My puppy learning about the world, watching squirrels outside, from the safety of her perch on the back of the couch.

Making my dogs feel secure as they learn about living in a home

 I adopted a german shepard-grey mix. My puppy was used to being in a pen with all of her siblings, of having companionship and the comfort of having someone to sleep with. I was told in order to train the puppy to sleep at night to ignore her cries. While that may be the answer for some people, it isnt for me. 

My grey, a retired racer, who was in a shelter for some time before finding her forever home with my family, cried several hours of the first night she was in my home. At which point I placed her bed in my room and she slept, only to get up to look at me several times in the night, reassuring herself that she was safe and that someone was with her. She repeated getting up in the night for several weeks to reasure herself while she adjusted to being in a home.  

The new puppy was the same. I placed her crate near my bed, she would cry or whimper and I would reach out and place my fingers through the bars of the crate. She would lick or sniff my fingers and settle down and sleep. Ocassionally for the first few weeks she would do this during the night, but mostly just when I first placed her in the crate, or right after taking her outside during potty training during the night. She soon felt secure being in the crate and now settles down to sleep easily.

My adopted dogs, who knew nothing about living in a home and having had other dogs with them at all times, learned they could depend on me being there for them and they felt secure and less anxious.