How do you get a puppy to stop barking when in his cage?

Question

He is a 9 week old pitbull puppy that will not stop barking at night when it is time for bed. Any suggestions to get him to stop?

Answer 1

Yep... play with him for 10-15 mins... outside to potty then into his crate for the night.. get a kong and put peanut butter inside of it=== give him his nubby and tell him nighty night and place a sheet or blanket over the crate to make it more den like so the light does not come in.

Works for me
Handler/Trainer 6 GSD's

Answer 2

It sounds like he is feeling neglected or scared being in his cage by himself. You can focus on the crate-training side of this extensively. During the day, or whenever you have time, put him in his crate then walk away for 10 minutes, giving him NO response when and if he barks.. then take him out and give him a treat. Next do it for 15 minutes, then slowly bump up the amount of time.... go to the store, do some house errands with him in his cage. Let him know that you aren't abandoning him. When he does bark - its for attention. Don't acknowledge it whatsoever, because then he'll feel that its working in getting your attention.

Be patient with the pup, it will take a while to train him to your liking. If the barking continues over a long period of time, then you can try spraying him in the face with a spray bottle and water... this will startle him and let him know that it is not okay to bark.

I hope this helps :)

Answer 3

A dog will eventually love his crate and seek it out if you make it a positive experience. Never ever punish a dog in his crate. This will only make things worse.

Do try get the puppy used to the crate during the day. Short intervals 2 minutes. 3 minutes. Build up his time in there slowly. Do not make it obvious how long he will be in the crate.

Leave the crate open so he may go in and out.

You may want to start feeding him during the day in his crate.

Praise him when he goes into his crate on his own.

Make sure there is comfortable bedding

Make sure the crate is not too big. If it is a few extra towels will help. He should be able to stand up and turn around.

A kong toy filled with a treat.

Every time he goes in the crate a treat.

Toys and chewies that will entertain.

He will bark. Do not let him out at night until he is quiet,

Change the routine.

Keep the crate in your bedroom. On a chair where he can see you.

Try covering crate with a towel.

Try Rescue Remedy in a little water before he goes to bed. Let him out to Potty first.

All of these should help ease his anxiety.

Answer 4

I also have a Pitt. The breed is naturally a cuddle bug, lol, he'll give anything to curl up in some warm blankets just like anyone else! My dog slept with my daughter until he was about 4 months and then we kennel trained him. Here are some of my suggestions:

1) Place the kennel in the room that you are sleeping in so that he can see you.

2) Put a soft plush blanket in the kennel he can curl up in.

3) When putting him in the kennel make sure to say a command word you will always use to tell him to get in the kennel. I tell Jynx (my dog) to "Get in your room "or "House".

4) Give him something to occupy him for awile...I recommend a Kong. It's a cone toy that you fill with treats ( my fav is peanut butter, keeps him busy forever!) You can get it at pet stores. It's also a possitive experience for him and will help him understand that the kennel is a "good thing".

5) IGNORE HIM IF NOTHING IS WRONG WITH HIM.

Patience and time will solve everything. Kennel training is never fun but it is rewarding in the long run. I had to kennel train my dog because we left him alone while we went to the store when we first got him and he tore down every blind I had in the house! I found out later that he has separation anxiety. But now he sleeps in there on his own with the door wide open. He's 1 1/2 now. For a special treat every week I wash his blanket and put it in there right out of the dryer and he LOVES it!

Hope I've been able to help. GOOD LUCK TO YA!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

We had this same problem with our golden pup. She loves being around people and would be sad and bark a LOT when she'd go to bed in her crate. We'd give her lots of praise, a few treats to lure her in and taught her 'go crate!' to go in there (and then some good belly rubs/petting when she got in there). Then we'd sleep with earplugs in! After about 2 weeks the barking stopped all together during the night and then 3 months later (when she was about 5 months and could hold it all night), we let her sleep in her bed in our room (not on our bed though!). Now she's 14 months and has the run of the house at night.

Answer 6

I used to have a similar problem with my Lab (she would whine and bark). I was told to yell at her and squirt her with water and if that didn't work to throw something at her kennel to give her a fright then tell her to be quiet. None of these worked and I also didn't feel right doing them either. What I found was good was letting her out. She would inspect everything, then I'd say good night. I would then ignore her after doing this no more than 2 times. She learnt and now only barks if something is out there. (a person, cat, hedgehog or anything that rustles). Hope that helps :)

Answer 7

As someone suggested, IGNORE IT. He will eventually get tired and stop. Using a spray bottle is attention, regardless of it being positive or negative. He is seeing that once he does this he is still getting attention from you. The goal here is to completely eliminate any attention so he stops the crying, barking and whining. Go to another room where he can't see you. He'll cry for a while, but eventually will stop and get the idea. As soon as you hear him stop, quick go in and give him a treat, telling him how good he is.

Answer 8

Time. Try leaving the TV on for him down lower in the room he is in.
I had to remark about the goof above Me's answer. DO NOT MUZZLE A DOG FOR ANY OTHER REASON THAN TO PREVENT THE DOG FROM BITING YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE.To muzzle a dog and not supervise it with the muzzle on is cruel,dangerous to the dog and damaging to the dog's personality.Not only that you could kill your dog by suffocation.Don't spray it in the face ever with anything.And leave the lemon juice for the cooking.It's a puppy in a new home,alone and missing it's family.Maybe put a leash on the puppy and let it sleep with you.Put a collar and leash on the puppy and on your wrist so if the puppy wakes up and starts to get down you'll know.

Answer 9

You have set up a situation were this little guy resents bedtime rather than accepting it as part of the routine.
I bet you have been doing all sorts of things to get him to stop
This then just proves to him that he can control you if he barks enough and get you to pay attention to him.
Crate train to a crate in the bedroom and yes you will have to endure a number of nights with very poor sleep to correct this problem

Answer 10

Play catch with him just before bed time, make sure you also take him for a good walk so he has a chance to do his business for the night. Also give him a bowl of water so he has something to drink if he gets thristy, also give him a stuffed toy to sleep with. Remember, he just a week away from his mother and he is used to sleeping beside a warm body of his mother and the rest of his brothers and sisters.
Try to have the cage in a spot so he can see your bed, he will want to make sure you are still home in every once in a while and to see if you're ok. I know it sounds strange, but I grow up with lots of dogs and they do go check on the family members to see if everybody is ok in the night.
It's going to take some time for him to get used to the cage and to know that you are not going to leave him in the middle of the night. You might also want to get him used to sleeping on the bed with you once you have him house trained. That might help him from barking. My dog doesn't bark any more unless there is a noise outside in the night, and he sleeps on a bed with one of the family. He either sleeps on the bed with my mom or he will sleep in the basement on my bed with me.