Puppies

[Winston Legthigh]

We just got a 5 mo. old pug last weekend.

 

Does anyone have any advice on getting the pup to deal with his crate at night?

 

His first night he didn't raise much of a fuss. We had the crate in our bedroom so that I could hear if he needed to go out.

2nd night he screamed bloody murder after I put him in his crate for over a 1/2 hour, and I couldn't stand it anymore, because I had to get to sleep, so I took him in the bed. Last night we put his crate in his "room" (which is where he's cordoned off during the day) and he screamed bloody murder again for over a 1/2 hour, so I took him in our bed again.

 

I don't mind taking him in our bed, but my wife doesn't like it, and we both want him to get used to his crate.

BUT - I can't handle his screaming, because I'm not about to lay there in bed awake the whole night listening to him. Even if he does pass out eventually, I figure that he's going to start all over again when I let him out in the middle of the night only to put him back in his crate.

 

So tired... So... so... tired...

[Guest Runaway Jim]

I say, let him sleep in your bed. That's part of the fun of having a dog. Use the crate only when no one is home with him.

 

 

[Good Old Neon]

We ran into the same problem with our infant daughter, eventually, they just sort of become accustomed to the crate.

[Winston Legthigh]

I say, let him sleep in your bed. That's part of the fun of having a dog. Use the crate only when no one is home with him.

Ah, so you're advocating celebacy...

[jff]

I haven't had to deal with this in a really long time, and luckily my current dog enjoys her crate. The only thing I can think of is to go to great lengths to make sure the puppy is extremely tired before crate time, so it'll fall asleep as fast as possible.

 

What do you do to get the dog in the crate? Do you physically place the dog in the crate or does it go in voluntarily? Is there a soft blanket or a pillow in the crate?

 

We give our dog a pupperoni when it's crate time (although our situation is different than yours since we only use the crate when we leave the house for dinner or errands, or something, and not for sleeping overnight). That is the ONLY time she gets pupperonis. At this point, just the sound of the pupperoni bag opening makes her run into the crate. This might be bad advice for you, though, since you don't want to feed a dog right before you go to bed.

[isadorah]

this sounds horrible and cruel, but let him cry in the crate. by removing him from the crate or even talking to him to comfort him while in the crate, you are reinforcing the behavior of crying and you will likely not be able to crate train him. you could also opt to not use a crate, but instead quarantine him off to a small area (that is easy to clean if he has an accident) to accomplish house training, it might be less traumatic than the crate for him, but it needs to be a small area and there shouldn't be any towels or puppy pads down, etc. that teaches them that it is ok to go indoors and could lead to using rugs/carpeting, etc as a toilet.

 

it is also a good habit to not get up in the middle of the night to let him out, or to respond immediately if he wakes you up in the morning. that does two things, establishes him as the alpha in the house instead of you and can cause future behavior problems and it also keeps him from being properly house broken (well the middle of the night thing). my dad did this with his dog and she can't go more than a few hours without needing to be let out, she can never be left home alone during a complete work day. for some people that works great and is fine, but others not so much/makes it hard to get a dog sitter.

 

also make the crate available to him all hours of the day. that makes it easier for them to adjust. make it cozy too. somewhere that he would want to sleep.

[lamradio]

Once they have the bed, it's hard for them to go back.. So it'll be tough to get him in the crate when he's already experienced the bed.

 

My sisters dog started out in the crate from the start.. So he goes in there on his own, they don't even have to shut the door. But they also have a pretty large crate and it's very comfortable in there for him.

 

So I would say make sure it's big enough, make sure it is comfortable (plenty of padding etc), and just keep trying. And like jff said, it helps if they are very tired.

 

As far as our dog, I'd much rather she slept in a crate, but my wife wouldn't have that.. She'd rather cuddle with the dog than with me..

[isadorah]

i got my dog when she was 6 months old and I lasted 2 days of not letting her in the bed. She slept in the bed for several years until she became a very bad bed hog and got relegated to her own bed. She adjusted quickly and didn't seem to mind. Now keeping her off the couch...that was one we surrendered to (and by we I mean someone else in the house). If there's a couch around, she will find every way possible to sleep on it.

[watch me fall]

 

As far as our dog, I'd much rather she slept in a crate, but my wife wouldn't have that.. She'd rather cuddle with the dog than with me..

 

I'm gonna have to ask her about that.

[Winston Legthigh]

Make crate comfortable: check

Drape towel over crate: check

Put snacks in crate: check

Put toys in crate: check

Make sure crate is large enough for pug to turn around and stretch in: check

 

I've also heard of a collar that contains a pherome that bitches (so to speak) release that calms puppies.

 

1) I just worry about the dog being traumatized - the noises he makes are blood-curdling. He can't really bark, so the noise he makes is this awful gurgling howl that makes it sound like he's swallowing broken glass. It breaks my heart. I don't want him to hate us.

2) I'm practically a zombie at work now with the little sleep I've been getting with him IN the bed.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I've also heard of a collar that contains a pherome that bitches (so to speak) release that calms puppies.

 

What about putting one of your or your wife's (or both) stinky old shirts into the crate? We do that when we have to move the cats, and we've noticed a difference.

[Winston Legthigh]

What about putting one of your or your wife's (or both) stinky old shirts into the crate? We do that when we have to move the cats, and we've noticed a difference.

That's an idear.

[jff]

That's an idear.

 

That is a good idea. Things that have your scent on them are comforting for most dogs.

 

In my case, my dog loves to destroy remote controls...I guess because the little buttons and crevices on a remote contain oils and dead skin cells from our hands. She destroyed four or five remotes before we were able to outsmart her.

[Winston Legthigh]

She destroyed four or five remotes before we were able to outsmart her.

You chopped off your hands?

[borracho]

this sounds horrible and cruel, but let him cry in the crate. by removing him from the crate or even talking to him to comfort him while in the crate, you are reinforcing the behavior of crying and you will likely not be able to crate train him. you could also opt to not use a crate, but instead quarantine him off to a small area (that is easy to clean if he has an accident) to accomplish house training, it might be less traumatic than the crate for him, but it needs to be a small area and there shouldn't be any towels or puppy pads down, etc. that teaches them that it is ok to go indoors and could lead to using rugs/carpeting, etc as a toilet.

 

it is also a good habit to not get up in the middle of the night to let him out, or to respond immediately if he wakes you up in the morning. that does two things, establishes him as the alpha in the house instead of you and can cause future behavior problems and it also keeps him from being properly house broken (well the middle of the night thing). my dad did this with his dog and she can't go more than a few hours without needing to be let out, she can never be left home alone during a complete work day. for some people that works great and is fine, but others not so much/makes it hard to get a dog sitter.

 

also make the crate available to him all hours of the day. that makes it easier for them to adjust. make it cozy too. somewhere that he would want to sleep.

all this. we had to get earplugs our pup's crying was so awful and loud... and on top of the crying and screaming, she pooped all in her crate the first few nights, making for a pleasant morning when we got up! but after about a week it was all good. and get earplugs.

[mpolak21]

You chopped off your hands?

 

You're killing in this thread, great work. Isodorah posted exactly what I was going to bring up. I made the mistake of letting our new puppy sleep in my bed in the morning in the summer (since I work nights, I usually sleep in, and wanted him with me instead of noising through the house trying to find and eat various things that could potentially cause him to asphyxiate.) Since then he's pretty much staked out the bed as his territory. We've had mixed success getting him to sleep elsewhere since. He at least does a pretty good of sleeping through the night most of the time, and he hasn't woken me up by standing on top of my chest and staring longingly at my aorta for at least six months, so I've got that going for me which is nice.

 

--Mike

[bobfrombob]

by removing him from the crate or even talking to him to comfort him while in the crate, you are reinforcing the behavior of crying and you will likely not be able to crate train him.

I think this is exactly right. If you want the dog crate trained, you'll have to put up with a few nights of the noise in the beginning. This won't traumatize the dog. In fact, after a couple of weeks, I suspect the crate will become a "safe place" and the dog will go there if/when it's stressed out. But you have to hang in there now (the ear plugs are a good suggestion).

[Winston Legthigh]

I think this is exactly right. If you want the dog crate trained, you'll have to put up with a few nights of the noise in the beginning. This won't traumatize the dog. In fact, after a couple of weeks, I suspect the crate will become a "safe place" and the dog will go there if/when it's stressed out. But you have to hang in there now (the ear plugs are a good suggestion).

Yeah.

 

Thanks to everyone for your input. I'm going to give it a go and let him holler til he's hoarse. Poor thing. My wife summed it up - she said when she got home from work yesterday, greeted by the wiggle-ass kissy-face puppy, she almost started crying because nobody's ever been that happy to see her. I've gone home during lunch the last two days to get him out and about and show some love, and it's been so hard to come back to work. Really love the lil guy.

[Edie]

Definitely leave the crate open for him when he is not locked up in it. Put lots of soft things in it and a toy or two, and make sure it's in a dark corner that is quiet. You will find that he will start sleeping in there on his own.

[alison the wilca]

we got our dog at 8 weeks and for the first 6 weeks, he'd only stay in bed half the night. we couldn't let him cry because we lived in an apartment complex with very thin walls. we tried the pheromone spray- it is EXTREMELY expensive and didnt work. we also tried a ticking clock wrapped in a sock to emulate the heartbeat of the mom/brothers/sisters- didnt work. he sleeps in the bed now and we sold the crate before he even turned one. hes pretty much a person in this house!

[Winston Legthigh]

So, I think little Leo has finally accepted his crate.

 

We put a Tshirt in with him, one that I had worn all day with no deodorant, and it really conforted him.

He started the week screaming bloody murder about going into the crate, to only making noise for 5 minutes or so, to not making any noise at all, to not fighting at all when we put him in. It was a rapid progression, and now when I come home for lunch, I bust him napping in the crate. So, he's accepted it as his little den.

 

I think my sleep pattern will finally be back to normal soon, but that was a brutal week.

[Edie]

So, I think little Leo has finally accepted his crate.

 

We put a Tshirt in with him, one that I had worn all day with no deodorant, and it really conforted him.

He started the week screaming bloody murder about going into the crate, to only making noise for 5 minutes or so, to not making any noise at all, to not fighting at all when we put him in. It was a rapid progression, and now when I come home for lunch, I bust him napping in the crate. So, he's accepted it as his little den.

 

I think my sleep pattern will finally be back to normal soon, but that was a brutal week.

 

Babies work the same way, FYI

[Winston Legthigh]

Babies work the same way, FYI

I'll check back in a year and a half. (rough time plan for now)

[Guest Speed Racer]

So, I think little Leo has finally accepted his crate.

 

We put a Tshirt in with him, one that I had worn all day with no deodorant, and it really conforted him.

 

Oh yay!

[Winston Legthigh]

Oh yay!

I should bottle my stank, like the Kids in the Hall Skit.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpCIYlRRw_o