper, angry or frustrated, you puppy will pick on those emotions and become unsettled as well. Staying calm will help your pup calm down too.

Reduce the noise and activity. Turn off the radio or TV, turn off the lights and  try to play some calming music to help your puppy wind down.

Provide games that teach puppies how to quietly entertain themselves and that encourage them to explore their environment at their own pace. This teaches puppies how to occupy themselves and calm themselves down. Some productive ways of keeping the mind stimulated and busy is through food puzzles, brain games, canine nosework training and clicker training. 

And of course, make sure to safely socialize your puppy, start some basic training, do fun brain games and it's always good to start early to prevent problems such as getting the pup used to being handled, preventing resource guarding, teaching bite inhibition, and gradually getting him used to coping being left alone. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/

The Bottom Line 
Puppies needs the right balance of exercise, mental stimulation and rest. It's important to point out that over-exercising puppies who are under 1-year old can have detrimental effects on their skeletal system (as the soft bones are developing and growth plates haven't closed yet). So jumping, jogging, or running on hard surfaces etc may prove harmful. 

Puppies need lots of sleep when they are actively growing. It is estimated that young puppies require around eighteen to twenty hours for sleep per day (adult dogs in general need 14-17 hours of rest per 24 hour cycle). This may sound a whole lot, but  it makes sense if we think that puppies do most of their growing while sleeping.

I hope this helps!

Happy training!

[CWintersvahn]

Thank you all for your tips and inputs.

He seems to be a bit more gentle with our toddler when he is excited, not trying to bite as hard as when he plays with adults (working on that bite inhibition alot 😅) so I guess they'll just have to learn each other's boundaries under supervision.

I have made a schedule now to try and balance activities and rest. ☺️