New Home - very unsettled

[James+Carly]

Hi all.... its been a while since we have last posted!

We have just moved into a new home (which is just lovely).. surrounded by wonderful countryside.

The issue is, little Oscar is not a fan just yet. We have been in the house just over two weeks and he has not settled in the kitchen once overnight.

In the old house we crate trained him in the kitchen and he knew that's where he slept. I am guilty of letting him sleep upstairs when my OH is away, but he was always good at going back to his own bed in the kitchen.

He has been left a couple of times for an hour or two in the new place and when we have come back, there doesn't seem to be any signs of stress. When we try and leave him in the kitchen over night, he howls and scratches at the door. We leave him with some treats whilst we make our way to bed, but this doesn't seem to make a difference.

When I have come down stairs and tried put him into his bed, he is frantically panting and his paws are covered in his saliver, licking his lips and just looks completely startled. We have now tried a baby gate so he can see into the hallway, my OH spent the night on the kitchen floor and he did settle, but was very wary still. The latest we have left him crying until is 3am... and im pretty sure he would continue going until one of us came down stairs.

We are both looking for some advice, as the lack of sleep is not bring out our best sides and we do not want Oscar to be so unsettled.

He seems to be fine the rest of the day when we are around, its just at night time we seem to have the issue.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Carly and James

[hoover]

I would say go back to the crate for a while as this might help him feel more comfortable.  We have just moved house as well and have a great safe space for Ollie under the stairs.  We have gated it and he started off there when we were away and more recently we have opened up the utility room area to him just off the under stair space, but he still chooses to sleep under the stairs, and he is still there at night for the time being.

Too much space in a new place can make some dogs feels uncomfortable, and unsure of how to act and what is expected of them.  You will probably find in time that you can settle him in but leave the door open for him and progress to more space but this might be too stressful for him to start with. 

Ollie lets out a hullaballoo if he has a lot of space available to him and we have plumbers /electricians in, I think because he feels he is expected to manage the situation, and that is his way of doing it.  If he is in his crate with a treat he will be very quiet and not agitated at all, because he accepts that nothing is expected of him, there is nothing he can do anyway, he can just relax and let us manage the situation and have a good sniff around when everyone leaves.

[bizzylizzy]

Oh dear, poor little Oscar and poor you! Its a bit of long shot but could he be hearing something that unsettles him? I‘m thinking of those sonar things that people put up to keeps cats etc away or something else in the vicinity that‘s spooking him... ? Is there a place that he‘s chosen himself to lie during  the day (Humphrey picks the strangest spots!) where you could place his bed, instead of the kitchen? Maybe you could go back to leaving a piece of your clothing for him, like we do when they‘re pups.  I‘m wondering if all the excitement /stress of the move and the fact that you‘re obviously concerned about him aswell, is actually making it worse - it becomes a bit of a vicious circle. As well meant as it is, I‘d be a bit cautious about sleeping on the kitchen floor next to him, its a quick fix and quite understandable but it‘s postponing the problem. Once you‘ve discounted anything that‘s really disturbing him and have decided on a sleeping place that he‘s normally happy with, I‘d perhaps give him a bit of of evening exercise so that he‘s tired and then slip up to bed yourselves without too much ado. Humphrey definately knows when I‘m being extra attentive to his needs and will milk it as much as he can!  , so I sometimes just have to be firm.
Do hope he settles down soon, I‘m sure he will. Best of luck in your new home!

[Digger]

I'd try treating it as though he's a new pup that you've just brought home. It probably feels that way to him.
I thoroughly recommend sleeping near him in the kitchen so he doesn't feel like he's been planted on the moon away from everything he knows. Three nights when he can hear you close by I reckon will help him to understand that you are all still around, it's just that he has a new sleeping area now.
I do love that picture-he is sooooo cute!!!!!

[Mudmagnets]

You could also try a pet de-stressing spray or plug in, that might help. Something like Pet Remedy?

https://petremedy.co.uk/            if you buy it online it is usually cheaper than the vets and lots of places online sell it.

[Gazrob]

Go back to the crate and just try and ignore the howling for a few days till he gets used to things again. Don't sleep next to the crate and dont let him upstairs don't give in.

[MIN]

we had to go back to puppy training with our 12 month old staffie when we moved, and i mean right back . The move and new environment really effected him. Sent him right back to being unhouse trained and howling when left. to be honest he never got over it but then he was always the vets " special nut case" with other underlying problems