Crate Training

Gang,

Walter is a 10 week old male Yellow Lab who is reasonably well behaved in most respects with the exception of being left alone in his crate.

Walter was introduced to his new crate within an hour of leaving his litter at 9 weeks of age and has no issue with its use for napping or as a self designated retreat (with a favorite toy he brings himself).

The "after dinner" routine is to let him tire from play or a trip to the park (on a leash; he hasn't had all his shots yet) and then about 30 minutes or so before we turn in, lead Walter to his crate (with a variety of beddings and a few "quiet" toys) where he calmly drifts off to a sound sleep.

This lasts for about 1-2 hours before he wakes up and begins to first whine, then yelp, then bark, and even howl. Once, he did get back to sleep on his own and on one other occassion he slept without waking.

We've tried the "ignore" tactic without success. If one person sits by his crate, he'll be soothed back into a peaceful slumber. If he's taken out to "potty", he'll sometimes relieve himself (emphatically praised), other times he treats this as a playtime (in which case he is returned to the crate without praise).

Following the "ignore" course leads to a soiled crate (bowel movement) by the morning. It's hard to know when Walter is looking for attention or really needs to be released from his crate to potty. Outside his crate, Walter offers "cues" as to when he needs to potty, although, there have been a few accidents (which is understandable).

There are similar accounts in this forum, most advising including toys (we are), exercise and play to "exhaustion" (we are), and the idea that puppies are "babies" and will outgrow this behaviour.

Our concern is that Walter is (if not already) becoming a spoiled dog who will never be able to be left alone. Letting him sleep (crated) in our room will only reinforce that behaviour, although, it would mean sleep for us all.

In summary, I'll pose the following questions:

1. Where is your pup/dog crated for overnight sleep?
2. What was effective for this portion of "crate training"?

When I get a puppy, she sleeps crated beside our bed. This is so I will hear her if she needs to go out in the night. Some people opt to set their alarm and take their pups out on a schedule, but I'd rather sleep until the pup tells me it's time to go out.

My rule of thumb is that if the pup sleeps, then wakes up and starts whining, I wait for the yelp. The yelp, to me, means I HAVE TO GO NOW! When I let the pup out, I am quiet, I don't say a word. I take my puppy outside on leash (one, to teach the potty on command and two, I KNOW that she goes), and am still quiet, quietly telling the pup to go pee/do your business. When she does pee, I QUIETLY praise her, quietly bring her back into the house, and on leash still, take her right back to her crate, then go back to bed. Once the dog gets to the point where she is sleeping through the night for a good month, I move the crate to the kitchen. After a few months of that, the crate moves down to the dog room in the basement and the pup sleeps down there with the others that I have crated at night.

This has worked for me for about 10 dogs now. None were spoiled, none had issues with the transition of the crate moving to different locations. Most will go find their crate and go nap, or take a chewie into it so that they aren't bugged by the other dogs. I even do this routine if I have an older puppy or dog come into my house. It's part of our routine, and everyone knows it.

This has been so successful for me that I can take any dog anywhere, with their crate, and they are comfortable in that crate, no matter what the location.

To me there is a difference between the "I don't want to be in here" and the "let me out iIneed to tinkle" bark/yelps/whines.

When our dogs are crated, they are crated in our living room, downstairs which is the closest room to the sliding glass door to the backyard.

When your pup does need to be let out of the crate, wait for those few precious seconds of silence and let them out at that time. Do not let them out when they are whining/crying/yelping because that would be reinforcing that behavior.

Good luck.

At 10 weeks (when we got Wrigley) he could hold it for about 5 hours in the crate meaning if my husband didn't get up really early (generally he has to get up around 3am) we did take him out--once--for a week or two. I would say definitely by 14 weeks he was fine for an entire 7 hour night.

In the middle of the night, I don't wait for silence. I have learned that there is a difference between the "I have to go NOW" noises and the "WAHHHH Don't lock me in this box" noises.

Part of having a dog is communication and trust. Not only us communicating with our dogs, but our dogs communicating with us and trusting us to act accordingly. This trust is built right from the day you bring him home. If you can distinguish the difference in sounds between just complaining and I HAVE TO PEE, you can teach your dog that you do understand this part of their communication and that you will let them out if they must go out. Teaching them that you WILL let them out if they NEED to get out to potty helps build the positive "the crate is my den and I like it" attitude that we want.

Right. I said I know the difference between those cries/yelps.

I was trying to help the OP who obviously does not know the difference between those sounds yet.

my biggest problem is not that my dog doesn't sleep through the night, it's that when he has to be crated on and off during the day because im in class, back, feed him play with him walk him.. he's crated and im in class again. He gets plenty of play time because i just bring him with me everywhere i go cept for class. He's a girl magnet so it's not like i mind. I want to train this anxiety out of him now so he doens't have it when he's big enough to destroy this crate.. suggestions?

Gang,

I wanted to thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions.

Spiritus, your suggestion worked well for us. By letting Walter sleep in our bedroom, he is quite content, and his cries very clearly signal a need to be let out of the crate for potty.

As for the "being crated" issue during the day, I can only say that time seems to be the difference. As Walter "ages" (he's about 11 weeks now), he is beginning to understand that his crate is his den, a place of safety and comfort, and definitely >HIS< place.

Thanks again; it's nice knowing there's place to go for answers.