Lhasa Apso Puppy

Question
Hi

We have recent bought a week old male Lhasa and he just crys everytime we put him in his pen.  Te pen is a good size and has food, water, basket and toys but he just crys until he is picked up and let out.  Is this normal?  We thought the pen would be his territory and would just settle in.  Any tips to get him to stop crying when we put him in his pen?

many thanks

Christian

Answer
I know this must be a typo since you couldn't possibly have brought home a one-week-old puppy, but it really would have helped to know exactly how old this puppy was. Because of this, I am going to guess that the puppy may have been taken from the litter at too young an age, and the breeder never bothered training the puppies separately to crates. Puppies really should be left with littermates and mother until they are at least nine weeks old so that they can learn to inhibit their bite and learn to speak "dog".

He is crying because he is away from his mother and littermates, and every time you pick him up when he cries, you are rewarding this behavior. If you want it to stop, you must ignore him when he cries, and only pick him up when he is quiet, even if it is only for a few seconds. Timing is everything when training a dog.

It doesn't sound like he has a crate in his large pen, so you should put one in there with the door removed so that he has a place to sleep in. Dogs are den animals and like to curl up in smaller areas where they feel more secure.

Get the paperback book "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With" by Rutherford and Neil. It is an excellent book and tells you what the breeder should have been doing with the puppies, and what you should continue to do in order to "mold your puppy into the dog of your dreams".