Lilly's first night

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

Lilly did not read the books on crate training.  I thought I was the expert on drate training a dog since I read so many articles/ books/ talked to others and well I crapped out. We put her in her crate in the spare room with me. I put her blanket, the heart beating thing and a toy..just like the book said and put her in and shut the door. Sweet mary, Jesus and Joesph..you would have thoguht she was 13 and I told her she could not go tothe mall with her friends..Such carrying on! There was no way that I could talk to her since she was so vocal. I lasted 3 minutes of her howling and crying and then pulled the mattress off the bed and dragged it into the kitchen and put it on the floor. I put her blanket on the floor and put the puppy gate up so so wouldn't go exploring inthe middle of the night. No need to worry about that one since she slept with me all night and was just fine. How could I let that baby cry all night. We took her away from her home and family and then put her in a cage..I flunked. She woke at 3, whimpered, I took her outside and she peed. This morning she went pee and poop, ate a little bit, drank water and then ran around and played with her toys. We don't watch TV anymore..we watch Lilly. She is now sleeping on a towel (she perfers that over the two blankets that I bought) at my feet. I love her...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We have one dog that was a crate training failure and Ned with whom we were successful.  I suspect that unless she has anxiety problems, you will be able to successfully crate train her though if you want to.  It just might take some work.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

I'll just add my "hang in there" to the advice of the others.  We, too, had a couple of sleepless nights before Sedona settled in to the routine, but we're so glad we didn't give in.  We all sleep better with her in her crate.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

I let both of my doodles sleep on the bed at night from the day they came home.  I also trained them to the crate, so I could leave the house and have a time out from the vigilance.  At least I didn't have to sleep on the floor!!  Beware though, the more doodles you get the bigger the bed has to be!  Now that they are grown, one or both of them sleep in places other than my bed.  It gets too hot for them.

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

when is her mother going to come and pick her up? just kidding. I tried to put her in her crate this morning and left her there for about 20 minutes. .the tornado horn behind us has nothin' on this girl..how can something so small and cute be so horribly loud. I put a puppy kong with peanut butter in her crate and put her in it with the door open.. she just whipped in and grabbed it and whipped out..she may not be able to whip her hair back and forth like willow but she can whip that kong back and forth and the peanutbutter is keeping her busy..hope it doesn't gothrough her that fast..it ws just a little on the inside. I am putting treats through out her toys, bed, playpen and crate..she has found about half of them.. tonight I will keep her in the bedroom in the crate and I will sleep on the floor next to her.. so far she has me trained to let her out every 45 minutes..

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I second what Laurie said about putting the fingers through the crate - but only when she is quiet.  You may want to say something like "go to sleep" also when she quiets down, so she associates quiet time with being in the crate and the "go to sleep" command. 

 

We did take Luna out once in the middle of the night for about a week when we got her, but she was with us earlier than most pups (7 weeks).  Her mother had stopped feeding the pups a while back because it was a litter of ten. Too many babies!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Mimi, Fudge did great from day one in the crate at night. I kept it right by my side of the bed and would just reach over and stick my fingers in the crate if she got restless. I put tons of blankets, etc. in with her and her snuggle puppy and then quickly determined she was way too hot and preferred to have no blankets. I figured it out when she kept waking up panting....some say I am a genius..LOL!! I did cheat, though, and when she got up around 4 am, I would take her out and bring her back in bed with us. She slept and I slept.The breeder had been working on crate training with her before we brought her home.

Vern, on the other hand, left his mother the day I got him, and I let him sleep with us on the first night. Fudge, Vern, my DH, and I all in one bed the first night. After that, I did the same crate routine as Fudge. He, too, got very hot and I ended up only crating him for about 2 weeks and then I just shut my bedroom door at night. Neither of my dogs had ONE accident at night.

Now, they both sleep uncrated on the cold, hard floor of the foyer or Vern will sleep in his crate. They like it cold. You did fine, but if you want a dog to sleep in the crate, start right now. I do think it helps with the potty training. She may never learn to love her crate, but she should be able to settle down in it and I would not remove her if she is carrying on. She will learn quickly this means you take her out of it and there will be times you have to leave her home alone. Just my two cents and I wish you good luck and good sleep :)

 

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

tire Lilly out so she is totally exhausted, then put her in the crate while you sit beside it. only look at her when she is quiet. Every time she cries, look away, dont thouch her. Do this during the day for her naps too.

 

I remember Coopers first few nights, we temporarily had the crate next to the bed (my side of course) and I left the bedside lamp on all night so I could see. The first hour or two I was sat on the floor, shh shhhing Cooper when she cried. DH slept through it all!

[Dori & Rua]

Mimi...let's get this straight, I will NOT be sleeping on my kitchen floor, even if it is on a mattress.  Miss Lilly needs to get used to her crate...fast!  LOL  Rua's first night home, she zonked out sleeping on me.  We put her in her crate, she wimpered just a bit and fell asleep.  At 2AM, I woke up to thunder and lightening and got up to potty.  Figured I would take Rua out...there was thunder, lightening and it just started raining big huge plops of rain, but she didn't care.  Put her back in her crate and I climbed back into bed.  She then started crying, and I too, felt so bad that I had separated her from her puppy momma.  I pulled the thick comforter off the bed, put it near her crate and laid down on it with my fingers in the crate.  She calmed down and went back to sleep.  I then got up and climbed back into bed.  That was it.  Never had a problem after that.

 

I started off with towels in the bottom of her crate...easy to wash and I wasn't sure if she was going to be a chewer. 

 

So glad, at least, that once you got her settled, she slept.  Did you get any sleep, though?

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Oh I'm laughing here, Lily sounds great but I would definitely keep working at the crate training.  Feed her in it during the day. Put her toys in it and when she even goes near the door or inside click and treat, build it up to closing the door for a few seconds and opening it again.  Put her in it when you are nearby with a toy or a stuffed Kong.  At night put it beside your bed and if necessary put your fingers through the bars to reassure her but don't let her out if she's crying.  Only when she is quiet.  We had about three sleepless first nights with Riley and now it's wonderful.  He loves his crate and actually chooses to go in during the day.  It makes life so much easier and safer.  Puppies do sound like howling banshees when they get going!  Good luck.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Welcome to puppyhood!!!!  Glad that both finally got some sleep and she sounds like a good girl with the going potty.  Watching for photos!