# Crate Training WHINING



## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

I got my V, Penny, on yesterday. She is 7 weeks old and we are working on crate training her. At night she is pretty good. She woke us to go out every 2 hours. While she did go each time I am hoping that when she is more comfortable she will hold it for longer. 

Anyway, during the day we have put her in the crate while she is napping. She does just fine, and when she wakes up she whines and we take her straight outside to potty. She will also go in the crate to hang out during the day and she shows no signs of fear. However if she is awake when we close the door she will sit for about 30 seconds before launching into a massive freak out. I know I am supposed to let her bark it out and not let her out before she settles down but what if she never settles down? I have been waiting for a break in her barking to let her out but these breaks are probably only 5 seconds long at the moment.

Also, she will often calm down to just a whine (rather than barking and climbing the wire walls) if I stand near the crate or if I approach the crate, even if I do not open it or talk to her. Is it ok to stand near the crate to calm her or am I teaching her a bad lesson?

TIA


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## Sail (Jun 18, 2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kv48vBWTqs&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Never reward when the dog is in an excited state of mind. 

At night, it might br easier to place the crate in the bedroom with you.
They do graduate and take their rightful place beside you... at some point in the near future. ..


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

Thanks for the fast feedback. We have an extra mattress that we moved into the living room for the transition. She was definitely better when we were in the room. I am ok sleeping in the living room for a few days - until she is more comfortable with the crate and separation. 

On the first day I put her in the crate, after she had been playing in there, and she was pretty relaxed. I then went to take a shower and she had a major freakout. I think that leaving her alone in the crate on the first day might have set us back a little bit. She had a fairly traumatic day as she had her first car ride and a 4 hour one at that. Little girl was shaking like a leaf for most of the day. 

One more question for you all, she does not seem to be eating enough. About 1/3 of a cup twice a day. We give food 4 times a day as that is what the breeder recommended, but she isn't eating the other two times. Penny is also not motivated by food. She completely ignored a peanut butter filled kong, doesn't care about treats, etc. Is this normal behavior? 

Thanks again. This board is amazing.


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

Oh, and here are some pictures of Penny.


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Don't give up on the kong just yet! We thought the same thing about our boy but it just took him a few days to realize he liked the taste of peanut butter


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## JessicaUK89 (Nov 19, 2013)

Hi and congratulations on your little girl penny 

We are in exactly the same position as you we picked up our little girl Pepper yesterday at 7 weeks 4 days old and the first night was an experience. We crated her in the dining room with a hot water bottle and her litter blanket about 11 o clock last night - she cried relentlessly! I let her out at 12 and 1am for the toilet and she went both times then returned to the crate and continued to cry until 2.30am we eventually gave in... We brought her crate into our bedroom next to our bed, after a couple of whimpers she settled and slept through the night other than toilet breaks.

Today we have had the crate in the lounge with her bed in and the door open all day, any time she naps on us we put her in the crate and leave the door open she comes out when she wakes up and goes straight to the toilet. She happily goes in and out of the crate all day, tonight we are going to leave her in the lounge crate and see how she goes.

It's nice to now there's someone in the same position as us, hopefully we can help each other out with the puppy experience! 

Good luck xx


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## Sail (Jun 18, 2013)

hcrowder said:


> She was definitely better when we were in the room. I am ok sleeping in the living room for a few days - until she is more comfortable with the crate and separation.


YES. At first. .. then it becomes permanent ;D
They are better than us at trainig humans...


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

We are trying to decide if we should buy another crate for the bedroom 

We have this massive crate and a mini V so even with the divider there is loads of space for her. I don't want another crate this large - my flat isn't that big - but I am a sucker for her and we might just end up with two wire crates.


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

JessicaUK89 - we are right there with you. Lets hope for a more peaceful night tonight.

I was hoping to get some grocery shopping done tomorrow but if she keeps having freakouts in the crate then I might order food online. She is training me quite quickly as you can see. :-[


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## FLgatorgirl (Mar 11, 2013)

The pup wants to be wherever you are, so two crates (one in the bedroom and one in the main living area) just makes it easier on you. Also, we let our girl sleep in the bed with us until she was 100% comfortable with the crate at night. Everyone got more sleep that way . We did everything gradually, slowly increasing crate time in the day always with a reward or special toy. Once she had no issues napping in the crate or resting for at least an hour or so, we kept at that for a few weeks and then just put her in the crate in the bedroom one night and no issues. 

She always gets a special treat to go in the crate and everyone is amazed at how happy she is to jump in there!


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## Sail (Jun 18, 2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uOmweA_iCE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TPSIL7oKwM&feature=youtube_gdata_player


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Our 7 month old suffers from anxiety and no matter what we tried to do it did not help. My feeling is that some dogs just do not do well..... My suggestion is to not give in to them though- stick it out. Dharma does sleep in our bed at night and steals the covers. She has my husband trained!


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## Beckster (Oct 1, 2013)

If it's a wire crate I would suggest trying a plastic travel-type crate. When my 8 year old V was a pup I had the hardest time crate training her due to the freak outs that never ended. I switched to the other kind of crate and all of a sudden everything was fine! That wire crate went right into the dumpster.

My new little guy is happy in either.


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