Crate Training?

Question

My puppy is 12 weeks old. I've had him for around 4 weeks, and for those four weeks he's slept in bed with me. I'm trying to crate train him now, but every time I put him in his crate he whines and cries until I get up and let him out. I can't really set a schedule because my work schedule changes from week to week. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Why did you wait so long to start the crate training? He's used to sleeping with you now and he probably feels like he is being punished by being put in the crate. Make sure that you don't use the crate as a place to put him when he's being punished. Try to lure him into the crate with a "Milk Bone" I did it with my dog and she loves her crate now, it's her bed. It was kind of tough at first so give it a little time.

Answer 2

I am going through the same thing. First of all you have to gradually introduce your puppy to the idea of the crate...dont force him. Leave it in a room where you are all the time with the door open. You can put his favourite treats in the crate and when he goes in praise him. When he gets more comfortable he will sleep in it with the door open. The next step is to close the door for a few seconds, then open it and give the puppy a treat. Slowly increase the time the door is closed.

One mistake you made is letting your puppy out while he was barking. DONT do it anymore, he will think that if he barks you will come. Its really hard to ignore but eventually he will get the hint.

During the process of getting the puppy comfortable with the crate, maybe you should put him in a small room like a bathroom or kitchen (no carpet areas) and block off all entrences. But keep him in a room that you are in the most when you are home. I also paper trained my dog so if he cant hold it until I get home (esp. b/c hes a puppy) he can use the puppy training pad.

Try to keep him on as much of a schedual as you can. Feed at the same time, play at the same time, sleep at the same time. Puppies have a fear of being alone because in the wild being alone without the pack may mean death. Gradually he will gain more confidence in being alone too. This is probably another reason he is barking.

I hope this helps! It worked for me and my puppy is 5 months and I dont even have to leave him in a crate since hes paper trained. Remember your puppy is only 3 months old, he can only be in the crate for 4 hours at most!!! They have small bladders and difficulty holding it.

Answer 3

You need to either toughen up or give up!!! You may need to put the crate where you can't hear the puppy whining, or else use a loud voice and a squirt bottle to make him stop it. Every time you give in and let him out, he learns that he will get out by crying, and it will just take that much longer to crate train him. So you put yourself behind the curve already, now you need to stick to your guns. You ARE doing the right thing. You didn't say what kind of dog he is, but unless you want him sleeping in your bed for the rest of his life, now is the time to break the habit. Always give him a reward for getting into the crate-- you can use something like a Kong filled with stuff that he can work on for a while. Good Luck!!

Answer 4

Don't let him out of the crate when he is whining- that will only reinforce the behavior. Also resist the temptation to pay any attention to the puppy (negative attention included). It's hard, and I am guilty myself of occasionally yelling "shut up" because a puppy won't stop crying and it's 3 in the morning, but in the long run it only prolongs the crying.

Get him to associate good things with the crate - feed him in there, give him special toys like (safe!) bones and stuffed kong toys. Make sure he is thoroughly exercised and then winds down a bit before bedtime so he will be more likely to sleep well at night. Leave the door open so he can go into when he wants during the day as well. He will eventually learn that his crate is his own safe little place that he has all to himself. My dogs, especially the older ones when they've had enough of the younger dogs, will take their bone, or whatever toy, into their crate because they know they won't be bothered in there.

Good luck - it will be more difficult because he is used to being up in the bed with you, but he is still quite young so if you stick with it I'm sure he'll be able to learn.

Answer 5

I would individually maintain him in the crate still. He is nonetheless a puppy and for those who have been to let him roam freely he could very good get used to it and put out of your mind about the training he already has. Dogs are like children, provide them an inch and they take a mile. Keep him in the crate unless he is totally knowledgeable not to go potty within the condominium or do some thing harmful. My Pomeranian is far older than your dog, but considering that I've had her i've been coaching her since she under no circumstances was once informed as a puppy. It can be hard frequently to do matters to teach and discipline them, however don't let them get dominance over you. I additionally preserve my canine within the kitchen even as i am long past or if I've gone to bed with a mattress, meals and water. It'll sound harsh to a few humans, but it surely's the only approach i will be able to smash her of considering its alright to roam the residence and poop and pee where she pleases. If you have not noticed, dogs will more commonly now not go potty in confined areas, so continuing the crate will probably be first-class I consider. If he is up at night making plenty of noise, probably try to exhaust him of his vigor in the course of the day, if that doesn't work and is truely bothersome, you can also need to bear in mind disciplining him if you are k with that. Well excellent luck and he is still a puppy, it'll me a number of extra months before he calms down and is thoroughly trained.

Answer 6

I hate to say this but it's your problem, not the dog's. The dog is training you to open the door and give in to it's whining. My dog put up a terrible fight with the crate until I did the following -

1. Walk your dog for at least 45 minutes before putting it into the crate.

2. Put your dog in the crate in the main room of the house (EVEN WHEN YOU'RE HOME). The dog must be in the crate when you're home AND when you're away. Keep the dog in the main room so it can see you come and go (to the bathroom, into the garage, outside to get the mail, etc). When it's not whining give it a treat and say "good quiet." DO NOT GIVE INTO THE WHINING. If the dog begins to fuss say "Enough" or "Quiet". You can also put a few pennies in an empty soda can and shake it when the dog is crying to reinforce the 'quiet' command. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. This dog is training you and it should be the other way around.

3. Keep your dog on a lead when it's not in the crate. This way it learns that you are in control of it at all times and learns to respect you as alpha.

4. Interact with your dog OUTSIDE and on lead. Inside= crate, Outside = play, potty, etc.

5. Everytime you put him in the crate, say CRATE and give him a crate treat - something he ONLY gets when he's in the crate. We use dried liver training treats for our girls.

It took 2 weeks of this for my dog to accept her crate and be totally cool with it (no whining). My dog used to rip up blankets, chew on the crate and wind up shaking and soaking wet in the crate because of her severe seperation anxiety. After 2 weeks of leaving her crated when I was home AND when I was away, she was totally fine. She crates voluntairly and on command. In fact, upon entering the house every morning she goes right to her crate. It's now routine.

Your dog needs to be in the crate at night too not sleeping with you. You need to be consistent with this training otherwise your dog will be confused.

Good luck & here's a link that could help too: http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

Answer 7

You need to associate the crate with positive things. Feeding him in there is a good start.

I'll include part of my housetraining artice as well. It has some good crate training advice.

When looking for a crate you want one that is big enough for your dog to stand up, turn around and lay down. You don't want it so big that he can lay in one end and use the other end as a bathroom. If he can do this trust me he will. There are all kinds of different styles of crates: the two most common are wire and plastic. But they come in mesh, wicker, all sorts of different materials now. I would recommend choosing either a wire or plastic one, especially for puppies that like to chew. Here are some pros and cons of plastic and wire crates.

Plastic: These come in several sizes so can accommodate nearly every size of dog. They also give a more den like feeling to the dog and have less of a cage look. The disadvantage to these crates is that you may need to buy more than one to accommodate a growing puppy, and they take up more room if you want to store them even though they usually will come apart in halves for storage. There are also some newer plastic crates that will fold up similar to a wire crate.

Wire: Like the plastic crate these also come in a variety of sizes. They do look more like cages though, something that can be fixed by purchasing a cover for it. A cover will also help some dogs feel more secure in a wire crate. The advantage of these is that you can buy a size to fit your dog when it is full grown. Wire crates have dividers available for purchase so that you can make the crate fit your puppy. These also have a storage advantage in that most fold up very neatly and can be stored easily.

Next you will need to introduce your puppy to its crate. Just sticking the puppy in there without a positive introduction can be very stressful for the pup. I like to bring a new puppy home on a day off, and try to pick it up as soon as possible in the morning. This way I have all day to introduce the puppy to the crate so that by bedtime the puppy will feel pretty comfortable with its crate and shouldn't fuss to much.

Start by showing the puppy the crate and let him explore it. Next show your puppy a treat and then toss it inside. When your puppy goes in to get the treat praise him excitedly. Repeat this a few times and then end this session. If your pup won't go all the way in the crate to get the treat try throwing it closer to the door, or even outside the door and then gradually toss it farther back, until the pup goes all the way in.

After an hour or two have another session with crate. If your pup went all the way in the last time start there, if not start at the point you left off. After a couple times of going in the crate and coming right back out you can shut the door. But let the pup out after a second or two. Repeat this gradually increasing the amount of time the pup is in the crate. If you do this several times the first day by the time your ready for bed your pup should be pretty comfortable with the crate. I also like to repeat this process for a day or two after the pup comes home.

Also remember that whenever your dog is crated you need to remove any type of collar, even a buckle collar can catch on a crate and strangle a dog.


The full article can be viewed at http://www.tiaspetplace.com

Good luck

Answer 8

always using the crate for sleeping IS your schedule , no matter the time. you set the sleep place and DONT reward the whinning . the ONLY thing whinning geys is a trp out side to pee then right back in the crate lights out no talking and NO reward of sleeping on the bed. which by the way makes you a bad pack leader and will make him think you are not strong enough to be his leader. ! get it?

Answer 9

it was a mistake to have him in your bed then change to a crate.
Try putting the crate next to your bed and slap the crate when he barks or cries - a clock ticking will help too

Answer 10

is he your only dog??? i started my pup out by putting her in the laundry room nothing on the floor but her toys. Then I put her in the crate in the laundry room. Next i put her in the crate at night before i go to bed in my room. She is still in there with me but she got the hang of it... I didnt start til late also but now she has got it!