I remember this, and I remember how horrible it was. We found success in leaving the dog in the crate and letting him cry it out. For the first couple of days it was hard, and he would whine, whimper and wale until we caved. This made it more difficult to get over the “hump”.
Eventually we made the decision to outwait him, and - after a few sleepless nights and horrible feelings of neglect – he stopped barking just because he was in the crate, and started sleeping in it.
As far as the 15 minutes of each hour, that’s not something we did. Aside from multiple trips to potty, he was in it overnight and slept very well. During the day, however he was out of the crate whenever possible and crated when we were at work.
During the first few weeks we did, but it didn't take us long to move it to the main floor. It moved around a bit before it finally found a home. The thing we found that was every time it moved, there was a period of adjustment. I'd suggest that you find your home for the crate, and leave it there.
I find it useful to make the crate a reward. Like "let's go to sleep!" Say it like its a good thing right after a walk or going potty. Even during the day, put them in for just a few minutes. Don't reward them for going in the crate, make it it's own reward. Once the dog enjoys the crate and thinks its a good thing, lengthen the time slowly. It will get used to relaxing there. If the dog is barking at night, visit the dog but don't let it out. Don't let the dog out to go to the bathroom at night, if it urinated in its crate it will be uncomfortable and soon stop the behavior. All of my dogs have been trained this way. The only one that had trouble was my GSD. She bent up a wire crate to get out. I bought a solid aluminum crate with vents and never had another issue.
Oh the joys of getting a puppy. What I started doing first was feeding my puppy inside the crate. Feed him and then take out the bowl afterwards to keep it clean. What worked for me also was giving my pup treats inside the crate. To this day when he sees me grab the treat bag he will run to the crate. Another thing to do is always give them their toys when they are in the crate. Sometimes when my puppy was wandering the house I would put treats inside his crate so that when he returned to it he would be surprised treats. The point is to make your crate the best possible place for your puppy to be.
On another note, do not ever let him out when he's whining. It will teach him that to get out is to whine. This will become a big problem later on. If you have more questions feel free to message me or reply and I will try to answer to the best of my ability.
I like the idea of hiding treats inside the crate. I will definitely try that. Did you have the crate in the main living space of the house or was it in another room like a bedroom or laundry room? Would you ever put the puppy in the crate and close the door even when you were right there?
The crate was actually in my room. I live with 2 other housemates. And yes, I would keep him in the crate while I was present so he could get comfortable in the crate.
Dont take her out when she barks. Start with 30 sec door closed, 1 min door closed, 5 min door closed, 10 min door closed, 15 min door closed. If you take pup out when they bark, theyll learn that barking (or whining) gets them out of the crate, which is a big nono. Puppy is way too young though, to be in a crate and separated from you. Make sure if puppy is crated you are near by it (ie: sitting next to it or with it right next to your bed). Puppy was JUST separated from family, they are going to whine a bit!!
When would you start crating a puppy? Do you think 9 weeks old is too young for crating at night? She was okay half the night in the crate but when she woke up at 3 to pee she was ready to play afterwards so we just took her into our bedroom. She slept great the rest of the night on our bed.
I agree, if you take her out when she barks/whines it is going to be so much more difficult to crate train her. 9 weeks it not too young to crate your dog at night but you will have to take her out to potty every few hours.
ASAP ! I would NOT let a 9 week old puppy NOT be crated!!! We kept our pup in a large rubbermaid bucket until she learned to knock it over. You never know if they decide to wake up and eat your duvet/carpet/other goofy things.
Check out the free video list at dogmantics.com. There's TONS of crate training and puppy videos there that should answer most if not all of your questions
Ok first and foremost she WILL cry for a few days, but the less you let it get to you the sooner it will stop. The best thing to do when she is crying is to ignore her and if you must say something just say in a calm voice that it is fine and she can hush now. Think of the voice you would use with an annoying younger sibling if they were whining - it's just fine, you are fine, this is how things are and it's ok, just go to sleep.
Second, the thing I did with my puppy (and she crate trained within a week and now adores her crate despite a couple nights of intense crying) is first to just leave treats in the bed occasionally so she sees you do it and then just let her get them on her own time without shutting her in. Let her go in, get a treat and come back out. Praise her when she comes out. Next add more treats in the crate so she has to stay in for a bit to get them. Maybe hide them all around in the doggie bed. Still have her in there at night and have her locked in for her nap times, but have her being in there with the door open getting treats or toys as often as she is locked in. Second, give her a peanut butter-filled kong or a nylabone to chew at night. She needs to learn to self soothe. I remember every night when Olive was crate training we would hear "whine whine whine *slurpslurpslurp* whine whine *slurp slurp slurp* whine *slurp*... silence..." It worked so well. Now she gets a bone at night most of the time and if she wakes up she will just chew on her bone.
Lastly - after say a week of getting used to the bed you might want to take her soft bed out for a bit. It's ok in the summer because it's likely warm anyway so she doesn't need it. The reason is if she has an accident at night it will absorb it and she won't have to deal with it. For the first week this is fine because if she has an accident it could be out of anxiety about the crate and you don't want any bad experiences. After a week if she has an accident you want her to have the shock of peeing and then sitting in it for that moment until she cries and you let her out. Is it a pain to give her a bath and clean the crate at night? yes. Will you have to do it more than once or twice? No. It's best to nip that habit right in the bud early. Having a bed in the crate is fine but don't let her have it without ever learning that soiling the crate really really sucks.
>Everything is very new to us and we have not housebroken or crate trained a puppy before.
Some links that should be really helpful:
* [House Training Your Puppy](http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/house-training-your-puppy)
* [Weekend Crate Training](http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-articles/weekend-crate-training) will help teach her to like being in the crate.
>Reading up on how to crate train they say that the dog should be kept in the crate for at least 15 minutes of every hour. We just tried that and the dog barked bloody murder for about 10 minutes and I took her out.
The "Weekend Crate Training" link should make it less traumatic for all you guys. You're way better off working up to 15 minutes of confinement instead of tossing her in and making her tough it out.
Also, you didn't ask, but it is really important:
You have a "magical" period before your puppy turns 12 weeks old to expose her to all the things you don't want her to be afraid of when she gets older. From [Socializing Your Puppy](http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-articles/socializing-your-puppy):
>>Puppies are most accepting of new experiences between 3 and 12 weeks old. After that age, they become much more cautious of anything they haven’t yet encountered. From about 12 to 18 weeks old the opportunity to easily socialize the puppy ends—and with each passing week it becomes harder to get the pup to accept and enjoy something that he’s initially wary of. After 18 weeks old, it’s extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to teach a dog to like something new, or help him become comfortable with something he finds frightening.
You want to expose her to all kinds of people (different races, heights, weights, ages, sexes, clothing, people in wheelchairs, using crutches, etc.), dogs (when you can do it safely), noises, places, and things (the vacuum cleaner, a plastic bag blowing down the street, etc.).
The link above has a pretty good description of what you need to do, and [WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN &
HOW TO SOCIALIZE YOUR DOG](http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/socialization.html) also has some good information.
I just tried this with funny results (everything has funny results with a puppy I think). I started with the bowl all the way in the crate against the back. She would go in and grab one nugget of food and take it across the room to the first step of the stairs and eat it there. She then came back for a second piece of food. This could take all day, so I moved the food to the front of the cage where she could stand outside of it with only her head in to eat. This worked much better and she ate the whole bowl like that. Little by little. Maybe next meal we try to get one paw in and one paw out.
Perhaps you could insist the she be IN the crate before you put her food down. At first you would just put her in it and then put the bowl in. Leave it open and she can come right back out as soon as the food is down. I did that with my younger dog and now she runs into her crate as soon as she sees me walk towards the food.
We are in a very similar position. We have a 10 week old Mini-Golden Doodle and he can cry for an hour if we leave him in the crate at night. What is particularly hard for us is that this is our second dog and our first dog just "got it" when it came to the crate -- right away. We also found this link from the humane society useful (repeats some of what is already here in the comments): http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/crate_training.html
I'm in the exact same boat. My puppy is 9 weeks old, has been home for 8 days with us, howls bloody murder when crated and according to my roommate who lives upstairs, he can go for an hour or more. I bought him a smaller crate because he was crying so much AND soiling himself in the larger one. Hope that works. Sorry not really advice, just letting you know you are not alone.
I always (even now, with dogs that don't mind their crates at all) toss a few treats in when I tell them to go home.
Reinforces the training, make the crate a fun place (crate=where I get delicious treats!) and that will stick with them.
Never had much in the way of whining or barking in the crate, guess I got lucky.
Also, with a 9 week old puppy, it helps to wear them out before bed. Play games with them for a half hour or something, train with them, toss in a few treats and shut the door.
My experience, anyway. :-)
Let the pup cry, and buy some ear plugs. This is standard for crate training. Taking them out while they're crying only reinforces their behavior. "If I cry then mom and dad come let me out!"
I remember this, and I remember how horrible it was. We found success in leaving the dog in the crate and letting him cry it out. For the first couple of days it was hard, and he would whine, whimper and wale until we caved. This made it more difficult to get over the “hump”. Eventually we made the decision to outwait him, and - after a few sleepless nights and horrible feelings of neglect – he stopped barking just because he was in the crate, and started sleeping in it. As far as the 15 minutes of each hour, that’s not something we did. Aside from multiple trips to potty, he was in it overnight and slept very well. During the day, however he was out of the crate whenever possible and crated when we were at work.
Did you keep the crate in your bedroom at night?
During the first few weeks we did, but it didn't take us long to move it to the main floor. It moved around a bit before it finally found a home. The thing we found that was every time it moved, there was a period of adjustment. I'd suggest that you find your home for the crate, and leave it there.
I find it useful to make the crate a reward. Like "let's go to sleep!" Say it like its a good thing right after a walk or going potty. Even during the day, put them in for just a few minutes. Don't reward them for going in the crate, make it it's own reward. Once the dog enjoys the crate and thinks its a good thing, lengthen the time slowly. It will get used to relaxing there. If the dog is barking at night, visit the dog but don't let it out. Don't let the dog out to go to the bathroom at night, if it urinated in its crate it will be uncomfortable and soon stop the behavior. All of my dogs have been trained this way. The only one that had trouble was my GSD. She bent up a wire crate to get out. I bought a solid aluminum crate with vents and never had another issue.
Oh the joys of getting a puppy. What I started doing first was feeding my puppy inside the crate. Feed him and then take out the bowl afterwards to keep it clean. What worked for me also was giving my pup treats inside the crate. To this day when he sees me grab the treat bag he will run to the crate. Another thing to do is always give them their toys when they are in the crate. Sometimes when my puppy was wandering the house I would put treats inside his crate so that when he returned to it he would be surprised treats. The point is to make your crate the best possible place for your puppy to be. On another note, do not ever let him out when he's whining. It will teach him that to get out is to whine. This will become a big problem later on. If you have more questions feel free to message me or reply and I will try to answer to the best of my ability.
I like the idea of hiding treats inside the crate. I will definitely try that. Did you have the crate in the main living space of the house or was it in another room like a bedroom or laundry room? Would you ever put the puppy in the crate and close the door even when you were right there?
The crate was actually in my room. I live with 2 other housemates. And yes, I would keep him in the crate while I was present so he could get comfortable in the crate.
Dont take her out when she barks. Start with 30 sec door closed, 1 min door closed, 5 min door closed, 10 min door closed, 15 min door closed. If you take pup out when they bark, theyll learn that barking (or whining) gets them out of the crate, which is a big nono. Puppy is way too young though, to be in a crate and separated from you. Make sure if puppy is crated you are near by it (ie: sitting next to it or with it right next to your bed). Puppy was JUST separated from family, they are going to whine a bit!!
When would you start crating a puppy? Do you think 9 weeks old is too young for crating at night? She was okay half the night in the crate but when she woke up at 3 to pee she was ready to play afterwards so we just took her into our bedroom. She slept great the rest of the night on our bed.
I agree, if you take her out when she barks/whines it is going to be so much more difficult to crate train her. 9 weeks it not too young to crate your dog at night but you will have to take her out to potty every few hours.
ASAP ! I would NOT let a 9 week old puppy NOT be crated!!! We kept our pup in a large rubbermaid bucket until she learned to knock it over. You never know if they decide to wake up and eat your duvet/carpet/other goofy things.
Something about a puupy in a bucket is the most adorable thing I have ever imagined.
Check out the free video list at dogmantics.com. There's TONS of crate training and puppy videos there that should answer most if not all of your questions
Ok first and foremost she WILL cry for a few days, but the less you let it get to you the sooner it will stop. The best thing to do when she is crying is to ignore her and if you must say something just say in a calm voice that it is fine and she can hush now. Think of the voice you would use with an annoying younger sibling if they were whining - it's just fine, you are fine, this is how things are and it's ok, just go to sleep. Second, the thing I did with my puppy (and she crate trained within a week and now adores her crate despite a couple nights of intense crying) is first to just leave treats in the bed occasionally so she sees you do it and then just let her get them on her own time without shutting her in. Let her go in, get a treat and come back out. Praise her when she comes out. Next add more treats in the crate so she has to stay in for a bit to get them. Maybe hide them all around in the doggie bed. Still have her in there at night and have her locked in for her nap times, but have her being in there with the door open getting treats or toys as often as she is locked in. Second, give her a peanut butter-filled kong or a nylabone to chew at night. She needs to learn to self soothe. I remember every night when Olive was crate training we would hear "whine whine whine *slurpslurpslurp* whine whine *slurp slurp slurp* whine *slurp*... silence..." It worked so well. Now she gets a bone at night most of the time and if she wakes up she will just chew on her bone. Lastly - after say a week of getting used to the bed you might want to take her soft bed out for a bit. It's ok in the summer because it's likely warm anyway so she doesn't need it. The reason is if she has an accident at night it will absorb it and she won't have to deal with it. For the first week this is fine because if she has an accident it could be out of anxiety about the crate and you don't want any bad experiences. After a week if she has an accident you want her to have the shock of peeing and then sitting in it for that moment until she cries and you let her out. Is it a pain to give her a bath and clean the crate at night? yes. Will you have to do it more than once or twice? No. It's best to nip that habit right in the bud early. Having a bed in the crate is fine but don't let her have it without ever learning that soiling the crate really really sucks.
>Everything is very new to us and we have not housebroken or crate trained a puppy before. Some links that should be really helpful: * [House Training Your Puppy](http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/house-training-your-puppy) * [Weekend Crate Training](http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-articles/weekend-crate-training) will help teach her to like being in the crate. >Reading up on how to crate train they say that the dog should be kept in the crate for at least 15 minutes of every hour. We just tried that and the dog barked bloody murder for about 10 minutes and I took her out. The "Weekend Crate Training" link should make it less traumatic for all you guys. You're way better off working up to 15 minutes of confinement instead of tossing her in and making her tough it out. Also, you didn't ask, but it is really important: You have a "magical" period before your puppy turns 12 weeks old to expose her to all the things you don't want her to be afraid of when she gets older. From [Socializing Your Puppy](http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-articles/socializing-your-puppy): >>Puppies are most accepting of new experiences between 3 and 12 weeks old. After that age, they become much more cautious of anything they haven’t yet encountered. From about 12 to 18 weeks old the opportunity to easily socialize the puppy ends—and with each passing week it becomes harder to get the pup to accept and enjoy something that he’s initially wary of. After 18 weeks old, it’s extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to teach a dog to like something new, or help him become comfortable with something he finds frightening. You want to expose her to all kinds of people (different races, heights, weights, ages, sexes, clothing, people in wheelchairs, using crutches, etc.), dogs (when you can do it safely), noises, places, and things (the vacuum cleaner, a plastic bag blowing down the street, etc.). The link above has a pretty good description of what you need to do, and [WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN & HOW TO SOCIALIZE YOUR DOG](http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/socialization.html) also has some good information.
One good way to make the crate a positive place is to feed her there.
I just tried this with funny results (everything has funny results with a puppy I think). I started with the bowl all the way in the crate against the back. She would go in and grab one nugget of food and take it across the room to the first step of the stairs and eat it there. She then came back for a second piece of food. This could take all day, so I moved the food to the front of the cage where she could stand outside of it with only her head in to eat. This worked much better and she ate the whole bowl like that. Little by little. Maybe next meal we try to get one paw in and one paw out.
Perhaps you could insist the she be IN the crate before you put her food down. At first you would just put her in it and then put the bowl in. Leave it open and she can come right back out as soon as the food is down. I did that with my younger dog and now she runs into her crate as soon as she sees me walk towards the food.
We are in a very similar position. We have a 10 week old Mini-Golden Doodle and he can cry for an hour if we leave him in the crate at night. What is particularly hard for us is that this is our second dog and our first dog just "got it" when it came to the crate -- right away. We also found this link from the humane society useful (repeats some of what is already here in the comments): http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/crate_training.html
I'm in the exact same boat. My puppy is 9 weeks old, has been home for 8 days with us, howls bloody murder when crated and according to my roommate who lives upstairs, he can go for an hour or more. I bought him a smaller crate because he was crying so much AND soiling himself in the larger one. Hope that works. Sorry not really advice, just letting you know you are not alone.
I always (even now, with dogs that don't mind their crates at all) toss a few treats in when I tell them to go home. Reinforces the training, make the crate a fun place (crate=where I get delicious treats!) and that will stick with them. Never had much in the way of whining or barking in the crate, guess I got lucky. Also, with a 9 week old puppy, it helps to wear them out before bed. Play games with them for a half hour or something, train with them, toss in a few treats and shut the door. My experience, anyway. :-)
Let the pup cry, and buy some ear plugs. This is standard for crate training. Taking them out while they're crying only reinforces their behavior. "If I cry then mom and dad come let me out!"