I long for sleep!

[flora G]

I have had my puppy for one week now and he is 9 weeks old. I crate him at night and he howls, cries and yelps all night very loudly!! He wakes my whole household, even my daughter in the loft!
I have tried leaving him, he them messes and the howling gets worse. I toilet him outside before crating him late at night (ensuring I get a result) and get up early in the morning to let him go again and he still howls.
I have tried soft toys, heat pad, radio, lights on/off.
Please help I am desperate and getting to the point where I may have to take him back. Help :confused:

[nancy]

Not perfect but have you tried moving his crate into your bedroom. Sounds as if he gets scared when left perhaps he is affraid of the dark. If he settles in your room after a few nights move his crate nearer the door and again after afew nights untill you have him outside the room with door open to start with, then close it a bit more every night untill he is sleeping on his own. Hope this is of some help let us know how you get on.

[lassie]

Well on we:( ek is not long enough for a 9 week old pup to settle into his new life style. Do you cover the crate at night?

[Bindusar]

Not perfect but have you tried moving his crate into your bedroom. Sounds as if he gets scared when left perhaps he is affraid of the dark. If he settles in your room after a few nights move his crate nearer the door and again after afew nights untill you have him outside the room with door open to start with, then close it a bit more every night untill he is sleeping on his own. Hope this is of some help let us know how you get on.

Agreed, standard rule of thumb is to have 2 crates, one in the family room where everyone is usually at during the day that can be used when you go out and another in your room at night. Keep in mind that dogs are pack oriented. If he is crated somewhere else besides your bedroom or a child's room at night then he is basically being shunned. This also applies to covering the crate. Letting him see you will help foster a sense of security and belonging...so covering the crate is not the best option. (unless he is a birddog...lol, sorry couldn't help it) We are very active with the Great Pyr Rescue of Greater Chicago and those are the rules we have for new adopter...2 crates. Also, in case no one mentioned it to you before, do not use the crate for punishment, it needs to be a place of safety for him. You may want to crate him during the day at times if gets too excited...like a time out, but do it with gentle verbal cues. The other recommendation I would have for you (again, another requirement of our rescue group) is get enrolled in a puppy class. And make sure it is not a class built on domination, but on praise and positive reinforcement. I have heard of people who in a training class are instructed to pin their dog on their back and hold them there until they break (usually involves the dog urinating) in order to establish dominance...what idiots! :mad:

Otherwise, be patient. He is a baby...people do not give their 6 mo old children up for adoption because they cry at night. He will come around, just give him a chance. The puppy class will also help you develop a bond with him that will help alieviate his anxienty which in turn should help with the crying.

[Garry88]

good advice bindusar, but my mate has two pups and they r 2 months old and since the time he got them they never slept with him or even near him cause he trained them to sleep on his verander in a big dog kennel and he would have to get up to take them to the toilet and stuff but he didnt mind cause they didnt cry or anything, but for some pups they might need to sleep in ur room for a while till they get used to ur house and outside as well. But for flora i would do wat nancy said and definitly put it through a training school thats y my dog is so well trained, well we done most ourself like we taught her to sit and wait for dinner and not go for it until we click our fingers but she wont go if the person who doesnt take her bowl out clicks there fingers

[nats]

my dog is 6 weeks old i got her 5 days ago, she cried and howled all night when she was in the crate so i let her stay in the kitchen with a little side light on, she hasnt cried since, my older dogs sleeping house which is covered in is in the kitchen and she sleeps in that while my older dog sleeps in the room.

[adb25]

We got our lab when she was 7wks old. It took her a while to get used to her crate but once she did she was housebroke in 2 weeks. Finally when she was 1 1/2 she broke open the crate during the day while we were at work but now she stays in the living room and is totally housebroken and stays out of things. You have to stick to your guns and keep them in the crate at night. they will get use to it and it will become their own space.

[keeks62]

We live in an apartment, so when we got our pup, my husband and I took turns sleeping on the floor next to the crate! That lasted about a week until our pup got used to sleeping in the crate. Now she sometimes preferrs the crate to the bed. Don't worry! Your monster in a puppy costume will soon grow into a quieter dog! (believe it or not!)

[must love dogs]

we gave our dogs our old pillow to sleep on and that worked for us, but moving the crate into a bedroom would probably help. the dog needs to smell its safe :)

[rjdmtb]

We keep our pups kennel in the bedroom next to our bed. At first he would cry for a few minutes before falling asleep. Now he is getting to know when it is bedtime and cry's no longer. Just be patient. :)

[Becky]

You didn't mention if you too him out in the middle of the night for a potty break. He's barely 2 months old, which, for most pups, means he should be taken out every 3-4 hours. At night, you can usually get away with a little longer, but I'd say 5 hours at most.


Has he been actually crate trained?

Also, I cannot emphasize how much of a good idea it is to let him sleep with you. IMO, it is the best way to bond with your dog, especially this early in the game. Remember, he's just been taken away from everything he's ever known.

[lassie]

Well i never take my pups out in the night for a pee break , didnt realise people did that??? As for sleeping with you sorry NOWAY thats IS NOT a good idea

[kelsiebug]

my dog goes out right b4 bed. then in the mornin when my dad goes to work he lets him out and he comes back in when i get up. he also sleeps with me.

[Becky]

Lassie, I agree, not in the bed... which is not what I meant (but I can see how my wording/ forgetting to add the crate in could cause a problem). I meant in a crate in a room with someone. In this case, I definately think it IS a good idea.

As for taking the dog out at night; if it's urinating/deficating in the crate at night, it definately should be happening. Many people, I know, don't have a problem with their pups during the night, but it isn't uncommon... at least from what I've read.

[lassie]

But surely if you get up in the night to let it out for a pee you are making a rod for your own back.IMO.

[Becky]

Not if you gradually change the rules, and still, its better than the puppy messing in the crate.

Day 1: Go to bed at 11:00pm, let pup out at 4:00am

Day 3: Up the time in there a bit longer - 11:00-4:30

Day 5: 11:00-5:00
(note, these are just times a pulled off the top of my head, definately not any type of guideline :) )

And, obviously, getting up in the middle of the night isn't great... but getting up and having to clean urine/feces out of crate is less fun :).



The only other fair venue (sp?), IMO, is to allow the pup a larger area with puppy pads (and have it trained to use the puppy pads of course) so that it can relieve itself when it needs to... but this may interfere with house training.

[flora G]

Well we weathered the storm. Ditched the crate and moved him into the utility room with a night light and stair gate across the door. He now sleeps from 9.00pm to 6.00am no problem. Still dislikes being put away there during the day when we go out, he just doesn't like being left full stop!
Still does his business on paper in the room overnight is this ok at 4 months old? How do I stop this?
Thanks to all for your advice so far.

[nancy]

Try feeding him at a later time and make sure you take him out just before you put him in for the night. Just keep altering feeding times till you get it right . Is this the only time he goes on the paper? If so perhaps it is time to take the paper away and if he does go on the floor give him a telling off and put him outside I'm sure it wont take long for him to get to know whats what.Good Luck all you need is alot of praise when he gets it right and a lot of patience. Let us know how you get on. You could also make his last visit too the loo as late as possable just before you go to bed.

[lassie]

hi dont leave water down for him during the night either

[Clayton]

I know exactly how you feel.
Just picked up our puppy on Saturday morning. Started crate training immediatly and he seemed fantastic during the day, went in and out of the crate slept in it (with us in the room). Thought great, this is going to work brilliantly. ERR NO!
That night he barked and howled the house down. eventually after 6hrs I gave in and brought the crate upstaires into the bedroom. (every other dog I've ever had has always cried for a couple of hrs then gone to sleep and been OK after about three days, so I was a little surprised.) Put him in the crate next to the bed and within 5 minutes he was asleep and so was I. Sunday night moved the crate outside the bedroom but left the door open. He cryed for about ten minites then went to sleep. Last night, crate in the same place but closed the door, he cryed for about an hour but after some verbal 'it's OK Tye, I'm still here' he went off to sleep.
Will try this again tonight and then move him down stars to where I want him to sleep. One blessing is he hasn't once tried to go toilet in the crate or the house. best of luck, and persivere, believe me it will be worth it, and you'll forget all about this hicup in a few months.

[skunkstripe]

Whatever you do, try to stay calm if you catch him in the act of peeing/pooing in the house. If you get upset and angry and start hollering, your puppy might come to the conclusion that you do not like to see him doing that, so he might start doing his business where you won't see it, like behind the sofa or the washing machine etc. Try to stay calm and whisk him outside as quickly as possible.
And when he does do his business outside, praise him like he won the Nobel prize. Once I figured out that Zircie love pig ears, he got an instant pig ear for pooing outside as a puppy (I carried them in my back pocket for a while!). He caught on quickly that pooing outside was a GOOD thing!
Good luck!