# Puppy sleeping in crate



## cdawson123 (Jan 22, 2017)

Hello, i'm new to this so here goes, 

We picked up our new Vizsla puppy yesterday afternoon and have already noticed that she isn't the biggest fan of her crate.

We've always had a lot of dogs and like to think we're pretty good at coping with puppies, however, we've never had a Viz before.

Does anyone have any tips on how best to allow her to settle into her crate and particularly sleeping in it at night??

I know the old trick is to allow them to realise that crying doesn't get a reaction but its not always that easy!

Any wisdom will be greatly received



PS…i also understand that this is only officially day 1 of having her so i shouldn't expect miracles!!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Ear plugs, and a bottle of wine. 
That's kind of a half way joke. But if you get overwhelmed, and feel like the walking dead from lack of sleep. It's a welcome relief. 
Try feeding her meals the crate with the door open, and save special treats for the crate only with the door closed . You can wear an old t-shirt during the day, and put it in the crate with her. Some do better when they can smell you. Some do like it if they have a stuffed toy. You can also try white noise. Most of us use classical music. We try crate covered, and uncovered. Some like it better if they can see you and know your near. Others won't settle, if they can see you. I will let mine cry it out some, but not for hours. 
First sign they are quite, I get them out. It doesn't matter if it was only 30 seconds. Plan on waking up during the night to take them out to potty. 

You know we charge for this kind of information. 
It can only be paid in puppy pictures😆


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## hecallsmebama (Mar 31, 2016)

For the day...
We did crate games with Amos. I was very nervous about the crate and desperately wanted him to like it so I read a lot ahead of time. I know it depends on their little personalities but I think it really helped de-sensitize him to it. You can google crate games but we would generally mix it in with "sit," "stay," "on your bed," and then "crate." He got treats through the process of course, zipping around place to place anxious for the next command. Then we would command a "stay" once he was in the crate, leaving the door open. Then we worked up to a "stay" followed by closing the door and eventually opening the door, waiting, and then releasing him from the stay. Playing these games helped us. He soon associated the crate with games, treats, and a guaranteed release. I know your pup is small, but Vs learn so fast! Amos learned sit the second day we had him. A week later he also knew stay and lay down. So we more or less just worked the crate training into the regular training.

For the night...
I can't say this is the best strategy, but in regard to the crate and whining at night, we took Amos out every few hours to potty and would recrate him. Everyone says to ignore them, but we were desperate for sleep. (We have kids who would wake up from the whining as well.) Anyway, when we would crate or re-crated him, we would lay down on the floor next to him. At first, he would want us to hold his paw through the bars. Then, he just wanted us to lay there. Once he was asleep, we'd move back to the bed. Gradually, over the course of two or three weeks, he learned to settle himself and we could just crate him and get back in bed, no more floor routine. It's probably not the best advice but it was what was realistic for our situation with kids waking and all. Like TR said, your pup may never settle if you are near. Their little personalities are all so different.


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## Canadian Expy (Feb 27, 2013)

You have been given good advice here for crate training (there are many other threads you can search on the forum regarding this topic as well). 

Do the crate activities suggested often. We brought our pup home on a Friday and worked on crate training steadily for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday (took the day off). For our first pup, ignoring worked. For our recent pup, ignoring wasn’t working, so we would give her a “hush!” or “enough!” in a low, deep voice. We started with leaving her in the crate for 30 seconds, then 60 seconds, etc. 

Even with these crate games this doesn’t mean the pup won’t cry in the crate at times, but they are getting used to being in there and aren’t going crazy trying to escape it. For the first couple weeks when I’d come home the pup may or may not be crying in the crate. Our pup is now 13 weeks old and is rarely crying in the crate when we come home, as she is getting used to the routine. 

I’ll let you know what I have found to work for her and others dogs we’ve had for the *night time* routine:

- Make sure puppy is tired out before bed (don’t let the pup sleep all evening, and then expect her to go into her crate happily when you want to go to bed – make sure she’s tired)
- Make sure the crate is small (use a divider if necessary) as your pup will take comfort in the smaller space
- Each dog I’ve had gets their own blanket, that we have slept with, cuddled with, etc to get our scent onto it, and they get this blanket at bedtime (it also helps to make their crate nice and cozy, in combo with a nice plush crate mat, which the pup only gets at night, as during the day in the crate it would likely get shredded). 
- Cover the crate with a blanket, leaving the door uncovered
- I’m a fan of the crate in your room (you can hear the puppy whimper, and they take comfort in being closer to you) so have the crate beside your bed if possible. You can hang your hand there, and tell the pup to “hush” if she fusses. The first night she may cry for “x” amount of time, then the second night it will be less, etc, but I find if they are in the room with you they settle much faster. 
- We also went and bought a small stuffed dog (roughly the size of your 8 week old pup) and put it in her crate with her at bedtime. For us, this stopped the nighttime whining almost immediately as she cuddled into the toy. 
- During the night if the pup whimpers, take it outside (but if you take the pup outside, and it eliminates, and you bring it back in to the crate and it cries, then you can ignore or say “hush!). At 8 weeks I was taking her out 2 or 3 times a night (me being more cautious than anything else, as I would take her out every couple hours just in case, even if she wasn’t fussing). 

Remember that she is getting used to a new place, being away from her litter mates, a routine in life, etc. If you get discouraged, keep calm, take a deep breath and remember that in time it will pass. It is part of the initiation of owning a V  (boy can they scream!)

I have attached a picture of our nighttime crate. A thick crate pad covered by her blanket which she can nestle into, and her stuffy to keep her company. 

Congrats on the new addition


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## Kayla_Tempi (Jan 24, 2017)

When my boyfriend and I first got our V we had a very similar problem. When we tried to put our pup in the crate he would cry and complain all night. We were told to just ignore him, but he would work himself up to hysterics and was crying consistently for hours -- this is a very persistent breed!

We knew we needed to try something different, and our guy responds very well to positive reinforcement. We covered his crate with a blanket, put it next to our bed, and gave him a Kong full of all-natural peanut butter every time he went in his crate. As a note, he ONLY gets peanut butter in his crate. Being such a high value treat, he quickly learned to be excited about "crate time." At night when he would whimper or cry, I'd place my fingers into his crate through the grate so that he would know that we were right there with him. 

The combination of peanut butter and reassurance allowed us to eventually move his crate into a separate room (after about a week or so) and he would sleep in there quietly throughout the entire night.

Now he goes into his crate every time he's looking for a nap and wants a treat to go along with it


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