# Crate training help



## mmcphie (Nov 14, 2017)

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and looking for some guidance with crate training. I am aware that other post already exist on this topic.

We have an almost 4 month old vizsla puppy. We had her crate trained and sleeping through the night. We recently stayed at my parents place one weekend and our pup ended up waking up and crying at 1:30 am. My mom let her outside to pee and put her back in the crate. She continued to cry for about an hour. It has not been a week and a half and she continues to wake up now during the night and cries (sometimes for 2 hours straight). We are wondering whether the one instance with my mother letting her out has trained her that barking will get her out of the crate. We have ruled out other possible reasons that she might be waking up in the night- nothing has really changed. We live in an apartment and are concerned about the disruption this causes to our neighbours at night since her barking and crying is very loud. 

Her crate is not located in our bedroom, but we are wondering about moving it there only to reduce noise to our neighbours; however, we are concerned this might create more problems as she is used to sleeping in another area of the apartment. 

We feel like we are back to square with crate training. Should we stick it out with ignoring the crying? Any help or insight is much appreciated!


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

The quick fix is to let her sleep in bed with you and continue to crate train during the day. She'll gradually get more comfortable both with being alone and with being in her crate while she matures and you'll either grow accustomed to snuggling up to her in your bed or she'll have developed the skills to transition to sleeping alone. 

If that's not an option for you then buy earplugs in bulk and put together some gift bags for your neighbors. Yes, move the crate next to your bed, close enough at first that you can lazily drop your arm down and poke some fingers in the crate to comfort her when she wakes. Over the next month or so you can start moving the crate farther and farther away until it's back where you want it to stay.


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## mmcphie (Nov 14, 2017)

Thank you, einspänner, for the suggestions! I guess what we are most confused about is that she was able to sleep through the night for about a month. She still has no issue going to bed in her crate around 9:30 and sleeps for a while, but now randomly wakes up anywhere from 2am to 3:30 am. I am concerned that she may be awakening because she needs to go to the washroom, as I do notice that she has peed in her crate. However, this was not an issue in the past month and she was able to hold it until the morning.


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## Betty (Apr 14, 2016)

When do you put up the water bowl? We used to cut off water drinking at about 6PM, that helped with the night time peeing.


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## mmcphie (Nov 14, 2017)

Thanks for your reply, Betty- We take her water bowl away about 2.5 hours to 3 hours before bed. Would you suggest even earlier? She was able to hold it before...and just today, she was crated during the day for 2.5 hours and peed in her crate. I know she is able to hold it longer than this and previously was able to. We aren't sure why she is regressing in potty and crate training.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I agree it is confusing that one incident would set her back so much, but training is often one step forward, two back. Maybe she's drinking more than she did at first and can't hold it, or maybe she's getting better at sensing when she has to go and wakes up. Any time I did have to take my girl out in the middle of the night, I made it very brief and with as little interaction as possible and that seemed to help her settle quickly again.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just wondering if you have ruled out a UTI. Next would be the amount of exercise, and food she's getting.
In cooler weather mine need more running time, and more food. 
Them being restless is a good indicator for me to increase both.
Hotter weather, and I cut back.


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## mmcphie (Nov 14, 2017)

einspänner- it's possible because she's eating more she's also drinking more too- that's a good point.

texasred- We have not ruled out a UIT yet- I did look up symptoms and they don't seem to fit. I'm not sure if the frequency would be in line with a UTI. Has your pup had this before? In terms of exercise, she gets about 1.5 hours a day of walking and running. We have recently upped her food too, which is maybe making her drink more, and as einspänner suggested, making her need to pee more (?)


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I will have mine checked for UTI if they are going small amounts more frequently, or have accidents. A big change in them taking in more water, can also be one of the signs of a kidney infection.


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