Our lab is now 8 months old. He's been crated since 8weeks. When he was little he had a dicky tummy so we were returning to him throughout the night to see if he needed the toilet. He'd go to sleep no problem and likes his crate but would start crying in the wee ours of the morning.. I'm sure this didn't help the crate training. At about 6/7 months we started bringing him up to our room when he cried so we could get some sleep (into a second crate in our room); the problem was the crying then got earlier and earlier. About a month ago we started letting him cry it out, he's mostly good now through the night, although occasionally does still cry very early in the morning (3am today). But the main problem is the morning, 6.30 to 7.30am. I know this isn't reduculously early but we want him to be calm and quite until we go down. His crate is in a little room of its own inside the utility room; its the biggest we could get so plenty of room, it's cosy with a few toys. We do still bring him upstairs, but only after we've taken him out of his crate for a while with the intention of breaking any association between crying, getting out of his crate and going upstairs. Any hints or advice would be appreciated.
Hi @Jgb84 A few questions. By the time 6.30 am comes around how long will your dog have been in the crate? How long do you wait for him to stop crying completely and be quiet before you let him out of the crate? If he is quiet for say 30 seconds do you let him out?
Hi @Michael A Brooks He goes in his crate around 11.30pm (prior to that, if he's not with us, he sleeps on his dog bed in the utility room), so overnight it's about 7 and a half hours. We can wait for hours for a break in the crying, if we get out of bed upstairs he must be able to hear us as that causes a break in his crying. Generally I come into the kitchen and spend about 10mins milling about before letting him out. Hope that makes sense. Jonathan
Hi @Jgb84 I suspect as do you too, Jonathan, that he was reinforced for crying some months ago. Now I reckon he is confused--why doesn't crying get him next to you. If you have consistently been letting him cry for an hour and it's not resulting in extinction, then I believe it's time to try something else. I would be inclined therefore to retrain some crate basics during the day so that you can find more opportunities to reinforce not crying rather than practising the routine only once each night. You might find the folder on crate training to be useful in helping to rehearse the basics.
Thanks @MichaelABrooks I'll revisit the basics. Can I ask you for a couple more bits of advice. Is it OK to keep bringing him upstairs, as I've described (leaving it a while between taking him out the crate and going upstairs). This let's us have a lie in on a weekend! He also sits with my wife while she's getting ready and with me when I'm working later in the day. I was wondering if we need to cut off his access so he forgets that he wants to be there. Also, should there be a water source (bottle or bowl) overnight? I read not to when he was very young but not sure now he's older (8 months). And finally, can you see any issues with the set up of his crate as I've described it. The room is just big enough for the crate so it's literally his own little room. Thanks again Jonathan
If he has behaved himself, then it sounds as if this is a very loving reward. Dogs love being around their owners. I let my dog have a drink of milk before bidding her goodnight. She also has access to a bowl of water. But she has free roam of one part of our home. I think one problem of water in the crate is the dog inadvertently knocking it over. I want my dog's bedding to be dry. It's possible to buy bowls that are hard to knock over if you feel he is getting thirsty at night. What do you think would happen if you left the crate open in his little room? I can't think of any issues. I presume it's free of draughts, not cold and not too hot, neighbours not banging on the wall, cats not making love outside his window.
Thanks again @Michael A Brooks, had a proper chuckle at the idea of cats making love outside his window. He'd hate that lol I don't close the door to the room fully (it wouldn't actually close fully because it's very small and the door is blocked by the crate. And therefore if I left the crate door open he'd be able to get into the wider house and I don't trust him yet not to chew the furniture. Thanks again for all your advice, it's put my mind at ease and I'll go back to basics. Jonathan
Is it possible your dog just hasn't got the memo that went round about 10 years ago ( here in the UK) that dogs are supposed to love crates? Mine was crate trained by his previous owners and obviously hated it. I persevered with it for about a month then stopped closing the door on it in all but emergencies. This coincided with a huge improvement in his behaviour and ability to calm himself - for the first time he would actually choose to go and lie down in his crate when he was tired. There were lots of things my dog hated when I got him: cars, leads, being handled or brushed for example and we've worked through all these issues because they are necessary to live comfortably in the human world. Tolerating being caged might be convenient at times but is hardly an essential life skill - none of the dogs I knew as a child were ever caged and they were all lovely well balanced creatures.
