Needs Some Puppy Crate/sleep Advice

[DPC874]

About a week ago I picked up an 8 week old yellow lab pup. Everything's been going great except for one thing. His seperation anxiety and fear of sleeping. My little guy goes crazy when he is put into his kennel and I leave his sight. He does not stop barking and whining bloody murder until I come back. Which I try not to do to give into his demands. But this little pup literally barked for 4 hours straight and I finnaly had to do something before my neighbors thought there was torture going on at my house. It's deafining! I let him out and makes sure he does both #1&2 before bedtime or being put in crate. And he's gotten surprisingly well at not bathrooming in the house. But I have got to do something I have slept 4 hours since I've gotten him and I have taken off 2 weeks just to be with him 24/7 but I still have to run errands every once in while. Therefore his butt goes into the crate or playpen and as soon as I'm out of sight he loses his mind. I even got him used to the crate by feeding him in there sometimes, would hide treats in his crate and even got him used to chewing on bones in there.. I have even frozen KONG recipes and he ignores or has no interest in KONGs food or no food. What should I do I even put the crate next to my bed one night and he still lost it but just wasn't as piercing. And he would settle down within an hour and sleep for 30 mins then bark again. I'd take him out then crate him again. Still whining and going nuts. So you think he would be worn out during the day right? Bc puppies need sleep!...Not a chance in heck he maybe takes 1 nap per day for 3 mins. We get plently plenty of exercise and do some retrieving and exploring the property. But I'm starting to feel like something's wrong with him. We took him to the vet day one because of intestinal problem of the food the breeder had feed him and he's on antibotics now bc of the diarrhea with blood. The medicine seemed to have worked and harden his stools about 75%. But I have to figure out what to do with him. I tried leaving him for ten mins then coming back then on to 20 mins,30mins,45mins etc. and nothing seems to be working. When I let him out of his crate after a long stint he still cries for the first 3 mins and cowers around my feet while I pet him.I have taken everything out of his crate now bc I don't want him to lose it and chew and swallow something. Do you guy have any suggestions or advice on what I should do. This can not keep happening I will soon have to return to work. And I'm getting no sleep as it is which I expected but not 1-2 hours per day like the pup and I have both been getting. The only time he does nap which is rare is if he's on the couch with me. So please I'm open ears for any ideas or advice you might have on this issue. thanks -Pat

[shags]

Do you have a wire crate or the plastic airline style? IME solid plastic crates are much easier for crate training puppies. So, if you don't have a solid crate, that's where I'd start. Seems like wire crates are like jail, while solid ones are like dens.

Over the years we've had a night-time screamer or two, and the easiest way to deal with it was to let them sleep with us. We did the crate training during the day, and it went a lot better because there wasn't that pressure of having to get up for work in a couple hours. We've never had any bad effects from it either as the dogs grew up.

Once you get your plastic crate, if you don't have one already, put the pup in there and give him a couple minutes to settle. If he screams and carries on, give the crate a darn good shake and rattle and tell him to be quiet. Rinse and repeat as necessary. Don't worry about the "crate should be the safe place" stuff...who cares if the little booger is happy in there? The crate is the place to lay down and shut up. FWIW, i've taken this approach with every pup we've had, and each one went on to voluntarily use his crate for naps. I have a couple crates in the house and the dogs use them at will.

Be careful about being with your pup 24/7. That can lead to separation anxiety issues down the road, and who needs a big old lab tearing up the place when you make a beer run? You can put the pup in the crate when you don't really need to, make him settle if you need to, and let him out after a half hour of quiet time. When it's time to release him, be calm and quiet, don't do the happy time/treat time thing, because you don't want him anticipating fun at release. All things crate = quiet.

Good luck, hope you get some rest.

[Spotshooter]

I make sure the kennel is a safe haven, I put towels that have been with mom in there, and never pull them out of it... He has to want to come out...

[Roffey]

This yellow lab I have now wanted nothing to do with her crate. Barked howled liquid diarrhea the works. We just kept at the crate training small sessions all day and night.
Shags gave you good advice the only thing I would add is stay the course a crate trained dog is well worth it in the end.

[mtlhdr]

A smallish kennel is good for potty training, which it sounds like is going ok, but I also think it helps with the den-like feel. You could also try covering with a blanket. We kept our last puppy's crate for a short while in the laundry room overnight and ran the dryer, it helped drown out the whining (maybe not the barking your pup is doing) and I think the warmth and hum helped calm the pup a little. You could also try leaving a radio on, anecdotally I've heard that works but don't have any personal experience. Or perhaps keep the crate by your bed until the pup is doing a little better. Good luck. Like the others have said, stick with it and you'll be glad that you did...in the long run...

[setterpoint]

put the dog in the creat but stay with him in the room he might calm down with you there start with 5 min then work your way up to maybe 30 min you may be able to bo a couply things at one time say kennel you may have to make him go in in the end you can have a dog when you say kennel go in himself and stay till you let him out he may just get to like being in his own place this has worked for my dogs good luck

[Spotshooter]

Peanut butter in a knog while in the kennel isn't a bad thing either.

My dog hated his kennel because the floor was slippery and his back legs would spread... A blanket fixed that.