BAD night in the crate

[Darcy & Millie]

It will be 2 weeks on Friday that we've had Millie.  She's slept in her crate every night, and has done remarkably well.  Normally she's awake for awhile and then we put her in there and she winds down very quickly and is fine.   Last night she was sleeping OUTSIDE the crate (behind a chair), and DH woke her up, took her outside, and then put her in the crate for bed.  Wow.  She whined and carried on for over 2 hours!  It was horrible :(  I came out once and took her outside (she went), and put her back.  No luck.  I then came out again, and tried turning lights on dimly for her.  Nothing would work.  Finally after 2 hours (she was barking and panting by now), I decided to lay outside of her crate.  I ended up opening it, and she came out a couple feet and chewed on her bully stick.  I took her out again, and then put her in there, and finally finally she calmed down with me petting her through the wire.  But, it wasn't easy, she kept standing and plopping down trying to get comfortable.  She really had herself worked up. I slept on the floor there for a couple hours.

Any clue why she would do this?  She's been soooo good :(  We have been letting her sleep here and there in different areas of the house during the day lately.  Before, she was sleeping only in the crate.  I think we better go back to only sleeping in the crate?  I felt so bad for her, and what a nightmare for us too.  My DH had to leave for work at 3:00 in the morning, and got to sleep way too late cuz of her.

Suggestions or ideas???  Thank you!

p.s.  She woke up once in the night, I let her out, and put her back in the crate.  She did whine a bit longer than usual (maybe 10 minutes), but went back to sleep on her own luckily.

[Dynamite & Doodle]

Is she in a large crate with a divider? I wonder if it's time to make it a notch larger for her?

We've had our puppy for almost 2 weeks, will be on Saturday. His legs have gotten longer since we got him, which makes me wonder if your puppy needs more space now. Sometimes we move him into his crate when he is sleeping and sometimes we don't. He seems fine either way, but at night he is definitely in his crate. Our guy likes to wake up really early for the day *yawn* Today it was 5:45...  He whined a tiny bit at 5:00 and I took him out to pee and then put him back in. He whined a few minutes adn went back to sleep but not for long enough. He napped a lot during the day yesterday, hopefully he will even out soon. I would like to sleep until 6:30 at least...one day.

[Darcy & Millie]

Thanks for your thoughts!  She's in a large crate with a divider.  She does have normal room in there.  I am going to start giving her treats more often in there though so she likes it more perhaps.  She never goes in there on her own.  We do it like you do.  Sometimes I let her sleep where she is, sometimes I put her in the crate.  Yesterday during the day she carried on and whined a couple different times pretty bad, but I ignored her.  Come bedtime last night, she was a saint!  Thank goodness, she went in there just fine.  I filled up her kong and gave her a bully stick.  I'm hoping it was just a fluke the other night!

[Claire Scruggs]

Does Millie have a snuglle puppy? I don't recall if she did. I don't know if that helps but my puppy is coming home on Friday and so I have been very interested in how your Millie has been doing!

[Darcy & Millie]

Yes, she has a snuggle puppy. Unfortunately, I don't think it does much for her. She rests her head on it here and there, but I think it's just cuz she ended up there...LOL...

[Brianna and Rhubarb]

Rhubarb is like Millie - she has never voluntarily gone into her crate. We have been feeding her all of her meals in the crate, and offering her favorite treats (duck feet ... ewwww) only in the crate, which seems to help. Blowing a small fan onto her has also been really helpful, as we discovered that she's often hot (she likes to lie on the vents blowing cool air in the house).

It can be exhausting, and no two nights are the same. Keep up with the consistent message to Millie - she'll get it!

[♡ Muffin ♡]

Maybe she isn't ready to be outside the crate yet. Just go back to the old routine of letting her sleep in the crate. She might be crying because she enjoys sleeping outside the crate and doesn't want to go back. When my puppy used to cry in the crate I would wait a bit until she pauses to give her attention or I would say, "No!" and stare her down until she puts her head down and goes to the back of the crate. I hope this helps.