Crate Training Questions

[LabGuy]

So im on day 3 of having my new lab pup, and I have a couple of questions about crate training. I am still trying to get him use to going in there all the time, so I have been feeding him regularly in his kennel and leaving the door open to allow him to walk in and out. So far there have been no accidents in the kennel at all, but am dealing with some in the house.

1. How long should I put up with the whining? The pup is a little over 8 weeks and does the usual whine/whimper when I put him in his kennel at night. I have read that you want to make the kennel his "happy place" and do no corrections while in the kennel; however, I have also read that you want to correct the whining right away to avoid issues down the road. I have noticed that if I lay next to his kennel he falls asleep right away, so it might be the separation anxiety.

2. How often should I be using the crate when I am at home before work and after work/before bedtime? (i.e. directly after play time, after going outside, after feeding, etc.) I am gone most of the day due to work, so he sits in his kennel a good portion of the day (my gf and a dog walker have a schedule setup to take him out at lunch time).

Tonight I am going to start using treats and putting him in the kennel for short periods (start at 2-3 min and work up) of time to reinforce the no whining. No whining = him being let out of the kennel. I am also going to get into the practice of taking him outside about 8-10 minutes after every event (sleeping, playing, etc.) to try and prevent him from going in the house.

Any other thoughts and comments would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Justin

[Bberry20]

No pro here, but my pup just turned one so here is what i did.

1. If he whines in the crate, do not reward him. He will use this to get you to let him out all the time and only make it worse. Only let him out when he is quiet.

2. When i was home and could watch and be with my pup i had him out. I only crated him when i couldnt have him with me. Take him as many places i can and develop a bond with him.

3. you are on the right track, take them out after feeding, watering, waking up, playing. I got in the habit of about every 45 mins going out for a quick try. After another few weeks you can add some more time in between.

Last comment, enjoy that little bugger they are fun!

[Hoosierdaddy]

If your pup is sleeping all night you are way ahead in the game.Have him out with you when you are home and keep him where you can watch him at all times.Take him out every couple hours and praise him up when he does his buisness outside.Pups are gonna whine as a rule,as hard as it can be sometimes just ignore it.Pups have tiny bladders and need to go out often,right after eating and drinking.He just got taken away from his mother so laying next to him reassures him.It sounds as if you have a pretty calm pup.When i brought mine home(two of them) i did not got a full nights sleep for nearly a month.
Teach him the crate is a good place.Excessive whining is a different story. At his young age i would not be concerned. My male is a big baby and is a whiner still at 7 months,he whines when he sees his food,the leash, the e-collar.He snivels about everything.Its actually pretty funny now.My female never has whined,quiet as a churchmouse.

Clean up spots when he does have an accident in the house with vinegar/water solution or an enzyme treatment.I had my two pups pawing at the door after 3 weeks,it can be done.

[deseeker]

Since your feeding him in his kennel, make sure you get him outside to his bathroom spot shortly after feeding him---it seems to me they usually have to go within 15 minutes of eating(IMO).

[CDN_Cocker]

I'm doing exactly as you right now with my 9 week old cocker and I must say, the whole experience is horrific. My other dog only whined the first 3 nights we had her and since then has been great. She is now 9 months old and chooses to spend most of her time in the crate. Jake on the other hand starts barking insanely as soon as he is put in for the night (or if we need to run out during the day for a bit). We have just been ignoring him (which is killing my patience, I am ready to kill someone) but he is not improving. It has been 5 days now and I'm pulling my hair out, how long can this go on for? My previous dog was also crated at night and when we were out and he too like the other dog settled within the first couple of days. He likes going in to eat but any other time is a crap shoot. I know there is probably no quick fix but I'm about to lose my mind.

[LabGuy]

My pup is definitely not sleeping all night yet. I will put him down at 10pm and he wakes up around 1:30am and then again at 5am. Hopefully this will get better with time. The hardest part for me right now is making him like his crate considering i have to put him in it and leave everyday. Any tips/tricks on that?

[whatsnext]

It just takes time my newest pup took about three or four weeks to settle down in his crate meaning no whining,and he just started sleeping all night the past week or two and he is 4 months old.They can only go so long without messing when they are young, a rule of thumb is age in months plus one hour so at 8 weeks you are looking at 3 to 4 hours.

[ezzy333]

I don't worry about crate training as there is little I can do since it is used as though it is his dog house. When I bring a pup homw and it needs to be housebroke the puppy is in the crate during ALL times he is not being actively watch and played with. In other words that is his home. when I have something to do where I can't be actively involved with the pup it is in the crate. When I want to play with it, get him out of the crate and take him outside till he relieves himself. Then come in and play with your pup and when you are through he goes back in the crate for his nap. And then the whole process is started over. That way the pup does not have the chance to have accidents in the house. And the pup will learn that the crate is HIS safe spot. I always take the pup out of the crate to feed it. I want feeding to be a separate experience than eating. But the secret is to have the pup in the crate when not being actively engaged with it and always take it outside very first thing when getting it out. And never take the pup out when it is barking or whining to get out. Getting out is your decision and not the pups. If he gets too noisy put the crate in the basement, garage or where-ever you must.

Our dogs still sleep in their crates at night and they will go get in their crates when they want to nap many times. It works and works well and saves the house.

Ezzy

[Bberry20]

you can always give in at night and let him sleep with you! but then when you get to a year you might need a bigger bed.

[Qwernt]

++ to Ezzy on this one. When we had something to do, she was out of the crate. Otherwise she was in it. I left it a little larger than most people, just so she had a little more room.

I also cheated at night the first week or so. I slept on the couch (same room as the crate) the first couple of nights so it wasn't a complete change of 100% with family to all by yourself. However if there was whining, I just gave a growl. Also meant that I could get up in the middle of the night to take her our for potty breaks. After the first couple of nights, I moved a room over. Same treatment - whining got a growl. Serious barking meant boring trip to potty on leash. No fun at night when I was supposed to be asleep. This approach worked pretty well for us. I sacrificed 5 or 6 nights to get her into the pattern.

Other comments/questions: what do you do just before bed? I did my best to wear her out. Make sure when she went to bed at night it was sleepy time. In fact, anytime we got done playing, and sleep was coming into the crate she went. I think it helped the crate to become her quiet place.

Now, we moved away from a crate and have a small pen for her instead. Gives her more room to spread herself around, but keeps her from trouble when we are asleep or out of the house (and she would find trouble).

[Hoosierdaddy]

I'm doing exactly as you right now with my 9 week old cocker and I must say, the whole experience is horrific. My other dog only whined the first 3 nights we had her and since then has been great. She is now 9 months old and chooses to spend most of her time in the crate. Jake on the other hand starts barking insanely as soon as he is put in for the night (or if we need to run out during the day for a bit). We have just been ignoring him (which is killing my patience, I am ready to kill someone) but he is not improving. It has been 5 days now and I'm pulling my hair out, how long can this go on for? My previous dog was also crated at night and when we were out and he too like the other dog settled within the first couple of days. He likes going in to eat but any other time is a crap shoot. I know there is probably no quick fix but I'm about to lose my mind.

You might try a spray bottle filled with water. A shot to the face causes no pain and the pup will not like it.Run the living snot out of him,a tired pup is a good pup.

[Hoosierdaddy]

My pup is definitely not sleeping all night yet. I will put him down at 10pm and he wakes up around 1:30am and then again at 5am. Hopefully this will get better with time. The hardest part for me right now is making him like his crate considering i have to put him in it and leave everyday. Any tips/tricks on that?

My male still does not like his crate,too bad for him. I treat him and he goes in but he would rather lay all over the house.My female was crate trained the day she came home.She loooooves her crate. Like Ezzy said its their house,and you need to keep it that way.He will get used to it you must be vigilant with this or he will be in your bed.

[Sharon]

So im on day 3 of having my new lab pup, and I have a couple of questions about crate training. I am still trying to get him use to going in there all the time, so I have been feeding him regularly in his kennel and leaving the door open to allow him to walk in and out. So far there have been no accidents in the kennel at all, but am dealing with some in the house.

** Sounds like pup is doing great .

1. How long should I put up with the whining? The pup is a little over 8 weeks and does the usual whine/whimper when I put him in his kennel at night. I have read that you want to make the kennel his "happy place" and do no corrections while in the kennel; however, I have also read that you want to correct the whining right away to avoid issues down the road. I have noticed that if I lay next to his kennel he falls asleep right away, so it might be the separation anxiety.

** Best to ignore the whining . THis includes negative attention - no words, ignore. Treat feeding in the kennel could encourage pup to be whining for a treat.

2. How often should I be using the crate when I am at home before work and after work/before bedtime? (i.e. directly after play time, after going outside, after feeding, etc.) I am gone most of the day due to work, so he sits in his kennel a good portion of the day (my gf and a dog walker have a schedule setup to take him out at lunch time).

** I only use it when I am gone out , but pup does not have the run of the house when out of the crate. jmo

Tonight I am going to start using treats and putting him in the kennel for short periods (start at 2-3 min and work up) of time to reinforce the no whining. No whining = him being let out of the kennel. I am also going to get into the practice of taking him outside about 8-10 minutes after every event (sleeping, playing, etc.) to try and prevent him from going in the house.

** Exactly. Use a cue word for peeing /pooping. I say "hurry up!" My older dogs now pee immediately on the cue word. Save standing outside waiting for action.

Any other thoughts and comments would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Justin

[LabGuy]

So just as an update, everything last night went much better. Started taking him out every 15 minutes while he was eating, playing or drinking water and only had 2 small accidents in the house. Everytime i take him out and he goes outside like he should, I say "good boy" and praise him a lot. I think i might ahve to watch myself so he doesn't associate me saying "good boy" and him peeing.

He still doesn't like being in his kennel, but he gladly walks in and out when I feed him in there. I also took your guys' advice and found that it is much easier if you just play with him a ton or go on a long walk right before bed time. Once i put him in the kennel after a long play session or walk, he immediately falls asleep with little to no whining/barking. All i know is that I was stoked last night for my first small training success! ha

[royta]

My 8.5 week old Britt must be awesome. I'll put her down at 9 or so and she doesn't wake me up until 3 or 4. I'll get dressed and carry her down the stairs and let her out the back door and she'll race to the grass. I've had her since Friday evening and she's my first gun dog.

[CDN_Cocker]

My 8.5 week old Britt must be awesome. I'll put her down at 9 or so and she doesn't wake me up until 3 or 4. I'll get dressed and carry her down the stairs and let her out the back door and she'll race to the grass. I've had her since Friday evening and she's my first gun dog.

Count your blessings.

[gsp2011]

When I picked up my GSP, I took the sweater off my back for him to keep. I began training him as soon as he entered my house. Nothing to stress him out. I kept it plain and. I placed my sweater in his kennel and commanded him to his kennel. He went in and laid down for a nap. I went into the other room and left him be. One hour later, I took him outside for him to do his business. Give him a treat when he comes back inside the house. We did this for 2 weeks. Every hour, I took him out to do his business and let him go back inside to get use to his surroundings. He didn't cry in his kennel. Do this for 2 weeks. If your dog cries, leave him be. Take your dog to the park and run him or her. Its hard work but in the end, he or she is your best friend.