I have greatly enjoyed all of the help posted here on the forum and website but am still faced with a huge problem. Our 9 wk old lab has done marvelous moving through all the crate training stages. I/we have followed the information to the letter and progressed marvelously. During the day, not a problem. He will readily go to his crate, nap with the door close, etc. When it comes to putting him in at night....NO WAY is he having anything to do with that! Whines, cries, barks, etc. etc. it gets to the point that we cannot stand it and end up letting him out after several hours. I know that that is not what we are obviously not suppose to do; but there seems no option. His crate is located in a centralized location. He see's and knows that I am there. Even at night, I work close by so that he knows that I am there when he is in the crate. The crying, whining and barking is non-stop, even after working to wear him out and putting him in while he is sleeping. Any suggestions? All the information regarding crate training and trying to get them to sleep in their crates at night seem to be separated rather than integrated between day time crate training and night time crate training. Thanks in advance.
Hi Rick and welcome to the forum I guess he knows that when he's put into the crate at night it will be for a long time. He also knows that if he's persistent with making noise he can outlast you and you'll give up. When you let him out where does he end up? Do you put him back in the crate or does he sleep somewhere else? He probably wants to be within a line of sight of you. Knowing you're not far away isn't comforting enough for him. I'm thinking that your options are: - to either stick with the crate and insist on ignoring him. He only gets out if he's quiet (tricky if has to go out for a toilet break or he poos in the crate, makes a big mess and is simultaneously noisy - you'd probably have to break your rule then) - try another confinement option that is bigger, like a pen, so he can use one end as a loo and you don't need to get up for him in the night - move the crate to a location where he feels safer and calmer. It is good that everything else is going well though. It'd be nice to have more peaceful evenings though, I am sure.
Welcome from us too Rick. I agree with Rachael regarding the crate. My crate training bug was the gradually waking up earlier and earlier in the morning and I think that was because I used to go and check to make sure Lilly hadn't soiled the crate, or needed out (she hadn't/didn't) but that was reinforcing the waking Ack! Its a tricky job this puppy-rearing. When she woke before 6am I would just ignore her. After 6am, I would normally let her out, then allow her to come settle with me on a bed in our bedroom (we sleep downstairs) and I would get another hour or two of sleep with a settled puppy. Well, actually to be honest this was more a problem when Lilly was 6 months or so, so might not apply to you, but this was a choice we made that might not suit everyone. It gets better, honest x
Hi Rick Our boy has slept in his crate since we brought him home, we introduced him to his bed and we carried him upstairs in his bed (its a soft fluffy thing) with a favourite toy. Then dog, bed and toy all went in together. The TV has to be on in the bedroom for about 5 mins till he is comfy and then we don't hear a peep from him until we get up in the morning. We have the crate by the side of the bed. A couple of times he has moaned a bit about going in but we ignore it and just keep telling him its bedtime and he's a good boy (I know he doesn't understand what we say, its the tone I guess) he settles down after a couple of minutes. During the day, if he has to go in the crate we have his bed and toy in there too, and he gets a treat if he goes in on his own and settles down. If he creates a racket he is ignored - however, we are in line of sight so he does eventually settle. Good luck
When she was a couple of months old, my wife allowed Cooper on the bed after we took her out about 6:00am. Might have been a big mistake, since she is now 24" tall and 80 lbs. She sometimes sleeps on the bed now, but worse she jumps on it and gives us licks in the middle of the night. Forewarned is forearmed.
