Maisie has been going into her crate during the day (in the hope of finding a treat I think!), but just has a look around and is out again. I tried closing the door a couple of times just for a second while she was looking for food and she howled and howled! i waited til she wad quiet and let her out. She only wants to sleep on the vet bed I put in the kitchen to stop her sliding on the wooden floors. Not looking good for tonight!!
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight She won't like it. She will protest. You will need to be strong and ignore her, if you don't you will just be doing it again tomorrow night. Sounds hard I know, but crates are great. Molly trots into hers when I tell her bed time. Funny thing is I have always dropped two pieces of kibble in through the bars for her. One night there was only 1 waiting on the bookcase so I dropped it in said "Goodnight" and left the room as usual. There was a very loud protest. I let her out and started again with 2 pieces of kibble and not a whimper. I always make sure that there are 2 pieces of kibble on the bookcase now. When she gets overexcited and becomes utterly obnoxious she is taken to her crate for a time out. I couldn't manage without it. Good luck with it.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Thanks Tina, I will try and l brave! You can read every piece of information on crates, toilet training, feeding, etc, etc, but when it comes to actually putting everything into practice I feel like I don't know anything!! :
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight I recently crate trained my boy at 10 months - it took quite a few days. I'm not sure why it would be different with a young pup? I have to say I've never crate trained a very young puppy, so could be talking nonsense, but I would not just put her in and stick it out. Some dogs might be fine with this, others not. I'd be tempted to take my time and do it slowly. There is an article here: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/crate-training-your-labrador-puppy/
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Tatze was just fine from day 1. I popped her in the crate at lunch time when she was very tired, she raised the roof while I sat next to her and read a book. She screamed and howled and cried and bit the bars. She fell asleep within five minutes - and has never cried or barked in her crate since. I made it really cozy for her
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Our experience: First night - lots of crying and whining. Heart breaking. BE STRONG. Think: he is not really suffering and this is for his own good. Second night - cried for about 30 minutes. Third night - silence. Fourth night - bounced into the crate looking for his treat. You must, you must, stick it out....DON'T GO DOWN to see her when she cries. (This is different from going down when she wakes up needing to go out for a wee....that you do have to do.... and for us that was about 3am for the first three weeks! But just carry her out, let her go, reward her then put her straight back in the crate with no fuss and go back to bed.)
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight I'm pretty sure that the 'ignoring the crying and keeping strong' approach gets the desired results fastest. However, just for balance I offer my own experience: Just a few days before we were due to collect Merla, my mother-in-law died. We nearly said we couldn't have the pup, but after careful consideration decided we'd go ahead. However, the upshot was that we really weren't in any place to be powering through the crying, and OH particularly needed every minute of sleep that came his way. She wasn't keen at all on the crate and being shut in at first (lots of crying and scrabbling) but I really wanted her to sleep in her crate as I knew we'd be travelling around sorting out the funeral etc in a couple of days, and needed something that would give a sense of continuity for her. So on the first night, the crate went in the lounge next to the sofa, and I slept on the sofa with one hand in the crate. I had to put her back in about 100 times (the door was open to get the hand in!!) but eventually she started to settle. A few more nights, and we got as far as sleeping next to the pup in the crate, without the need for a hand. For the next phase we moved the crate to the corner of our bedroom (in various houses!) Then out to the landing when we returned home then, when she could get through about 6 hours without needing to pee, downstairs to where I had originally wanted the crate. It seemed like forever at the time, but in a week or two we had a pup who was happy to be in her crate all night, and during the day if necessary, and we never looked back. Now she takes herself off to bed happily and doesn't cry in the crate except for the few occasions when she's had an upset tummy and is genuinely trying to alert us of an impending problem. The plus side in the first days was if she did genuinely wake up I knew straight away and could put her outside so house-training went very smoothly indeed.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight [quote author=Merla link=topic=5603.msg71021#msg71021 date=1398458682] I'm pretty sure that the 'ignoring the crying and keeping strong' approach gets the desired results fastest. [/quote] I've never crate trained a small pup - so I might be completely wrong on this! Sorry if so. Maybe it is different with a small pup, rather than older dog. I'm surprised though that the consensus seems to be to let them cry/howl in the crate until they give it up. I read up quite a lot before crate training my boy, and everything I read said to do the process over a few days and (although obviously don't open the crate while they are howling) the objective is to take it in small enough steps so the pup doesn't get upset.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight I toyed with the idea that Kath used - starting the crate off next to the bed and moving further away over time until they are in the place you want them to be. But we bought Penny's crate so big that it just wasn't practical and we opted for the letting her cry it out approach. I won't lie, it was one of the hardest things I've had to do. The sound is heartbreaking, especially when it goes to a full on howl. Penny cried every night for at least a week. We would put her to bed at about 11pm and she would cry until 2 or 3 am before she had tired herself out. Then she would sleep until 5am. We put up with this for about 10 days before I decided I would start letting her out for the toilet in the middle of the night - she would previously mess overnight so I figured that was the reason she would cry so much. When I got her up for toilet time I would take her outside with no fuss and then straight back in after she had done her business. Then I had to sit next to the crate until she went back to sleep. Some nights I would rock her in my arms like a baby as it was the only way she would go back to sleep. Then I had to sneakily put her in the bed and creep away. We tried every single trick in the book - radio for background noise, ticking clock to simulate litter mates heartbeat, clothing that smelled of us, DAP collar and diffuser, hot water bottle and large soft toy to snuggle up with, covering the crate so she couldn't see out. In the end we just had to struggle through and after about 2-3 weeks she grew out if it. I think we had a particularly rough time of it with Penny, partly because she came to us at 6 weeks of age (not 8 like the breeder told us she was) and if I had a puppy again I'd probably do it differently.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight [quote author=JulieT link=topic=5603.msg71031#msg71031 date=1398459880] ......everything I read said to do the process over a few days and (although obviously don't open the crate while they are howling) the objective is to take it in small enough steps so the pup doesn't get upset. [/quote] This is a good point, Julie. It's probably worth adding that I've never actually done the 'ignoring' thing with any other pup as Merla is my first as a 'grown-up'. I may well have taken the above approach even if there hadn't been a family crisis, as I'm really bad with sad dog noises! Gosh Lauren, that does sound like a tough time you had with Penny!
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Although I've only crate trained adult dogs we took a couple of weeks to get them used to it. I'd do the same with a puppy - I'd aim for no crying and upsets. The distress cries are just too much for me... With a pup I'd have the crate by my bed (our dogs have always slept in our bedroom). Same kind of approach as Merla used. That's not to say that the 'shut them in and wait for quiet' method doesn't work... I would just rather make it all a pleasant experience, that's all
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight I've had a couple of foster puppies when I worked in the kennels and I was still living at home then. They would be in a crate in my bedroom and I never had a single issue with them, apart from the fact that I think I was hyper aware of them being there and any little noise from them would wake me up worrying if they were ok I think that also might have formed part of the reason why we left Penny downstairs from night one.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Ah! I see I'm not quite on the same page! I thought that might be the case. This is because I associated the problem with Maisie's unhappiness with the crate - rather than being left alone - and I didn't use a crate at first. I didn't have Charlie by my bed on the first night, I left him downstairs in his pen where he'd been happy all day. But he didn't cry when we left him during the day (and if he cried during the first night, I didn't hear him). I was specifically thinking of the crate, and crate training over a few days, and not allowing a pup to establish a habit of howling in the new crate.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight My plan is to sleep downstairs for the first few nights as the puppy will be able to smell me near. The pup will be in the crate nearby. But that's just the plan; I would rather do that than make the first couple of days more traumatic for the pup after leaving her litter mates and mum. Good luck.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Thanks for all your comments. It's been a long night! Put Misie to bed at 11pm and she cried (but no howling) until 12.30. Slept til 3am, quick wee and back to bed. More protesting, ignored her until 4.30, but I could hear a change in her crying, she was getting frantic...she had messed in the crate. Changed bedding, out for a wee, back to bed and howling starts. 5am I give up! outside again, no wee, runs striaght back inside without me and sits by the back door like butter wouldn't melt! Make myself a cuppa and Maisie falls asleep on my knee. Straight back to the crate, 5 mins of crying and fell asleep, phew! Not too bad, just about managed to cope with the crying.....lets see what tomorrow night brings!
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Well everything seems better in the light of day. Have a snooze when she does and just have a lazy day. I am sure that you 2 will just love being together and you'll enjoy her antics. Worry about tonight when it gets here. I hope I will manage as well as you did! AND she did actually get some sleep
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight Sounds like a normal first night, and not as bad as the one I had with Penny in those first few days I found myself taking naps during the day when she slept - my mum likened it to having a new baby! Keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure it won't take long for her to adjust.
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight You did well. It is difficult to decide if they are crying because they need the loo or if it is just a protest. It isn't all that long before you recognise the signs (though it can seem that way to the tired mind)
Re: Sleeping in crate toniight We have had our lovely boy 3 weeks now, he sleeps in a crate at night i wouldn't be without it, Buster takes himself off about 9.30 to bed, and thankfully doesn't stir till about 4 where i take him out for a wee and then back to bed till 6, last night is the first time he hasn't needed a wee @ 4, but i think he hears me up then and i guess thats what causes him to stir.
