Training my golden doodle. I'm having a problem crate training my golden doodle. She will be 10 week old tomorrow. I need some help

[Eileen Hinchliffe]

Do you have any suggestions as to crate training my little sweetheart. She doesn't like the crate and when she cries at night my heart is sad. Please help!!!

[Adina P]

how long have you had your puppy? Where do you keep the crate?

Many puppies cry in the crate at first...that is normal. But you MUST ignore the crying or else she will TRAIN YOU!
You can keep the crate in your bedroom at night so she feels you close to you. She will be just fine, you simply have to give it time.

How often is she in the crate? WHat is your normal crating routine?

[Mallory]

My goldendoodle absolutely loves her crate. It is all about how you have introduced her to the crate. I read a few articles about crate training before I brought her home because she is in a crate every day.
#1 You cannot put her in the crate. It has to be her idea to go in there.
-start with a treat training session (training treats are small and are meant to be given in mass quantities)
-put a treat in her cage make her eat it and come out...repeat...repeat
-then put the treat in the cage close the door for ten seconds and let her come out...repeat....repeat...repeat
-then make it longer and longer that you keep her in...
-then move away from the cage
-then move a little further away
-then move out of sight
#2 What Adina said about the crate in your room is a good idea if you are gone most of the day it is a way for her to feel like she is more of a part of your life.

#3 Make sure until she is house broken you only give her the amount of room she needs in the crate in order to fit. You don't want to come home to a mess in the crate!

#4 My doodle was very easy to house break I would say after 3 weeks accidents stopped. Bell training works very well! They are smart dogs! Enjoy!

[Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran]

One thing I noticed with Casey is that he HATES being hot. The first crate I had was one of the hard-sided crates with slots for air movement. I guessed that the whining the first night was because he was hot (and not because he was a Drama Queen, as my husband insisted.) I moved him to a wire crate the next night, and he was fine.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Actually, I have a problem with crates also and do not like them in my house. For my last two puppies, I got a baby playpen for them to use in the house. The first one had a vibrator built in and it was great. When I put the puppy in his crate at night, I turned on the vibrator and he had his blankee with his mother's scent on it. He cuddled up with his blankee and went right to sleep. As soon as I got up in the morning, I took him outside and placed him on the location in the dog run where I wanted him to pee and he would immediately. He never was allowed to run around inside the house but was free outside for several hours each day. He would eat and sleep in his playpen and take several naps a day. The second dog would jump out of his playpen so we had to put bungy cords over a piece of plywood on the top of his playpen at night. After about a month in the playpen, they were house trained and started sleeping in our room at night. We kept crates in the car for travel (and to keep puppies from chewing up things in the car) until they outgrew the crates. Groucho TOo is a hot dog and likes to sleep on the cool tiles in the bathroom now. And as Adina says, ignore the crying with puppies or they will train you. Same as for human children - check to see they are okay, give a kiss and a snuggle, and go back to bed. Worth a try.

[Jessica]

Oh Ann, for all your fantastic tips - the first time Finny 'whinnied' we took him out. He's been snuggled up on the bed ever since (whoops!)

[2fbh0gfp1tgnd]

This may be contraversial, but I had NO CHOICE! When we first got Murphy he screamed the ENTIRE night in the kennel and nobody was getting sleep and it was stressing the puppy and Rosco our 2 year old Labradoodle. The screaming went on for 3 nights in a row and wasn't getting better. We tried covering the front and sides of the crate, putting something in that smelled like Rosco and us... nothing worked. So we decided to give him some benedryl, 1 pill (we looked up the dosage/lb) an hour before he went to bed.. worked like a CHARM! We did this for about 4 days til he got used to sleeping in there and we have had NO trouble since! Good luck because I know how stressfull it can be!

[Tricia Campbell]

Well, I understand what you are going through we now have our second dood Riley for a week now, the first 4 nights he cried & barked all night long. There are many good suggestions here, I wished I had asked. I am going to try some of them. I had originally put Riley's cage next to Duffy's but that didn't seem to help, on the 4th night he was sent to the finished basement but we still heard him. I might be doomed because after 4 nights of no sleep I welcomed him into my bed which I have to say has made him quite happy, down side Huppy not as happy & wants to know when he is leaving.
Duffy on the other hand cried at first but after awhile he went to sleep & that only lasted a week or so. I thought the same would happen with Riley but it didn't turn out as well.

[Tamara & Giada]

Sometimes light music, or white noise like a fan can help sooth them. also put a light weight sheet over the crate this helps them feel secure.

[Tamara & Giada]

Oh also, I used the dishwasher......both my puppies loved the noise of the dishwasher!!!

[Karen & Lucy]

Here is my experience. The first night we had Lucy I put her in her crate in the dining room by the front door. She whined all night with some barking. The next day we took her to our camp and that night put her in her crate in the doorway of our bedroom. She slept much better, woke up about 3am, took her outside to pee and she then slept the rest of the night. The next day we were home again, so I put her crate right beside my side of the bed and put my hand down on the top of the crate. She has slept all night long ever since. Never a peep. Has never had an accident in the house. She will be 3 in April and she will sleep as long as we sleep! It is great. Please be patient. Make it fun for your GD to be in the crate, give her a treat when you put her in there at night and through the day leave the door of the crate open with toys and treats in there. Lucy loves her crate, even though now, at times I put her in there for a time out when she gets too rambunctious. Good luck and let us know how it goes. She is just a baby!

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

I personally don't believe in the crate........Blake spent one night in it was miserable and I chucked it the next day....He had one accident in the house..EVER...I told him "NO" put him outside and he got it right away....Ok..he was six months old when I got him but regardless....If they don't take to it..don't force it....Gate off your kitchen with the new swinging vertical gates......put a comfy dog bed in there and something soft with your scent on it like a piece of old clothing or an old blanket.....They eventually understand that the whole kitchen is their bed and they will naturally not soil it.....Little by little you give them access to more of the house

[2mio6slenmu5g]

These are really good suggestions. I have tried many of them also. Dogs are a den animal originally, so they generally prefer a small cozy crate. Even my big dogs still try going in little crates every now and then... they end up kind of stuck often!

We make sure the puppy has run and run around before putting them in the crate. We've done the letting them cry and also have had 7 crates stacked by both sides of the bed. And both ways work. Sometimes you just come across a real resistent puppy. That puppy we spend more time in the day, with the puppy in the crate, carrying it around from room to room, taking it in the car, whatever our activities are that day. Not their entire day, but 10 minutes here and there. For those dogs, it just takes more patience.

When theyre by our bed, we don't talk to them when they make noise, because that is like positive reinforcement. I have slept many a night with my fingers dangling in the wire door. A loud thump on the top is more likely to stop the noise, than talking. I reassure them as I put them in and when I take them out.

Good luck!