I just wanted a bit of advice if what I have done is right because I do feel very guilty.

My little one will go in and out of her crate on her own, no problem at all, she is coming on brilliantly with the housetraining - a few little accidents that's fine. She was even fetching and bringing her ball back to me, I couldn't believe it...

BUT, when I close the door on her crate she goes absolutely bonkers, yelping, yelping and whining. This morning I went upstairs - put her in her crate with a kong and various toys and she just howled the place down...the thing is she doesn't give in at all. In the end I went down I told her very sternly 'no' and 'naughty girl' I left the door closed but sat with her for a bit and told her to 'settle down'. Then she settled...great I thought I will go and finish getting ready but as soon as I left the room off she started again so again I told her 'no', etc.

I have heard you are supposed to leave them whine and eventually she will stop but she doesn't seem like she will stop, it just gets louder and louder.

Night times are bad..I have started to try and go up to bed instead of sleeping on the couch but by about 2am I am back downstairs because she starts to whine and will not stop...

It is so sad to hear her cry and I feel so guilty telling her off, I almost want to cuddle her after and tell her everything will be ok but I know she has to learn. I almost think that if I tell her off she will grow up not loving me.

She was 10 weeks old to the day on Sunday.

Please can someone give me some advice - thank you

What does she do if you leave her alone uncrated? Does she still howl or is she quiet? Have you built up to her being in the crate for any period of time? I haven't crate trained a puppy but when I crate trained Rupert I used a clicker and started off with just having him go in there with the door left open. Once he was completely comfortable with that I shut the door to, clicked, immediately opened it and rewarded. Repeated that a few times, then held it shut for a second, clicked, opened the door and rewarded. Built up from there to him being in there for a couple of hours with me around before actually leaving him in there while I went anywhere.

I'd personally have her in the bedroom at night for now and when she's more comfortable being alone I'd wean her off being in there. I don't like the advice to leave them to cry though.

Thank you very much for you reply. If I leave her alone uncrated she doesn't whine or howl because she is busy chewing anything which isn't her toys lol.

It's not that she doesn't like the crate as she goes in and out on her own as the door is left open all through the day when I am with her but if I need to pop upstairs or at night I close the door and that's when the whining starts. I have even sat by the side of the crate until she is fast asleep and quietly closed the door but she knows straight away and then up she gets.

If I sit in the room with her for a bit she will settle back down and stay in there with the door closed for as long as she has had her sleep, it's when I leave the room she goes mad.

I brought a clicker as I was hoping to clicker train her when she is a little older - she is a bit too boistrous and lively at the moment to concentrate for any length of time to start with the clicker (she seems to get bored very easily) so I thought I'd start with the 'proper' trainer in a couple of weeks?? At the moment I am trying to concentrate in ensuring she trusts me and feels loved and part of my family.

After reading your 1st post one of the things i was thinking is that when you went down stairs & said 'no' & 'naughty girl' she won't understand what these mean as only 10 weeks old but she has got your attention & you could end up constantly telling her to be quiet etc i think the best thing is no words, ignore the bad / unwanted behaviour & praise the good that way you aren't teaching her to get attention when she whines or howls, obviously whining to be let out for toilet is different so make sure that before she is put the crate she has done them things. Do remember she is learning at the moment & the things you put in place now is how she is going to grow up i think a lot of things can be trial & error they learn bad things as easy as good patience is very key as well & you feeling guilty she will sense & feed off.

I have never had to crate train at a young age so don't really know how easy things are but IMO if you think to yourself & act that this is normal everyday thing she will come to no harm & part of training to keep her safe then just that bit of poitive thought can make such a difference. Good luck

Just a thought... If you only close the crate door when you are leaving the room, she maybe associates the door closed with you leaving. Could you close it while you are there and see how she is?

I used crate training for reba, but to be honest only closed the door for the first week or so, so that I could learn when she needed out to go to the loo. She too went bananas when the door was closed when she got older, whether we were there or not, but to be fair she can be left now on her own with the door open and will go in to sleep at night or if we are out during the day.

Good luck with it, and I know from lots of others on here that it takes perseverance, also that for some dogs they seem to always hate it...
Gavs.

- going back when she gets really loud & frantic does teach her to persist.

- why can't she be toileted, then go ALONG on a hands-free leash attached to Ur waist?
umbilical-training is very helpful, she learns to hang-out peaceably & not pester; carry a chewie
or a STUFFED kong [not an empty one! Freezing the moistened contents helps it last longer], gives her
a bit of busywork when U are stationary [sit, stand, etc] - U halt, whip out her pacifier, do whatever,
PICK UP her pacifier, go to the next thing as she toddles along...
she's only 10-WO; i don't ask pups of that age to sleep solo, as they're still going out at 3-AM nightly,
on my schedule; i go to bed between 11-pm & midnite, set the ALARM for 3-am, & have the pup crated
within arm's-length of the bed, in case of emergencies - anything from nausea to diarrhea, or a fire.
i WANT my pup / dog right there, just in case; i don't have to wonder where they are, or find her/him
in a dark house when minutes may count.

i don't stop the 3-AM potty-trip until my pups / clients' pups are at least 15 to 16-WO. Pups lack a working
sphincter on both bladder & bowel until they are 12-WO; before that, WHEN FULL, they empty - it's automatic.
they must be scheduled, & altho they can choose 'where' to a degree, they cannot choose 'When'.

I-E, a pup under 12-WO with a full bladder can choose to pee on the carpet 3-ft over, or on the lino
that they're standing on... but the pup CANNOT hold the urine, nor does the pup 'choose' WHEN to pee.

Approx rule:
AGE IN MONTHS + 1 = max-number of hours between potty-trips, WITHOUT any triggers.

IOW: a 10-WO pup is 2-MO + 1 = max 3-hours between potty-trips.

Triggers:
- full stomach: a meal or big drink.
- waking from a nap.
- active play.
- exciting or worrying events: visitors, meet a dog / person, etc.
Any TRIGGER means take the pup out, immediately. This is in addition to, not 'in place of', scheduled
potty-trips:
if the pup went out at 6-AM & is due at 9-AM, but eats at 7-AM, the puppy needs to go out
within 15-mins of finishing that meal... PLUS at 9-AM, noon, etc.

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

Hello, thank you all for your replies and advice

Well I have a bit of progress to report (don't want to jinx things) last night I took her out to the loo and put her in her crate. I purchased the adaptil collar and spray from the vets so used that. Yes she did have a little cry but soon settled, no banging or chewing or clawing the crate as soon as the door was shut.

She woke at 3am ish so I took her straight out to the loo but didn't make a fuss of her (otherwise she may have thought it was playtime!) back in her crate and she soon settled again. The she worke about 5.30ish I took her to the loo...I knew she wouldn't settle this time as she was due her breakfast at 6am.

I don't know if this is the apatil (DAP) products or that she is just settling better but there is definitly progress.

Unfortunately I cannot have her crate in my bedroom as it won't fit so I did sleep back on the sofa and will continue to until I think she has completely settled.

Oh and the kongs - I filled one with banana and peanut butter and froze it overnight gave it her in her crate the next day but she really wasn't interested in it at all by the sounds of it on the forum she must be one of the only pups out there who doesn't like a kong!

Thanks again

the Kong is not the fascination - The FILLING Is.

if she doesn't care for PB & Banana, why not stuff it with half her brekkie, or half her dinner, with a few
'added attractions'? Low-fat grated mozzarella, just a Tbsp or 2, mixed into her ordinary rations - or canned
pumpkin, which smells & tastes sweet but is low-calorie & primarily fiber.
Or a Tbsp or 2 of canned-mackerel mashed into her rations, stuffed into the Kong, & frozen...

the recipe possibilities are endless - any leftover meat, STRIPPED of skin [poultry] or fat [beef, etc],
with NO cooked bone, is a safe addendum. Any low-fat cheese - ricotta, Mozz, Provo...
Organic Yogurt, which should NOT be frozen so that the live-critters do not die, but are eaten alive.
grated carrot - diced broccoli - diced cooked potato - green-beans, or garden-peas.

anything she enjoys OUTSIDE of a Kong, can be put into one - & mixing the dainties into her regular diet,
then using the augmented mix to stuff her Kong, is a low-calorie, simple way to make her WORK for her food.

just plopping a bowl-ful on the floor & letting her gobble it, essentially gives away huge training-opportunities.
i'd use that food for her 'lessons', including, 'settle into the crate & stay busy with this, dear...
That's a good puppy!'

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

Don't worry - it won't last long, and it sounds like you're probably over the worst now!

We brought Sherlock home in the summer when he was 8 weeks old and had the same thing with him. We live in a flat so it was really really hard to leave him barking/yelping, but we did persist, and tried hard to never go in to him while he was noisy. We did the crate training during the day so that it didn't disturb the neighbours, and we had his crate in our bedroom at night which he was fine with - it was only when we left the room that he panicked. He could go on barking for AGES, it was over an hour once, and it was such a horrible time because it tears right at your heart.

He got much better pretty quickly though, although it felt like eternity to us! And, like you, in the end we bought a DAP diffuser, and that seemed to put him at ease instantly (althought we'll never know if that was just coincidence).

He didn't get the hang of kongs straight away either. I guess he was about 4 months old ish when he started learning how to use them. Now he LOVES them, and loves going in his crate to have one!

__________________

Good luck with it, and I know from lots of others on here that it takes perseverance, also that for some dogs they seem to always hate it...
Gavs.