Our puppy is now 9 weeks old and has been crated at night from Day 1. At first he settled with the reluctance one might expect, but is only willing to be in his crate at times when he is asleep. Our night time routine is that I get him in there after his last garden visit at around 11.00-11.30pm. He wakes after about 2 hours needing another wee. I encourage him back into the crate and then stay in the utility room where the crate is, ssshhing him until he eventually lies back down. He will stand and rattle the bars for between 20mins and as much as 1 hour, crying pitifully all the time. He then sleeps until 6-6.30am when he is most certainly done for the night. He only goes in his crate during the day when I put him in already asleep, or occasionally if I escort him there when he is already sleepy. He simply prefers to snooze on a rug close to where his people are. His default mode is to sleep in my husband's arms and will beg to be picked up. I think that this is half the problem. If my husband gets up to him in the night he simply cannot get him back into his crate and lies on the sofa holding him. We are sleeping in tandem! The crate is in the only logical place in the house, and is in the same place where our previous dog slept. He is a destructive and persistent chewer so there is no chance of leaving him out of the crate.
I think you’ve identified the root of the problem in that your puppy prefers to sleep in your husband’s arms! Have you tried putting him in his crate for very short periods (just a few minutes) during the day, not expecting him to sleep? Try giving him a tasty Kong, or perhaps even his meals, in his crate so that he begins to think of it as his space, rather than just a place where he’s ‘put away’. It helps, too, to have a cover over the crate so that it’s more like a den and also leaving a radio on in the utility room. Try building up a ‘crate routine’, such as switching the radio on, putting a Kong in the crate, putting him in, then leaving him for about five minutes. I also used a small microwavable pillow (made by my yellow lab’s breeder) when mine were little to make it cosy. I hope he learns to settle soon!
Yes you are right. Your puppy is still a very small baby and adjusting to being away from his mum and siblings. You will find he and you will get into a routine and he will sleep more. I would persist with the crate for all sleep times. Do you cover his crate at night time to make it more den like?
Hi @SimoneB , I'm not an expert by any means, but does your puppy have a bed that he lies on when he sleeps elsewhere in the house? If so you could try putting that in the crate so he has something familiar in there. There is a reward based method of training them to use their crate, using tiny bits of food so they like going in there, I think you will find it on the main site and Pippa's books, or someone will be along on here just now
Most pups like being close to their owners, especially when they are so young. He obviously feels safe in your husbands arms so will automatically go there for comfort. Some good advice above around feeding in the crate / covering with a blanket etc.
Thank you for your replies. We do have a piece of vet fleece in lieu of a rug (rolled up to avoid accidents) and he sometimes sleeps on that during the day, but that is also what is in his crate (along with a cozy blanket nest). I am actually considering removing it so that his crate is the only comfy place to lie down. Does that sound mean? I feel that my husband is spoiling him, as a cuddle is always going to top a lonely crate. I will try to find something to cover it with, though. I do feed him in the crate sometimes, maybe do that more. I put his favourite toys in there when I can see that he is tiring, but he just gets them out and puts them under the Christmas tree. He's already chewed through the lights wires.and the lower branches. He has just fallen asleep now, and will stay in the crate if I pick him up, but won't go in there on his own - not very often, anyway. I will get a puppy Kong and try that. I have done the treating him for going in the crate routine, but he just eats the treats and comes straight out. He is not quite as food orientated as his predecessor. He tends to have quite a big sleep in the late evening when we are watching TV. I feel that he is then not sleepy enough when he does go into his crate.
Perhaps you could try a piece of clothing that your husband has worn so that the smell would be comforting for the puppy? What is his name by the way? I only suggest this idea because when Cassie was a puppy I didn't have a crate to start with, once I did I put her bed that she already had in it and she loved it straightaway, so it might help your little boy.
His name is Caspar. Your experience, Selina, was exactly how it was with our last dog. He went straight to the crate when we got it, and I never heard a murmur from him. Mind you, at night we did not lock him in, but had a baby gate and left a puppy pad on the doormat. He seemed to understand that this was for night and that he went out to toilet during the day. We never had to get up in the night with him. There is already a shirt of my husband's in his crate to form a sort of pillow, as he seemed to prefer to sleep with his head up on something (like another puppy's rump). He has just left his open crate when the doorbell rang and put himself back to bed. That only seems to work when he is already half asleep. He doesn't want to be in there otherwise, as he can't think of enough mischief to get up to in there, I think. He is a real livewire.
I love that! If he does back in to sleep he can't really hate the crate, have you tried the Kong idea, you might find something tasty that he likes if he's not foody, sardine oil or the like.
Pups love to be with their human family as much as possible, and cuddles are always good - although your husband might want a little re-think as Caspar isn't always going to be as tiny as he is now. If he doesn't want a 30kg dog sleeping on him in a few months time , now is the time to introduce the change. Not many pups love their crate rom Day 1 and need to be encouraged. Drop some treats in the crate and let pup find them - do this numerous times without closing the door. Then drop treats and close the door for a few seconds and then open, give pup all his meals in the crate and one way to increase his desire to get in the crate is to close the door with his food on the inside and him on the outside - wait a few seconds to make sure he is keen for his food and then open the door and let him in. The crate soon becomes the best place to be
Oh, I like that idea. I will deprive him of access to his food for a few moments. He is in the crate at the moment- door open- chewing the crate itself! It is a metal one. I am off to buy a Kong now. Our other dog didn't take to Kongs at all, found them too frustrating and lost interest very quickly. I have been looking at some of the suggestions of what to put in them and would worry about introducing the pup to some of them. Oh, and our previous dog was 37kg and loved cuddling on his humans at any opportunity. Many an evening I would have a dead leg and have to swap sides of the sofa with my husband.
I make 6 kongs a day - 3 for each dog. Our 11 year old Lab has just her kibble (part of her daily allowance) which I soak for 1 minute in water then drain and freeze. That suits her just fine. The 1 year old Lab has wet food in her kong (part of her daily allowance) which is then frozen. They know when it’s Kong time - even if they are snoozing, they both come and stare at me when it’s time .
So far he does not seem to have much idea what to do with it. He has chewed the Kong and can smell that there is something in there, but hasn't worked too hard at it. I will leave him with it and hope things improve.
Lol my little 10 week old girl Ella is just working kongs out she goes into the crate at around 9.30 I let her out about 10.30 and she sleeps through to around 6am when I let her into garden to pee ect I started from day 1 with time in the crate she has breki at 7am lots of play time back into crate for a sleep then out for more play and lunch then crate time or sleep on rug then yet more play time and evening meal the odd kong in the day always in crate She will now ask to go out side to toilet today is her 2nd vac so another 2 weeks she can start puppy intro
Thanks, Blaser. That sounds like a nice routine. Although I found being alone in charge of our last dog most days a pain I can see that having more people around also has its disadvantages if not everyone does things the same way. I think that is our main problem. Last night Caspar went into his crate at around 11.30pm and slept until 3.45am. I went down and let him out for a wee, which he did need; he is not just asking for company. I don't talk to him, just stand next to the crate until he eventually gets back in. He then exercised his vocal cords at full volume for 25mins, discovering a whole new repertoire of sounds and rattling the bars. I stayed there just saying sshh. He slept until 7.00am. He is in his crate now, sleeping happily, but I had to put him in there when he started to drowse, and at 9 weeks he is already getting heavy. When I tried to get him to go in by himself he just took out his bear and lay down with him on the doormat, before having another vigorous round of naughty play, involving the Christmas tree. Ours is going to seem like such a dull home when the tree has gone and the children are back at school and college. I feed him in the crate, my husband doesn't, I never cuddle him to sleep. I need to impose a more rigid regime, I think. He gets his 2nd vac on 4th and I am counting down the days until he can go out.....
