# Overnighting in crate



## Mr Percy (Mar 31, 2016)

Mr Percy is 10 weeks old and we have had him nearly 2 weeks. He is making progress in many areas such as toileting / basic commands etc but we have a developing problem with overnighting him. His crate is in the kitchen and set up next to a pen so we have one crate door into the kitchen and one into the pen. He happily goes in the crate / pen when we are active in the kitchen but he complains as soon as the door is shut. He yelps like mad for 5-10 mins if we are out of sight then calms down. We have ignored his complaints to date and it is getting better slowly compared to his first couple of nights. His complaints have changed from sorrowful whining for a couple of hours to incessant yelping for a few minutes.

The problem is that he is now reluctant to get in the crate at bedtime. Even when laying a trail of treats for him he sits short of the crate and won't go in (he will during the day). We have done most of the usual tricks researched on the forum of clothing with our smell, ticking clock, leave radio on low, kong toy etc and nothing seems to be working. What we do is close the external crate door then lift him into the pen then lay treats into the crate that way - but it is a matter of time until he wises up to that trick too! We live in a small cottage so can't have him in the bedroom or landing through lack of space. I'm afraid the kitchen it must be. 

We have been crating him rather than let him have the additional freedom of the pen in the belief it might help teach him toilet control better. We get up at 3AM to let him out and from the toilet side this is working but doubles the separation event (though we thought that might get him used to the situation quicker too through increased repetition). We tried leaving the pen side open for 2/3 nights so he could toilet on a pad (and we could sleep thru!) but it made no difference to his yelping. My feeling is that he is going to take another couple of weeks to settle down but he will eventually get there, but my concern is that the refusal to crate may become a bigger issue and we are very keen to avoid this. Has anyone had a similar experience or advice to offer?


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

If you wait long enough someone will come along who has a happily crate trained cockapoo who goes willingly into their removed from the family crate every night. You might be waiting a very long time though...I think many of us gave up and crate them in our rooms, take them into our beds, or let them have the run of the kitchen. They are extremely social little dogs who loathe being apart from their people. They are also incredibly determined and you might be surprised at how long she'll carry on the theatrics for.


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## Annabellam (Nov 3, 2015)

I think you should associate the crate with good things like treats. Try feeding him a treat whenever he readily goes to the crate even during the day. Also try making it as comfortable as possible so that even in the night he doesn't just left out and alone.


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## LolaCockerpoo (Feb 1, 2016)

I bought a crate all ready for when I bought puppy home. When she fell sound asleep in her dog bed in the kitchen on the first night, I didn't have the heart to wake her. So she slept there that night without a peep, and has slept there every night since...without a peep. Never used the crate. She's now 18 weeks old and every evening as we ready ourselves to go upstairs to bed, she settles herself into her bed in the kitchen. I turn the radio on for her, since there tends to noise from the neighbours. For five weeks, I put up with a few puddles and poos to clean up in the morning, but it was worth it as I slept from 10:30pm to 7:00am. With a good night's sleep, I found dealing with a puppy much easier.
However...I do often wonder whether I should have crate trained my lovely girl as I'm told it's very useful with visits to groomers, vets, ferry travel, and some holiday homes require dogs to be crated if they're left in the house on their own.


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## Mr Percy (Mar 31, 2016)

Thanks guys for the replies. We have changed tact to lifting him into his pen ( from which he can access his cage) at bedtime. He is sleeping all night after a brief moan so seems to be settling. Unfortunately it does not solve the getting him to bed on command issue or issue on closing the crate door so I am not entirely happy with the option but we will work on that during day time sessions when he is Ok in going into his crate. We will stop penning him once he is toilet trained and not chewing everything in sight but we really do need him to crate at some point. It seems our only option is to rest the matter for now until he settles down.


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## Mr Percy (Mar 31, 2016)

Thought I would update for the benefit of others researching the same issues. Mr Percy is now 14 weeks and has accepted his crate. No more incessant barking when crated at night. Getting him to go into his crate took patience and vast repetition! I found clicker training was the only thing that worked ( a trail of treats etc would not lure him). He now sleepily plods into his crate at bedtime without asking. It was a relief that he didn't develop and ingrained phobia and we overcame the "Mexican standoff" every bedtime positively.

So for others undergoing a similar learning curve I hope our experience will offer some light at the end of the tunnel. In other respects such as toilet training he is also getting better and the sense of progress really helps us bond and enjoy his puppy-hood!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Thank you for the update and the example that patience and time do solve several problems with consistent kind training  Well done you - you deserve a treat!
Mr Percy sounds lovely - can we see a picture?


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

LolaCockerpoo said:


> I bought a crate all ready for when I bought puppy home. When she fell sound asleep in her dog bed in the kitchen on the first night, I didn't have the heart to wake her. So she slept there that night without a peep, and has slept there every night since...without a peep. Never used the crate. She's now 18 weeks old and every evening as we ready ourselves to go upstairs to bed, she settles herself into her bed in the kitchen. I turn the radio on for her, since there tends to noise from the neighbours. For five weeks, I put up with a few puddles and poos to clean up in the morning, but it was worth it as I slept from 10:30pm to 7:00am. With a good night's sleep, I found dealing with a puppy much easier.
> However...I do often wonder whether I should have crate trained my lovely girl as I'm told it's very useful with visits to groomers, vets, ferry travel, and some holiday homes require dogs to be crated if they're left in the house on their own.


We have never crate trained our dog. Any of them and we've never had a problem at the vets, or the groomers, in transport ( other people's) or in guest houses and hotels. They happily go in anything. So Lola will be just fine.


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## Wendy07 (Apr 15, 2016)

Still learning and don't have a Poo yet, but can you tell me about clicker training and how this works please? X


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

The clicker makes a noise that comes to mean "yes" or "good dog". You associate it with a treat and then they will work for clicks. It makes it super easy to "shape" a behaviour to your liking for training because the click is such a clear sound. I've used one on my dogs before but to be honest I prefer "yes" because you never misplace your voice, it always comes with you and I always felt like a dolphin trainer when I used the clicker. Others swear by the things though.


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## Mr Percy (Mar 31, 2016)

I agree with what fairlie says - it can be a bit of a faff juggling the clicker/treats/lead etc and remembering to be consistent but it is effective.


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