New Puppy Night Howling

[melinda10786]

The crate games are fanastastic and have helped me with my boy immensely.

However, for an alternate sleeping arrangement, would you be able to place the pup in your bathroom/laundry and have a baby gate up, so he can still see out, if you don't want to get another crate? Still have his soft crate in there with him leaving it open (the one he now destroyed - assuming its still reasonably intact) and some toys for him to play with. I really found the best way of making sure they slept was wearing them out big time, taking out for a final bathroom break and straight to bed. When they wake up early, outside for a bathroom break and back to bed. When he's quiet, lots of praise and reward.

[minimax]

I know it sucks and it's upsetting, but it won't get better overnight. Like anything pups learn in their own time, so I would listen to all the suggestions of earplugs for a while to drown out the noise.

But if he's not sleeping at night, he must be sleeping a lot during the day, so try and keep him awake during the day as much as possible otherwise he learns night is for fun, day is for sleep.

[Stitch]

Firstly, take a deep breath and start from scratch again. Forget about your other crate and what has gone before. Dogs live in the moment so they can start the training again easily.

Set yourself up to succeed knowing that what you are doing is not cruel but just crate training.

Crate training goes like this.......

As others have said, buy yourself a proper wire crate that is big enough for the dog to comfortably stand in and turn around.

Move the crate during the day to an area the dog can see you eg. family room with a view to the kitchen where you are working.

Feed the dog all its meals in the crate.

Play with the dog when it is in the crate.

Practice going into and out of the crate with food treat rewards that it loves.

Repetition, repetition, repetition to reinforce that the crate is a great place to be.

Night times, put the crate beside your bed so you can put your hand down and it can lick your fingers through the wire as you reassure it.

This is as good as it gets for a dog of a night time so you just have to keep doing all this and eventually it will all settle down and resolve itself.

If you are unsettled the dog will pick this up so try to remain calm at all times.

Once it has settled down you can then gradually move the crate further and further away.

Age will give the dog more sense and understanding and the fear of being left alone will diminish.

Some dogs need more reassurance when they are young and miss the company of their littermates but this as I said will diminish as it gets older.

Don't expect miracles or quick fixes as this is something that takes time and consistant even handed training to get the pup to settle down on your terms.

For more explanations do a search on crate training on the web. There is lots there!!

Edited February 25, 2012 by Stitch

[mumof4girls]

we have done absolutely every one of the things above except for the pheromone spray and the wire crate. I'm not made of money - this crate cost $130+ and came highly recommended grr....

Maybe you could use that one for the car and buy a wire crate, I got mine off eBay new for $80 it is huge as my boy is a large breed puppy.. They do get hot in the enclosed ones, I know when I have a cover over my wire one he gets hot so I have to leave the back open and just the sides covered so it is still dark but airflow can get in..

Anyway your choice hope he stays settled soon for you.. :-)

[huski]

Dogs can break out of wire crates too if they are determined, no crate is indestructible.

What do you have in the crate for him? I would be putting an old dirty t-shirt in there so it smelt like you and I'd also get a Snuggle Puppy and put that in there too. A lot of puppies find the heart beat in the Snuggle Pup comforting and we get a lot of great feedback on them.

I agree for now that I wouldn't continue locking him in the crate when he is this distressed. Leave him confined in a bigger area with the crate open until he is able to settle in the crate.

[Bear&Duke]

Just an idea on the crate, try gumtree. We got a crate worth $140 for $20 off gumtree and it was like new

[Rosaline]

How has Zitch been going over the last couple of days?

[WeimMe]

I know you really don't want him in your bedroom, but is there a chance that you'd consider temporarily allowing him to be in the crate in there just while you are training him? The howling for your neighbours, lack of sleep for you and stress for him would be doing my head in! I just don't think that it's worth it, to save a few weeks of the dog being present in your room as you slowly accustom him to being alone in the crate at night.

I think that Stitch's advice sounds like a great plan to try - the dog is reassured that you are close by at night, learns to love his crate during the day and gradually you can move him out to wherever you'd like him to permanently be sleeping. I did this with my first dog and it worked really well - in fact, from the first night we put her right by our bed she was quiet and slept right through without crying. The only downside was that we decided we didn't mind her being in our room after all so that's where she stayed! We have a new pup and while he's a holy terror during the day, we have no issues with him at night while he's in his bed in our room at all.

[Zitchdog]

Thanks for everyone's continued concern. Like I said originally, he was sleeping in our room, having alarm clock, hot water bottle, old clothes of ours, chews, toys, radio light etc made no difference. Even with the crate next to the bed and my hand down with him didn't help. That is why he got put in the laundry so we could try to get some sleep.

We also have the crate outside or in communal areas during the day and he sleeps and chews and plays in it all the time, it was just being zipped up that freaked him out. maybe he's claustrophobic?!!

He's still in the laundry and I think he's sleeping in the crate, but I gave up trying to close it as he obviously couldn't stand it. We now just pop the crate in the laundry with the side door rolled up, an extra blanket on the floor of the laundry and if we're worried that he's not quite ready for bed or likely to cry a lot we chuck in a pigs snout too. he ADORES them!!

Things have been much better. We only toilet him once a night and don't hear him crying very much, not compared to before anyway.

We can take him out of the house as of this weekend and also start puppy school so that should help with the training and tiring him out a bit more.

:)

[MissMedusa]

Hi just wanted to add my 2 bobs worth to this dilemma.

We have always had a dog in the family and each one has slept in our small laundry with their bed/open crate at one end as puppies and some newspaper on the floor at the other end.

The first couple of nights they would always cry/scream, as expected, which we completely ignored. Then from then on it would realize it was time to sleep.

For the first few weeks a radio was left on VERY low vol but we never left a light on.

For the first months we always got up at around 6am to toilet the puppy but never got up during the night. The newspaper was mostly used but night time toilet training was learnt pretty quickly.

It didnt seem to take any of them too long to sleep in until we were ready to get up...we are fairly early risers tho even on weekends.

Hope some of this helps.

[Christina]

Even with the crate next to the bed and my hand down with him didn't help. That is why he got put in the laundry so we could try to get some sleep.

We also have the crate outside or in communal areas during the day and he sleeps and chews and plays in it all the time, it was just being zipped up that freaked him out. maybe he's claustrophobic?!!

He's still in the laundry and I think he's sleeping in the crate, but I gave up trying to close it as he obviously couldn't stand it. We now just pop the crate in the laundry with the side door rolled up, an extra blanket on the floor of the laundry and if we're worried that he's not quite ready for bed or likely to cry a lot we chuck in a pigs snout too. he ADORES them!!

:)

That is the best news & most sensible IMO. Also the kindest. Don't know why there is this big focus on dogs sleeping in or going in crates every day. Mine are penned as pups sometimes & some adults will go in a crate if they have to. Stud boys when the girls go past to go out because they are quick to grab a girl :laugh: or after desexing etc & they do not go nuts. I never crated them overnight as pups but did use a big playpen when very small. Your pup will be so much happier now & he won't turn out to be uncontrollable. I have one dog who gets claustrophobic.

[Charlotte123]

Hi everyone!

We got our little Golden Retriever girl on saturday morning and she did not stop crying at night ever since.

During the day she is the sweetest pup, she doesn't cry or whinge, she was all happy and playful within 3 hours from leaving her mummy.

The problem starts when we want to go to sleep. Usuallyshe has approximately 3-4 naps during the day, wakes up, plays for an hour or two and go back to sleep for another 2 hours. This pattern doesn't stop at night. She goes to sleep but then wakes up and whinge and cry until someone comes. Ive read few topics on this forum and I know we have made a mistake by letting her out to play in the middle of the night but we were scared her cry will wake up our neighbours. Is it possible to teach her now that crying won't get her anything? Or we screwed up and nothing can be done?

I already bought hot water bottle and clock so that she feels like mummy is there but i feel that she cries not to see mum, she cries cause she is bored and wants to play. What do we do in that case?

Please help cause I can't go without sleeping anymore!!

[WeimMe]

Where does she sleep Charlotte? If you are happy to have her by your bed in her crate you can put your hand on the top of the crate to reassure her during the night. The first few weeks with a new puppy are not great for sleep as they often need to go out to urinate once or twice during the night until their bladder is big/strong enough to hold until morning. Don't worry though, it only lasts a few weeks (although they do feel like forever!).

Just be sure to be all business for the night time toilet runs - quietly pick her up, on with the leash, pee, praise and straight back to bed - no play or other attention. She'll get the idea that night time is for sleeping soon enough.

[minimax]

Please help cause I can't go without sleeping anymore!!

You have a puppy - get used to the lack of sleep!

But it's not too late to start working on a routine you want her in. My pup is now 5 months old and only in the last few weeks have we found a sleeping/nighttime routine that works best for us both.

Getting there took a lot of work, time, and very early mornings (and then some earplugs).

My tips: wear her out. Yes she's a pup and she needs lots of sleep, but if she gets too much sleep during the day she won't be tired at night (or will be in the awake for a few/asleep for a few routine, which is seems like she is naturally).

She's only a baby and just came from mum, so she will be lonely and scared at night. give her something that smells like you - a tshirt or something to snuggle with, and maybe a radio on low for some noise.

Is she being crate trained, or where will she be sleeping? Keep her near you, and wake her up to pee on your schedule.

It's trial and error - but to teach crying won't get her anything means you have to let her cry it out.

Do you know your neighbors? Can you pop over (with a bottle of wine and some earplugs for them!) and explain you have a new pup and things could be a bit noisy for a while?

Good luck. And we need pics of your new baby!

[Borja]

Deleted - sorry for the hijacking!

Edited March 16, 2012 by Borja