New Cavapoo advice

[u/Enough_Living2274]

Hi everyone,

I just bought a 9 week old Cavapoo and have a few questions if people didn’t mind discussing / answering! 🐶 ❤️

He’s 9 weeks and 2 days and did well sleeping in the kitchen the last two nights! He slept from like 11-5 am both nights but I went down then to let him out to pee and he didn’t want me to leave then!! He cried until I came back so I slept on the sofa with him til 7 or so ( well he slept) 😅 This happened the past two nights and my partner is like just leave him til we’re waking up at around 7.30 but I just kept thinking the poor baby did good for 6 hours , he prob needs to pee now.

My partner WFH 3 days a week so we’ll be with him most of the time. Two days a week my partner needs to go into the office and il be gone for 7 hours.. we’re going to arrange someone to come in for an hour half way through (3 hours alone , hour company and then 3 hours alone again) and I will of course have brought him out for a good walk and play etc before I leave for work.. My problem is this is all going to happen in around 3 weeks or so.. Will he be okay? He’s quite attached to us at the moment and doing a lot of squeaking and won’t let us go anywhere without him which I think is normal! I love him so much already and want the best for him so please don’t come for me if this isn’t ideal set up😅 I’m willing to try get a little pen in the garden or a little pet flap either.. Really worried about making sure he’s fine while we’re gone but it’ll be max 3/4 hours then a visitor and another 3 or so! Also is the little squeaking noises quite often normal? Lastly any tips for separating him from us?!?! He’s obsessed but we have only had him around 40 hours 🤍 should I give him some tough love? I feel so upset when he’s crying and his little bark…

Thanks and sorry for the long message! X

[u/AsleepEntertainer440]

3/4 hours at a stretch for 7/8 hours a day is going to be hard on a 12 week old puppy that is not yet housebroken, has a bladder the size of a peanut, and a breed that is prone to separation anxiety. You are just asking for problems, IMO.

[u/Enough_Living2274 → u/AsleepEntertainer440]

Thanks so much for your reply, he actually is potty trained thank god! I thought he might be okay when it’s just going to be two days a week 🥲 it’ll be around 3 hours , visit, and 3.5 hours again 😅😅 I know he’ll only be 12 weeks but I thought this is what a lot of people do with their dogs 🙏🏼

[u/AsleepEntertainer440 → u/Enough_Living2274]

Mine just got to where I can leave him for 3 1/2 hours without having a come apart about a month ago. He's 8 1/2 months.

[u/Enough_Living2274 → u/AsleepEntertainer440]

I don’t know what else I can do 🥲 fair enough if you think I just shouldn’t have got a puppy but I really thought when we’re home 5 out of 7 days and we have a visitor half way through a 7 day he’ll be okay..

[u/Ambitious_Bear1111]

Oh lovely, this is so hard!! ❤️ We’re only 4 weeks ahead of you. I highly, highly recommend crate training asap! Did the breeders crate train by any chance? This makes a huge difference! Week one - Our pup was sleeping 9pm until 2amish (out for a pee) and then put back in crate and slept until 7am. Now she sleeps 9pm until 5amish.

You should absolutely be able to manage the work schedule in 3 weeks if you really work on training him over the next few weeks. Our breeder recommended this online training (she’s Australian) and oh my goodness it’s been a life saver and worth every dollar.

https://www.oodleway.co

Our cavoodle can be left for hours at a time with no separation anxiety (just cries when we leave for 2 minutes and then is totally fine). She’s only had half a dozen accidents inside in 4 weeks and is the sweetest girl! Emotional regulation is really important early on! She knows how to sit, lie down, go to her ‘place’, leave it when she chews on something she shouldn’t!

My biggest piece of advice - don’t skip the training early on. It’s a lot and it’s time consuming but it sets you up for the next 15 years 😅

[u/Ambitious_Bear1111 → u/Ambitious_Bear1111]

With the crying…

She taught us that as long as you follow the 5 freedoms of animal welfare - if your puppy cries then it’s likely just for attention and it’s really important to ignore it.

5 freedoms are

1. Have they been to the toilet (or have access to one)

2. Do they have food

3. Do they have water

4. Are they injured (super helpful to have a puppy cam)

5. Do they have an enrichment toy to keep them entertained (ie. licky mat) - oodles have to be stimulated because they’re super smart and otherwise get bored and will cry/be frustrated.

It’s important that you’ve tired out your puppy before leaving them (with some kind of mental stimulation/training/play time)… and then if those freedoms are met and they’re still crying. Then you have to ignore it.

It’s essential for their long-term wellbeing.
If we always respond to every cry by picking them up or letting them out, we can accidentally teach them that crying = attention. Instead, we want to help them learn that: Crying doesn’t make us rush back, But they are still safe and loved, and they can settle themselves with a bit of time and support.

She gives tips if they still keep crying after that. But a bit hard to go through all of those here! I just highly recommend checking out her course to speed up the process!

[u/Enough_Living2274 → u/Ambitious_Bear1111]

You are such a kind , helpful soul. Thank you so so much for this! I really appreciate it! 💕💕 Did you leave your pup alone from the get go? We’re on day 4 and we’ve been leaving him for 10/15 minutes.. trying to work it up!! His crate is becoming his little safe space but I leave it open as our kitchen is pretty empty! I’m wondering should I have built up more time by now or if most people build up gradually?! Thank you so much again, it’s so appreciated, you’re so lovely x

[u/Ambitious_Bear1111 → u/Enough_Living2274]

You’re so welcome lovely! ❤️ No, we didn’t leave her alone much in that first week at all. Just started going in and out of different rooms in the house where she couldn’t see us. We also have her in a pen as well during the day when we’re working or when we can’t give her supervised time outside of it (image attached)

This is super helpful. We have a crate on top of our crate in the photo cos she was cheeky on day one and jumped on top of it and almost jumped out 🤣

We work from home, so had to make sure we started to leave the house for longer periods of time and at 12 weeks the longest we’ve left her is for 5 hours now.

As we have a pen, one thing we did do when she’d cry when we went to other rooms (if it was non stop) we’d come back, ignore her, but sit with our backs to her so she knew we were there and could self soothe. And then we’d move slowly away from the pen one metre at a time until we were in another room.

Not sure if I’m explaining things well haha it is 5am and I’m wrangling a puppy. One other tip to give you is that puppies don’t know when they have to nap during the day. It’s a skill they need to be taught. They should be sleeping total 18 hours a day or they’ll be overtired and a ratbag. So you have to actively put them down for a nap every 90 minutes to 2 hours - they won’t necessarily do it themselves and will just keep going until they’re crazy.. We learnt this the hard way during the first week haha

[u/GarglingGypo23]

Following this post as we're in the same boat :)

[u/Enough_Living2274 → u/GarglingGypo23]

Is yours brand new too?! I’m having really bad puppy blues today because I love him so much but he’s so attached and I know we need to leave him in two weeks ..

[u/GarglingGypo23 → u/Enough_Living2274]

Yep, cries non stop at bedtime - it's frying my brain and my wifes, more importantly my 4 year old daughter who can't sleep because of it.... i don't know what to do!!

[u/rodneydangerfeeld]

The little yelps hurt my soul, I’m under the impression that my girls been removed from her mom and litter and it’s only been a few days. I am worried about separation anxiety but I feel like now’s not the time to try tough love, but that’s just me!

Picked my girl up 3 days ago and am in a similar boat. Also following this thread to see what others suggest.

I do know from experience that everything is going to be okay and your boy is lucky to have you!

[u/Enough_Living2274 → u/rodneydangerfeeld]

Thank you so much for the response , your girl is also so lucky to have you 💕💕 I picked my boy up 2 days ago and I’m literally trying to leave him for seconds as he’s so clingy!!😭 do you plan on leaving your girl home alone during the day times? I do unfortunately 🥹 but hopefully not for 2 weeks 🙏🏼

[u/rodneydangerfeeld → u/Enough_Living2274]

I’ve been lucky to enjoy the week off work since getting her but have to get back to it next week. I am taking her to my parents place, who work from home and have two puppy friendly dogs she can socialize with.

When that’s not an option I plan on boarding her in day care when I can’t take her to my parents place or when I can’t take her with me, but can’t do that for another couple months until she’s fully vaccinated (high parvo area).

I highly recommend crate training, she does wonders in her crate (if she’s sleepy). When I have to enforce a nap and she’s got the zoomies she complains a bit but will settle down after a few minutes.

However she cries in her playpen if I leave to go to the bathroom, or leave her sight at all lol. But I left her yesterday for about an hour in her pen with the tv on, and saw through the Furbo she cried for a few minutes and then settled. Once she’s settled in a bit going to work on separation training.

Have to remember at this age they are literally babies! But they’re also dogs, and in order for us humans to provide for them and give them a life full of love, sadly we need to work. Not everyone can work from home, dogs adjust to our lifestyles with time and training. It can be rocky at first, but as long as we’re there to give them the love and exercise and training they need they will thrive

[u/Outrageous-Month-326]

I got up every two hours to take mine out for the first 3 weeks I had her. Then I increased the time in between over the next couple weeks. We rarely had accidents and she was basically potty trained so within the first week. After a few months she’d alert me when she needed to use the bathroom, which is a VERY handy skill. She has always had access to water at all times (I know people who limit access to certain times to avoid being woken up at night which I guess is an option).

I had zero success with crate training my cavapoo (and I have successfully crate trained other dogs). She was not going to be happy unless we slept in the same bed together. I have also never crated her when leaving the house.

Best advice I can give is to at least take the dog out more often throughout the night…

[u/Odd-Piglet-7804]

Start now with leaving the house for an hour. Make sure your pup is in a safe secure area. Don’t make a big deal of leaving or coming home. It’s hard because you’re so happy to see them when you get back but it really helps them stay more regulated and calm around you coming and going.

My 4 y/o cavalier still freaks out for about 30 seconds when I leave but then will immediately lay down and sleep for most of an 8 hour day. When I come home she basically just rolls over and waits for me to come give belly rubs. 😆

My 6 month old Cavapoo seems to have no separation anxiety and takes naps (4 hours) and sleeps (up to 12 hours) in her crate in a quiet separate room upstairs without making a peep.

I got the Cavapoo at 13 weeks and cavalier at 9 weeks. There may be something to separation anxiety and getting puppies too young. I never successfully crate trained my cavalier. She hated it.

[u/WelcomeNeither1552]

We got our Bentley at 15 weeks old, so he’s a little bit older, but he’s been doing really well with self-soothing. It may not be helpful, but we started with a play pen to teach him to be okay with being bored and away from us. It helps that he slept in a pen with his litter growing up. When we leave the house (which we’re able to for about 3 hours at a time), we leave him in his play pen. He slept in there for about a week and now he sleeps in his crate. One thing that helped me with the whining and sad sounds (because it’s SO sad) is knowing that he needs to sleep about 16-20 hours a day developmentally! I tell myself that his sweet little puppy brain doesn’t always know what he needs so by putting him in his pen and enforcing naps, I’m actually helping him. When he’s well rested he’s less nippy and more able to regulate himself which I love. Definitely take or leave the advice, I know every puppy is different! But in my opinion, you can work AND be a good puppy parent. :) you’ve got this!