Good day to all! Me and my SO have recently picked up our chocolate lab puppy, Cooper, and have begun the wonderful life of being puppy parents. He is 9 weeks old and we have started to crate train him right off the bat when we got back to our home. The first night was the worst...howling, crying, whining. The whole kitten kaboodle. I understand we aren't supposed to go comfort him or let him out during this as it reinforces bad behavior, however, there is only so much we can take/allow considering we live in an apartment building and our neighbors won't be pleased if it persists for long. We have not let him out during these little fits, neither I or my SO lay next to his crate until he calms down. Neither of us has had to raise a puppy so young so we are both pretty new to the crate training process. What I would love to know is tips or tricks that others have used to ensure your little guy/girl sleeps soundly at night and doesn't whine and cry when being crated at night. I have heard of these toys that mimic their mothers' heartbeat to soothe them. Does anyone know if these work? Is this all just a part of the process and I will just need to be patient with him until he learns to like his crate?
Hi and congratulations on your little pup Cooper. Although I don't speak from personal experience as Bailey was very chilled out when we first picked him up and settled straight away into his crate - from other posts on here it does take some pups time to settle into a brand new environment. If you think a nine week old pup who recently left his brothers and sisters to be on his own. Its confusing and must be rather frightening for them. We had a blanket from the breeder with his mothers scent on which we put in his bed and then put both into the crate when he went in to sleep. Bailey's crate was beside our bed as we wanted him in our room - he is still there although now on our bed for most of the night!
Wayyy back in the Dark Ages when we had our first puppy we used a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel and a ticking clock wrapped in a towel. Worked a charm....
Xena made such a racket the first few nights. SO. MUCH. NOISE. I can't remember how many nights it lasted for, but we moved her crate from our bedroom to the living room after one week (that was always the plan) and the crying had stopped by then. The first couple of nights were the worst, even though she was in the room with us. I took her outside for a wee every cry (no talk, no play, no fun, just wee/praise/treat/crate) and she quickly cottoned on that crying would make me take her outside but that this didn't mean it was time for play. It seems like she realised that crying was fine for a toilet break, but that's all it was, and so she stopped crying unless she needed to pee. Everybody has a different method for nights, I really had no idea what I was doing (first dog) but it seemed to work. I would talk to your neighbours, give them a box of chocolates maybe, and explain that I'm crate training a puppy and that there will be some crying for a few nights but that it hopefully won't last longer than a week. The more consistent YOU are, the quicker Cooper will settle, and the happier your neighbours will be.
I had my puppy in a box beside my bed and dangled my hand in there, he slept soundly and only woke me when he wanted to have a pee. I crate trained during the day so that by the time he had got over his homesickness he accepted the crate at night peacefully.
Stanley was a terror on a night. He cried for about 4/5 hours the first week or so. I hadn't found this forum at this point and everyone told me to just let him cry I still harbour some guilt about that now. If I'd known I'd have slept on the couch next to him until he was settled. After than he'd cry through the night when he needed a wee or wanted to play and I'd let him out but be reeeeally boring and he'd go back to bed. Eventually - after about 7/8 weeks he slept all the way through and we've never had a peep since You'll get there, it just takes a bit of time.
LOL I just googled, there are tons of them. Heartbeat, waterfalls, white noise, etc. for babies. Wouldn't the sound of waterfalls make them pee? Like people say the sound of running water does them? Except it makes me thirsty.
I bought a cheap Ikea ticking clock, I use it for all my pups, not in the pen - I hang it up behind the pen. The winter pups have a heat pad, the summer ones don't. I have a two fluffy jumpers which I wear and put in their pen at night, then wash - wear again etc. I leave a radio on a talk show for the first few weeks. I'm always ready to set up bed next to the puppy pen in case of an unsettled pup, but - so far - haven't needed to (Four pups in four years). I sit by the pen no talking, no eye contact, until they dose off, then - after a few days - stand by the door. Then, after two weeks or so, I just leave them. Next pup September (ish) .
IKEA does have super-cheap ticking clocks! I had one that cost $1 until Bessie got it off my nightstand and ate it. I bought one of the stuffed dogs w/a heartbeat because Bessie was a nightmare to crate-train. I can't say if it helped or not. I felt like it might have? A little? But the battery died months ago and because it requires a screwdriver I didn't replace it. Oops! We never did get her over crate training. I know they say you don't have to crate train at night, so I had her in my bed because my bedroom is literally too small to fit a crate and my bed. But I don't think that helped. She would howl and cry and drool and try to get out and I could never build her up consistently past a few minutes in the crate. I gave up; she's mostly done chewing things now and the main floor is puppy-proofed. I use a baby gate across my bedroom door when I need her confined. We worked on it until 6-7 months.
Thanks for your input everyone! Cooper has been doing really great with his crate at night. The first night was the worst. I set up shop in front of his crate for nights 1-3 and would dangle my fingers inside so he could smell/lick them. That usually put him at ease and right back to sleep. Now i am back sleeping in my own bed again! He usually will whine for 2-3 minutes from the start but then its right to bed, up for a pee around midnight-1 and 3. Then between 5-5:30 we are up to start the day. Thanks for all your input and help!
