Puppy hates crate

[adriennemole]

We have had our 9 week old puppy for a week now. She has been great at toileting outside, eating well, happily playing however she really dislikes being crated. I have been sleeping on the sofa for the last few nights with the crate door open and she will go inside if I put her in there but prefers to sleep on the floor next to the sofa and doesn't make a sound but if I try to shut her in she goes nuts!
I have to leave her in the crate to do the school run (about half an hour) and have tried to leave her in for short periods of the day while I get on with jobs but she cries like mad, sometimes for over an hour. She's not interested in any of the toys or the kong I put in for her she's too busy scratching and chewing the crate door.
At night I have tried scented blanket, ticking clocks, hot water bottle etc but to no avail . I can't leave her to cry all night as we are semidetached and our neighbours have been round to say they can hear her and are not happy.
When I am at home she is happy to sleep anywhere especially the kitchen and I'm wondering if it would be best to put the baby gate on and have an open crate in there.
Although the crate would be ideal for us (preventing chewing, escaping from the children) I don't know if it's best for her. Can some dogs just not be crate trained?

Put delicious food in crate (chicken, hot dog etc). Close door. Ignore puppy. Once puppy is very interested, open door and leave open so puppy can help self. Repeat frequently, ideally before mealtimes.

Haven't tried that one. Sounds like a great idea as she does love her food! Will definitely give it a try, thanks.

My dog never liked his crate ,I think it reminded him of Battersea too much so we abandoned it .Initially we fenced off a small portion of hallway for him and then eventually let him have the whole hall once he'd got past the chewing stage .Do what works best for you and your dog ,crates are not essential .

Thanks floralnomad, I am happy for her to have the run of the house eventually. This is our first family dog and the first time we've tried using a crate so it's a bit of a learning process for us all. Would like to perceiver but will see how it goes.

I do think some dogs just won't take to the crate, even as puppies.

We got a very young puppy from a rescue several years ago. Her first experiences in a crate were obviously not pleasant and she never got used to being in one at night. She would stay awake and literally just scream all night. It was hellish.

We ended up bringing her into bed with us (our existing dog already slept on the bed) after a week of trying to get her to sleep in the crate and she immediately slept right through the night and has every night since.

Oddly enough she was happy to go in the crate during the day, just not at night.

With our next puppy we used to crate for half the night. He'd go in it until he woke up needing a wee then once he'd been out he was allowed into bed with us for the rest of the night.

We didn't bother with the crate at night at all for our most recent pup. I slept downstairs on the sofa bed with him. He'd wake me up when he started moving around so I could pop him out then he'd settle straight back down to sleep next to me. It worked really well and we're planning on doing the same for our next pup.

These days we just use crates for putting the youngest (11 months) in when we go out. He's happy to settle in it and it saves the older dogs from being pestered

You don't have to use a crate in a single prescribed way for them to be useful or to successfully toilet train a pup. Just go with whatever works for you and the pup.

All dogs can be crate trained BUT whether you want to do it or not is up to you.

Crate training games mean most dogs once crate trained will all try to pile into a crate whenever one appears

There are lots of reasons as to why it is a good idea and worth persevering with but equally if you don't want to then it is up to you.

Reasons to crate
If dog is left at vet for any treatment they are crated
Very safe way for dogs to travel in cars
Dogs and children have clear boundary
Crated trained dogs usually are able to relax at ease in any situation if they have their crate -makes staying away from home a breeze.
Great place to put muddy dog after a walk and avoid the need to spring clean the whole house

I am aware that many people do all of the above in other methods as well so not meaning to kick off crate is the only way to do post!

It does sound at the moment that you have some counter conditioning to do ie your puppy now associates the crate with being left rather than a positive association.

if I have a sleeping puppy I would left them into the crate stroke them until they dropped off to sleep again

All meals are given in the crate

Treats are dropped into the crate frequently throughout the day so the puppy learns positive things happen near the crate

All of the above done with the door open

Re Nightime I would put the crate where the puppy lies on the floor and still sleep on the sofa so a gently compromise.

If the puppy looks at the direction of the crate or sniffs it I would click and treat with the best treat ever

Also Susan Garrett crate games are fantastic to play with a really young puppy and a crate