Puppy whining at night any suggestions?

Question

I got a 10 wk old pup. she has been whinning at night. I know she misses her brothers and sisters. But what can I do to stop or ease this? I have another dog as well, would she seek comfort in my other dog? How long does the whinning typically go on for? is the crate whats causing the issues? would it be better if I let her have the bathroom or is that worse?

Answer 1

Almost every puppy goes thru this. She will get used to the crate. You could always put the other dog in the same room as the pup, but she might start relying on him being there, so it's really best just to let her go thru it. Just make sure, it isn't because she has to go to the bathroom or is hot or cold. It shouldn't be much longer. I applaude you for not taking her out and putting her in the bed, too many people give up on crate training. So just stick with it.

Answer 2

Hi I'm afraid, speaking from experience as I have 5 dogs, you have done the worst thing possible by moving him beside your bed. Unless he was raised in a crate at the breeders he will not be used to the crate yet and the door should really be left open for him to go in and out as he pleases at this point. Otherwise the crate will not feel like home, but a punishment. He needs to feel that the crate is his little den where no one else will go, I have two crates which I use for various reasons but given the choice mine will choose the crate rather than a basket. One dog will even pull the cushion out from underneath another dog to try to get them out, the crate door is obviously open. He must go in of his own free will, the best way to start is by throwing little otit bits in for himto go and retrieve, then lock him in, without making a fuss of him for a few minutes at a time and over the course of about 2 weeks extend the time he is in his crate. Now back to the whining, he must be IGNORED. Take the crate out of your room and put it where you intend for him to sleep. He must be totally ignored when he cries. I know that sounds a little mean but trust me I learnt the hard way. I went to our first puppy when he cried and it took us 10 months to stop the whining by ignoring him. You want a string bond with the dog obviously, but not so strong that the dog feels helpless without you. That is not fair on you or the dog. Our second dog, Amber, we ignored totally the first night and it was absolutley terrible, she made so so much noise, until about 4am. The second night she cried for an hour, third night silence. Amber could not be anymore of a mummies girl, follows me everywhere, when I let her off the lead she goes not more than about 20m away, but she does not cry. We did this exact thing with the following three. Some dogs cry more than others, some are criers some not, but night time crying must be ignored. Do not make a big fuss of putting him to bed, it needs to be a non event, because going to sleep is not a big deal. If ours are going to be locked in or sleep in the crate over night they get a special treat, something that they get at no other time. I usually fill a kong with peanut butter and freeze it so it then lasts a long time. The good thing is that you've only had him two nights so can get him into a new routine reasonably easily. Good luck

Answer 3

It is quite common for puppies to whine when they are separated from their mom & littermates. Make sure that she doesn't need to potty-sometimes they will whine. A good bout of play and then a potty break before bedtime usually helps as it wears them out. Don't go in and check on her when she is whine or acknowledge her - this only encourages the behavior and she will not stop. She will eventually stop-I'm going on 3 weeks with my puppy. It is getting shorter and shorter every night. Hang in there! The crate is the best thing for her right now-putting her in the bathroom will allow her to potty inside, which you don't want. Dogs are den animals and they like having their own place. You can throw a blanket over the crate to make it seem like her own comfy cave. Give her a couple of toys to chew on like the Kong interactive toys. It can keep her busy until she dozes off. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Stay with the crate. Puppies can whine and whimper for weeks until they realize it is their sleep place. I'm sure she misses her brothers and sisters. We put a wind up clock that ticks in the room with our puppy when we were crate training her. She calmed after we did that. It is worth a try for you too. The crate is not causing a problem for your dog, so don't worry. It is a great thing that you are doing. I know how hard it is to listen to your dog whimper like that. But, keep her in the crate. Check to see if she has to go potty or is ill, and if not, let her whimper. She will get tired eventually and fall asleep.

Answer 5

This is normal shes not use to the enviroment yet. I got my puppy at 6 weeks of age we crate trained him, It took him a week or 2 to stop whining. I didnt put anything in the crate at first,to make sure he wouldnt soil in his cage. When i put him in there and laid by his crate and rubbed his head untill he fell asleep. Ok when he woke up i would take him outside to go potty and right back in his cage. this teaches him to let you know when he has to go. Also Never use his crate as a punishment, i put him in there when he fell asleep, or when he was teething(pick every lil thing off the floor) I would put him in there with a few toys to chew he would be happy. I even fed him in there a few times. Soon he will go in and out my puppy goes in and out as he pleases.

Do you have a seperater in the crate, he should only have enough room to laydown and turn around. I did this for a few weeks it helped he never soiled in his crate.(they will not go where they have to lay. Hope this helps out. Wish you the best of luck!

Answer 6

Stick with the crate training. My dogs both whined for about 3 weeks in their crates at night before they realized they were just wasting their energy.

If you give into her whining now and accommodate her, then she'll think she's established "top dog" status in the house and you'll have a long fight ahead of you when it comes to training her in other areas.

Answer 7

I had the same problem with my puppy when we brought her home. Make sure the crate is in the same room as you during the night. It really helped to keep ours right next to the bed where she could see us at all times. Also maybe put a warm towel in her crate when she goes to bed.
If that doesn't work, one thing we have found that helped with our dog, especially when we leave is to put a blanket over the crate, and she goes right to sleep. Hope that helps, good luck!!

Answer 8

Had the same problem with our pup from the pound. I would put a warm bottle of water wrapped in a towel under her bed in the crate. then outside of the crate on the same side as the water bottle I put one of those old fashioned ticking alarm clocks to simulate the "sound of mom's heart". worked wonders....hardest part was the fear that I would accidentally turn the alarm on and scare the poor girl to death, lol, I never did though.

Answer 9

we just got a pup and its been 11odd years since we last had one, we got a crate and he cried the house down so the next nite we gave him access to the hall(leaving the crate door open, and blocking the living room and stairs off and he shut up immediatly , then the next day we gave him access to the living room and again he was fine, i have 3 other dogs but they all get on with him ok so i dont have to worry leaving them all together when im out xx

Answer 10

Try leaving a radio on to a talk station overnight. My parents do this for their dog and it really calms him, I think he feels like someone's there if it's on.