Hi Everyone This is my first post and am hoping for a bit of advice. My lab Ted is 15 weeks old and is generally a good pup. He caught on very quick to go to the toilet outside or on a training matt. The only thing is the last couple of weeks when we put him in his crate at night he gets in to a terrible state, doing his business and basically looks like he's standing in it getting poop all over his paws . Ive been getting up through the night say 4am and he's done it then and then by the time im up at 6.30-7am he's done more! im making sure he doesn't eat or drink much of an evening and also that he goes outside before we put him in. He hates the crate during the day and goes mental whenever I put him in, we initially bought a fabric pen when we first got him and changed to a metal crate after 2 weeks and he was ok until recently. Im debating on whether to just leave him in his bed but don't want my dining room furniture chewed to bits!! My partner is convinced he's doing it for attention!! Any ideas? Thanks
Re: Night times My Gypsy (now 20 weeks) was the same - she hated her crate. Tatze (18 months) is the opposite, she won't settle unless her crate door is shut! We de-crated Gypsy at 14 weeks, for two weeks we put her in a puppy pen, but after two weeks got her a wolfy bed. She hasn't looked back - sleeps all night, clean and dry, no chewing.
Re: Night times There's a few routes you could take from here: One is to stop using the crate, although you're right that there's a significant risk to fixtures, fitting and soft furnishings unless you have a pen or can use a baby gate or similar to create a safe area. The other is to put lots of effort into making his crate a wonderful place to be. Give him his main feeds in the crate, and maybe also treats and stuffed kongs too. If you can, move the crate around during day so he can be within sight of you, but still in the crate for a few short sessions - combine that with a kong and you might start getting some much happier reactions. If he's getting into a state at night, it might be worth taking the crate up to your room overnight (or having a spare up there), although it sounds like your OH may need some convincing about this! I had my pup in my room in the early days and then gradually moved the crate out onto the landing and then downstairs when my she was completely happy, over the course of a few weeks. Good luck- whatever you go for, this phase won't last long (although it can seem like it does while you're there!)
Re: Night times Hi and welcome to the forum Harley never used to settle in her crate from day 1. We decrated her at night at 3.5/4 months old - she came upstairs with us and would sleep 11pm-9am no problem . During the day she would only go in her crate when I went to work - I always left a kong or rice bone in with her and this helped associate the crate with good things. Some dogs just don't get on with crates unfortunately - it can be trial and error.
Re: Night times Thanks for your replies, we had a much better night last night! I left him in the room with his bed basket, and in the crate I put his toys and a couple of treats but left the door open so he could go in and out as he pleased. He done his toilet on the matts I left down and no mess this morning! No barking and no crying - I will be happy to get a full nights sleep, I hope it lasts.
