Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Puppy Update: Sleepless in Toronto

The new puppy--he's now 9 I/2 weeks old--is mostly a joy. During the day he's happy, playful, as sweet as can be, and, of course, adorable. Temperament-wise, he's much calmer than our first two dogs. He is already being trained to do "sit" and "down," and is picking it up fairly quickly. He recognizes his name, never wanders when I take him outside to do his business, and follows me up the deck stairs once he's done.

Here's the problem--and it's a doozie: He still hates his crate. And his interminable yips, moans and cries when he's placed there at night have translated into much sleeplessness for me and my husband. (My teenaged son, thankfully, has somehow managed to sleep through it all.)

The days and days of sleeplessness have triggered a wicked case of insomnia--mine. I've have trouble with sleeplessness in the past; at the best of times, my sleep is a delicate thing. However, I haven't experienced this kind of insomnia--the kind that feels as though an electrical current is running through you; the kind that takes on a life of its own and is thus next to impossible to curb--in 17 years.

So if you happen to notice more typos than usual in my blog posts, or if my thoughts seem more scattered, or if my productivity suddenly declines, you'll know why.

4 comments:

  1. Never even having heard of Flat-Coated Retrievers until you wrote about yours, I'm following your puppy posts with interest.
    What a beautiful dog, Scara!
    I may be too old now to be an effective Flat Coat working-human, but I'm thoroughly enjoying your posts and pix.

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  2. Glad you're enjoying them, Mal. Flatties (that's their dog world nickname)are an amazing breed--perhaps the most beautiful and most loving dogs you can find. However, the puppy stage is always a challenge, something you forget each time you go through it. It's especially challenging this time because, well, we're a lot older than we were when we got our first dog--a golden retriever, but the kind raised for hunting rather than for the show ring--and our second (our first flattie, who we got nine years ago, and who died suddenly and unexpectedly last December); we were also much younger, and could therefore rebound more quickly, when our son was born almost 16 years ago. And as hard as it was to become parents for the first (and, in fact, our only) time, I'm finding it much more difficult to deal with this puppy's nighttime antics/anti-crate mentality.

    I'm going to see my doctor tomorrow, to try to get a handle on my insomnia before it gets any worse. Wish me luck.

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  3. A quick search turned up this clip that gave me a taste of what you're experiencing – especially at :51 sec. Fingers crossed you get the sleep loss sorted soon.
    Lovely dogs, though...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=updtuVYlFhY

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  4. Thanks for that, Mal. My pup is a dead ringer for puppy Artemis.

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