[Cosmotion]

I think I'm running on about 4 hours of sleep since Friday. The first couple nights Cosmo was okay, just cried for about 10 minutes then went to sleep, just whining when he needed to be let out. Since then it has been non-stop. Last night I finally cracked and brought him into bed with us. Well, apparently he really liked that as he held his business in for almost 5 hours sleeping snugly between me and my girlfriend.

Honestly, if he is going to be a good boy in my bed, I don't really mind it. I've had dogs in my bed growing up so it isn't anything new. Also, we both work during the day and crating at night and during the day (we have staggered schedules that allows us to let him out every couple hours) just breaks my heart sometimes. I'd rather him not be in a crate when we sleep and when we're at work.

On the other hand, if it's going to hinder his crate training, perhaps I should just be the bad guy and move his crate into the basement?

 

[JayJay]

I still wrote it in another thread.
In Germany crates are not as popular as it seems there are in the US.

I have to ask because I still didn

 

[Cosmotion]

[quote="JayJay\";p=\"41087":3dywz9z8]I still wrote it in another thread.
In Germany crates are not as popular as it seems there are in the US.

I have to ask because I still didn

 

[sully]

I posted a crate training thread yesterday in the puppies section, the responses might be helpful to you:

Crate training

I gave up on crating Oggie at night, mostly because he turned out to be so well behaved.  I don't let him in the bed because I am just of the belief that the pack leader should always sit or sleep higher than the others, but I let him sleep on his dog bed next to my bed.  If he got up at all hours and started tearing up the room, well I would probably abandon it.  But he's perfectly behaved so I figure why crate him.

I am still trying to crate him when I'm not home, for his own safety.  He has some pretty bad separation anxiety so I don't know what he might to do.  I'm just trying to gradually get him comfortable with it.  It's definitely not easy.

 

[Cosmotion]

After all that, I came home (a little late, i might add) for lunch to let Cosmo out and I found he had peed in his crate! It was totally my fault and I was caught up on a never ending conference call at work, I take full responsibility. I rinsed him off and let him out. If he didn't like his crate before, he certainly won't like it now...

 

[southerngirls]

how old is cosmo? His bladder also could just be small at this point and he cant hold it long.

 

[Cosmotion]

He is exactly 8 weeks old today... Am I dreaming in thinking that 3 hours is too much to ask? He slept almost 5 hours straight in my bed last night without eliminating at all. Weird.

 

[sully]

8 weeks is very young to be left in a crate for more than a couple of hours.  I was bringing Oggie outside every 2 hours when I got him, and he was 12 weeks at that point.   Better too early than late.  I've found that if puppies are sleeping they can hold it in longer, but as soon as they wake up they will need to go.  That could be in 2 hours or in 6 hours.  I guess that's not much different than humans, really.

 

[southerngirls]

when we got Reese at 12 weeks we took her out every hour. It seems excessive but it worked. An 8 wk old pup should be out every 1-1.5 hours, three hours is too long for them to hold their bladder. As they get older though it wont be a problem. good luck! keep us posted

 

[JeepKuntry]

Charlie took to his crate very well.  He would get tucked in and go right to bed, never wimpered or anything.  With Sadie, the first two nights I slept in the floor by her crate and that helped.  I will admit we've caved in at times and let them on the bed if we were tired.  But 2 boxers, me being 6'3" and 210, the wife is short and a little on the heavy side, it's not possible.

 

[slobound]

Koa wasn't too happy with his crate when we first got him.  It took a few nights before he could go in and sleep in it.  It helped when we added a hot water bottle, ticking clock, toys, covered the top of the crate with towels, and turned on some jazz music.  He can pretty much hold it from 11:30pm - 6:45am now at 10 weeks.  However, during the day... he gets let out every couple hours or so.  No messes in the house for the past 5 days but who's counting?

 

[Cosmotion]

^^ It would be nice to be that lucky.

I really am starting to think Cosmo absolutely hates his crate. I put a stuffed kong in there with some peanut butter to lure him in, but he isn't fooled. He immediately turns right around and makes a bee line for the exit! It's hard to even get him in there and my hand out before the door shuts. Then, of course, is the wailing. I've tried to "start over" and toss treats in there, but he isn't buying it. I'm really at a loss.

 

[15842]

Persistence will pay off.  It has been almost three months now since I have had Ringer and he was the same way.  Now I am able to leave him in his crate when I go to work and not worry too much about him ripping his bed to shreds.  He will still bark and whine some times but that subsides within a couple minutes.  I had to try a few different things and once I started talking to him as I was leaving and returning, he calmed down and dealt with me leaving.  That is the exact opposite of what a lot of people say you need to do.  Stick with it and if one thing doesn't work, switch to something else.  Just make sure you give the different approaches a little time.

 

[sully]

Yeah, I'm in the same spot.  I think it just takes a while for them to realize that when you leave you are actually coming back.  There's really no other way to do it than to be consistent.  And mix it up, put them in the crate sometimes when you aren't leaving the house.  That way they don't associate the crate with one thing.  Oggie isn't impressed with the kong either, he knows I'm just going to shut the door and then the anxiety kicks in. He'll lick it in-between the whining and yelping. I actually tried classical music the other day, he seemed a little calmer.  It just takes time.  Just keep at it.  That's what I'm doing anyway.  I'm with Dan, I think talking to them at certain points while they are in the crate can calm them down.  Sometimes its not really the crate, its just the separation.  I could lock Oggie in a room and it'd be the same way.  He just wants to know where I am.