Help! Vomited in Crate while Crate Training!

[Danni & Jedi]

I'm posting this at 3am.. 

It's Jedi's 2nd night, and we put him in his crate at about 10pm. His crate is directly next to our bed, but he can't really see us because the bed is high. He can hear and smell us though. He cried a lot, but seemed to calm and we went to bed. After a few hours, he began crying and whining again a little after 1am. We ignored and dozed for about 50 min. When he was still whining and seemed restless, we took him outside to pee. He went potty on his spot (he seems to get that pretty well). When I brought him back in around 2, I put him in his crate and sat with him with the door open. (This is what we were doing to soothe him into getting in and remaining calm while inside. Worked before - he lets us close the door and everything.) I noticed the vomit stain on the towel then. It was just a little bit, crusted on the towel so I couldn't tell when he had thrown up (also I am just realizing that he probably ate it off). It smelled like kibble. I wasn't alarmed by this at first...

After we changed the towel and I closed the kennel door, he started whining and crying again. He really worked himself up, but we ignored and turned off the lights. A few minutes into this, he barfed again (a lot - runny half digested kibble) and immediately began to lick it up (he probably did this before which is why there was just a stain before). We were both alarmed. When I picked him up from the crate he was still gagging lightly. We cleaned that up, and did our best not to freak, but Jedi didn't seem sick or in discomfort. He calmed down immediately outside of the crate and with us in sight.

As of right now we've given up on the crate for tonight, but he is in his exercise pen in the living room which he likes. He played a bit with his toys and then stretched out on his fat little belly and relaxed immediately. He seems to love the cool floor. We turned out the lights and my husband is sleeping on the couch tonight to keep watch. It is completely quiet now.

What the hell is going on? Could Jedi be sick? Can a pup cry so hard he vomits? Here are the facts:

• His last meal and water was at 7pm he went potty twice before we moved him to his crate. Note: we had to wake him in his ex pen to bring him to his crate. I don't think he liked that. He cried for a long time after we closed the door and left him, even though I was on the bed and sat on the edge so he could see me but ignored him. 
• Poop is solid, pee is normal.
• He is currently on Purina Puppy Chow <-- NOT MY FAULT, it's what the breeder was feeding and we're planning on changing in a little while once he settles in. 
• He's 7 weeks and only has one round of shots, so he has only been allowed to play in the backyard or his pen. He is carried everywhere else and not allowed to explore the house. He could have maybe eaten a few pieces of grass today though.
• He has a little clear discharge coming from eyes and making teeny crispies. I think it's an allergy, not sure to what yet, he doesn't seem that bothered by it, eyes are clear. 
• Last night he impressed the hell out of us by settling down in his crate nicely and sleeping for 6 and a half hours!!! We have high hopes that we can still successfully crate train, but how do we start again?
• He has never gone potty in his crate. He's had a couple of pee accidents in his pen, but that's because we waited too long to bring him out. 

All of this is to say, help! How do we recover from this with the crate? We have not used any treats because I'm not sure how to implement but I did prep some boiled chicken breasts. Planning on calling the vet tomorrow with my issues but would love the help of the DK family!! 

[Brittney & Cally]

Try posting this in the health group as well!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I'll talk to the crate part, but agree with you on calling the vet just to double check everything else on the upset tummy part.   What I did with AnnaBelle is raised her crate up on a couple of chairs so that it was at the same height as my bed.  That way I could lay in bed and just reach over and put my fingers in the crate and soothe her when she awoke in the night.  My rule of thumb was if she whined I reached over and shhhhhh'd her quietly and just rub her for a few seconds.  If she continued to whine then I got up and took her outside.  Tried to keep that as dark and calm of a trip as possible so as not to get her excited.  I would say there probably weren't more than maybe 3 or 4 nights that I had to get up to take her out.  Normally she would just quiet back down.  Make sure you don't have too many towels or blankets in the crate as they get too warm.  I always gave AnnaBelle just a few pieces (like 4 or 5) of kibble at night when she got in her crate.  I tell you that was like the most exciting part of her day.  She would get in there and just turn around a sit and look at me like "ok lady, where's my kibbles".    We also had a snuggle puppy which AnnaBelle loved as well.  Hopefully everything is ok at the Vet.  Stick with the crate training because it really is important in keeping them safe through the puppy phase.

[Danni & Jedi]

We'll definitely stick with the crate training, and I'll talk to my hubby about rigging up something to lift up the crate. I love that idea. Re: getting too warm and the snuggle puppy, Jedi has one, and he seems to like it. I did, however, last night put the heat pack in for the first time, and that along with the 1 towel that I had folded in there might have been too warm. What do you think? 

I will also try the kibbles in the crate, although I'm not sure he likes his food. I tried to use a kibble treat before and he looked at me like "child, please." 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I only used one heat pack with AnnaBelle.  Once it was gone I didn't replace it for that very reason.  I did use the heartbeat though.  I noticed if I put a pillow or anything in her crate she would be sleeping underneath it so that she was on the plastic rather than the pillow.  Hopefully just raising him up so he can see you and feel more secure will help.   

[Danni & Jedi]

I think I can safely say we're done with heat packs :) Thanks again! 

[Judi Kilpatrick]

My pups are notorious for picking up grass or anything else they can get in their mouth when they go out and sometimes I can't pry it out before they swallow it. Several times they have thrown up a bit then were just fine, I had talked to my vet about it and he kind of laughed and said not to worry, everything was fine and puppies stomachs are pretty much designed to handle it that's why they throw it up, as long as there isn't continuous vomiting Jedi is probably just being a normal puppy but checking with your vet if it continues would be wise. Good luck!

[Emily, Jace, & Maggie Devers]

If his stools are fine and his personality is okay then I wouldn't worry. Maggie and jace both threw up countless times. I mentioned to my vet once and he pretty much told me that dogs just throw up. It's normal. But if Jedi continues to throw up this week then I would be a little concerned. He most likely ate something that didn't agree with him or got to worked up. One time jace hadn't seen us in a couple of days while he stayed at my parents house and when we got back he just puked out of excitement.

[Danni & Jedi]

Thanks for the replies, and for the support. In the light of day it doesn't seem so bad. He is still himself, though he barely ate a handful of kibble this morning.

I called the vet's office, and they were pretty blase, told us to monitor his stool, look for lethargy, otherwise, hold questions for the visit we have scheduled for wed. We've got it narrowed down to: 

- overexcitement/anxiety about a new place

- upset stomach (grass, ??) 

The vet mentioned that he may not like the kibble, and since it's horrible Purina, that just made me think my dog has excellent taste! Not sure what food we'll move him too though. Advice appreciated. I'll continue to update the thread if anything comes of this. 

[Gail and Bailey]

Visit the Food Group for the list of recommended foods.  We love Acana Wild Prairie!  Jedi is adorable!

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

First of all I have to say what a caring mamma you are.  Secondly, don't worry but do be prepared to get up in the night for a while.  He'll probably have to go pee in the middle of the night until he's older.  This varies from dog to dog but I had to get up with Yarrow to go out to pee for at least couple of weeks.  She was also thirsty in the middle of the night so I would let her have just a couple of tablespoons of water and she'd go right back to sleep.  My logic was that I'd rather lose a few minutes of sleep than let her have an accident in her bedding. 

Love your sweet profile picture, and the name Jedi.

Oh, and Yarrow was also on a dreadful food when we got her from the breeder.  And she was showing signs of allergies, scratching at her ears, red eyes.  Those symptoms went away when we finally got her settled on a food that she like and that agreed with her.  We went through about half a dozen 5 star brands before finding the right one for Yarrow.  Every puppy is different but Yarrow is on Petcurean Now Fresh Large Breed Puppy food.  It's grain free but not so high protein as to give her the runs.

[Danni & Jedi]

Thanks so much for your compliments on Jedi, and on being a caring mom. He won my heart at first sight. If you think I'm bad, my hubby is worse. He was so scared when Jedi was throwing up! 

Also thanks for the food recommendations. Jedi has a slight discharge from his eyes and seems a tiny bit itchy and I (hope) think that food may be responsible (otherwise, he has an outdoor allergy, just like me and I would hate to see him suffer even though I am willing to share all the delicious lifetime supply of generic zyrtec I can buy at Costco!). I will post on the food forum to start narrowing down what to feed him. I am sure the grain content is far too high, and the "meat" is 100% by product for puppy chow and I know we can do better. 

[Christy&Riley]

I can answer on crying so hard they vomit. We put Riley in a crate on the way home from the breeder. She got so worked up screaming that she peed and puked twice in the crate before we got home. She came out smiling but needed a bath! The first few nights Riley slept in her pen and not the crate. Then we started putting the crate in the pen with the door open. Then we put her in the pen to settle down and gradually put her in the crate door closed. Soon she out grew the crate and the new one wouldn't fit in the pen so the pen was put away. He probably just needs some time to adjust. Good luck!