Anxious new dog (and owner!)

Just 5 days ago I got a 5 year old toy poodle. She's completely delightful and came from a loving family who were very sad to part with her. She's obviously similarly upset and settling in is not exactly going smoothly so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

She's not eating much at all (and she brought her own food with her) but we expect that will settle down. The barking and peeing/pooing is more of a problem.

She is fully housetrained but despite many long walks, going out in the garden etc she just won't go outside but to different areas in the house. We know the signs that she needs and take her outside but however long we stay she just does it inside.

At night she barks and whines constantly when we leave her in the kitchen and our neighbours (and us!) are getting seriously sleep-deprived. She simply wants to be with us but I don't want to start bad habits with her.

Any advice, please.
Maddie

she just won't go outside but to different areas in the house.

Probably why she was given up.

Toy breeds can be extremely hard to housetrain. You need to keep her attached to you on a leash in the house and then you can see any indication that she needs to go. Do not let her go off by herself in the house and in fact do not give her freedom of the house at all just yet. All that new space is overwhelming her. Let her get used to one area at a time.

She's 5 years old and is no doubt upset and confused at being abandoned by her owners. The best thing you can do for her is put her on a strict schedule of meals, walks, potty breaks etc. Routines calm dogs since they then know what to expect.

Treat her as though she is an unhousebroken puppy - take her out (don't send her out) and when she goes, praise like crazy and continue to keep her in sight at all times when indoors. Don't give her an opportunity to make mistakes!:)

I'm not quite understanding this part:
She simply wants to be with us but I don't want to start bad habits with her.


This is a little companion dog, who is now anxious and confused and needs to be with you and not alone in another room when you're home. Not sure what you consider to be a "bad habit".

I had a poodle for 17 years - from the time he was 10 wks or so till he died at 17. (sniff - I still mourn him now and then). Congrats on your new baby!! And I agree with LR!! I too do not understand why wanting to bne with you all the time is bad? Isn't that why you have a dog? My poodle was always with me when I was home - or close by. He slept with me, sat with me when I watched TV, curled on my lap when I worked - that can hardly be a bad habit so I don't understand what you mean. Maybe you mean something else? Poodles tend to be dogs that like to be near their people - they do not likwe being alone. (No dog does really for that matter nor should they be left alone unless it is necessary - I mean they will do well if you are away - as adult dogs. But even tho this one is an adu;lt, utyou need to relate to him as if he was a puppy since he is scared and new to your home and the poor littte guy is so confused that he really needs extra attention from you!!!

Keep him with you all the time and he will in time learn the right way to go outside to his biz.

Good luck!!

Maybe you should consider crate training her and letting her sleep in the room with you in her crate. I know you can't trust her to be free in the house while you are sleeping, the best thing to do is to keep her as close as possible. You can comfort her, as she is having a difficult time with the move. Especially since this is her first impression of you and your home, you want her to feel safe and welcome, night-time can be very lonely for someone who feels abandoned and alone.

If you are not home during the day put a pee pad out for your poodle. I use them with my girls and no biggie. BE PREPARED poodles are people dogs and stop shutting your poodle up at night. They do not shed and like the comfort of being with you at night. If you believe this is a bad habit, I would suggest getting the dog another owner who will cherish and love this little soul. Sorry if I sound harsh but dogs should be treated like part of the family. My poodle is a delight to have around. She sleeps with me at night and I like the feel of her against my legs.

I agree with Lucky Rescue and Papillonmama about crate training. The secret is to keep the keep the dog with you or in the crate until it makes that housebreaking breakthrough. We would move the crate to whatever room we were in. We found our puppy associated the crate as being his within a day and he kept it clean. We let him out on a leash and would not let him get behind anything or in corners or out of sight. It meant frequent outdoor visits and positive reinforcement. Whenever he was out for play or attention then a leash was used. There's some great advice on crate training under the training section of this bulletin board. At night the crate was moved into our bedroom and positioned so the dog could see us.

Thanks Cyberkitten. We lost our gorgeous 19 year old cat last year and new baby is getting all our love and attention.

Absolutely we want her close by. We thought long and hard about getting a dog and have been looking since October for a rescue dog suitable to us and our lifestyle. We visited her home and her owners visited ours, got to know her etc to make sure we were the right match. And it really is working out great. We're retired so there's almost always one of us in the house. I think we've just been so worried about doing the best for her that we expected her to settle too quickly - and there's SO much conflicting advice for us newbies to get our heads around.

Fortunately she is really affectionate to us already and spends most of her day on my lap or draped around my neck - we're sure we can hear a purr ;) The only thing we don't want is to share our bed with her - but that's just a personal preference.

Thanks to all who posted as you've reassured us that we are on the right track after all. We all got a good night's sleep last night (she in her bed right next to ours) and she ate a good breakfast and pee-ed in the park twice!!

And no way Shaykeija would we EVER let her go. We are completely head-over-heels in love with her.

Thank you all - and we'll let you know our progress.

Good luck and I have found with all of my rescues that I talk to them all the time in a calm voice it seems to make them more comfortable it can be the weather or anything but your voice seems to soothe them.