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Very relieved to hear that you’ve been on the sofa with her – we’ve got a mattress on the kitchen floor next to the crate and have similarly relented in the face of sleep deprivation. Last night was the first (two weeks in) that she managed a few hours in the crate. Looking forward to getting back in my own bed!
tomatoe-
Yes, I tried mattress next to the crate for a night earlier on, but she just wanted to get out and lie on me instead and i gave up after a few hours.
Was feeling really bad about the sofa thing and felt like it was going to never end, so it was a huge relief when it only took one night of very intermittent crying to get her sleeping happily in crate. I did have a couple of large whiskies to steel myself beforehand...I assume you're doing all the stuff to make her crate a fun place to be in daytime? Ada's been finding lots of surprise bits of chicken and ham in her crate in the day.
Though she still gets unhappy if I confine her in there for very long when she wants to be out playing /destroying stuff.
She's had quite a few very manic bursts where she's ended up running round biting everything and have had to swiftly shut her away to calm down.
Not hugely different to my younger daughter in this respect, but Ada burns out a lot quicker.
ad441
The swallowing a squirrel whole story has been enthusiastically repeated to lots of people by my daughter who thinks it's the most amazing thing ever.
Ada update - been too busy to actually post on here, but she's doing great. Can't believe how fast dogs grow - she doubled in weight in under a month.
Whoever recommended yak milk chews - thank you - she's not been able to destroy one of those yet.
My one failing with her had been letting her sleep on me on the sofa for the first few weeks - every night when it got to bedtime I couldn't quite face a night of sleep deprivation, so gave in. Was expecting to have a traumatic time getting her to sleep in her crate after that, but in the end I did one night of controlled crying (she woke up about 4 times and cried for 15 mins or so) and since then has happily slept in crate through the night. Didn't even want to come out this morning.
She's very well socialised with people already - collecting children from school means she gets mobbed (by teachers in particular), which she's taken in her stride. My best method for telling when she's tired is when she loses enthusiasm for trying to say hello to every passer by.
Have been introducing her to other dogs as much as possible and she's not shown any fear or aggression, though is a bit too enthusiastic about trying to play with them. I need to find some more equally lively dogs locally.
Anyway, more pictures...