Isolation (Crate) Whining / Barking all night

[Taylor]

Archie, Male Border collie 11 weeks old (4th day at home) Barks/Whines constantly all night (7 hours last night). we have been advised just to leave him and things will get better. Please give me reasurrance and any helpfull advice would be appreciated. He does not dirty his crate and we make sure he has been before bed.Thanks in advance. Also the crate is located in the kitchen.

[poodlesmom]

Welcome! The advice you were given is correct. If you take him out while he is crying this tells him that's what he needs to do to get out.

There are a couple of things you can try. Take a sheet & cover all but the front of his crate to make it more den-like. Turn a radio on low volume nearby so he can hear it. Take a tshirt that you have worn so that it has your scent & put it in the crate with him. Last but not least, you can try to put the crate in your bedroom so that he can see you and he doesn't feel as isolated.

It is super that he's not soiling his crate at nite. If you think he is crying because he needs to go out, take him out, give him a few minutes to go & then right back into the crate whether or not he does go.

I'm sure Archie will catch on & it will get better! :)

[bogolove]

It will get better. I just pm'd you back about it and I hope I could help you out.

[Taylor]

Thanks
will see how tonight goes.

[gaddylovesdogs]

How often do you exercise him? I own a mostly BC mix, and she is of course very energetic. It's important to make sure this breed gets enough exercise. Try walking him right before he goes to bed--this will also give him a chance to fully relieve himself. You could also try a stuffed kong. Stuff it with dog toothepaste or something else that's yummy.

[CreatureTeacher]

My first suggestion would be to move the crate into your room, as Poodlesmom said. If you look at it from Archie's point of view, you'll understand that he's in a pretty scary situation. He's never slept by himself before; he's had a mom and littermates to keep him company. So yes, continue to ignore him at night, but try to get him as close to the head of the bed as possible so he can hear you breathing and moving around.

A puppy Kong isn't a bad idea, but I usually try not to go nuts with special "treats" on a dog that young, mostly because it seems to affect their digestive system. Try going to Goodwill and finding a good-sized stuffed animal or baby blanket you can put in there with him. (Make sure it's not so big that it takes up all his crate space.) Then he'll have something large and warm to keep him company. And, because it was from Goodwill, you won't be upset if it gets peed on or chewed.

I recommend this sort of treatment for a puppy that young because I have seen, over and over, puppies that develop maternal seperation anxieties. This seems to happen mostly to sensitive dogs that are forced into an unfamiliar environment before they're ready. It's really kind of heartbreaking to see a 12-year-old dog that can't fall asleep without sucking on his blankie! Keeping his crate near you at night and getting him some inanimate "company" will help him develop his independence in a psychologically healthy way.

Going back to the Kong, if you want to see if it keeps him amused (and therefore keeps him from whining) at night, try to stuff it with something a little more digestive-tract friendly than doggie toothpaste. The Kong Company makes "Kong Stuffin'" in a can, which you can find pretty much anywhere that sells Kongs. It's meant to be consumed in Kongs, so it's a little safer. You can also push a few small treats in (see if you can find some Old Mother Hubbard brand treats; they're small enough and tend to be a bit healthier than other biscuits), squirt in some Kong Stuffin', and toss the whole thing in the freezer for a couple of hours. It'll take him much longer to get all the yummies out if it's frozen to start with. But again, don't go nuts with this. 2-3 Kongs a week is probably plenty, and it will probably cause some noticable intestinal disturbance, but nothing serious.

PS - I just found this wandering around the Doggles website: http://store.yahoo.com/doggles/comfortpup.html
I'm definitely going to try it out on my next puppy! (Although I haven't had a puppy in a long, long time! I'm strictly a rescue mommy, and I always end up with the "hopeless" ones that no one else wants! :rolleyes: lol!)

[gaddylovesdogs]

Doggie toothepaste is one of my first choices because it cleans the teeth. I checked the Kong Stuffing and didn't buy it because I don't like to ingredients.

[CreatureTeacher]

No offense intended, Gaddy. :) I agree that Kong Stuffin' is not especially healthy. (I personally stuff with pureed meat, but my dogs are on the raw meat diet.) I've also seen canned cat food used, which freezes well. I hesitate to use doggie toothpaste as a snack because, depending on the brand, it may contain enzymes and astringents that aren't safe for regular consumption in large quantities.

I also use squashed-up tofu sometimes, but don't tell the dogs! They don't know what it is! :D

[gaddylovesdogs]

No offense intended, Gaddy. :) I agree that Kong Stuffin' is not especially healthy. (I personally stuff with pureed meat, but my dogs are on the raw meat diet.) I've also seen canned cat food used, which freezes well. I hesitate to use doggie toothpaste as a snack because, depending on the brand, it may contain enzymes and astringents that aren't safe for regular consumption in large quantities.

I also use squashed-up tofu sometimes, but don't tell the dogs! They don't know what it is! :D

:). I use a natural brand of dog toothepaste and my girls are on a raw/natural kibble diet. It's important to find something healthy to stuff it with and personally I don't like stuffing it with peanut butter :p. Too messy.

[CreatureTeacher]

What, you don't like having little slimy solutions of peanut butter and dog spit ground into your carpet? Don't you like stepping in them on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night?! lol! It's the same with rawhide!

[gaddylovesdogs]

What, you don't like having little slimy solutions of peanut butter and dog spit ground into your carpet? Don't you like stepping in them on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night?! lol! It's the same with rawhide!
It's just hard to clean the toy out and it's not the easiest for me, LOL ;) :cool:.

[Taylor]

Puppy can't go out yet for lots of exercise, not had all injections. Last night slightly better (cried/barked 50 mins of every hour).Tried tips covered crate with blanket and Clock placed beside crate. Item of clothing placed inside crate was chewed in the quite times he didn't sleep for seven hours. He sleeps in the morning when we get up.

[gaddylovesdogs]

Puppy can't go out yet for lots of exercise, not had all injections. Last night slightly better (cried/barked 50 mins of every hour).Tried tips covered crate with blanket and Clock placed beside crate. Item of clothing placed inside crate was chewed in the quite times he didn't sleep for seven hours. He sleeps in the morning when we get up.
How much exercise would you say he gets every day?

[CreatureTeacher]

Taylor, is that a picture of your pup? He's not part Bernese Mountain Dog, by chance?

[Taylor]

He only gets exercise while playing in the house, Mother / father both border collies we saw them when we collected him from the Farm in lincolnshire,UK. Last night bad again, Archie barked all night. The suggestion of moving cage to bedroom , is this a for life or temp. measure.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[AndrewF]

....my spoiled little guy is used to sleeping in the living-room - on me - on the couch. Tried going to bed monday night and put Jake in the bed-room. Lots of crying later, I was back on the couch and the world was just fine according to Jake. Will have another go at it on the week-end when waking the kids up isn't such a big deal.

[Renee750il]

ROFL! I guess Jake's got you trained quite well! :D

[gaddylovesdogs]

He only gets exercise while playing in the house, Mother / father both border collies we saw them when we collected him from the Farm in lincolnshire,UK. Last night bad again, Archie barked all night. The suggestion of moving cage to bedroom , is this a for life or temp. measure.

Thanks everyone for your help.
Would you say he gets a few minutes of exercise? Or an hour?
If you move the cage into your room, he's probably going to think that's what you'll always do.

[avenlee]

LMAO Andrew ... we are suckers, aren't we... heaven forbid if our pups are uncorfortable or upset.

And CT, I thought of Bernese Mountain Dog the second I saw the pic. Really can't go wrong with those markings. Makes you go hmmmm

[CreatureTeacher]

And CT, I thought of Bernese Mountain Dog the second I saw the pic. Really can't go wrong with those markings. Makes you go hmmmm
He he...while the stud's away, the girls will stray... :)

Taylor, I would think the crate in the room will only be necessary for a few weeks, maybe up to a month-and-a-half, depending on your pup's individual needs. Like I said, he's very young and has never had to sleep alone before. You don't want him to develop a complex over this. The transition to being alone in a crate is a big change. If you add being alone in a room on top of that, he'll start to feel pretty lonesome. When he's sleeping well in the room with you, then you can gradually (over the course of several nights) move the kennel farther and farther away from you, and closer to its permanent home. It will help a lot for him to understand that he's not alone in the big mean world!

I wouldn't worry too much about exercise--he's really too young to be concerned about that. Puppies his age generally give themselves all the exercise they need (or can handle). But it's never too early to start a puppy kindergarten class! From my experience with my own Border Collie, I know you'll be glad you started early!

[Taylor]

Wednesday night bad again, after 5 hours barking in crate in kitchen (couldnt take anymore) we let him out,put the stair gate up and went back to bed. He went to sleep at bottom of stairs no whining or barking. So last night we moved the crate to the bottom of the stairs and excellent after a few whines (2 - 3 mins) no barking or whining at all. I hope he will be the same tonight and it wasnt just lucky.

Thanks everyone.

[smkie]

At least he is a little closer where he can smell you and hear your breathing...that probably helped.

[YorkieLover]

When we crate trained our little yorkie we thought it would be best if she was in the crate in our room... WRONG... she whined all night and got worse if she heard my husband snore or even move. After 2 nights of crying we finally moved her crate downstairs (with a baby monitor) and we covered her crate with a blanket, put her by the ticking clock, added a stuffed animal, and one of my daughters sweatshirts.. After 1 night she was perfectly fine. She went to bed at 10:00 and I would set the alarm to take her out at 2:00 to go potty. This routine went on for a while and eventually she was able to make it through the night until 6:00 a.m. when my husband got up. Unfortunately, we got to the point where on the weekends we felt bad and would let her sleep with us, well I'm sure you all figured out by now... for the past month she has been in our bed. Her little head right up on the pillow between us. Oh well, we love having her there as much as she loves being there. We feel like she is in the crate most of the day so why stick her back in there at bed time. *we are suck suckers... LOL

[Taylor]

Archie has slept fine in his crate at he bottom of the stairs for the last three nights, not a sound.

Thanks for everyone's help.