[kperry11]

I brought home a 10 week Newfoundland mix puppy. First night he slept through without any accidents in crate. The past 4 nights he has barked non-stop, all night long until we take him out in the morning. He doesn't even come close to tiring himself with all the barking. We have tried to take him out to potty, but he doesn't have to go and we return him to the crate. He then sleeps all day long and has little interest in playing. He just sleeps in the family room on the floor during the day. If I take him to the crate to nap the barking and whining starts all over again.

I never use the crate as punishment. He is only in it at night and when no one is home. I have tried covering the crate, giving him treats, leaving the door open during the day, playing with him near the crate, but nothing seems to be helping. One night we even tried to move the crate into our bedroom but no difference so we returned him to the spare bedroom.

Please help!

 

[Amaryllis]

It sounds like you've had him less than a week. That is not enough time to acclimate him to being in a crate 8 hours a night, and then even more hours during the day. Crate training is a process and it takes time. He's clearly scared/bored/frustrated in the crate. You need to start again, slowly with crate training. In the meantime, we did manage to potty train dogs before crates became popular. At night, pen him off in a small part of your room (he needs to be around you) by your bed, so you can reach down and pat him, and cover that area with puppy pads to catch any accidents.

 

[kperry11]

I have only had him five nights. He is only in the crate about 5-6 hours at night. We are trying to wake him up early because we wake up for work early. He really hasn't been in the crate other than bedtime. He doesn't seem to care too much whether he is near us in the crate or not. We have tried putting him in our bedroom and we also tried sleeping in the room his crate is in, but the barking and crying persists.

He is doing a really good job with potty training - very few accidents.

I feel so bad for the poor little guy. I just don't want to give in to letting him sleep wherever...at least not yet.

 

[doxiemommy]

I agree with Amaryllis. Young puppies usually need to be with their humans. If he's in the same room as you at night he can see, smell, and hear you. It might not make a difference right now, as far as the whining goes, but, that's because he's scared and such a baby yet, and is in a completely new environment. But, he may be comforted somewhat by being near you, even though he continues to whine, because he's super scared. So, I would stick with having him near you.

Also 5 days is not nearly enough time for him to settle in. The first night, he was probably exhausted from the change, and scared, so fell right to sleep. But, now that he's not so super tired, he can express his fears.

Have you tried putting an unwashed piece of your clothing in with him? Also, try googling "crate games".
But, the bottom line is, at night, it seems kind of necessary to use the crate for very young puppies, to keep them safe and out of trouble, as well as to help with pottying. So, ignoring the whining is the best. It's hard, I know.

During the day, now that's when you can work on "crate conditioning". Start small, give him a super yummy treat, maybe a kong stuffed with a smear of peanut butter. Put him in the crate for 20-30 seconds, no fuss, and then let him out, no fuss. Do that as often as you can throughout the day.
After a few days, try upping the time to 1 minute, as many times as you can throughout the day. After a few days of that, try 3 minutes. You get the point.

The thing is, crate training can be a helpful tool for many people, it can teach a puppy to be independent, it can prepare them for trips to the vet or groomer, when they may need to be crated, and it can help them tolerate it for those times when you need to leave them alone, or just need to contain them so you can get some things done around the house. So, if you can use it occasionally during the day, it can be helpful.

 

[Kyllobernese]

I would be inclined to get him out during the day, play with him and get him tired out so he will sleep at night. If he sleeps all day, he will obviously not want to sleep all night as well. I know with him being a big breed you don't want to overdue the exercise but even being outside with you during the day so he will not just sleep should help.

 

[Hambonez]

Sounds familiar. First night home our pup was great! He came from a shelter where all he did was hang in a cage. As the days wore on and he was spending more time out with us, he did NOT want to be left caged at night! A few things that helped, though I realize they're not all popular solutions --

We got an ex-pen and put his crate (bed inside crate) inside the pen. He had more room to move around if he needed it, but was still kept safe.

We found getting up to take him out at night just made him frantic and set him off again with the barking and whining. He reliably used a piddle pad at night, and was quiet all night. He only used one for about a month, and has been holding it overnight with no accidents for over a month now.

We moved the whole set up to "his" room (aka, the family room) on the main floor where he spends all his time. I know the conventional wisdom is to have the dog close to you when you sleep, but for him, it seemed to freak him out to be in a different room at night. He was comfortable in the room he spent all his time in during the day.

We gave him a special treat at night to chew on that he did not get during the day. This seemed to distract him from the fact that we were leaving.

We kept the pen open during the day, and fed him his meals inside it. He got very comfortable being in there.

We're going on 10 wks with the pup now, and he doesn't need a treat at night, goes directly into his crate when we put him in his pen, and is quiet!