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anonymous

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Crate training ?

HI, I have a few questions about crate training. I have a 13 week old puppy (Wheaten Terrier) that I am trying to crate train. When we first brought him home (10 weeks old) we started using his crate. He could be put in his crate and he would sleep from 1 to 3 hours and then cry when he needed to go out. Once outside he would pee or poop and then we could take him back to his crate and he would go to sleep and the cycle continued.
Now at 13 weeks he is crying almost the whole night while he is in his crate. His crate is located in our bedroom so we are getting almost no sleep.
NOTE: (While we are at work he is in his crate from 7:40 till 10:40 then he gets out for a 1 hour lunch. Then he is put back in his crate from 11:40 till 2:40 then he gets out for 1 hour. We usually get home from work at 5:30 and we play with him until around 9:00pm and we put him back in his crate)
We are not sure if he is now crying at night because of:

1. He is not ready to go to sleep and he wants to keep playing?
2

Posted 288 days ago

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adunphy

Best Answer

Congrats on your new puppy! Puppies like to sleep a lot so the amount of time he is in his crate doesn't concern me given that you are letting him out for an hour mid-day.

From his perspective, he cries, you let him out to go potty. I typically put my pups on a schedule so they aren't in the habit of waking me, but the other way around - I wake them. I would cut off the water around 8 pm and take him potty around 11pm one last time. Then put him in his crate and leave him in there until around 5am. The hours are flexible - but you get the point. Ignore him all night. If he is bothering you, move the crate out of your room. He will learn the routine.

A few ideas though will help him stay happy with his crate
1) feed him in it
2) hide toys in it
3) reward him for going in it
4) reward him for being in it while you are home (maybe on the weekends)
5) put him in when he seems tired.

I personally really like to leave young dogs with a frozen kong filled with a bit of banana and a small treat out the top. This can help them enjoy going in their crate when you are leaving them.

Best of luck!
Amy

Posted 287 days ago

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Answers (1)

adunphy 		Congrats on your new puppy! Puppies like to sleep a lot so the amount of time he is in his crate doesn't concern me given that you are letting him out for an hour mid-day.

From his perspective, he cries, you let him out to go potty. I typically put my pups on a schedule so they aren't in the habit of waking me, but the other way around - I wake them. I would cut off the water around 8 pm and take him potty around 11pm one last time. Then put him in his crate and leave him in there until around 5am. The hours are flexible - but you get the point. Ignore him all night. If he is bothering you, move the crate out of your room. He will learn the routine.

A few ideas though will help him stay happy with his crate
1) feed him in it
2) hide toys in it
3) reward him for going in it
4) reward him for being in it while you are home (maybe on the weekends)
5) put him in when he seems tired.

I personally really like to leave young dogs with a frozen kong filled with a bit of banana and a small treat out the top. This can help them enjoy going in their crate when you are leaving them.

Best of luck!
Amy

287 days ago

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( 0 )
   Report Abuse
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