My New Puppy--Night-time Crate Issues--NEED SLEEP. Help???

[hazelpseudoblue]

I got my little Blenheim girl 4 days ago. She's a sweetie, but we're having a few issues and I'm not sure how to handle them, but the Biggest one is what happens at night.

I have not been able to sleep for a solid hour at a time. Lucy has a crate, and she falls asleep in my lap every night, then I gently transfer her to the crate, she snuggles down in her fleecy bed--and I close the crate. Suddenly, she turns from sleepy puppy to crying out, freaking out, puppy. The crate is a great size and she loves it during the day- she goes in by herself, quietly chewing on one of her toys.. I already know not to stick her in there as a punishment, so I have no idea what's going on..

I'm utterly bewildered, and I haven't slept more than 2-4 hours a night for the past 4. Is it something I'm doing wrong? What can I do to fix this??

[mellie]

Nothing is sweeter than a sleeping puppy! So I know you love for your baby to fall asleep in your arms! I made that mistake too! Bella (my blenheim girl- now 2 1/2 yrs old) would cry in her crate every night as well. Even though she would sleep in it on her own during the day or play in it with her toys. What I figured out is that going to bed has to be a process for them, just like it is for children. I started telling her, its bedtime, and I would lead her to her crate and let her go in and gave her a blanket that I had slept with so it had my smell on it, along with a little stuffed bear. She still had some nights where she would cry out for a while, but I would go in one time and say "goodnight Bella" and close the door and not go back in or acknowledge her crying. Once she realized she wasn't getting what she wanted, she stopped and went to sleep. She now knows when I say bedtime, she and my other dog Koda go straight to the door of their room, and wait, I will go open the door and they each sit at their crates, and I give them a hug and kiss on the muzzle and they go in and go right to sleep. Now I know if they are crying in their crate, its because sometime is wrong, so now I always go check on them. It take a lot of patience, but its so worth it. Good luck! I'm sure you will get lots of advice here! There are wonderful pet lovers here, that are always willing to help!

[Janice]

The last thing she does before bed should be a wee outside, so after that wee, put her into the crate without falling asleep in your arms. Cover the crate with a blanket too, that may help, or leave a ticking clock or a radio on low, and a big teddy bear! Lewis was happy anywhere his teddy was, even though it was 3 times the size of him!
We had one night of cries from Lewis and that was all, now he just goes out to do a wee and walks straight into his crate for bed.

Good luck!

PS: dont immediately rush down to her when she cries. Its like a baby.. the cries will get less and less eventually but you have to harden your heart a bit.

[Duffer]

hi
we have this issue with our two at the moment, we dont use crates but they have a bed that would sleep a great dane!
they sleep in the kitchen and would scratch & scratch & scratch at the door until we let them in to sleep in the bedroom! Which, for want of a good nights sleep, we always gave into, but to be honest i got fed up cleaning another room in the house after them!!!
So about 6 weeks ago we started the 'bed' thing, when they would scratch we would get up and say 'bed' after a few false starts they got the message.
We are still learning but they now know that they have to stay in their beds until i get up in the morning, and then they can go in and have a cuddle with Daddy on the bed.

Its a learning curve, i mean we have Cava over a year and we are still learning with her. My most important piece of advice i can give is work as a team, theres no use you doing one thing and a partner doing another! poor dog will just get confused!

Best of luck & would love to see some pics soon!

[shippers]

Perhaps you could try taking your puppy out for a walk before bed to make her feel tired. When you come home let her out for a wee then say bed. Put her in the crate and give a small treat and go out the room. I remember it being hard with our eldest cavalier Sally. She cried for a few nights but we ignored it and eventually it stopped. We have no problems now she jumps into her bed at night for the biscuit. If your puppy is getting what she wants when she is crying she will do it all the more. Good luck with her and let us all know how you get on

[meljoy]

Hi there,

We had the same thing when Leo was a pup. What you have to do is get a routine and STICK to it.
I know it's hard but Leo used to cry for several hours at a time. We ended up taking him out of his crate and putting it in the kitchen with the crate door open. We had a radio playing low and one of my T-Shirts in his bed too.
It took about three nights before he finally settled....now as soon as I say "bedtime" he's straight in to his bed and we dont hear another peep

Dont despair...you'll work it out and peace and tranquility will soon return

[Furrfoot]

From the advice of Rose's breeder, we put her in a decent size, solid side (not wire) crate, and put her in the room furthest from the bedroom and did not go to her when she cried (oh my word, it was awful-such pitiful sounds- and Rose sounded kinda sad, too, lol j/k). I admit to checking on her by peeking through the glass door with a booklight, lol, to make sure she was okay, but I never opened the door, and she couldn't see me when she was awake for the light in her eyes :P. We had the rest of the glass door covered with a sheet.

We also settled on a routine (bed around 11:30pm, potty right before) and we broke up some treats and sprinkled them around in her crate for her to find when we put her to bed. We also put a nylabone in there for her to chew on, and she had her dog bed pillow (which turned out to be a "must have"), her towel and we covered the front of the crate with a blanket. It took about 2 weeks in total for her to quit crying (including waking up and crying at about 3am), but now the crate is in our bedroom, and she runs into it at bedtime and waits for her treat. She also sleeps in the bed occasionally, but she's happy either way, though some nights she prefers the crate over the bed (if she's reallyyyy tired) or vice versa (if she's not feeling good, like on shots day).

It was tough, but we're glad we stuck it out. Rose is our first crate trained dog, btw. Good luck!

[tara]

I agree with the sentiments about ROUTINE. Have a bedtime routine and stick to it every night. I played with Holly for a bit to tire her out -- just got down on the floor and played with the dog toys. Then we went outside to potty, then inside with the same blanket and stuffed toy in her crate (the toy had a heartbeat thing inside which I turned on for her to sleep). I used a noise machine with white noise on and had Holly's crate on my side of the bed in the master bedroom.

I would guess she's crying out because she wakes up in her crate after being asleep in your arms. I bet with the bedtime routine, she'll settle in well!

[hazelpseudoblue]

Hello All,

I wanted to thank you for your advice regarding crate trouble at night... Lucy and I are obviously still working out the kinks, but she's taken things rather well, and we're learning!

We've started doing a 30-45 minute nap time at about 2:00 (after a short romp, of course!)...She doesn't generally mind that, and it allows her some quiet time while I clean her bowls, do some general picking up, or whatever else I wouldn't be able to do with her 'trying to help' . She doesn't fuss about that time, though- she made a few peeps the first or second day, but now, after just 4 days, she's settled in. I put her in gently and say 'nap time', and she chews quietly on one of her toys or dozes off until my chores are done .


Anyway, I have loads of pictures to share, so I'll be posting them in an album today!

Thanks again, everyone!!!

[Nicki]

Glad things are getting easier. I've just posted this on another thread but it's relevant here too.


I would advise having her in a small crate next to the bed. That way if she cries you can just tell her to settle and hang your hand down for a while so she has your scent.

I would put a small cuddly in with her, ideally some of the bedding she has been used to at the breeders, and a hot water bottle - the Snugglesafe solid ones wrapped in something soft are good.


if she is restless in the night, it probably means she wants to go out so you will need to get up with her.

This is the quickest way to get them dry and clean at night.


Personally I think they are stressed enough being moved from their breeder and family, that it is actually quite cruel to then shut them totally away from you too.

If you don't want them sleeping with you long term, then once they are sleeping through the night, you gradually move the crate further and further away from you - onto the landing, then down the stairs etc until it's where you want it long term.


My puppies are nearly 16 months now, they sleep in a puppy pen in the sitting room {our kitchen is too cold for them}. I have tried sleeping them lose, but they just cry until you set up the puppy pen for them