Crate training my lab puppy (Gus)

[Lil-Rokslider]

I need help from some of you who have done more of this than I have. We've had Gus for 7 nights now, and he's doing really well for the most part.

He started out with a lot of crate anxiety, but he's getting over that and settles quickly in the crate IF I'm sitting there with my hand next to the crate so he can sniff it, we cover the crate with a blanket, and he's got a sound machine next to the crate. He lays down and settles after a couple minutes, and then I can leave and get in bed. (The crate is in our bedroom, but covered with blankets, so he can't see us.)

He's waking up almost exactly every 1 hour, all night long. When he wakes up, it starts with a whine and then turns into a frantic yelping/ barking. He won't settle/ be quiet unless I go sit by the crate and put my hand where he can sniff it. Then he settles quickly again, and goes to sleep for another 1 hour. I take him out to go potty every 2-3 hours.

The lack of sleep is starting to wear on my wife and I. I know he capable of going 2-3 hours between potty wakes, so having to get out of bed every 1 hour to settle him seems unnecessary. We're thinking about moving the kennel into our mudroom, and just setting a phone alarm for every 2.5 hours to go let him out. My primary concern is creating more kennel/ separation anxiety by moving him to a room away from us where we can't hear him barking. Is this a bad idea?

I'd love to hear any advice. We've been doing crate work during the day, and feeding meals in his crate. He'll walk right in for meals and treats. I wouldn't mind even waking up every 2 hours to let him out. But every 1 hour is catching up to me. He's lucky he's cute.....

 

[DB29]

I had the same issue with my GSP pups… I’m a softie and started letting them sleep in the bed. They would only get up 2-3 times a night when in the bed. I kept crate training during the day and while gone from the house.

Somewhere around 6mo-1 year I went back to making them sleep in the crate. Once I knew they were capable of making it through the night without needing the bathroom and they were older and understood commands better it was much easier to crate training during the night.

I’m sure this is terrible advice but I will add…sleeping with a puppy is awesome!

 

[Chase0109]

I’ll give you my take having raised one bird dog puppy and getting ready to raise a second. So obviously I’m no expert. But other bird dog trainers I look up to gave me the same advice.

Sounds like you’re doing great with your daytime crate training! As for the nighttime crying, I would move his crate into the mudroom or the garage at night. Just get up every 2.5 hours and let him out. He’s gonna bark and scream and cry, but he has to learn that that doesn’t do any good. If you ignore him, he will settle in to a routine and stop doing that if he doesn’t get reinforcement.

But if you get up every time he starts making noise and give him the attention he’s looking for that just reinforces the idea that crying and making noise makes you appear. So inadvertently you can train him to cry at night. As difficult as it can be, it’s better to set the ground rules early that sleeping in the crate at night is his solo time (other than potty breaks, of course).

It’s a necessity for puppies to be extremely adorable……….. otherwise they’d never survive to adulthood lol.

But once you get past this stage and hunting this fall, it’ll all be worth it!

 

[Axlrod]

I have always said, if puppies weren't so cute, dogs would be extinct.
Worst crare training i ever had was my yellow lab.

 

[Oregon]

Yep. If they weren’t so cute they’d be curb stomped!
I’ve crate trained 8 dogs. All took to it readily except 1.
Hated the crate. Whined like crazy.
He became a garage crated dog. It was about a month before he came back inside the house after giving up being anti crate.
Set alarm every 3 hours to take him out back.

 

[MountainTracker]

Our pup lab needed to go out about every 2-2.5 hours initially, he’s 8 months old now and can go all night. He will put himself in his crate at night for bed before we tell him. My first lab did what you’re describing, what I did was take one of my shirts I had been wearing and put it in the crate with him. That seemed to help calm him down a lot. I’ve never feed my dogs in there crates only bc I don’t want them to expect it every time they go in. My current lab pup is a chewer so if we need to crate him during the day I’ll put a Kong toy in there to keep him occupied. Those first months are like having a new born it can be rough.

My problem with my lab is he is not good on the leash, something I’m working on, my last lab took a lot of work also, they are both males uncut.


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[sndmn11]

You have successfully trained your dog to get your attention. This is laying the groundwork for who is in charge of who, and he thinks he can tell you what to do now.

Uncover the crate, don't acknowledge his whining, take him out to pee at the proper intervals ONLY when he is quiet.

 

[KurtR]

Put the crate some where else. Make sure no water a couple hours before bed. No blanket on top. And nothing in the kennel. Do not let him out because he wants out it’s on your time and every 2 - 2.5 hours is good. Feed him in the crate if he falls asleep out side of it set him in there. Make that kennel his happy place.

If you keep letting him out when making noise you are training him that’s how he gets out.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Put the crate some where else. Make sure no water a couple hours before bed. No blanket on top. And nothing in the kennel. Do not let him out because he wants out it’s on your time and every 2 - 2.5 hours is good. Feed him in the crate if he falls asleep out side of it set him in there. Make that kennel his happy place.

If you keep letting him out when making noise you are training him that’s how he gets out.

I'm not letting him out when he makes noise. I'm taking him out every 2-3 hours, and only open the door when he's quiet.

 

[eamyrick]

It’s just miserable at night but eventually they will keep quiet for longer and then 6 months into it there is no need for it and you have a dog who will never go inside.

My wife and I agree that my British Lab was harder at night for the first few months than my youngest kid.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

It’s just miserable at night but eventually they will keep quiet for longer and then 6 months into it there is no need for it and you have a dog who will never go inside.

My wife and I agree that my British Lab was harder at night for the first few months than my youngest kid.

ya, we've got 5 young kids, and we're having a harder time with this pup than we did with any of them. He's much more challenging to crate train than my border collie was too. Sleep deprivation is the worst

 

[eamyrick]

ya, we've got 5 young kids, and we're having a harder time with this pup than we did with any of them. He's much more challenging to crate train than my border collie was too. Sleep deprivation is the worst

If you stick with it and do it right it will pay dividends. Same with place and heal training.

I also reminded my wife I could have bought a 1 year old dog for 3-4k more that was crate and place trained.

 

[Cervid]

This is what I did with my Brittany: put him in the crate at night away from the bedroom and wore earplugs. We did not let him out in the middle of the night to do his business. He might have had an accident or two but was quickly able to stay through the night without making noise (we did go to bed relatively late & get him up really early).

If you respond to crying he’ll quickly learn to get your attention that way.

 

[KurtR]

I'm not letting him out when he makes noise. I'm taking him out every 2-3 hours, and only open the door when he's quiet.

Well then stay the course. The joys of getting a puppy

 

[K9kodi]

So many replies. So many answers.

Crate training and feeding to hand in hand, in my book, however if we’re just talking crate training, the dog is doing a very good job at training you.
Dogs are always learning and trying to figure how to manipulate their environment to better fit their desires / wants / needs.

When a dog is doing something, I.e displaying a specific or certain behavior and they behavior is reinforced, you have just added value to and made that behavior more powerful.

So if the pup is whining and crying for attention, and you think you’ll sit by the pup to calm them down, you have just reinforced that behavior and shown them when they produce said behavior they get what they wants.
On the surface it seems harmless, but you are also doing some things that are detrimental.

1) yiur creating a behavior that reinforces whining and barking or crying, your adding power to that mental behavior

2) the dog is crying and whining bc they are unsure in what is a new environment. It’s a basic fear and it’s a perceived fear, and what I mean by that is we all know that dog is as safe as it ever will be in that crate, but being locked up, away from the litter mates and mom, no direct contact or interaction is new. That new is a pressure which in turn has a fear related to it. When they show fear, you as an owner just stepped in and saved the day. Not saving the day shows the pup that they can make it through the night in a new environment vs calling for help and being saved. Where does this matter? A confident dog is a safe dog is a strong dog. Most issues people have with dogs are fear based. The sooner a dog can learn independence and confidence the better off they are

3) in my field of work, professional work not side work or hunting, we want dogs that are confident problem solvers. I can’t use a dog that comes across a problem and leaves it and comes back looking at me for answers. I like the idea of putting a shirt in there w your smells, something to add some comfort, but answering their cry every time will build a dog that “could” be dependent on you.

4) when crate training I always feed pups in the crate. Sometimes door open sometimes door shut. I feed them and leave them in it for 10 minutes then directly outside to go to the bathroom. This creates a good thought w the crate, it creates a pattern of exiting crate and immediately going shit outside, dogs are huge on repetition and consistency. And it helps created a patterned schedules.

5) do not put sound machines on and all that bullshit. Will they grow out of it, possibly , but then you create a need for somethhht, a dependecny and when it’s not there, then what?

 

[MTPipeliner]

When my puppies were really young I put their crate right next to my bed for the first week or two, then moved it to the other side of the room. Since he calms down when he can smell your hand that may help him.

 

[Traveler]

Let him cry it out

 

[RadialJett]

I’ll give you my take having raised one bird dog puppy and getting ready to raise a second. So obviously I’m no expert. But other bird dog trainers I look up to gave me the same advice.

Sounds like you’re doing great with your daytime crate training! As for the nighttime crying, I would move his crate into the mudroom or the garage at night. Just get up every 2.5 hours and let him out. He’s gonna bark and scream and cry, but he has to learn that that doesn’t do any good. If you ignore him, he will settle in to a routine and stop doing that if he doesn’t get reinforcement.

But if you get up every time he starts making noise and give him the attention he’s looking for that just reinforces the idea that crying and making noise makes you appear. So inadvertently you can train him to cry at night. As difficult as it can be, it’s better to set the ground rules early that sleeping in the crate at night is his solo time (other than potty breaks, of course).

It’s a necessity for puppies to be extremely adorable……….. otherwise they’d never survive to adulthood lol.

But once you get past this stage and hunting this fall, it’ll all be worth it!

Nailed it. Don’t give in to the emotional manipulation.