OMFG Help me keep him quiet [new puppy]

amateurhour

Okay, so the wife and I got a puppy for Christmas. He's a rescue and his name is Harvey.

Obligatory pic...

and video

http://yfrog.com/fye94z

So here's the deal

We're crate training. We got a 36 inch crate so he can be in it full grown, and we've got a divider in there now so there's just enough room to stand and sleep.

He's adorable, but very, very needy. I knew this getting in.

He's so damn loud ad night though. It's just night one, so I'm sure that he'll get used to it eventually, but right now whenever we put him in there at night, and after I take him out multiple times during said night, he immediately cries for like 20 minutes loudly when I put him back in.

We're on the top floor of a two story apartment and we have neighbors with small kids. I don't want him keeping them up all night .

What can I do? How long will it take for him to get used to the crate, what can I do to help the process?

PLEASE HELP ME MAKE THIS PUPPY HAPPY!

harry.timbershaft

In my own personal experience (other's experiences may differ), there is nothing you can do but give this time. It is a puppy and you are crate training it. Until it adjusts it's going to whine when you first put the little doggy in there. Again, in my experience, the only thing you can do to make it not whine it to not leave the pup in the crate at night and bring 'em in the bed with you. This is not a good idea [cut to scene of harry.timbershaft sleeping with an 80 pound dog]. Going through this now will pay dividends later.

amateurhour

He likes the towel we brought him home in and he sleeps on that outside of the crate, but the vet and pet store said to just leave him on the plastic until he's housebroken so he's not constantly soiling stuff.

Honestly we're thinking of taking out the divider, and using a sweater or towel and puppy pads. It's going to make the process of housebreaking take longer, but we'll sleep better, and hopefully so will he.

AdamBomb

That puppy is adorable!

harry.timbershaft

Yeah, I would at least give 'em something soft that smells like you to sleep on. Just make sure it's not something you mind getting pooped/peed on and expect to wash it often. That's just part of owning a doggy. I would recommend leaving the divider in place so the crate is the correct size. Trust me, all of the whining and anguish everyone is feeling right now will pay dividends in the future. Doing it "right" when the little rascal is a puppy is a Good Thing (TM).

XOCentric

Unfortunately I would have to agree and say that it is just a matter of time before the pup gets used to the crate. The plus side to crate training is that you can train the dog to treat it like a safe haven where he/she can be comfortable once they are grown up. My dog (before I lost him in the dee-vorce) was trained to go there on the command "den" and he liked sleeping in there with the door open once he grew up.

Dr. Frenchenstein

put the towel on the other side of the divider, and put an old school ticking clock inside of it. It simulates a heartbeat of something else in the cage with him. It might help.

amateurhour

Yeah, I guess it's just something we'll need to deal with.

I'm going to add a blanket or sweater to the mix to see if that helps, and I might try putting the crate in the bedroom too, right now it's in the living room and then we go and turn off the lights and close the doors and it probably feels like it's still at the pound.

Thanks for the help so far, and I want to keep this thread open for any tips or advice anyone can give me.

I've had a lot of dogs growing up, but only one or two that I actually raised myself before college, and back then we didn't use crates. It was just "put it in the bathroom" and clean up in the morning kind of housebreaking

Dr. Frenchenstein

hi5 matt

BathTubb

What I did with my dog when he was a puppy was take a t-shirt and rub all over. Then I took a 2 liter bottle, filled it up hot water. Then stuck that in the t-shirt and put in his crate. Never cried or howled again.

ihmmy

my dog cries if she can't see me at night, even though she loves her crate. May not be an ideal solution if your bedroom is too small to comfortable sit his crate in it though

Also, AWWWWWWWW!

-Phil-

Can anyone point me out to a good website with tips on crate training a dog. I will be picking up a dog later this week and want to get into it prepared. He is a miniature pinscher dachshund mix.

amateurhour

The wife checked in this morning. Only one small accident so far today (just number one) and he only cried for about two minutes after she put him back in...

So that's already a VAST improvement.

harry.timbershaft

Awesome! Also, in regards to putting the crate in the bedroom with you - did that with my pup, and he actually increased his whining because he could see us and wanted to be in the bed snuggling. Your pup may be different, but that's just personal experience. I guess you only have sleep to lose by giving it a shot. :P

Another general recommendation: if you have a good doggy daycare nearby that has a group specifically for puppies, and you can afford it, I highly recommend it. The dog will begin socializing with other dogs and learning the rules, while getting some much needed exercise.

I demand more pics.

Sheep

Try puppy pads instead of taking him out at night.

OnTheLastCastle

When we got a new kitten she would not quiet down when we put her in an enclosure in our room. Only when we put her in the living room would she eventually tire out after an hour and sleep.

The first few nights we thought we couldn't keep her due to the noise/stress. Then she calmed down.

It'll get better. Maybe go talk to the people downstairs and hand them a pack of earplugs if necessary. They had kids, they can deal for a week.

HK5

Aw he is an adorable little ball of fluff.

The puppy stage is all about endurance. You have to stick to the routine that you've established so that he knows that his vocalization will net him zero attention. Negative attention counts as attention so don't duck into the room to yell at him and don't go in there to let him out to go to the bathroom unless he's quiet.

It's also helpful to make sure that he is getting a ton of exercise. He's got puppy energy and if he's running around like crazy during the day he's much more likely to keep the whining to a minimum at night. For times when you are keeping him in the crate that are not at night, try putting him in his crate with a small amount of food, then leave. The distraction of the food is often enough to keep them from experiencing separation anxiety and starting to vocalize.

Don't use the crate for punishment, it should be a happy and comfortable place for him including bed, toys. I will second (third?) the suggestion to put an article of clothing that smells like you in there. I wouldn't recommend keeping the crate in the same room as you as it will probably just stimulate him to stay awake.

McCow42

Not sure if the crate is in your bedroom or not. When we crate train we put the opening of the crate facing the bed and we found it helped the dog feel like they were not left alone. After the dog gets comfortable you slowly move it farther away and eventually into another room if that's ultimately where you want the dog to sleep.

Keep the discipline up. You will be surprised at how quick they train you. Good luck!

Invisible

Unfortunately it just takes time. When I first got my dog, she whined all night long. After about a week she stopped.

Now whenever she gets tired she goes into her cage to lay down and when I'm about to leave I can say something like "Cage time" and she'll take off running for her cage. I've got several blankets, even an extra piece of carpet covering the floor of the cage, and a water dish for her in there.

NailbunnyPD

harry.timbershaft wrote: »

In my own personal experience (other's experiences may differ), there is nothing you can do but give this time. It is a puppy and you are crate training it. Until it adjusts it's going to whine when you first put the little doggy in there. Again, in my experience, the only thing you can do to make it not whine it to not leave the pup in the crate at night and bring 'em in the bed with you. This is not a good idea [cut to scene of harry.timbershaft sleeping with an 80 pound dog]. Going through this now will pay dividends later.

We made this mistake and now a 62 lb dog lets us share the bed with him. It is not ideal, so stick with the crate training.

amateurhour

Definitely sticking with the crate training.

I'm going to add a blanket over the top, sides, and back to keep the light out.

I'm also going to add a sweater or blanket inside that smells like us so he can get used to it and it will help him sleep.

I think I'm going to break down and take out the divider and put in puppy pads for now. I know it's just extending the housebreaking period but if it will help us get more sleep it's worth it.

It's a 36 inch cage that will handle him when he's full size, and by then he'll be housebroken and not go to the bathroom in it anyway.

Prime

NailbunnyPD wrote: »

harry.timbershaft wrote: »

In my own personal experience (other's experiences may differ), there is nothing you can do but give this time. It is a puppy and you are crate training it. Until it adjusts it's going to whine when you first put the little doggy in there. Again, in my experience, the only thing you can do to make it not whine it to not leave the pup in the crate at night and bring 'em in the bed with you. This is not a good idea [cut to scene of harry.timbershaft sleeping with an 80 pound dog]. Going through this now will pay dividends later.

We made this mistake and now a 62 lb dog lets us share the bed with him. It is not ideal, so stick with the crate training.

Ditto...although now WE cant sleep well without the dog

Kistra

http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Levels/LevelBehaviours/TL3Crate.html

This is how I crate trained my dog.

I am going to second (third?) that if you can manage it, getting the crate into the bedroom (on the floor next to your bed) will help you puppy feel less abandoned at night. It is also helpful, even as an adult if we are someplace strange/exciting/scary, if I have my hand on my dog's crate he will lie down and fall asleep.

TOGSolid

That's just what puppies do. When I was with my ex she got a puppy and it would also cry at night due to adorable loneliness, but all you can do is just close the door to your room and ignore it. We did put a blanket in there and at bed time we'd put all of the puppy's toys in the crate and now she knows that when the toys get put away, it's bed time.

Zombiemambo

Yeah, the only really big pain about getting a new dog, puppy or not, is the whining that they do for the first few nights. It's just time, unfortunately.

amateurhour

Night two went a lot better, just to give you guys some updates. (AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HELP!)

We got a nice blanket to cover the sides and back of the crate, took out the divider and put in pads. (the crate fits one pad perfectly, and then has just the right amount of room for a blanket and a t-shirt)

We also got some baby gates to keep the puppy in the living room (which we have puppy proofed) for now so we can watch him, but not have to constantly get up to see where he is.

Finally, we picked up some plug in diffuser thing that's supposed to have a pheremone that helps with anxiety and whining and I'll be damned if it's not working. It could just be the dog adjusting, but I honestly think it was $40 well spent. It's right beside his crate and we noticed a difference in his attitude almost immediately. He seemed more comfortable...

He REALLY loves the little liver training treats, so every time he goes outside and uses the bathroom he gets one. If he doesn't go, he doesn't get one. If he uses the pad in his crate or by the door he doesn't get one, but he doesn't get scolded. If he goes in the living room we gently scold him so he knows it's wrong and it all seems to be taking at least some toll on him in a positive way.

We put him to bed around 11 last night (crate still in the living room) and he only cried for about 10 minutes and didn't cry the rest of the night. He woke me up at 5:00am and had gone to the bathroom in both fashions on the pad at the far end of his crate, and didn't want to go when I took him outside, so I assume he had just gone and was letting me know.

That's good because it helps me get an idea for his schedule after feeding so I can try to get up and take him outside tomorrow morning before he goes.

So far so good!

OnTheLastCastle

You are handling things very well. Carry on!

TOGSolid

Funny how puppies always seem to know when it's 5 AM and always have to go out right at that time.

amateurhour

Night three report.... (probably alright to close the thread now too for that matter)

Wife had to work 3 to midnight today, so it was my first night with the puppy alone. He was very good. Two small pee accidents in the house, one in his crate (but on his towel and not the mat... grrr..) and one on the carpet. Honestly it's because I gave him too much water...

He went to bed around midnight when the wife got home, only cried in his crate for two minutes if that, and was out cold. I actually woke up at six when my alarm went off, and he was still asleep, woke up when he heard me, and had not gone in his crate. He took care of business outside. (those liver treats are really working, and he knows that he only gets them for going to the bathroom outside.)

He also went to his crate to sleep last night on his own on more than one occasion.

I think it's gonna be alright. A couple more weeks and he'll be good to go, but he's adjusting well.

Puppy Successfully Rescued!

Pel

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of making sure he gets enough exercise. There is nothing more satisfying to you and your little bud than to come home after a romp tiring enough that he flops down in the cage and passes out without objection or hesitation. It seems to me that those days were the ones that really acclimated our dogs to the crate as their "home" rather than just "the place they sleep when we make them". Actually, as you raise your pup, adequate exercise is generally the first step to solving almost every behavioral problem you may encounter. Dogs have difficulty remaining mentally and physically healthy if they don't get a chance to tire themselves out periodically. OFC, Jack Russells are notorious especially for their energy, so my viewpoint might be somewhat colored.

amateurhour

I am taking him out every hour to two hours when it's non sleepy time if possible. I can't take him to the park until he's got his rabies shot, and he can't get that for another 6 weeks or so, so for right now we're limited to little jaunts around grass by my apartment building.

He's getting plenty of exercise inside though. We usually make sure he plays at least 15 minutes an hour if possible and he really likes fetching these little plastic car keys we bought and bringing them back to me....

...you know, or just eating them. Whatever works for him.

Dr. Frenchenstein

it doesn't take much to knock out a puppy (i mean tire them out, not that they can't take a punch). I guess it's that they are growing so fast they just get exhausted. But man, once they hit adolescence... prepare for a tasmanian devil like tornado of puppyness.

harry.timbershaft

Pel wrote: »

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of making sure he gets enough exercise. There is nothing more satisfying to you and your little bud than to come home after a romp tiring enough that he flops down in the cage and passes out without objection or hesitation. It seems to me that those days were the ones that really acclimated our dogs to the crate as their "home" rather than just "the place they sleep when we make them". Actually, as you raise your pup, adequate exercise is generally the first step to solving almost every behavioral problem you may encounter. Dogs have difficulty remaining mentally and physically healthy if they don't get a chance to tire themselves out periodically. OFC, Jack Russells are notorious especially for their energy, so my viewpoint might be somewhat colored.

Late response, but I just wanted to affirm what is stated above. When I have my pup out and about, people always tell me "you have such a calm dog for a Weimaraner". I always tell them that he is "well exercised". Dogs with huge amounts of energy need huge amounts of exercise - a tired dog is a happy dog. A dog who sleeps all day when its people are at work isn't going to be worn out by a simple walk around the block and what we (humans) consider "bad behavior" is a typical outlet for that extra energy. Good luck and have fun!

Kistra

Exercise is important and keeping him exercised will keep you sane when he hits adolescence. However, it is possible to overexercise a young puppy (you don't actually say his age, but he looks young in the picture). Until he is ~6-7 months old let him pick how long he exercises for and how long he rests. Keep any leashed walks very short (5mins) until that time. Most dogs will actually learn any skill faster if they get lots of tiny training sessions so this won't hurt his learning to walk nicely on a leash. If you watch TV, the commercial breaks are perfect training sessions as they will force you to keep it short and wait long enough before the next one.

amateurhour

Kistra wrote: »

Exercise is important and keeping him exercised will keep you sane when he hits adolescence. However, it is possible to overexercise a young puppy (you don't actually say his age, but he looks young in the picture). Until he is ~6-7 months old let him pick how long he exercises for and how long he rests. Keep any leashed walks very short (5mins) until that time. Most dogs will actually learn any skill faster if they get lots of tiny training sessions so this won't hurt his learning to walk nicely on a leash. If you watch TV, the commercial breaks are perfect training sessions as they will force you to keep it short and wait long enough before the next one.

This is pretty much what we're doing. Thankfully the wife works a night shift, so someone is always home with the puppy so we take him out every few hours. He kind of has his own play/sleep schedule and when he's ready to play we pay him a lot of attention and play with him until he gets tired and goes back to sleep.

We're keeping outside trips short to get him used to the leash because he fights the hell out of it once he gets outside. He honestly doesn't like going very far on a walk yet.

Past that, everything else is great. One week and still no poop in the house. When he does have a pee accident (once every day or so) it's usually on a pad by the door and only when we don't catch him in time.

Feeding is going well. There was a lot of confusion between leaving water out all day and giving it with meals, but we were told he needs at least one ounce per pound of water per day, not counting what he gets from food, and we're probably doubling that just to make sure he's not getting dehydrated.

He's a fun, adorable, playful little guy and so far everything is going great. Next on the list is name recognition.

Any good ideas for training in that department?

HK5

Get down at his level from a distance of a few feet and say his name. If he acknowledges you (looks at you, comes to you) give him a little treat. 5 minute sessions 2 - 3 times a day. Up the difficulty over time by doing this while he's actively engaged with a toy, so that he has to divert his attention from the toy in order to acknowledge you. This is a good way to introduce other training concepts like coming when called as well.

JennaW57

Hi,
I also just got a new puppy. He's a Border Collie/Hound Mix. He is whining away in my basement right now. I do not need help on the crate training, since he will stay in the basement at night until he get the idea not to yelp. I have a full grown dog and a couple of cats that don't seem to fazed by his noise. My problem is I think he is younger that I was told. I'm worried if he is going to be able to handle the food yet. I tried soaking the food in a little mixture of canned milk and water. But the food just wasn't softening up, so I just gave him the milk mixture. Any advice on if I'm doing the right thing.

JennaW57

Update...Puppy has been to moved spare bedroom. No longer whining after the first night. He is eating fine, a bought some powdered weening milk for him because he keeps trying nurse my female. I put it in his food. He is starting to show his little personality. Still don't know what to name him, We want a name that is short and different, any suggestions????

ceres

Please make your own thread instead of posting in old ones.