[Bailey the dog 362362]

Does anybody have any tips for crate training? We just got a 8 week old lab mix. We have tried feeding him his food in his crate. He cried and whines all night.
We want to crate train him for his own safety, example so he does not get off the bed and chew things in the night.

 

[parus]

Where is the crate? If you put it by your bed where the puppy can still see and hear you, they're more likely to settle.

 

[pandora]

Hes 8 weeks old youve just taken him from his mother and playmates of course nights are lonely.

Good crate training takes time. They need to feel its a safe place one they want to go to rather than one you send them to.
So make it a happy place with his nest blanket (Hopefully you did get a nest blanket) make it cosy and comforting let him have little naps in the during the day with the door open.. build up to the night time stay and remember him being in a crate does not excuse you from potty breaks during the night..

If he gets used to soiling the crate now it will be a hellish journey to break the habit,.

 

[gatorbuck]

Its awesome that you’ve decided to crate train right away!! I’ve dealt with two crate monster mal pups that literally shook their cage, chewed it, tried digging a hole to escape and screamed all night like someone is killing them! Honestly you just got to ignore them when you put them in there, the screaming or whining will stop when they realized they arent being let out!! I’ve tried every method I could think of when it was happening then finally went to my trainer, who just said some dogs are more stubborn than others. The advice she gave me was, Don’t ever make it personal when you put him in there/don’t say anything to the dog and don’t pet it when you put him in there either. In the mean time you can do stuff like have the crate door open while you guys play with toys you can toss it in his crate to make him step in there and get him to come to you to make it more comfortable. Same with treats! Also a very strict schedule for letting him out to potty at certain times helps soo much too, that way you can prevent accidents in the crate. Feeding him in there works great as well, but nothingless he is a puppy and they will be vocal so you may need some headphones for a while and be without sleep till he learns

if it makes you feel better, my most recent pup whose 10 months right now stopped fighting it at 3 months, he goes into his crate when hes tired on his own or when I tell him to! It’s very peaceful now lol!!

 

[pandora]

so basically you ignore them until they give up...

dear lord being a family member doesnt sound like much fun..

 

[gatorbuck]

so basically you ignore them until they give up...

dear lord being a family member doesnt sound like much fun..

Jeez the way you think of it is super strange :// every dog is different and like I said some are more stubborn than others, it’s not like you just throw them in there and leave them uncared for. If you read the rest of what I said, I mentioned things you could do to help comfort them throughout the process..
If anything petting the pup while it screams bloody murder to be let out just reinforces its behavior and makes everything so much harder than it needs to be

 

[chachimcnacho]

A breathable blanket over the top and two (of the four) sides leaving two sides open creates more of a “den” feel for your pup at night. Leave two side open for air flow and temp control. Blanket off in the morning. Putting the blanket on at night also signals bedtime. Good luck 😁

 

[storyist]

I'm with Pandora. Believe it or not I never had a puppy or an adult rescue fuss much over nighttime crating (probably as many as 20 dogs over the years), but then every one was in my bedroom at night, at least to start. Admittedly none were malamutes, not that I think they'd be that different, but also I take the OP's post referring to a GR to mean Golden Retriever.

With baby puppies, if I heard fussing in the middle of the night, and that was just restless moving around, not screaming or howling, I got up fast and carried them outside (carried them cradled in my arms because that way they didn't pee until I put them down).