Hi all, a (hopefully) basic issue here I'd love advice on. Our nearly-9 month pup Kipper has always been crate trained and is generally happy as Larry in there; overnight he settles well and is quiet until he wakes up around 7am. We usually crate him at mealtimes, although did ease off that as he was very good at settling away from the table and this is what we'd like eventually rather than needing to crate forever. He's always been good at going into his crate for quiet time and with a kibble filled toy generally settles well for an hour or so. I suppose we haven't done this very much over the last 2/3 months which might be the root of my current issue... I work at home a couple of days a week and crate him for an hour in the mornings and afternoons, when we've had a few games in the garden and he's still restless. He's started whining when I first put him in (with kibble toys or a frozen kong) and when he settles after 5-10 mins, I don't know whether to reward the silence with "good boy" and a treat and then walk away again (which generally results in some more whining, but for less time), or whether to carry on while the going's good and just leave him in peace. I'm aiming to reward the silence, but fear I'm actually disrupting the settle and restarting the cycle. Any advice?
I would go back to basics of crate training for your days working at home. You know he settles happily in his crate normally so it's just a case of re-training so he's happy while you starting working. As he's already been crate trained you should whizz through the new scenario.
Roger, great advice @Jojo83 - made a start with short spells yesterday and we're already up to 20 minutes without a peep. Phew! Hopefully we'll be back on track before long. Thanks v much
