Hey folks! Just want to say this subreddit has given me and my partner so much reassurance these past two weeks so thank you all.
We brought home our Australian Labradoodle puppy two weeks ago and for the most part she's been amazing. She's going into her 11th week, and will be able to go outside properly on Tuesday. She sleeps through the night, and is 98% toilet trained, she's literally had like 2 accidents in the house.
We've been told by the breeder and trainers and vets and all the videos we've watched that the puppy needs to get 18-20 hours of sleep a day. We are typically enforcing between 4 and 5 naps a day, but as time has gone by, she's becoming less and less settled in the crate during the day, and will sleep for about an hour before she wakes up and barks and barks. We take her out to the toilet, usually she wees, then when we put her back, and again the barking resumes. It's quite a "chatty" bark, so whining, digging, vocal mini howls etc.
Then, we've also noticed that when we're playing and training, when we're not giving her the attention she wants – perhaps we're too slow on giving her the treat when she does a trick, or she wants something that she can't reach – she will bark at us, very pointedly.
Any advice on how to stop these two things?
With the crate training, she's literally in the crate now crying. She had been asleep beautifully for about an hour, then woke up and started this barking and digging. Do we tough it out? If so, do we sit by the crate and have our hands in between the bars to reassure her? Or is that too much attention? Do we literally go sit in a different room? I just don't want to reinforce that by barking she will get her way.
Help, advice or any words of reassurance would be so useful right now <3
submitted by /u/ShyBairnsGetNothing
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