First Night in the Crate

[kittygirl109]

...and its going awful! I'm trying to crate him for the night, because he is making a huge rucious outside. I have to admit I don't trust him enough to let him sleep in bed with me. What do I do? :o He's whining and barking like crazy.

[JackieMaya]

Did you give him a Kong in his crate? That what I did when I crated Pooh Bear. I gave him a Kong with peanut butter in it.

And I felt awful when I crated Pooh Bear too. He would cry and bark. But if I just ignored him (I know, it's hard to do), he would stop. I would just let him be. Hopefully he'll get used to it soon.

Where do you have your crate? Can he see out? I had Pooh Bear's crate in the bathroom, with the bathroom door open, so he could see out.

Good luck!

[kendalyn]

Before you crate him, give him some good exercise. Make sure he's at least a little tired when you put him in the crate.

Then, ignore his crying. If you let him out one time while he is whining (even if it is time for him to come out) it will only get worse. NEVER let him out if he is whining.

Once he's ready, you can start leaving him out of the crate at night.

[DogPaddle]

Also, have you done crate acclimation training prior to putting him in it for the night? It isn't absolutely nec. but it makes it less stressful for him and quieter for you. Did you check the info in the Training sticky in the Training section?