new puppy is driving me NUTS...HELP PLEASE!

Ok, so we've had Maverick since Thursday night and he is driving me nuts. We've tried crating him and he barks constantly. We try just letting him bark until he gets the point that he isn't getting out of the crate and he just won't stop (his record is 2 hours of barking). We've put kongs in there, and he won't touch them, we put bully sticks in there and he still won't touch those, we put different toys in there and he doesn't want anything to do with them. We've tried praising him when he's quiet and that doesn't work either. He's only quiet when he is sitting in my lap or laying on our bed. Sometimes he's quiet when he's with the other dogs but usually when he notices we are gone he will throw a fit. I don't know if maybe he has some separation issues or what but he's driving me nuts. We've had to put him in his crate on our bed every night since we got him (except for the first night I walked the halls with him like he was a human baby) in order for him to sleep. Although he did sleep through the night last night (thankfully because he's REALLY wearing me out). I don't know if we were just blessed with good puppies before because our other dogs never were like this in there crates (except Shelby who still doesn't use a crate because she throws a fit like he does). Does anyone have any ideas how to help him get more used to the crate. He's barely in it (only at night and if we go out somewhere). I just need to find a way to stop this barking! Is it maybe his breed? I know Shelby is a barker too if she's left alone, could it just be his breed that makes him do this?

I would suspend bed privileges for a while and just put his crate next to your bed on the floor. Give him some good exercise before bed and a chew toy and you'll just have to stick to your guns. Don't associate the crate with any punishment and give him a treat and a command every time he goes in there. During the day when you're around, leave the door open if you don't mind watching him if he comes out. Feed and water him in his crate ONLY...nowhere else for a while. Give him a frozen peanut butter Kong to keep him busy...that is IF he decides to chew on it. Eventually, he'll come to think of this crate as his den and will probably like it. Just don't shove him in and slam the door. Get him use to it as gradually as possible. I know you have to lock him up when you leave. That's life. But he'll be Ok....just ignore the crying and stick with it. It takes a lot of patience to raise a puppy. They drive us ALL nuts. You're not alone. LOL.

I've been there with both, lol. In both cases it took 7-10 days for them to stop crying, we had a totally sleepless night with Tips, but he eventually stopped. Now Tips doesn't bark at all when left in his crate, except around 7am. I just left him in the crate from time to time during the day while I was there, then I left the house a few times so that he could get used to being alone. The crate isn't even in the bedroom.

I feed him in his crate too, and he will go in there by himself when he sees the food bowl. I always give him a treat when I put him in there (with the 'go to bed' command, that Boris only ever listened to if we had a peanut butter treat with us...), and a kong stuffed with peanut butter if I am away during the day. Other than that, he has a few toys and a water bottle (I used to remove it at night until I forgot, and found out he still holds all night even with it in the crate, so I just leave it there and change the water everyday now).

But yeah... It really sucks while it lasts.

Yeah I guess we were just blessed with quiet puppies before him. Although our other two puppies were already accustomed to crates, I don't know about him I think he was born and raised outside.

I 've tried the treats and toys and everything and he just looks at me like "you really think that's gonna keep me quiet?" He's being quiet now though, and he's in his crate, but he's asleep. I let the dogs sleep in the bedroom with us at night because they sleep until 11 in the morning then and that's good cuz then we get up and get our daughter ready and then we get them all outside and start giving them water and cleaning the crates and stuff.

I had the best luck with putting the crate in my room near my bed. That way, you're not really spoiling them like crazy by getting them use to sleeping in your bed with you, but you're satisfying that strong desire to be with their family. They really hate being alone. My dogs all got use to being alone and are fine with it when they must. LOL. But they also love hanging out close to me when I'm at home. I found that putting the crate by my bed (Lyric was the first I've done that with) really cut down on the crying and he just eased into being left alone at other times. It's like if you make them secure (within reason) by letting them be near you at bedtime, then they seem to be more able to handle being on their own a little bit during the day.

I recommend the crate ( at night) close to your bed where you can comfort your baby with a finger through the cage and a quiet shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!! Cover the crate at night to associate it's bedtime. when I bred goldens we had quiet time.... I would groom and love each pup, had clean soft bedding in their whelping pen, played soft music and when all were relaxed etc. would cover the pen with a sheet, turn off radio and light and tip toe out. Not a peep until sunrise.

he's in a plastic crate and for some reason he seems to get too hot if I cover it up. We've been putting in in between us on the bed so he can see us and he's usually pretty quiet then. If I have to take him out during the night (which my husband SHOULD be doing because it's HIS dog but oh well) he will bark for awhile but I just keep telling him "hush" in a loud voice and he'll usually be quiet within ten or fifteen minutes. Last night he slept all night (thankfully) without getting up once. Once he gets better with his bladder I can move him to the medium wire crate and then do the blankie. Can I play with him before bed, or do the grooming and soft music? How late should I play with him if his bedtime is midnight? I usually will feed him his last meal at eleven o'clock.