Crate Training Confusion.

[AmaCam+Digby]

Hello,

My husband and I bought home our lovely ACD pup Digby yesterday after noon (he is 8 weeks old) . It has been a long time since I have had a pup, and most of the time I will be at home with him.

I have a couple of questions about crate training, which is very much new to me.

I have read Ian Dunbar's book and looked into Crate Games. I have a fair idea of a schedule for successful crating, though I am unsure however of whether a pup should love his crate before you start using the crate for house training, and if not, what to do about the pup crying while crated?

He also barks into the night.. any suggestions to maybe calm him or quiet him would be greatly appreciated.

as said in the description, I just want to get in before the bad habits do!

Thanks so much!

[persephone]

Welcome

He also barks into the night..

he is a BABY who has just been removed from everything he knows. So , yes, he will vocalise.

Where does he sleep?

What kind of crate have you?

What exercise does he get?

When do you feed him?

What toilet training had he before you go him?

[AmaCam+Digby]

Welcome

He also barks into the night..

he is a BABY who has just been removed from everything he knows. So , yes, he will vocalise.

Where does he sleep?

What kind of crate have you?

What exercise does he get?

When do you feed him?

What toilet training had he before you go him?

Thanks, I think I may need reminding of that every now and then :S, he is super cute though..... I probably should have said how can I ease this transition some for him ....

I has only been one night, he slept in our sunroom which has been cordoned off especially for him as a "pen" type area with some toys and an emergency toilet tray,, we were prepared to possibly have to deal with accidents, but there were none. touch wood we have a repeat of that tonight. .

its an airline crate, a large one with a box in it to make it the right size for him.

He follows me around all day, and we do some training, and a dig and a run around the back yard - he sleeps quite a bit too.

Feed him at 7, 12, 530 + training treats.

I am not sure what toilet training he had before we got him, He seemed to have a pretty free range kinda life (in an indoor/outdoor pen)

[dancinbcs]

Welcome

He also barks into the night..

he is a BABY who has just been removed from everything he knows. So , yes, he will vocalise.

Where does he sleep?

What kind of crate have you?

What exercise does he get?

When do you feed him?

What toilet training had he before you go him?

Thanks, I think I may need reminding of that every now and then :S, he is super cute though..... I probably should have said how can I ease this transition some for him ....

I has only been one night, he slept in our sunroom which has been cordoned off especially for him as a "pen" type area with some toys and an emergency toilet tray,, we were prepared to possibly have to deal with accidents, but there were none. touch wood we have a repeat of that tonight. .

its an airline crate, a large one with a box in it to make it the right size for him.

He follows me around all day, and we do some training, and a dig and a run around the back yard - he sleeps quite a bit too.

Feed him at 7, 12, 530 + training treats.

I am not sure what toilet training he had before we got him, He seemed to have a pretty free range kinda life (in an indoor/outdoor pen)

If he had access to the outdoors then he has probably almost toilet trained himself so you won't need to use the crate for toilet training. Just use the room you have and give him regular access to outside, add a command word for toileting and he should catch on very quickly. Make it easier for him to settle at night and hold on to go out to the toilet by spacing the meals out more and feeding him the last one about an hour before you go to bed. Puppies need to toilet straight after eating, then about 9 hours later so feeding last thing at night fits in better with those times. Also 5.30pm to 7 am is far too long between meals. He is probably crying because he is hungry.

As you won't need to use the crate for toilet training just make it a pleasant place by giving him treats or toys to keep him happy in there and gradually increase the time he spends crated until he gets used to it.

[AmaCam+Digby]

If he had access to the outdoors then he has probably almost toilet trained himself so you won't need to use the crate for toilet training. Just use the room you have and give him regular access to outside, add a command word for toileting and he should catch on very quickly. Make it easier for him to settle at night and hold on to go out to the toilet by spacing the meals out more and feeding him the last one about an hour before you go to bed. Puppies need to toilet straight after eating, then about 9 hours later so feeding last thing at night fits in better with those times. Also 5.30pm to 7 am is far too long between meals. He is probably crying because he is hungry.

As you won't need to use the crate for toilet training just make it a pleasant place by giving him treats or toys to keep him happy in there and gradually increase the time he spends crated until he gets used to it.

Thanks so much this is very helpful.

I was very tired on the first day, so I stressed over the little things. I have entrusted him to a bit of a bigger space while we are sleeping/out and there has only been one puddle (doh) the large space between meals and crying makes 100% sense so I will close that gap tonight and see how he goes. I had realised that he is very good at toileting outside, so have decided the crate will only be for long travel, thinking about using a harness for shorter travel.

Thanks again!!! :)