Training A Puppy

Question: What's the best way to crate-train a puppy?!?

(Posted by: Elisabeth W on 2010-02-21 20:06:18)

We have a 3 1/ 2 month old beagle/ shar pei mix. We are having the hardest time crate- training him, especially at night. We've tried absolutely everything we can think of, and all the suggestions from our vet and trainer. He will whine relentlessly until we let him out of his crate. We've even tried letting him tire himself, but he whined for over 2 1/ 2 hours. He bangs on the crate, also. We try to ignore him, or sometimes comfort him, or give him food inside the crate, something soft to cuddle with, and something sturdy to chew on. He ignores ALL of it. The crate is the right size- - he has just enough room to turn around and stand up comfortably. HELP; we are losing sleep!!

Posted by: luvexotics on 2010-02-21, 20:17:45

The problem is you are not ignoring him well enough. He has learned that if he persists enough you give in. Since you have been giving in, it will take even longer now to break this habit. Place the dog in his kennel, give him a treat or verbal praise and then walk away and go to bed. Ignore him when he whines and bangs on his crate. Do not talk to him, yell at him, go to him, or let him out. Completely ignore him. If you give in even if its 2 hours later you are teaching him that you will give in. For some dogs they may cry for hours and hours. We had a foster that literally cried through the entire night, the first night, the whole eight hours. We did not let him out until just over 9 hours when he finally quited down. We then kept him active all day. After a night of no sleep and an active day, it only took an hour the next night for him to quiet down and by the end of the week he didn't whine at all. It is a battle of wills and the more you give in the longer it will take to train him. The biggest thing that will help shortening whine time besides ignoring if tirings him out. YOu have an extremely active breed. I would keep him up for most the evening and night and play lots of games to keep him busy and moving. You don't want to over due exercise on a regular basis for a puppy, but for a few nights to teach him a sleeping routine it will be ok. DOn't let him nap before bed while he is learning to be quiet. This will speed up how long it takes for him to tire out. I know it sounds tough but ignoring him 100% when he cries is the only way you will break this habit.

Posted by: *Nic* on 2010-02-21, 20:12:36

Honestly what I had to do with my puppy was sleep on the floor right next to him. I only did that for a week until he was completely potty trained. (my dogs extremely smart) But I don't believe that dogs should be crate at night. Let him sleep next to the bed on the floor. And just crate him when he's home alone. When they are young like that they just want to be next to you. They miss their mom.. It shouldn't last long though.

Posted by: Isis on 2010-02-21, 20:14:35

You're dog quite obviously does not like the crate. He feels that it's a prison not a safe place to be. The best way I know of to crate-train a dog takes time. You start by moving the crate to an area you frequent, dogs are social animals and don't like being away from their humans. It's tolerable after they've learned you'll eventually be back to let them out, but not before then. Feed him near his crate not inside so he grows comfortable around it, slowly move to tossing treats in the crate and praising him for going inside, even if it's only his front feet. Start tossing the treats further back as he gets more comfortable then eventually move on to closing the door for short periods of time. Don't leave the door closed so long that he starts whining, because when you let him out while he's whining this teaches him that whines get him let out. After he's comfortable for short periods of time with you sitting near by start leaving the room for a few minutes and coming back to let him out. Progress along that same line and he should tolerate the crate more easily and for reasonable periods of time. Praise him lots and he'll learn it makes you happy. It worked for my husky and she hated that thing.

Posted by: dolly on 2010-02-21, 20:16:45

When I started crate training my dogs I would have the crate right next to my bed. I'd put my hand down on the bars and fall asleep that way, lol. I also would leave them in their crate when I left for a couple hours at a time so I wouldn't be annoyed by all the whining! They were all around 8-10 weeks old when I trained them and were trained within a few days. NEVER comfort the dog, let the dog out while he is whining, or treat him while trying to get out of his kennel. That only prolongs training and keeps him whining even longer.

Posted by: Jhay Chiong on 2010-02-21, 20:29:52

Fill it with treats. Put a delectable food-stuffed chew toy in your pup's crate while she watches from the outside. Close the crate door. When your pup starts sniffing or pawing at the crate door, open the door and let her in to investigate. lnk.nu/ dogtime.com/ via.html

Posted by: Jenny on 2010-02-21, 20:45:12

Put the crate in the room where you are. Puppies cannot stand solitude, and they will cry until they are rescued. Good luck with housebreaking; both beagles and shar-pei are notorious for not figuring that out for months, if ever.

Posted by: Ruby on 2010-02-21, 22:11:32

Put the crate next to you while you watch tv with him in it sometimes. Leave the crate door open and stick treats and toys in it every now and then so he knows this is a good, fun place. If he starts whining, you can NOT let him out until he has stopped for a few minutes. If you do, he will think it was whining that got him out.