8 wk old pup won't stop crying in the crate, what am I doing wrong? :/

[dantesmom]

So Dante is still being crate trained. He's getting better at holding it in when he's in the crate. But he CRIES and BARKS when he's in the crate. Soon as we put him back in the crate, he starts to cry.

We tried everything.

We tried being there in front of the crate to play with him and pet him while he's in there, doesn't work. He barks at us.
We tried telling him to "quiet" and soon as he stops crying, we use the clicker and click, and tell him good boy, give him a treat. Doesn't work. He still cries and barks soon as we turn around. "quiet" doesn't work without us being in front of him with a treat.
We tried giving him the benefit of the doubt and wait till he's quiet for about 2 secs and let him outside to potty, most of the time he would potty, then we put him back in, he cries again.
We tried putting a comfy bed and a stuffed animal with a chew toy in there with him, spraying it all with calming spray, doesn't work. He chews his bed up in pieces, and still cries.
We tried feeding him in there, he won't eat his food, he'll just cry.

We spend 80% of our time with him, and only 20% with our Golden at this point since he obviously needs the attention. He has rare accidents now in the house but we don't scold him for that. We're almost always home, when we're home, half of the time he's in the crate crying or sleeping, half of the time he's out playing with us or Bubu.

This crate training with him just doesn't seem to be working.

Now his cries are turning into high pitched constant barks, we're just concerned that he will keep doing this for the rest of his pup life. What are we doing wrong? Do you guys have any other suggestions? :/

 

[musicdeb]

You are doing nothing wrong. Consistency and TONS of patience. You have not had him long so be patient. I know it can be nerve racking to hear the high pitched barks, but he will get it that he needs to love his crate.

Have you put your worn shirt in the crate, does he have white noise and put a rope or other chewing toy (nylabone, kong with frozen yogurt, frozen hand or bath towel, etc).

 

[Boxergirl]

It does sound like you're doing it right. I would also make sure that you put really great, tasty things in his crate during the day and encourage him to go in and out - never closing the door. Then when he's more comfortable, close it a little, praise if he's quiet and open. Some dogs need baby steps. One thing I did wonder though. You said that you click and treat when he's quiet, which is great. My question is, did you load the clicker? So that he knows what the click means? There's a process to doing it and it's a step that is often overlooked in marker training and is vital to it being successful. Not everyone likes clicker/marker training, but some dogs really learn well with it. If you haven't clicker trained before, I'd be happy to point you to some info on it. Best of luck. Puppies are tons of work, but so worth the effort.

 

[dantesmom]

It does sound like you're doing it right. I would also make sure that you put really great, tasty things in his crate during the day and encourage him to go in and out - never closing the door. Then when he's more comfortable, close it a little, praise if he's quiet and open. Some dogs need baby steps. One thing I did wonder though. You said that you click and treat when he's quiet, which is great. My question is, did you load the clicker? So that he knows what the click means? There's a process to doing it and it's a step that is often overlooked in marker training and is vital to it being successful. Not everyone likes clicker/marker training, but some dogs really learn well with it. If you haven't clicker trained before, I'd be happy to point you to some info on it. Best of luck. Puppies are tons of work, but so worth the effort.

Dante is not really treat oriented, at least not yet. We've tried to lure him into the crate with treats, but he didn't seem to really be interested, he would just run off somewhere and if we call him with a happy voice, he would just come to us, not the crate. He's very playful. We're beginning to think he simply cries because he wants to be out and playing. How much time should we crate him in a day anyway?

I actually didn't know that I had to "load" the clicker. How do you do that? I was briefly introduced to clicker training for my golden retriever, but never got into intense training with it. I'd be glad to learn it from you Thanks in advance!

 

[Boxergirl]

If he's not treat motivated, try a favorite toy. Anything that makes him want to go in the crate on his own is good. This link has a pretty good step by step explanation of loading the clicker. I don't know about his other training tips, but this was pretty detailed. There's tons of info out there. Like I said, many people don't like or understand clicker training. It's just a marker that allows you to pinpoint the exact behavior you want to reinforce. Charging the Clicker is the Key to Preparing Your Dog for Clicker Training!

 

[DennasMom]

I don't think you're doing anything wrong, either.

I might try something like the following:

Morning - out for potty... play time, breakfast, relax a bit (time to digest)... more play/potty... and maybe just keep him leashed to you for morning naps while you do other stuff (for me, that's working at a computer) - out for potty and some play anytime he gets restless or starts sniffing around.

Noon - out for potty... play time, lunch, relax a bit... more play... get him good and worn out, maybe work on teaching some words (his name, come, sit, wait, etc.)... then put him in his crate, with the door open, and you sit in front of the door with a good book or magazine. Don't let him out of the crate, but don't shut the door, either. Just sit there and be calm and quiet until he falls asleep. If he barks or cries, ignore it. Don't pet him, but you can use your arm to block the door and keep him inside the crate. Once he finally does fall asleep (it will happen... you just have to be very, very patient!) you could keep reading (I would, especially the first few times) - or go off and do something else. If he stays sleeping as you move away, you could leave the door open, but you'd have to be vigilant that as soon as he puts one foot outside the crate, you sweep him up for a potty break. If he moves to follow you when you move, I'd sit back down until he settles again. At that point, he may be sleepy enough that you can close the door, and still read a few minutes more until he nods back off to dreamland...

Evening - just keep him leashed to you with frequent potty breaks.

Night time - hopefully he's too sleepy to worry about cuddling up with a pillow instead of you in the crate. We used a pillow off our bed for Denna to sleep with - it had so much of our scent on it, she just curled right up and passed out.

I'd give him maybe one or two "crate naps" a day, anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours at a time (shorter to start with), just to get him comfortable being in the crate.
Since I work from home, I had to MAKE myself put Denna in the crate... it was too easy to just let her sleep by my feet in the office... but I knew I wanted her to enjoy naps in the crate later, so we made time for 'crate-naps'.

Oh, and be sure to breathe! When he cries, don't let it get you upset or frustrated... remain calm. Do some yoga breathing exercises and 'send' calming thoughts his direction.... use an "ooommmmm" or "sshhhhhhh" sound and see if that helps. Don't use his name when he's crying, you don't want anything bad associated with his name. Just send calm energy his direction, and do not give in to the cries (unless it's for a quick potty break).

BTW - We did clicker-training with Denna - she LOVED it. It worked really well with her. She's majorly treat motivated. She knows a 'click' means 'treat's coming', so she'll do anything to keep those clicks coming!
Enjoy puppy hood! It truly is a labor of love.