# Back to the nightime screams in the crate



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

For the last 2 weeks Ruby started crying in her crate in the middle of the night. She is going on 20 weeks and since 10 weeks she was sleeping from 10pm-7am without a peep. We haven't changed anything, still take food and water away 2 hrs before bed time. She is on antibiotics and noticed she is peeing more than normal so I thought maybe that is it -but this started before the pills when my parents were in town staying with us. Last night, my husband woke up at 1am and took her potty and she was wide awake wanting to play. He put her back in the crate and she cried for another hour and then fell asleep to start all over again at 5:30am.

Is this just a phase? So strange that she was so good for so long and now almost back to square one again.


----------



## Chestersmum (Jun 21, 2010)

Is her crate covered?

Our v went through a phase of barking and growling at night. I think it was because he became more alert when a little older so we covered his crate and this seemed to solve it.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Chestersmum said:


> Is her crate covered?
> 
> Our v went through a phase of barking and growling at night. I think it was because he became more alert when a little older so we covered his crate and this seemed to solve it.


Yes - crate covered since day 1 of getting her. Her new thing is to pull the cover off and pull it all inside the crate.


----------



## Macaroni (Jan 19, 2011)

Not sure about the midnight wake up....but w/ the clocks moved ahead and it becoming light out earlier, our guy is waking up at 5-5:30 instead of 6:30 as we'd like. He goes back to sleep after few minutes of whining, but still a pain . I figure they'll figure it out.


----------



## raps702 (Dec 19, 2010)

hmmm...That's interesting, I can't speculate on the reasoning why he may be crying in the night, since she slept through the night for 10 weeks previously. Axel is 6 months old now and we also put him in his kennel at 10pm and take away his water 2 hours before bedtime, and he is sleeping through the night, about a month ago he was getting up around 5:30 am and I would let him out to pee and he would go back to bed, however he actually didn't even pee much sometimes nothing, so we were wondering why he was getting up so early? He only had some blankets in his kennel, and we put a more comfy dog bed in his kennel, and now he sleeps in until we get up. (maybe he was just uncomfortable in the night? who knows?) Anyway's, its finally nice that he is sleeping all night long... I understand your frustration, maybe just a phase and hopefully Ruby will get back to her normal sleep pattern. Good luck


----------



## BamBam (Feb 14, 2010)

If nothings changed maybe it is just a phase as you say and she is testing to see if you will give in. I would stick through it and keep ignoring her. Maybe do a short training session with her before bed to make sure she is extra tired.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

raps702 said:


> hmmm...That's interesting, I can't speculate on the reasoning why he may be crying in the night, since she slept through the night for 10 weeks previously. Axel is 6 months old now and we also put him in his kennel at 10pm and take away his water 2 hours before bedtime, and he is sleeping through the night, about a month ago he was getting up around 5:30 am and I would let him out to pee and he would go back to bed, however he actually didn't even pee much sometimes nothing, so we were wondering why he was getting up so early? He only had some blankets in his kennel, and we put a more comfy dog bed in his kennel, and now he sleeps in until we get up. (maybe he was just uncomfortable in the night? who knows?) Anyway's, its finally nice that he is sleeping all night long... I understand your frustration, maybe just a phase and hopefully Ruby will get back to her normal sleep pattern. Good luck



You just reminded me of something. We took away Ruby's bed in her crate a few weeks ago. We made the mistake of taking the divider out of the crate too soon and she would pee on her bed at night. We put the divider back in and never put the bed back in but she still had her blanket and no more peeing in the crate. She just seemed to be doing a lot of weird stuff with the crate lately that she didn't do a month ago.

This weekend we are boarding her at the vet for the first time so we can have a weekend away. I'm sure that will put us back even further on these crate issues.


----------



## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

Why is Ruby on meds? Is increased urine output a potential side effect? If Pumpkin were on meds, I would not limit her water before bed if she wanted it. Water is useful in flushing out the system, especially if she has had an infection. At Ruby's age, she should be able to make it through the night aside from a medical issue &/or going through a phase as others suggested. Good Luck


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

kellygh said:


> Why is Ruby on meds? Is increased urine output a potential side effect? If Pumpkin were on meds, I would not limit her water before bed if she wanted it. Water is useful in flushing out the system, especially if she has had an infection. At Ruby's age, she should be able to make it through the night aside from a medical issue &/or going through a phase as others suggested. Good Luck


Ruby is on antibiotics for 10 days because her canine tooth broke off and the root is exposed. The vet doesn't want to extract it and will wait for the rest of it to fall out before her adult one comes in. I need to ask the vet if it is a side effect - I just noticed the last few days she scratches to go potty a lot more than usual.


----------



## JillandDan (Sep 8, 2010)

We are going through a similar situation with Holley (10 months old). It started when daylight savings time hit. Before then she would sleep through the night and on the weekends I would actually wake her up to go out. Then daylight savings time came and she would get us up in the middle of the night to go out and some nights it was multiple times. We always take her our before bed and changed nothing so we were unsure why this was going on. We went through this for a couple weeks. She now seems to be almost back on schedule (hate to jinx it). She gets me up on the weekend early but it is the normal time for during the week so I am okay with that. We spoke with the vet and they said it may just be one of the fun puppy phases that they go through. She also stated that Holley's lack of appetite was also common at this age and she would get through it. I still think the wanting to go out so often has alot to do with the fact that now the birds and bunnies are okay and she wants to go out after them. Not sure though. Good luck.


----------



## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

Awe...hope the tooth comes out soon. I had a root canal this morning, and the phrase 'exposed root' makes me cringe ! Any chance the exposed root is bothering her & keeping her up? Might be something she would not notice as much during the day with more distractions? An exposed root in us humans would be intolerable, but I know nothing about canine denistry. IDK, but I hope peaceful sleep comes your way soon. Good Luck!


----------



## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Yep. It's a phase. Use ear plugs.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Good news - Ruby slept through the night without making a peep. We put her bed back in her crate and hopefully that did the trick. We had her blanket only since I was concerned when she peed on my bed a few weeks ago. Hopefully, we are back on track now.


----------



## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

We wen through this with Penny at around 18 months and then again a few months later, both with increasing anxiety. We talked to the vet, tried various tricks of blankets in and out, switching crate styles, moving it to our room, etc. Eventually we just had to ditch the crate and let her sleep on a dog bed in our room. It is definitely an inconvenience but for some reason she developed extra anxiety and crating became too difficult for her, even after more than a year of sleeping well in it. There were other things going on in our family life at the time that probably contributed to the anxiety. We also had to eliminate the crate during the day when we go out, instead training her (okay, trusting and praying) to be good while we're gone. 
I hope this isn't quite your case, but if it is, know it worked out for us in the end.


----------



## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

The above description by JP is a perfect example of what happens if the dog succeeds in training the master. Nothing wrong with how it turned out in the end, as long as the owner is comfortable with the situation. Remember that these dogs are smarter and more stubburn then the average dog.  The will of the owner is also a factor in which way things will go. The real question for all of us is....how do we want to live and relate to our pet? Some people want a dog in their bed and on the couch. For me personally, it is not an option.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Linescreamer said:


> The above description by JP is a perfect example of what happens if the dog succeeds in training the master. Nothing wrong with how it turned out in the end, as long as the owner is comfortable with the situation. Remember that these dogs are smarter and more stubburn then the average dog.  The will of the owner is also a factor in which way things will go. The real question for all of us is....how do we want to live and relate to our pet? Some people want a dog in their bed and on the couch. For me personally, it is not an option.


Agreed - one thing I have learned throughout this process is to never ditch the crate no matter how much she cries. Ruby will never be allowed to be in our bed. First of all, she snores to loud...lol. I don't think I could ever trust her alone in the house and will always be put in the crate when we are gone, safer for her and all of my new home renovations 

We do allow Ruby on the couch. We were really good about not allowing her on it and then she got bit by that awful rattlesnake which tugged on our heart strings since we almost lost her. She wanted up on the couch during that time ( and I think we did too). Now we are focusing on allowing her up with us when we ask and not when she wants.


----------



## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

For a little self defense, as I said this was a case of developing anxiety beyond just the crying and we worked with a vet on the issue. She went from just crying and whining, which we could deal with, to physically hurting herself in the crate trying to get out. It just wasn't an option any more, and is not an option for some dogs. There were other factors involved that were probably contributing to this: change in jobs for one adult and a pregnancy (human, not dog) but we never were able to fully understand what was going on. I have had a few posts about this last year. Sorry to include an extreme example that is beyond just puppy crying, but I wanted to share that even in cases where crating becomes not available that it can still work out in the end.


----------



## szalpeter (Apr 3, 2011)

If u do not trust your dog,he/she gonna filling it!
I have had an outdoor kennel and we put Dorka out there when we was not at home. A week later a neighbors were complain about the noise so I put her to inside and let her go everywhere. She sat upstairs on the chair and watch the world outside from the window which look out to my driveway so she seeing when we arrive home.
She never ever touches anything in the house but her toys!))
I trust her 100% no matter what!


----------

