Sudden night time crate issues? Im boggled!

[RBG]

So, I think T has finally reached the testing phase.  She just turned 4 months old, and I am starting to see a bit more "independence" from her.  Some things can be a battle of wills, but we are moving right ahead. We start foundation obedience classes in a week and a half - classes are only every other week, but we don't have a lot of options where I live - so Im looking forward to that. She's my first puppy, and sometimes Im a bit overwhelmed, but all in all she's a great dog, and I know with a little guidance ( for me ) she's gonna be amazing.

 

Right now one of our biggest issues is her sudden aversion to her night time crate. Its confounding. She slept in her crate from day one like a champ. I took her out at night for regular potty trips that I determined, slowly extending the time in between until we were all sleeping through the night with minimal to no whining. Suddenly, she is not having it. For the last week, she has been crying after about 2 hours of sleeping in her crate. I take her out, she goes potty, then back in to sleep. Worked fine. But last night, she was whining and crying, and when I took her out, she didn't go, but instead chewed on leaves. So back in the crate she went, where she screamed for an hour. It got so bad I really thought something was wrong and committed the cardinal sin: I brought her into bed. Where she promptly passed out and slept until 8.  Now I don have a problem with her sleeping in bed, but I really want to be sure she is ok with being by herself. So until she can really get that, I don't want her sleeping in bed. Which is super tough, because I LOVE to cuddle her.

I was worried she wasn't getting enough exercise, so during the day I try to give her as much as I can, but she will not walk on a leash very well at all - an issue for another post! -  and we don't have a fenced in yard, so exercise is usually lots of fetch indoors, and meandering over the property.  I try to give her at least 40 min outside every day.  I also try to give her other stimulation with training and trips to town. 

Any advice? Should I go back to square one and get her on a nighttime potty schedule again? Move her to another room and let her cry it out?  Anything you guys can think of?  

 She's lucky she's so cute :) 

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Oh my that is one cute pup; I love the stare! Haha. It seems like maybe she has learned that crying gets her released from the crate? And of course, who wouldn't want to sleep in a bed! :-). If you're conflicted, she will pick up on your hesitancy so you will have to decide which way you want to go - teach her that crate is positive and she is only released when she is quiet, or just have her sleep in the bed. I could be wrong, but I don't think nighttime sleeping in your bed will affect how she reacts to her daytime crate. I wonder what others will say about that? I'd just make sure she doesn't associate the crate with you always leaving. They really pick up on your confidence vs. worry and make associations very quickly. Good luck with your pup, so so cute! :-)

[Tara Daukas]

Oh my I'm having the exact SAME THING. In an effort to help her "love" her crate I started a few days worth of "rosie, bed" training and would give her some rotisserie chicken every time she'd step foot in there. Which she loved. I also put her food and water in there. This was all last mon-weds. It seemed to help some as she would let me place her in there with less hesitancy at night. Still cry but not quite as frantic. However thursday night I awoke and found she pooped in crate :( That was a first. Then friday night she pooped every two hours throughout the night. Sat I did a bland diet and she did better, added kibble back in yesterday and last night pooping every two hours throughout the night. Just got home from vet- he put her on some antibiotics for colitis and a probotic. So not sure if it's related to the chicken mon-weds or not. Excited to see what people suggest here for your pup. I know from my end the crate is all my pup knows too! I haven't done anything else since we got her two months ago!  However one night when she was in the pooping every two hours I let her fall asleep on the floor by me while I slept on the couch and she was very happy with that haha. 

[Carol Fowler]

Oh, how timely! My Cazley turned 16 weeks today and is determined to show us how loud he can bark at night for the last 4 days. Drove my poor husband out of the house to cool off and find some patience Saturday! (He's never been around babies - canine or human - so he was having a very hard time ignoring it and doesn't agree/understand that I don't want to give Cazley any attention or let him out of his crate for barking.

A little on our setup. We live in a fifth wheel and we are currently parked in cold northern climes in a suburban RV park. No fenced yard. Our house has two living room slide-outs the length of the kitchen/living room. The passenger side slide-out is about 10' x 3.5' with a corner entertainment unit and the dining room. ;) We gave the dining set to our son and his fiance and put an extra large double door crate in its place. During the day he is allowed to mostly leave the door open and he comes and goes without problems. All his meals are served in his crate. He bounds in and waits excitedly for me to set his food down. I do close the door during meals, but that is to keep the cat out of his food, not any of his doing. I'm trying to be sure he gets time in there with the door closed during the day and doesn't decide that day is for OUT! I'm not always in the same room, so he can be used to us coming and going, with or without him. 

Ahh. He's just had five minutes of quiet and is drifting to sleep now after a 10 minute bark-a-thon. The sound of silence is so sweet sometimes. 

Good luck to you. I think you've run into the same thing I have. Seems it's the equivalent of a new 13-year-old who is full of insistence about the privileges they should be given and decisions they should be allowed to make because they are teenagers now and they know all the things.

Anyway, here's my ideas on it so far:

• crate games during the day
• exercise
• quiet time for 15 minutes before crate time after last potty break
• a calm belly rub or slow petting while you sit in front of the open door and treat for calmness
• yawning hugely and giving big heavy sighs as you do the get ready for bed 
• ignoring the tantrum
• ear plugs... :p 

If you haven't found kikopup's YouTube channel, I highly recommend you take a look. I found her tips quite helpful and her calm presence is a good example and reminder. I also have turned on Paul Dinning's Videos for Cats playlist or ReaxMyDog's channel. Both of those have seemed to soothe the cat and the dog.

Good luck!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We had Ned in a motorhome and used an ex-pen to block off the electronics in the dash area, but we forgot that we had the computer plugged in to charge - he only chewed it once! :-}  We only purchased a new cord once!

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Love the tie!!!

They are like children (sorry for the comparison) and will test your patience and authority from time to time. Stand firm and never give in.  

An aside note - I let Hurley sleep with us from about one month after he came into our home.  It was months before he could figure out how to jump off the bed so it was like a corral.   At night I would point to the bedroom saying 'bed, bed' bed' at 8:45.   Until he could jump up on the bed I would walk him to the bedroom and pick him up and put him on the bed.  Once he learned how to jump up on the bed all I had to do was point and say the word.  Now he sleeps wherever he wants but always crashes by 9 PM.

As for learning to behave when people come to the house or the door bell rings, etc. I taught him "PLACE".  He was taught to go to his doggie bed whenever I say the word "PLACE" and to stay there until I release him.  He can move around on the bed, he can play with a toy or chew on a bone but he cannot leave the doggie bed until released.  If he barks to much (he is allowed 3-4 barks as that is his fair warning to any changes) he is told 'ENOUGH" and sent to place.

The way I taught him PLACE was I started with 5 minutes and if he came off the doggie bed during that time I took him right back on it.  We went through this process every day and once he was good with the 5 mins I raised it to 10 and so forth.  He has actually stayed on the doggie bed for up to an hour.  At that point he tends to bark once or twice to my attention and let me know he really is being good and should be able to get off the darn doggie bed.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

She's adorable! Is she a mini?

One thing I did was just let Jade whine. She's 4 months too there was a point just a month or so ago, that I told my husband that I was sure she should be sleeping through the night by now and if he could just where some earplugs (lol) then I bet she would whine a bit and then go to sleep. Sure enough she did. She only sleeps until 5:30 or 6 am, but it's better than getting up at 1 or 3 am. She had a different yelping bark for "its urgent".