Screams in Crate

abby's mum · #1 10-18-2009, 05:53 PM

After having several Boxers succesfully crate trained, our new puppy is proving a challenge. She screams and carries on regardless of what we have tried. She is crated downstairs during the day so the dog sitter can let her out (rather not have someone go into my bedroom) and I either move her crate or use another in our bedroom. She is not happy if we are here or not here. You can here her screaming as soon as we get home. I am sure our neighbours are going to kills us! I have tried covering it, not covering it, a kong, ets, etc. No avail. Even tried at night putting her in the big crate with our older girl. She is slightly better with this and will sleep for a few hours. We have let her on the bed (didn't take her out of the crate but planned aheah because we were so tired) and she sleeps the entire night that way. Any suggestions? This is getting ridiculous. We are trying an ex-pen tonight but she eventually has to be able to deal with this as she will be shown and we also like to travel therefore must be crated and quiet in a hotel.

PSUHeather · #2 10-18-2009, 06:32 PM

Oh, dear! Have you tried putting in a blanket or rag with your scent on it? I've also heard that an old alarm clock (the kind that ticks) is a calming sound. When my first boxer had separation anxiety my vet recommended clomicalm. It's just for training them that alone is not a horrid thing-- it's not a lifelong thing. Eventually my girl stopped shrieking in her crate, and I really think it came with time. I so totally know what you are going through! Fingers crossed for a quieter greeting and a decent night's sleep!

Caney Creek · #3 10-18-2009, 06:36 PM

Without knowing more about the situation, I would tend to think that

1. She is crying so much because her sleeping arrangement has been inconsistent. It is normal for pups to cry during the night at first, which I'm sure you know, but if you give in to the crying and let her sleep with you or with the other dog then all she's learning is that her crying produces results. Now that she knows the luxury of sleeping on your bed and with your other dog, it is going to take MUCH longer for her to get used to her crate. She knows there's something better out there and that she will get it with enough protesting.

2. She was not very accustomed to her crate before she had to be left in it the first time. If you only had a weekend to work with her and then you went back to work, it's very possible that she was not ready to be left alone in the crate at that point. And, since then, she gets left there twice a day during the week -- once by you in the morning, and once by the dogsitter in the afternoon. That action of someone locking her up and then leaving is very stressful for her, and it sounds like on a regular basis she has more negative experiences with her crate then positive ones.

When Caney was a puppy we made the mistake of letting her sleep in bed with us the first two nights she came home. Then it was off to the crate (a foot away from our bed). It was WEEKS before she stopped crying at night, but we stuck it out and didn't give in to her, and eventually she stopped crying and was sleeping through the night.

We were very lucky that BF was able to take her to work with him when he was very young. Otherwise I'm not sure how we would have gotten her crate trained. He had a crate for her in his office and worked with her in his free time at work for the first few weeks she was with us, and then he transitioned to leaving her at home and just coming home to let her out on his lunch break.

PSUHeather · #4 10-18-2009, 06:44 PM

wow, Caney Creek's advice is spot on.

abby's mum · #5 10-18-2009, 06:44 PM

PSU Heather - I am thinking time will help - how old was your girl when she stopped? Thanks for the support though, nice to know there are others out there.

Caney - nothing has been very inconsistent, we left her in for the first week but after having to go to our very stressful jobs without any sleep, we decided by neccesity to have her in the bed instead. But once she is in there, we are commited. The breeder actually worked on crating them before we got her and she screamed then so I don't think it is trauma from anyone leaving her other than she either just hates it or is claustrophobic. The issue also isn't just at night or when she's left but she does this any time in the crate.

**Jan** · #6 10-18-2009, 07:05 PM

If you have a plastic crate, try a metal one or vice versus. Is the crate right beside your bed. It should be close enough that you can reach down and let her sniff your hand. If you really think that she be could be claustrophobic, maybe she would do better in an exercise pen.

PSUHeather · #7 10-18-2009, 09:13 PM

I've been sitting here racking my brain, and I honestly can't remember how long it took. I'm not a model crate-trainer by any means, however I've crate trained four dogs. With this last pup, I caved on the sleeping in the crate at maybe two weeks of sleepless nights and a growing concern of pending divorce. (With Trace, she slept in the bed from day one because I lived in an apartment building and wished to remain living there.)

I do crate during the day though.. I found that giving meals in the crate helped, so it's not just a place they go before you leave. I give treats for going into the crates, and we do "practice runs" where I give the "kennel" command but don't latch the door.

Hang in there. It's harder on you than her. She'll catch on!

larrygs · #8 10-19-2009, 02:49 PM

Being consistent and making it a good thing is great advice. We still give treats to Layla when she "goes to bed."

I was thinking of Jan's comment about an exercise pen. We tried something similar that might help. We wanted Layla to willingly choose the crate as a good thing rather than feeling locked up. So we got a piece of a particle board a little longer than her crate. We put the crate on it and surrounded it with a puppy fence leaving a very small area of the particle board exposed at the crate door. Inside the crate was a nice soft towel along with a treat or two. This whole thing was next to our bed where she could see and hear us. I know it sounds extravagent, but it wasn't too bad since the crate for a 8 wk puppy is small.

We left the crate door open the first night. We would put Layla on the particle board, outside of the crate. She had a choice, sleep in the small area on the hard board, or inside on the soft towel and munch on a treat. She fussed a little at the beginning, but soon would get tired as puppies do. Fortunately she chose to sleep inside on the towel. After a couple of nights we began to shut the door for a very short time, and then open it. Over a few days this progressed to having it shut all night.

Even if she had chosen not to sleep in the crate, we didn't have to worry about her getting in trouble or making a mess.

Daisy Doodle · #9 10-20-2009, 11:25 PM

Larrygs, I love that idea!

JohnS · #10 10-22-2009, 08:43 AM

We have the same problem. Our 17 month old puppy (Maggie) is fine in the crate as long as we're home and the gate is open. She goes in and out of the crate all the time along with my Boston Terrier, but she's a terror as soon as the door is shut behind her and she's in there by herself.

I thought by now she'd be acclimated to the crate but it still looks like it's going to take a while - a long while unfortunately!