Does Snuggle Puppy Work for Separation Anxiety?
Bringing a new puppy home is so fun and exciting. But, new puppies have a hard time adjusting to their new home away from their litter mates. Every new puppy parent knows the pain of dealing with separation anxiety, especially during a long sleepless night.
That’s where Snuggle Puppy comes in!
I Used Snuggle Puppy When Crate Training My Two Puppies
I have used Snuggle Puppies with both of my Goldendoodle puppies, and I can honestly say that the Snuggle Puppy works. Not only did it help ease the transition into their new surroundings, but it also provided an extra source of comfort during crate training and sleep training. In this video, you can see Kai as a brand new puppy with his new snuggle pet. Incredibly, he stopped crying when right away when we put his friend in the crate with him.
So when we brought Byrdie home, we knew we had to get her a snuggle pet too! She loved it just as much as Kai loved his.
Since I’m 2-for-2 in my puppies loving this product, it’s one of my top recommendations on my list of essential puppy supplies.
What is a snuggle pet and how does it work?
The snuggle puppy toy is not just any dog toy. It’s a stuffed animal with a heating pad and a pulsing heartbeat that can help ease a puppy’s transition during those early days away from his mother and litter mates.
What is snuggle puppy and how does it work for calming separation anxiety in puppies? Let’s find out.
The red heart goes inside the velcro pouch for a calming pulse.
Here’s Kai with his Snuggle Puppy. You can see how he responds to the sound of the pulsing heartbeat.
Meet Your New Best Friend, Snuggle Puppy!
When your puppy lays next to it, this plush furry friend does a great job of simulating the mom’s real heartbeat. The warmth comes from a disposable heat pack, and the heart beat comes from a little red plastic heart placed inside the secure velcro pouch. After a few weeks of continuous use, you’ll simply need to replace the batteries and get some additional heat packs. It’s as simple as that.
I can honestly say that this cuddly toy was a lifesaver for us during that adjustment period, especially the first night.
Snuggle Puppy Helps Keep Puppies from Crying and Whining in the Crate
The biggest reason I like the Snuggle Puppy is that it helped keep Kai and Byrdie from crying and whining in the crate. Crate training is so helpful for potty training. But when it comes to easing a puppy’s anxiety about being alone in a crate, it’s not easy. It can be so heartbreaking!! They can cry for hours to the point where you just can’t take it anymore. So for that reason alone, the snuggle pet was a game-changer for me.
Heartbeat toys aren’t just for puppies. They can also help ease an older dog’s anxiety in the car.
I discovered this specially designed toy can also help anxious older dogs. I think it’s because it works with their natural instincts as pack animals. Before we got Byrdie, Kai was anxious and had a tough time when he was alone, especially during car rides. In the car, he was extremely nervous and had a variety of symptoms such as shaking, panting heavily, pacing in the back seat, and crying. I felt so bad for him because it seemed like he was having panic attacks whenever he was in the car.
We wanted to be able to take Kai with us when went places, so I wanted to find a pet anxiety product to help Kai with this problem. I tried a variety of calming chews and they didn’t help. Then I remembered Kai’s snuggle puppy! I pulled the stuffed toy out of the closet, and he remembered his adorable stuffed pup with a beating heart. He grabbed his old friend immediately and took him right to his bed. We brought the snuggle pet in the car with him, and his anxiety was much better. I wouldn’t say it was completely gone, but he was so much better with his warm and cuddly four-legged friend by his side.
What if you have an aggressive chewing dog? How durable is a snuggle puppy?
Both Kai and Byrdie became attached to their snuggle pets and still love them to this day. There’s something about the heartbeat and the warmth that make it different than any of their other toys. But now that they’re no longer puppies, they can be somewhat destructive with stuffed toys and will rip them apart if they play with them for too long. They now have more of a tendency to tug and play with them together rather than cuddle with their snuggle pets.
So far, they’ve never succeeded in breaking into the velcro pouch to get to the heat pad and plastic heart, but I think they could. For this reason, I put the snuggle puppies away and bring them out for limited amounts of time. For smaller dogs or non-aggressive chewers, that may not be an issue.
What is the best snuggle puppy brand?
There are several types of snuggle pets available to choose from on Amazon. The most widely purchased brand appears to be the Smartpetlove Snuggle Puppy Behavioral Aid Toy, and it has great reviews. However, I chose to buy a less expensive one, and I was happy with the quality.
Bottom Line: The Snuggle Puppy is a Game Changer for Crate Training a Puppy
In my experience, I found the snuggle puppy to be the best way to keep my young puppies from crying in the crate. The snuggle puppy’s real-feel heartbeat and physical warmth help little puppies experience less loneliness, which is so important during those first couple of nights. Even if you never use it after the puppy stage, I feel a snuggle pet or similar heartbeat cuddle pet is well worth it.