Hi All! I got my doggie last Sunday! I love him so much and he is doing well...but he hates his crate. He cries and crise and BARKS LOUD. I have tried to make it positive. He settles down after about 10-15 minutes...but this is every single time. I feel bad. Any advice? Is it really wort is to use the crate? I am think about getting a pen instead for duing the day?
shamrock12472
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Re: need help with crate training
He'll eventually get used to it. It has only been a week so give him some time. Don't try to pacify him when he is in the crate and crying because then he will learn that crying and barking get him positive attention.
lesleyw
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Re: need help with crate training
He'll calm down. Try giving him a stuffed kong in his crate. I found that when my puppy was young he would always make a fuss if he was in his crate and we were in the house -- he just didn't like being seperated from us. Crate training really is worth it; just put him in for small periods of time, feed him in there, put him in there at night, etc.
My puppy is 7 months old now and I use a crate with an exercise pen clipped to it during the day so he has more room. The problem with going to a pen right away is that you won't have any of the house training benefits that come with crating. After he's house trained adding a pen is fine.
BrideJamie
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Re: need help with crate training
He is peeing in the crate now...I keep him in during the day for 3 1/2 hours at a time, while I am at work, I come home during lunch, then another 3 1/2 hours. He sometimes can hold it an others he can't. I am so stressed over this. I am at a loss. I am getting to a high point of frustration. I have done so much research and none of it seems to help. I feel bad having him in the crate...but I have to go to work.
nyk825
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Re: need help with crate training
I was so stressed in the beggining too. I used to cry at the vets and tell her to report me to the APSCA because I leave my puppy alone in a crate for a long time and she would eventually be forced to sit her in own poop. We would have to bath her every night. But the vet reassured me we were doing the right thing. She is close to six months now and she has learned to hold it for nearly 11 hours. We were amazed that crate training really worked. You just have to be consistent. Your puppy will start to think of his/her crate as their own home and thus not want to go to the bathroom in it. However, at so young, they can physically hold it so long. It just takes time.
Kelly9904
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Re: need help with crate training
Try not to get so stressed, you dog will get used to your schedule. Right now your dog is probably still getting used to his new surroundings and everything. Our 8 month old puppy can hold it for like 13 hours, I am amazed at how she does this. I dont have any advice on crate training as we didnt use it, but there are so many people on here who did with great success. I am sure they can give you some great adivce and tips.
I really just wanted to tell you, it does get better and you will learn not to stress so much and your puppy will learn that you do come back and that everything is okay! I cant even tell you what a basketcase our puppy was the first week or two we had her when we would go to work! DH would call me at lunchtime to tell me how bad he felt leaving her! However in March, when I was home sick, I saw her looking at me, and I swear in her little head she was thinking 'wait, what do you think you are doing in MY house during MY time
lesleyw
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Re: need help with crate training
How old is your pup right now? Maybe he just can't hold it. I know a lot of people advise against paper training, but here's what we did until he could hold it for four hours (when we would come home from lunch):
We clipped the ex-pen to his crate and put papers down inside the pen. He had used papers at the breeders and used them with no training from us. Once he was about 4 months old, we started crating him in the morning -- out for lunch and then back in until we came home. Once we felt like he could hold it, we brought the pen back to give him more room and started leaving him all day -- with his crate opened to the pen. It worked for us, so you might want to try it.
