Ferberize my puppy?

[Pattty Oehrlein]

Quincy (11 weeks) has been home with us for about 2 weeks now. Shes sweet, very very good with going outside on cue, sleeps in her upstairs crate overnight with one break when I take her out at about 3:30am. However, I cannot get her to do the crate during day without barking and crying.

I try and put her in for few hours a day to get her ready for when I need to leave her alone for a few hours ( I work pt outside the house) - I have arranged for a pet sitter to come in for two hours when Im at work, but she will still be alone for two hours in her crate. Today I put her in and went for a walk around the block and then sat outside to listen, and she is still barking. The minute she sees me she calms down a bit, but still whines. I stay in the room with her in the crate and load it up with all sorts of fun chewy tasty treats but she still wants nothing to do with the crate during the day.

Is this like ferberizing a baby?- do you just bite the bullet and eventually she will stop barking? She is such a sweet puppy, and it kills me to see her so worked up and panting loudly.

Any suggestions- I need to go out on Friday and the pet sitter will be in but I feel horrible to leave her alone for the two hours.

thanks!!!

[Dos Doodles--Sam & Luke]

She's adorable!  I would feel bad, too, if my puppy was in distress like that!  I will be interested to see what others who have more experience will have to say about this.  Here are my two cents, anyway!

The two things I can think of are 1) to make sure to give her all her meals in her crate, so that it's for sure a really great place to  be; and 2) to make sure that she is all played out and really, really tired before you try to put her in there.  By the time she's to be put inside, I would think she should already be ready to drop out for her nap.

Just some initial thoughts...hope things improve for you soon.  She's such a pretty pup!

[Pattty Oehrlein]

thanks- yes right now we do give her food and snacks in her crate- she goes on and out of her downstairs crate all day- prefers napping just outside it on the floor- the minute I close the front she starts barking. If I sit next to it she will quiet down. I am trying a to do it all day long in prep but it doesn't seem to get better.

Yesterday I put the treats in the crate and closed the door with her outside and she clawed at the door to get in.

Funny is she goes in at night no problem, no sounds- sleeps like a baby. In fact I have to wake her up in the morning.

[Amy Lounsbury]

Awww what a beauty she is!  What worked for us was something my husband came up with.  He put a blanket over the crate to make it more cave-like and Sammy absolutely loves it.  Not a peep out of him now whenever we put him there, and we don't even have to cover it anymore.  It reminded me of a parakeet cage being covered so they sleep LOL.  Good luck!

[Pattty Oehrlein]

thanks! put the blanket on the crate today- fingers crossed it works- Im going to go out for a run and hope she can have some quiet time for an hour. Your dogs picture is adorable- she looks like she is posing. cute!

[Amy Lounsbury]

Hope it works for you!  And thanks, Sammy is our little ham for the camera : )   We are missing our little guy right now,  he gets neutered early tomorrow morning so we had to drop him at the vet a little while ago : (  Too quiet in the house!!

[Pattty Oehrlein]

hope all went well- we do the deed next month. :) shhhh we are keeping it a secret here. LOL

[Bella]

What a gorgeous puppy. I agree with the other posts. We have the back entranceway that houses her crate and opens into the kitchen, we close it off with a baby gate. When we are gone during the day (Bella is 17 weeks now) we will leave her with her toys, water and Kong in that slightly larger space and she is fine. We do crate her at night though. She did bark for about 15 minutes at a time initially (at 11 weeks when we got her-I stupidly slept on the floor near her for a night which DID NOT Help). When she realized we weren't coming she settled down and went to sleep, now there is no problem, she gets a treat when we tell her to kennel up at night and is out like a light.

We also have a radio playing all the time so there is some sound. Beyond that, as hard as it is I would let her bark.

[Pattty Oehrlein]

Thanks -yes we do have a gated area near my office where I allow her some free roam during the day I could move her crate there- my fear is she would then mess on the floor currently we are almost 1 week with no accidents- I am over the moon with my little girl she is so good in every way except this separation issue-I I also stayed with her the entire first night because she puked all night- ( we had vet check her and found out it was just nerves) I leave my Roku Pandora station on for her- she prefers country music! LOL

I guess its similar to leaving a kid at school for the first day- most likely more about my distress than hers.

[Amy]

Perhaps you should try feeding her meals in the crate, and leave the door open when she does not have to be in it. Try putting a few of her favorite toys or some treats in it when you are home.  If she goes in on her own, praise her "good crate".

Try putting on some classical music on for her it may soothe her.

Also, is the crate near a window or anything?  If so you may want to try a crate cover or blanket or perhaps a different location.  It will gets easier.....

 

[Pattty Oehrlein]

THANK YOU so much everyone! - I used a combo of all the good suggestions and went out twice for a couple hours today with no problem. I think the blanket and the music def make a big difference. The breeder suggested to put a piece of clothing in that you have worn so she has your scent on it. Not sure what I will do with my new found freedom or what my excuse not to get to the gym will be this week, :-) ... but I'm glad my puppy is not so distressed. DK is such a great resource for new dog owners- I really appreciate all the posts.

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

At 8 months Lilly still hates her crate. She cries when we leave her but when we come home she is quiet. Hang in there.. She is darling

[Pattty Oehrlein]

Quincy likes the crate, she just hates being alone. Yesterday the pet-sitter came and said she was quiet when she arrived and then went right into her crate when she left, without a peep. So the problem is ME, she is very attached but the feeling is mutual- so I guess we will find a work around. :)

Good luck with Lilly I really found that the toys filled with treats work- in the beginning I would put them in and close the crate with her on the outside and she would try to get in to get to them. That seemed to work getting her interested in the crate. Now she goes in and out all day.