crate problem

S

scotia

Member
Hi there, I need advice on having Cassie in a crate without whining the house down!
She has only been with us for less than a fortnight now and she is only 10wks so it is very early days, but I'm trying to train her to the crate for when I have to go back to work in a couple of weeks.
She has a nice comfy bed and toys in the crate, I feed her in it and she will also go in and out to lie there herself without being asked.
When I feed her in it, I close the door and when she finishes I wait a moment then let her out. I throw treats in, shut the door, let her out, so it's not as if the door is always shut on her.
The problem seems to be whenever I move away, even moving around the room she frets, I don't go to her, just wait until she is quiet then open the door.
I think I've had about 4hrs sleep each night since she's been home, I'm tired :sleepy:
She's lying sleeping in her bed in the crate right now with the door open but if I make a move she will be straight out and looking for me.
Sorry if this is a bit rambling, it's the lack of sleep :)
Any advice to help her settle down?
 
It sounds like you are doing the right thing...just don't give in to those eyes and whines. Have you tryed putting the bed near your bed so that she can still see and smell you at night. With our Maggie all I had to do was keep my hand near her crate or turn it to face Hannah's. If you are missing lots of sleep then maybe her crate needs to be in another room and you set your alarm to take her out.

Keep in mind that she is a baby and can not sleep throught the whole night with out a potty break..it helps to pick up her water in the evening to limit the amount she drinks late at night. I think the amount of time in the crate is about 1 hour per month of age..or something in like that.

It might not hurt to close the door on her crate randomly throughout the day and leave the room she is in to do chores (when you know that she has gone potty) I am not talking hours and hours. Give her a chew toy and a pat...she needs to learn to keep herself content without litter mates.

Good luck, all will workout fine..
 
Ditto what Manuel said! Patience and perseverance and such. Mine do get kongs when I go to work and I change up the contents all the time so there's always something new in there for them to discover. This week it's vienna sausage in the very narrow tip followed by sliced carrots, p-butter cereal, apples, and plugged with p-butter. When they first go in their cubbies it's all about what did Mom pack for me today? I leave for work and they HOWL for precisely 20 seconds and stop. Poor neighbors. Now I tried once crating Coco when was home. I needed him out from under foot you know. I was sitting at the dining table having breakfast and reading the paper...blind and near deaf that pooch KNEW I was still here and yipped constantly. Nuttin wrong with his nose! Seriously - I have left the house (radio on for the pooches) and forgot my lunch so around the block I go and back in the house only to find all 5 sound asleep and not even stirring when I came back in for my lunch container. :p
 
When we first got Angus, we had a crate in our bedroom at night. At 7 months of age, Angus and the crate are still in our bedroom! We were lucky in that he never made much fuss at night. We also put a worn t-shirt in the crate with him so that he could smell my husband's "scent" (God help the poor guy!). When we leave the house for any extended period of time, we put the radio on. We were crating him on the main floor of the house for the first little while but then we got a baby gate with a swinging door on it and set it up in the front foyer since it has ceramic tiles so if he had an accident, it wasn't a big deal. He was out of the crate during the day at around 5 months I think, in "his room". When we do leave for the day, we don't make a fuss about it. We plain out ignore him. When I get home at night, I also ignore him, get changed and then take him out for a pee and a walk. I don't make a fuss at all until he is outside for fear of him peeing in excitement.

I agree with everyone here, just have patience and perserverance. If you give in to him, he'll never get used to the crate and may be destructive when he starts to teethe.
 
Young pups are so used to sleeping in a big puppy pile and hopefully with their litter mates for a bit.

Do you have any background music or noise going on? Sometimes that really helps. Mine settled with classical and it helped that they couldn't hear me every time I made a move or got up and down.

Just takes time.
 
Scotia
Sounds to me like you are doing everything right. I don't use crates LOL.. my cabin is so small that we wouldn't have walking room with 4 crates in it.. ^_^
 
Great advice DJ. And keeping the crate in the bedroom at night is what I did when Lacey was a pup and it kept her quiet.
The classical music like Linda said, or anything soothing can help too. Mine chill out right way on that stuff. Bam.. they're out. On the other hand, some good old rock and roll cranked up turns 'em into a bunch of lunatics. Chasing each other, blitzing, fighting.. pissing on the rugs.. etc. I guess it brings out their wild side. lol
 
We had a bit of difficulty with Bailey crying/whining when we put him to bed. Even with Precious right next to him in her cage, he would throw an endless fit. I finally spoke to an animal behaviorist to get some advice. First, as several others have recommended, is music. He suggested one of those Homedics alarm clock radios that have the nature sounds. I set it on "crickets chirping" at night and talk radio during the day. The other thing he suggested, I know a lot of folks may disagree with, but I can tell you it worked like a charm.

When it is crate time, put her in (better yet teach her "kennel up" or similar command) and give praise or a treat. Do not fuss over her. Close the crate and walk away. If/when she starts fussing, wait 30, 60 seconds at most. If she doesn't stop, walk back in to the room, go directly to the crate, and do something loud and startling. We smacked the top of the cage with a newspaper; rattling coins in a coffee can may work just as well. Give a loud sharp NO!, turn and walk back out. The key is to get her to learn that whining/crying in the crate will result in something undesirable from you. No exaggeration, I had to do this TWICE with Bailey, and he stopped.

He still whines/cries now and then if he is caged and hears us elsewhere in the house, but all I have to do is holler Bailey NO! from the other room and he quiets down immediately. We can even go into the room where he is crated, meander around, talk to him, and leave again without him making the slightest whimper.

It's very hard to ignore that pitiful crying and the sad eyes, but perserverance and consistency is the key. I don't necessarily recommend this as a first approach, but more of a last resort if she doesn't adjust to the crate on her own. Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top