Crate Crying

[Puppybella]

Hey Everyone,

I'm about to start crate training my 14 week old puppy during the night. At the moment I'm getting her used to actually being locked in there by doing short sessions in the day. If she's a bit sleepy (but still awake) she's fine, but if I try it in the morning she gets a bit cranky. Anyone have any tips how to spot if she just doesn't want to be in there, or if she actually needs to go to the toilet? I put her in after a toilet trip, but sometimes she can do two in quick succession, so I'm never really sure. At night she sleeps through from about 11 to 5, with the opportunity to go to the loo, but the last 5 nights have been completely dry, so I think it would be ok to crate at night with maybe one toilet stop in the beginning, just in case.

I just don't want to ignore her whining and then have an accident to clean up and a bad experience for her.

Thanks!

[parrotpea]

If she's just been to the toilet in the last 15 minutes she should be fine. If you know she's sleepy try putting your fingers in and giving her a bit of a pat so she knows you're still there. My little 10 week old pup has been fine with this over night - but won't have a bar of his crate in the daytime!

If he whines during the night and I give him a bit of a pat, I can hear if he's snuggling down to go back to sleep, or if he's moving around - in which case it's toilet time

[sas]

I reccomend Crate Games to have your dog love its crate quickly: http://www.agilitycl...com/prod157.htm

If you believe your pup will need a toilet break overnight don't wait for the crying and whining, set your alarm for the time you believe the dog will need to go i.e. 1am.

If the pup whines overnight, you can just get uyp without saying anything, take the dog toilet, praise the toileting, put the dog back in the crate and go to bed, you don't need to have a whole conversation with the dog, the less you interact with the dog in that situation the better it is long term.

Edited May 19, 2011 by MEH