Hi!
Puppy season has begun 
We brought our 8-week old puppy home on Saturday and she's an absolutely perfect puppy during the day. She interacts well with us, has taken to taking naps between my two boys. She goes partly on the pee pee pad and outside when we take her out (we live in Canada and it's cold, she shivers and whimpers when shés outside more than 2 minutes).
At night though it's another story. We have her in her crate on the ground floor ( we sleep on the first floor) and she spends the majority of her time crying, yelling, scratching her crate. Needless to say we are all pretty tired
She has a large 36 inch crate and the breeder recommended we set it up with a sleeping area and a pee pee pad so we don't go see her at night at all.
Last night she pooed on the pee pee pad and probably spent all night walking around in it by the state of her paws and the cage.
So now I wonder if we should keep on doing that and we will eventually wear her down(sleeping in her crate is non-négociable) or if I should make her crate smaller, remove the pee pee pas and take her out when she cries... I worry she will keep on crying not to be alone...
Thoughts? Experience to share?
Thanks!
When we brought our pup home, I slept beside the crate several nights, so she could see, hear and smell me. The first night she cried, the second she was OK. We took her out when needed so she wouldn't soil her crate. I think being with her at night will help her make the transition from being close to her mother and siblings all the time to being alone at night.
Sleeping crate should be in the same room you sleep in... Cover the crate at night, keep it close to you, so that if she starts to whimper, you can stick your fingers in the crate and assure her that all is OK. I don't and never did believe in a puppy pad in the crate.... in fact I don't use puppy pads or newspaper at all. I litter box train them.... should be easy to do with her at this young age. Also, I think that 8wks is way to early to have sent her home where she is now an only dog.....
The rule of thumb I was taught is that a puppy can only wait an amount of time equal to their age in months plus one. So, at eight weeks old (two months), your pup can hold it three hours tops (1 month + 1 month + 1). You should probably schedule a couple of potty visits outside during the night, even though it will be a pain.
When we got Cosette, my wife and set a timer for three hours and three hours beyond that. We took turns taking her outside. At twelve weeks old, we were able to lengthen the time between breaks to 4 hours, then 5 hours at sixteen weeks, etc. It's tough, but it will keep your home (and her crate) clean!
