New puppy hates the crate!!!!

[Eva]

Got the new puppy this morning.  Tested the crate a few times through out the day and it's been a nightmare!  Now it's been the longest test, 45 min in the crate in the bedroom where he can see me and he's been barking non-stop the entire time and very loudly too!!!  I have a nice fluffy teddy bear in there but he just wants out of the crate.  What do I do???!!!!  Do I let him sleep with me the first night?  I don't want to since he's only 8 wks old.  I don't think I can take much more of this barking though :(

[Chelsea and Bailey]

Agreed! Never take them out of the crate!! And that is from experience of doing so the first time around.  My DH thought she needed comforting too but that completely screwed everything up and we had to restart the whole crate training process 10 days later.... and I was home with Bailey all day for the first 4 weeks she came home with us.. You just have to put up with it. Sometimes she would cry 5 minutes, sometimes 10 minutes and honestly sometimes 1 hr 30.. we never brought her crate to the bedroom, for 1 her crate is huge and would take up the bed (we sectioned it off inside) and 2 we felt she needed to get used to comforting herself as we both have FT jobs and wont be home with her everyday.  So heres what we did:

 

Crate in front room.  3 sides covered by blanket- the first couple days at night time we covered all 4 sides to make it really enclosed and comfortable- she NEVER made a peep at night!

 

If she was whining and started hysterically barking we would very sternly and assertively walk up to the crate and yell a firm NO, and walk away.... and you can only do that once each time they are in the crate.. that worked for about 2-5 minutes and then we would take her out.

 

If she stopped listening to the NO- we did a swift kick to the side of the crate and said NO. and she would stop usually for the full time.

 

This was also a steady process- Bailey would not go into her crate ever for naps, so we would give all treats in there, and we eventually moved to feeding her in the crate for about 2-3 weeks until she got really comfortable.

 

Just dont give up. it feels like forever at the beginning but in the scheme of things 5 weeks is not to bad compared to their whole life :)  Keep us posted!

[Dreamydoodles Northwest]

I was at my wits end with this GD puppy of mine Gracie, who acted like she was being literally tortured in her crate she would try to dig her way out.. all the while screaming at the top of her lungs. I tried everything.. giving her treats (she would not take them) putting blankets over it, telling her no, comforting her, stuffed animals, comfy beds..everything and then a breeder I know told me to cover the crate completely so she could not see me and then give the crate a .6 earthquake and don't say anything...well this sounded mean to me at first until...  I finally tried it and she stopped for a minute and then the second she started up again I would shake the crate hard for 1 second. Then she finally got it, if she cried the cage would shake, she did not know how or why but she knew it shaked and so she never barked in the crate again and she eventually learned to love her crate. Sounds a little strange I know but it did work for that puppy.

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

When I first brought Maddie home (8 wks) I put her crate in the spare room beside the bed. I placed a nice soft pillow inside and a t-shirt I had worn. 

I placed her in her crate and hopped in the bed beside her.  She began wimpering and whining so I took my pillow and blanket and layed on the floor and placed my hand through the bars so she could touch me.  She settled right down and once she fell asleep I climbed back in bed until she woke me up a few hours later.  I took her out for a pee and back upstairs to bed where I had to lay on the floor for a few minutes again. Back to bed I went until she woke me up at about 5am.

The second night I put her in her crate, hopped in bed and hung my arm over the side so my fingers poked into the crate and she settled down immediately and slept. I think she just needed to know I was right there beside her. After a couple nights I didn't have to put my hand in the crate - I would just talk to her and turn out the light. We slept in the spare room for a few nights and then I was able to move her crate into the master bedroom.

When we go out we put Maddie (now 13 months) in her crate in the laundry room and still to this day we do not take her out the minute we come home through the laundry room door. We bring in the groceries, go to the bathroom etc and then we take her out at least 5 minutes later. She never ever barks to get out of her crate because we never ever caved in and took her out if she did wimper or bark to get out. She loves her crate and goes in herself to be alone sometimes during the day. I have a couple of beach towels draped over it so it looks more like a den to her.

Good luck on whatever method you use and make sure puppy has had plenty of exercise and is good and tired at bedtime.

[Gayle Miller]

Catching up with some reading in anticipation of the arrival of a new puppy sometime this May.  Your comments seem right along with what I had in mind (spare bedroom, lying next to pup, etc). This might be a stupid question...but if your consistent with play and taking outside all day long, those first nights, do  you NOT take the pup out unless it starts crying?  Or were you consistent in breaking  your sleep and taking the pup out every couple of  hours to do his business regardless of whether he cried or not?

[Renee Bogi]

they cant hold it more than a few hour in the begining but if they are sleeping.  dont wake them.  they will tell you when they get up and need to go to the bathroom.  make sure to have a washable bed in the begining though.  no water after 7/8pm

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

Gayle - I would never ever wake puppy up at night - just let him/sleep and that way he'll sleep longer and longer each night and as his bladder grows.  He'll wake you up if he has to go and you'll get a few wonderful hours of sleep in a row. Enjoy your puppy - they grow up so fast.

[Melissa]

I would agree with Renee and Judi, but I also believe like with everything there are exceptions to the rule.  So I would say don't wake him up to take him out, but in our case we did not do that and Buddy would bark during the night, but he would bark after the fact and we always had a mess to clean up even running to get to the crate.  So for about a couple of weeks early on I did set an alarm for 3am to get him to go out.  He did and then he slept until the morning.  Once we got past that he was good.  I believe that helped him to learn that you don't go in the crate. (Yes we also had it small so he could only lay down and such, but he still went in there).  So I would say if he is barking before he has to go then don't wake him up.  You have to do what works best for the situation.  Good luck!

[Trina L Lavoie]

We tied Bruno on a small leash next to our bed and gave him his own bed to sleep in. Of course you need to make sure there is nothing he can get caught on in the middle of the night. This worked great for us. I just couldn't listen to the barking either especially with 2 little kids we want to sleep through the night too. He is 13 weeks now and has been off leash at night for about a week and a half. He comes in our room at night and last night was the first time he woke me up to go out at 3:30. He usually sleeps straight through. I have also heard that if you put a blanket over the crate that may help too. During the day we use the crate if I have to go out and he does bark a little but seems to calm down much easier than he did at night. Good luck whatever you choose!

[Melissa]

Another thing to try is a sheet over the crate to block things he might see.  We actually still do the sheet and Buddy is 14 months.  It let's him know it is time to sleep.  I think he has grown to love it. 

 

I agree with others, you must let him cry it out.  Just like a baby.  We had a lot of crying at first but then it did get better.  Be strong.

[Renee Bogi]

I ordered a snuggle puppy from snuggleme.com online.  it was a lifesaver.  it had a heartbeat and a warmer inside.  it put my 2 girls right to sleep.  plus they had a easy to wash mat and toys/treats in the crate.  i also had a large crate (with divider ) downstairs for the daytime and permant use but a smaller one which folds for my backseat and i kept next to the bed when she slept at night until she grew out of it.  they were not expensive from walmart for temporary use.  it was good to know that if she had an accident if the car it would not make a mess.  i took her out in the car all the time for various reasons and now loves the car.

[Gayle Miller]

Thanks Melissa!  This make sense....puppies are a lot of work!  I'm trying to gear myself up in remembering what it was like to have a newborn in the house!  Thankully, it doesn't last as long! 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I feel your pain completely. My puppy Sophie cries when she's in her crate during the day when she is feeling energetic, at night she sleeps because I tire her out a lot, and sometimes when she falls asleep on the floor I pick her up and put her in there and she's fine. But during the day when she is up and feeling lively she hates it. I feel awful but I have been putting her in there for short stints to get her used to it before I go back to work. It breaks my heart so much when she cries. I put stuff in like a puppy kong and lots of treats and toys but the only thing she does is cry. I've finally realized that I have to let her cry it out. She's been crying in there for 45 minutes now and has finally started to settle down. Don't despair, it will come... *I hope*