# Puppy cries ALL night...



## kimi

Brand new pup, brought him home Friday evening. First night he whined every 2 hours, we would take him out, he would pee, treat and back in bed. He did ok. Tonight, (its now 4:45am) he has cried ALL night. And I don't mean just a whimper, I mean cries and howls constantly. I have read on here just let him cry, he will eventually stop, but this has been going on now for almost 6 hours. We have let him out again, every 2 hours(when he stops for a brief minute to catch his breath), treat, and back into crate. Its enough room to turn around, he has his blankie, a toy, we put a treat in there, but still just screams and howls. 
He was exercised all day yesterday. We have a nice sized yard, and we have an 8yr old lady that he has been playing with him too. 
Tonight though, we will make that extra effort to make sure he is good and tired-its hard with him so far cuz he doesn't seem to be driven by food or toys yet. 
Any help or thoughts would be much appreciated. TIA
Kimi


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## KMSlemons

Oh Kimi, sounds like you've had a rough time of it. I don't know what the other, more experienced members will tell you, but I'm sure they will have stellar advice when they get up. A trick I once tried with my new puppy that cried all night was to take an old shirt of mine and put it in the box (or bathroom) with it. We also had one of those old wind up clocks that ticked and wrapped the shirt around it. It seemed to work. I had read that the clock ticking sounded like a heart beat and soothed my little puppy, and of course having my scent with it helped a lot. Do wait for the others, though. I'm sure they will have better advice.


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## JakodaCD OA

Welcome to the joys of puppyhood

where do you have the crate? If not in your bedroom at nite, you might want to consider that. I'd also put some kind of chewy in there with him.

One thing also to consider, when I would take my puppies out at nite to potty, I did NOT treat them on the way in, praise yes, treats no..They learn real fast "if she takes me out I'm gonna get food!"..so in a way, at nite, you don't want them bluffing you to go out, just for food

I'm sure others will chime in with some great suggestions too.


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## kimi

We do have his crate in our daughters bedroom.. I also should add that the first night our 8yr old GSD slept right next to the crate the entire night. So, I am thinking that may have had something to do with it? Not sure. But, I just fed him breakfast in his crate with door open, closed it a tad, and then he started taking his food out of the crate to actually chew it and then walk back in for more, and then walk out again to chew. What a smart butt!!!!! But, I am thinking that one thing is, I will make sure he is dead tired tonight, and see how that goes, and look into the ticking clock thing as well. I have to work tomorrow, and can't keep like this.. 
Codi took to the crate with no problem. Puppy-not at all..


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## BlackPuppy

When I bring a new puppy home, I make sure I sleep right next to the crate the first couple of nights. Then I start moving farther away. With Balto, I slept on the sofa for 2 weeks and moved the crate every night a few feet. Boaz was much easier and slept much better.


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## bianca

Molly is the first pup I have ever crated so I am not experienced but if not the clock, maybe a radio for background noise. I have also read that some people cover most of the crate so it is denlike, kind of like covering a bird at night. Molly cried and cried and cried some more for about a good week I think. Another thought is he wouldn't have a urinary infection would he? Making him need to keep going toilet? Anyway I hope you get some more advice and good luck


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## MaggieRoseLee

I really like to keep the puppy in the crate beside my bed. If you can put it up on a chair so it's higher and they can see/hear you better, that also can work. Being able to just dangle my hand in for a quick sniff/pet seems to help the puppy and (much more importantly) GET ME SOME SLEEP!

Good luck!


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## JakodaCD OA

well I totally admit I have flunked night time crate training in the past..Masi was the first one I was adament about, since all she wanted to do was harass the other dogs all nite long!

The previous ones, ended up in bed with me, I got to sleep and they konked out as well  Masi was in a crate right next to my bed until she was about a year old. By then, her nightime harrassing days were over and Dodge couldn't get on the bed anymore, so she took it over


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## Jax's Mom

Depending on your body language/amount of time it takes youth respond/etc you might be teaching your puppy that if he whines enough, you'll show up and let him out so he could be trying to figure out the exact amount of time and whine it takes to get himself out. He's new and still working on training you 
I found schedules to be the most effective. Ie go to bed at 10pm, wake up 3 hours later, let him out at 1am, the again at 4am then 7am, etc.
This quickly taught Jax that it's a schedule that I follow and has nothing to do with his crying. He also learned to coordinate his pottying with 'my' schedule 
In a few weeks spread the 3 hours to 4, then 5... At about 12 weeks Jax was sleeping through the night. 
I'll admit though, for the first 2 weeks I had a clean change of clothes for when got to work because no matter how many times I changed in the morning I couldn't quite make it out of the house without puppy stink of some sort on me.


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## doggiedad

don't worry it's going to get better.
the first week or 2 i took my pup
out over night every 2 hours. i didn't treat
treat him when taking him out over night.

i was lucky when it came to over night whining.
my pup did it for 3 nights in a row. the 4th night,
quiet.

during the day i would crate my pup
many times for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.
sometimes i would be in the room with him,
sometimes i would leave the room and the house.

good luck with the new pup.


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## TheBaileys

I'm right there with ya 

We got our puppy a few weeks ago and she is finally sleeping throught the night, but the first 2-3 nights she cried and howled ALL night long. The first night we had the crate in the kitchen so the next night we put the crate in our room, which helped but she still cried. We put on some soothing music for her next to the crate and also put one of our old shirts in there with her which helped as well. I know it's hard to lay there and listen to them howl and cry, but hang in there! It won't last forever and it will be worth it in the long run. I know it's hard when you're running on little to no sleep!


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## paulag1955

I slept on the floor next to the puppy's crate for the first two weeks she was here. Then after two weeks, I just started sleeping in the bed and she was fine, even though she was in another room.


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## VChurch

Minna has had two transitions with the crate; from eight-twelve weeks old she was sleeping in my bedroom completely alone. I know for the 2-4 nights she was a nightmare, and waking up every 2-3 hours and whining at bedtime for the first 2 hours. She then settled down and she would sleep about six hours; however she would have a little pee in the crate every morning (maybe because she got too excited when my mom would go in the room to get her).

And I got home when she turned 13-weeks old and she had to get used to Sobacca and me being in the room with her. The first few nights were a little rough (she'd cry and howl for about 30 minutes)...and there would be a little pee in the morning. But now (I got home last monday) she goes in the crate on command and doesn't whine at all when we go to bed. I had also given her more of the crate to lay down in (about half the crate) and I put an old blanket in the crate instead of a towel. She is waking me up around 4 a.m. to go outside, but then we go back to sleep til about 7. And she's had no accidents at all in the crate since I gave her space and a blanket.


But the shirt or clothing that smells like you is definitely a good way to go. Also I've found with both my dogs, that they don't mind the crate as much when they're trained to go in on their own four paws (with a command) and they get treats for it. So I do a little 5-minute session daily of working on the 'crate' command -- since it makes it fun for her. I also treat when Minna goes in the crate and lays down (on her own, with no command). I want her to enjoy her crate, and see it as a fun/safe place. I will say that any time she goes in the bedroom the first place she heads is to my bed, she always wants up on the bed even though she only gets to take one nap a day up there with sobacca.


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## Cassidy's Mom

MaggieRoseLee said:


> I really like to keep the puppy in the crate beside my bed. If you can put it up on a chair so it's higher and they can see/hear you better, that also can work. Being able to just dangle my hand in for a quick sniff/pet seems to help the puppy and (much more importantly) GET ME SOME SLEEP!


I do that too, but I don't elevate the crate, I just put it right next to the bed so I can reach down and stick my fingers through the bars. Many a night I've slept with my arm hanging over the side of the bed! 

Since I take the first week off work when I have a new puppy I have plenty of opportunities to get puppy used to the crate during the day. We'll play a bit, do some short training sessions with treats, take a potty break, and then puppy goes in the crate for a nap. I use plastic crates and throw a towel over it to block the view completely, and then I leave the room and close the door. If puppy sees and hears me they're more likely to scream to be let out, so I leave the radio on (we have speakers throughout the house) to provide some noise. Usually within a short time s/he calms down and falls asleep. 

Feeding in the crate helps too, and tossing treats in there occasionally so puppy never knows what goody might be in there. At bedtime I toss a treat in, puppy follows, and I close the door. As long as I know s/he doesn't need to go outside, I ignore the crying. I use earplugs so I can get some sleep.


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## CaliBoy

Kimi: I think it is very wise to try to tire them out before bedtime. My two males hardly cried, but my female kept me up night after night and I even had the vet check her out thoroughly. He said she was fit as a fiddle, so I just put her in bed with me and made sure I got up very early to take her out. That seemed to calm her down, but it was a very trying and wearying time. Some puppies are just big crybabies.


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## FLyMuSLiMa

Awww; man! I remember those days, nothing worked, I ended up sleeping on the kitchen floor next to my Zaidy the first week! (The things you do for love; AND sleep!) I eventually decided I liked my bed a lot more. One day, cold turkey I went to my bedroom and slept, every time she cried I shushed her, the next day; she was fine sleeping alone


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## Miller

Maybe I have been super lucky, but Linden has never ever whined at night. She has slept on my bedroom floor quietly through the whole night from day one (8 wks old). Twice she has woken me up at 4 30 am to go pee, but she just licks my face to wake me. Then when she comes back in she falls right back asleep...

hope your pup learns soon!


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## VaBeachFamily

Cullen whined like CRAZY, even though he was right next to the bed... so my son, husband, and I took turns carring around this little teddy bear, and the puppy, and the teddy bear soon smelled like us, and Cullen associated it WITH us, so then about night 3, he started whining, i put the bear in the kennel, and BOOM.. no more whining...

Now he is crated in the office, and when people decide they wanna screw off in the back field at night he wakes us all up.. but NO more WHINING lol


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## Zoeys mom

Just plunk her in bed with you all will sleep well,lol I wouldn't treat or let her out either but once at night to pee and thats it. When you come every two hours she doesn't know it's a potty break and thinks she made enough noise to gain freedom, then you treat her so she thinks I did good, now you have a whiny monster,lol I will admit with my second dog because of the kids I didn't crate mine to avoid the noise and instead crate trained during the day but it worked Zoe loves her crate. The first one cried it out but was let out one time at night and that was it no matter how much noise he made and he made tons. By the fourth night though he was silent. One more thing make sure potty time happens when she's quiet only and never while she's whining


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## kimi

ok, well today we had a friend bring over Jacksons cousin, Ellie- he had the same problem as us last night.. 
So, they played ALL day today. Outside from noon-until 7pm. We went on walks, they played, my nieces and nephew came over, so he got a fabulous work out. Brought him in for the night(at 7pm), we needed to shower and stuff, so we put him in crate, and he fell asleep for about an hour and a half.. But, as he woke up, we let him out, took him outside, and pottied, and now he is just trying to fall asleep... So, we are gonna keep him busy hopefully until 10 pm, then bring the crate in my room, put my hubs shirt in there, and see how it goes tonight... please cross your fingers tonight. I have to work in the morning, and I need sleep...


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## Klaus13

WOW! i have had many pups since I was 14!

My first cocker pup would NOT stop whining in the cage when my mom got her.She got annoyed at it at night and said cause I wanted to take care of her that it ws my problem...she ended up in my room at night! In the cage of course. She would NOT shut up! lol! I resorted to falling asleep with my hand in between the bars of the cage on the floor next to her.That proved to be painful,and ended up convincing my mom to let her sleep in the bed with me.Worked great! Well..4 more cockers later,they all ended up like that!! 5 in a bed at once!! For years! Til my mom got rid of almost all her breeding females. 2 remained with me til there death.Even with me moving out.

Now I'm older and on my own with a family,I went through all of the puppy beginnings...4 more times!!!

The oldest mix,just never whined at night in the cage...

The girl cocker I have that is now 10 m, was TERRIBLE!! I couldn't do the bed thing like I could when I was younger. The crate ended up having to be NEXT to me on an end table next to the bed,with alot of shushing! I think it took a couple weeks for no more noise at night!! She has just graduated to sleeping outside her cage with the 4yr old on the floor next to the bed.

My boy cocker is now 6 months,and he was put in the same cage with the other cocker when he was first brought home,so I have never went through night noise with him. Now that she is out at night,he is in his own cage and doesn't make noise.

My GSD is now 4 m.He went through about a 4 day shushing spell...he spends the night quiet,but will get up when we go to work,and want out.He'll wimper n groan,but that's about it.

I hope you find your own way that works to overcome the puppy night time whining stage.

It'll be over before you know it!!


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## kimi

Ok everyone. Its me, I am back again. Jackson is really not liking his crate. We feed him in there-which is goes in there with door open just fine. I put all his good treats in there randomly. When its time to crate him because he can't be watched, which is usually about 9-10am, and then 2-4pm-just because we have things to do around the house, and what not. In between those times he is playing pretty hard with our 8.5 year old GS and my dh and dd. We have established a pretty good routine with him, but he still cries/barks in the crate. Not quite as much, and he doesn't go in there to chill at all, just to eat, and get toys, and find his snacks.. We use kongs stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese. Any suggestions? We will have had him 2 weeks this coming Friday. Am I giving up to easily?


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## Jax08

Do you let him out when he's barking and carrrying on? Ever? Even once?


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## JakodaCD OA

the thing is, he could be barking and carrying on because you guys are still in the house, and so is the other dog, and he KNOWS IT,,he's having a hissy because he is confined..

One of mine would have a fit in the crate if he knew we were in the h ouse doing stuff and he was stuck in the crate and not in the MIDDLE of EVERYTHING 
Annoying yes, but it was a hissy fit I would not give in to


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## Stosh

Like others, I put the crate next to our bed for the first several weeks. I never fed in the crate but gave them their most favorite treat only when they went in the crate. Stosh still runs to his crate every time he sees it. Since your pup is taking a bite of food then running out, it seems as though he might not be comfortable with the eating routine. Maybe feed him elsewhere, then give him the best treat ever when he gets in the crate. Have you covered the crate with a sheet or towel to create a den type atmosphere? It's soooo hard to be a puppy!!


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## kimi

Do we let him out when he cries? NEVER.. I don't let him until he is quiet, and he sits. Which is much better. As far as the eating goes-he does eat his full meal in his crate now, the taking food out only lasted couple feedings. 

We have tried covering the crate with a blanket-less noise from him, but still some..

I understand he is upset with us because we are home, and Codi is out and about loose in the house.. But, puppy is still not giving many clues that he has to go out to potty. So, what are we to do...


(funny side note-trying to "bell" train puppy to go outside for potty, our 8.5 year old now does it. We never trained our older one to do it, she just would go sit by the door, and that is how we knew. And now when our older one wants out, she rings the bell. Its pretty funny..Guess you can teach old dog new tricks


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## Jax08

ohhh...I would NEVER teach Jax that! :rofl:


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## Zoeys mom

I always take my pup out on a strict potty schedule- avoiding accidents is the first step to preventing them permanently. Try taking him out during the day every 1-2 hours, waiting with him until he goes, praising, and treating each time. When you notice he is holding it longer stretch out the times but stick to a schedule and praise and he will get it. As far as the crate I'm weak- that pup would have been sleeping in my bed,lol


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## Lilie

When we first brought Hondo home as a puppy I slept on the couch with the crate next to me. We stayed on a two hour schedule to got outside to potty. If he'd whine in between I'd shush him. I think it's important when you take your pup outside, do not talk to him when you take him out of the kennel, praise like mad when he potties outside, and then don't talk to him when you put him back into the kennel.


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## JudynRich

We have never crated. Our bath is ajacent to our bedroom and a baby gate worked for our puppies for the first few months-until we could trust them, then we moved the blankets to the foot of the bed. It will get better, but I too suggest the pup be in the room w/ you (crate too).


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## VChurch

Minna sleeps in the crate in my bedroom at night; while Sobacca sleeps in bed with me. Minna occasionally still whines in her crate during the day when I put her in there and we're still in the house -- BUT the crate is in the living room, so that she can sit in the crate and watch us move around the house; and the only time she whines is when I walk out of the house and even that is short-lived.

Just be consistent. Minna eats in her crate as well (she literally will run to her crate and sit down -- because she knows she has to sit and wait patiently for food). And she'll walk in the crate to sniff around sometimes. She never walks in the crate to take naps she would prefer to nap out of the crate but since I rotate which dog roams the house and hangs out with me she has to nap in her crate after I tire her out.


It will get better!


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## Klaus13

I don't think eating in the crate is a good idea..maybe it's just me.


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## kimi

Well, we were putting his crate next to our bed at night, but he just whined/cried, and I have to be up early for work,and I am exhausted. So last night my dh put the crate in the family room at night, and he slept in there on the couch. He did ok. Better!!! And during the day the crate is in the same place in the family room where he can see us, and he is right there with us when watching tv and even can see us in part of the ktichen. But, still cries.. 

As far as eating in the crate, he loves it now. Not a problem. Just won't wander in there to hang. Codi-my other GS on the other hand, LOVES her crate. She spends alot of time in there just hanging. So, maybe because I have my older one who loves it, its harder to get used to it.


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## JazzNScout

You must be exhausted! Did you say you had another dog sleep next to the puppy before? Can you do that again (if I read that right)? 

What about exercising the you-know-what out of puppy before bed? I like to exercise Layla so much that she couldn't open her little eyes if she wanted to! (Also, as someone mentioned, if you're responding to cries, your pup is training you...I find that turning my back on Layla when I know her cries are, "I'm bored and want out," quiets her down almost immediately.)


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## kimi

The very first night our older one, Codi did sleep right next to Jackson's crate, but that was it. Codi won't do it anymore. We tried.. No luck. 
We do everything we can to get him tired, I learned very early on with Codi that a tired pup is a good pup.  
We can't walk him to much right now because he has sores on his back paws from his breeders house. We have medicine to put on them, but they are still a little raw but are healing. But, we have a nice sized yard, and play in the yard, and in the house ALOT. We bought a pool for them too. So, I know he is tired, but I think we just have to keep up with it. Its been barely 12 days. I can't expect a miracle. 
Tired-doesn't even cover it.. Good thing dh is home right now, so he does the night shift...


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## Stosh

He really is adorable...good thing!


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## MaggieRoseLee

JakodaCD OA said:


> the thing is, he could be barking and carrying on because you guys are still in the house, and so is the other dog, and he KNOWS IT,,he's having a hissy because he is confined..
> 
> One of mine would have a fit in the crate if he knew we were in the h ouse doing stuff and he was stuck in the crate and not in the MIDDLE of EVERYTHING
> Annoying yes, but it was a hissy fit I would not give in to


My dogs are all crate trained very early on......... but are exactly as described above during the day if I'm home and they are crated in another room. They know we are doing really fun stuff without them and have 'accidentally' forgotten them in the other side of the house. So are trying to help their 'stupid human' realize the mistake.

Moving the crate into the room I'm working in is a huge help. They can see me and be part of the action. I can also IMMEDIATELY 'correct' if they start to yelp or bark (squirt bottle of water works well, distance and timing if a verbal isn't working.)


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## gsd_lover

Oh, I remember those days....like many here, I'm also a believer in a schedule of taking them out every 1- 2 hours while house-breaking. If he really hates staying in the crate why not try blocking off a small safe area in the house (an area of say 4 x 6 feet) and put some of his toys/blankets there. But never reward him with your attention if he does whine & cry. Don't even acknowledge him when he does that and he should get the message.


Good luck! He will grow out of it, but I know you need some sleep in the meantime.


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## Emoore

So glad to read this thread. I was starting to weaken in my resolve to adopt an adult rescue and was thinking of a puppy. Threads like this get me right back on track!


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## KZoppa

Shasta doesnt like being crated one bit. Its takes away from her play time. And i thoroughly enjoy my sleep and we already have a problem with one dog who has seperation anxiety (not our doing, previous "owner" fault) so the crates stay downstairs at all times. They get moved so we can vacuum behind and under them and then put right back in place. Shasta threw a royal fit the first week. Now she just barks and whines because she KNOWS its irritates us. Until she is 150% housetrained, she wont be allowed to sleep in the bedroom with us and the other dogs. I'm also a firm believer that if she learns to sleep in the crate away from us at night, we wont have any real issues with sep. anx. One house destroyer is plenty at this point. Let her scream and cry and howl it out. After a little while, it'll click its not working and she's stop or she'll do it like Shasta does and do it because she knows its bothering you. Plus there isn't room in our bedroom to put her crate. But we also go lucky as she doesnt need to go outside in the middle of the night.


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## kimi

So, its been a while since I posted-Jackson started sleeping thru the night after the first week.. He sleeps from 10-6. He is not thrilled with his crate, but does go in there when told "get into bed". He does very well. 

Housebreaking is really good. He stopped having accidents about 2 weeks ago-only 2 since but it was dh watch-and he got distracted, puppy went to door-so not puppys fault. So thank you everyone for all your help. I love this site...


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## Stosh

Glad to hear Jackson is doing so well! I just love his big ears and legs in your avatar pic. Stosh wasn't too crazy about the crate either at first so I save his favorite treat- dried chicken breast- for when he goes in the crate. I never give it to him any other time so now when he hears the bag he jumps in there and wags his tail off! Maybe find something he loves, like a cheese stick and just use give it when it's nighty-night time


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## vat

My last 2 pups we kept their crate in our room and I slept on the floor for the first few nights. Gradually I would only lay there until the pup fell asleep then I would go to bed. Each pup was different, my first boy I was back in my bed by night 4. My current boy took a good week!


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## doggiedad

work on crating throughout the day. crate
him for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. do it many times
throughout the day. sometimes when you
crate him stay in the room with him at
other times leave the room.

at night one of us took our pup out
every 2 hours. i didn't treat him everytime he went out.
over night i didn't treat him at all. i gave him lots
of praise all of the time.

i think we were lucky with the over night
whining. my pup whined the first 3 nights home
and that was it. my pups crate was in the livingroom.
i don't remember if i left a light on for him.


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## KZoppa

i'm glad everything is getting better!!! We figured out the biggest issue with Shasta howling and just carrying on like a maniac was because she hadnt had enough time out of the crate during the day. She would be crated whenever the kids were down for their naps so i could have a total break but she's also now more reliable in the house with the housetraining so she can be out even longer. Just takes time.


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