Lil Miss LeiLani Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Hey everyone, We jsut bought a metal crate for our Zorro on saturday. Sat & Sun nights he had no problem sleeping in tehre, and didn't bark once he got in. However mon & last night, he has started his high pitched bark when he is in the crate, and takes about 5-10 mins to settle down before going to sleep. What should I do ?? I tried covering the crate with a blanket (as I have the top and 3 of the sides covered for warmth) - but this time i pulled it over and covered most of the frotn to block his view - had the lights off but he still kept barking. Help ! Its driving us nuts ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhi*Jak*Ed Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Does he start the barking as soon as you put him in the crate? Mine does if she hasn't had some exercise to tire her out or if she needs to go to the toilet. I then figure out which one it is by the powers of deduction :-) Sometimes if I'm too tired myself to play fetch for an hour before I put her to bed, she'll bark non-stop for around the same amount of time before finally settling in and going to sleep. My suggestion would be exercise, then they're tired and should happily curl up and go to sleep :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Miss LeiLani Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 Thanks Rhi & Jak ! I thought about that too, that maybe he wasn't tired enough to go to bed ! Just like a kid i imagine! :-) Will try wearing him out tonite & popping him in. We tried to leave him in there when we went to the shops but he just started barking so we let him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhi*Jak*Ed Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 No worries :-) One thing though, if you let him out whilst he's barking he will think that EVERY time he barks in the crate that you will let him out. I'd suggest waiting until he settles, then letting him out. He will then associate that he doesn't get let out until he's quiet and settled. I know the barking and/or crying is hard to listen to at times, but for your own good you need to persist and either ignore it or invest in a good set of ear plugs haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Miss LeiLani Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 The last two nights when he has been barking, i made sure we didnt let him out, and told OH that he will settle down, we just need to ignore him until he gets bored or barkign and gives up and goes to sleep. He did eventually which was great ! Its just getting him to go in there without any complaining. Tonite we'll try and tire him out before bed time and see how that goes ! How will he get used to it - i mean some ppl on here leave their dogs in the crate when they pop out to the shops for an hour or so - we'd love to be able to do that -maybe we have to give it a bit more time. ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhi*Jak*Ed Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Maybe try and associate the crate as being a great place to be, feed him in there, drop in a treat every now and then etc. So then he doesn't just see it as the place he gets put when everyone disappears and will instead enjoy going into it. I use my crate for time out also, but I think people recommend you don't do this. Jak seems to know the difference though between getting put in her crate for clawing at the couch (Argh!) and going in there because it's night time. I do cover it completely with a blanket at night though so that's probably why. Oops haha. Each dog is different, aren't they grand? lol. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Just my experience....I definitely made sure Ziggy had plenty of exercise/stimulation before going to bed but I found it was also important not to put him to bed all wound up - so once he'd had a good play I would sit on the floor with him (some nice cuddle time for both of us) and play with his paws and his mouth etc....gradually he would wind down....I had the 3 yawn rule.....3 puppy yawns and it was off to bed I made the mistake of putting him to bed when he had fallen deeply asleep and he got quite a fright when he woke up on his own...spoiled baby. Plus the other thing that helps is associating bed time with some food. I always hold back a small handful of his puppy biscuits and put them into his puppy kong....I only have to start filling it now and he rushes into his crate for a snooze. Last thing at night (around 10.30pm) I get him up to toilet and then it's back to bed with his puppy kong and a chicken neck. He can't wait!!! Initially I also left a lamp on as the crate is open to allow him to have a drink plus the radio, but phased them out within a few weeks. I'm not really sure if they helped....but he adapted very quickly. I use the crate when I go out but it's also handy through the day when the cats have had a gut full of his antics and need a break or some special time of their own I never get him up unless he is perfectly quiet....and I make sure I wait a little while when I get home so he doesn't associate me coming in the front door with immediately letting him out. Other times I will get him up when I can hear him awake but behaving. We're getting there although once I use the bathroom in the morning I can't fool him - OH can crash around all morning and Zig never makes a peep :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Miss LeiLani Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 Thanks for the tips ! I do put treats in there for him and when he goes in I give him one, or when he lies down he gets one as well. Will have to see how we go - its only been a few days. Will try tiring him out ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 My pup did this, too, and was part of the reason we kicked him outside to sleep and are getting rid of crate. That said, I used it a couple of nights last week after pup was desexed and it was cold outside. He settled after feeding, toilet break and some play before bedtime. I got him used to it again a few days before by putting his comfy bed in there and some treats, so he'd go in for shorter periods all by himself. Sounds like you're doing the right things, he's just getting used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 I would put some treats, or a small bones in there for him when you first put him in there, and then ignore it completely. Get some earplugs and pretend you cant hear him barking. He'll soon get over it and give up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystiqview Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Dogs that have never been crated and learned about crates cannot go straight into a crate and be expected to 'behave'. Now put a similar situation to yourself. You have just been told that you must stay in one room... You would not like it unless you have some 'comforts' there. Similar can be dogs who have never been crated. When you start crate training, you have to make the crate a positive area. this envolves sessions where you feed in the crate, play in the crate, and make the crate a place of retreat rather than a jail cell. Essentially this is what you have done. Zorro has been able to do what he likes. All of a sudden he is locked in a small area that he has no idea why. You need to make this area HIS place of retreat. Do a google on crate training. There are some excellent articles online about successful crate training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahn Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 We put our guys to bed (4.5mnth old BCs) at the same time every night (give or take 15 mins) and follow the same routine in terms of dinner, then toilet break, then play time, then quiet time, toilet break, bedtime. We give our two BCs a quarter of a carrot each as we put them in the laundry for bedtime, and most of the lights go off at that time. WE never hear a peep from them (except once when one of them had a nightmare and started crying). Do you have a routine with Zorro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 We put our guys to bed (4.5mnth old BCs) at the same time every night (give or take 15 mins) and follow the same routine in terms of dinner, then toilet break, then play time, then quiet time, toilet break, bedtime. We give our two BCs a quarter of a carrot each as we put them in the laundry for bedtime, and most of the lights go off at that time. WE never hear a peep from them (except once when one of them had a nightmare and started crying).Do you have a routine with Zorro? This is very different when you have 2 pups though. They have each other to snuggle and be company. One pup will cry and/or bark as it has been seperated from its pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 I think you've forgotten one very important part of crate training....the training part. You'll need to feed them in their crate, throw toys in their crates, put them in their crates when they fall asleep. The dog needs to create a positive association with the crate. When Dante goes in his crate at night he has a treat which he finishes then goes to sleep on his heat pack which is inserted into a comfort toy. Once you've done this, ignore the whinging and barking, it should settle within a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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