12 week puppy doesn’t like being left in crate

[MumsGoneToIceland]

First time puppy owner and would like advice on how to get to the point where he is happy in his crate so we can leave the room/plan to go out .

At nighttime he goes in crate fine at 9.30/10 ( can’t get him to stay awake later than that or if occasionally we do then he doesn’t sleep in any later). Wakes at around 5/5.30, take out for a wee and then put back in crate till 6 but usually cries until we get up at 6. (Have an alarm to go off at 6 near him to tell him it’s up time but not making a difference atm).. Once I get him up at 6, will then end up sleeping on me for an hour so is not as if he’s ready to start the day just wants company.

During the day, have been trying to get him used to being alone in crate and had got to about 15/20 mins with him staying quiet ( left him about 7 am to go upstairs and get ready/kids up, once or twice a day to have meetings in another room and went out for a lunchtime walk for about the same length of time each day and came back to quiet) . Now he’s crying pretty much all the time he’s left.

I know some people go straight back to work with a puppy where they could be left for a couple of hours and am starting. to feel like i can’t see a point where we could pop to town for a couple of hours etc and wonder if us being around so much has been a bad thing.

So have we made a mistake by not leaving him enough in the early days . Do we leave him to cry and if not how do we do this?

I have taken a step back in training and gone to trying to put him in his crate at random times whilst working in the same room, giving a treat for sitting with door shut and then ignoring him (working with my back to him), then giving him a treat for sitting quiet afte4 x mins , then turn back to working and leaving it longer but can’t get to more than 2 mins before he cries and am sat right by him with my back to him. Was hoping to get to 10 min gaps between treats and praise and then to start doing similar but leaving the room.

We’ve left the radio on, left him with a yak milk chew treat he loves but still cries.

Have we done things all wrong and is there a way to undo it? Starting to feel restricted and don’t want to start feeling resentful.

Thank you!

I am no expert at all, but we have a 4.5 month puppy who until recently has never been left on his own and usually follows me around the house everywhere. However, a week or so ago circumstances came up when we had to leave him home alone. I didn't lock him in a crate, but left him in the living room with the door to the kitchen and back garden open. He had food and water, the living room sofa and could pop into the garden when he wanted to. I was super worried, called next door neighbours to keep an ear out for any crying, but he didn't cry or do anything crazy at all. When I came home on the two occasions we left him alone (1) he was fast asleep and (2) he was in the garden playing in the soil. Maybe you don't need to crate your dog but give him the run of certain areas so he is more settled?

My 4 month old puppy doesn't like the crate in the day but happily goes in overnight 10-5.30. Usually my DH works from home so I don't have to leave her alone but we've tested it by him staying quiet in a room well away from pup so it's like he's not there school run takes me 10 min, 15 max and if she's left in crate she barks, if she's just left in kitchen or front room she lays down with her chew/toys and is calm. I've also managed to leave her for an hour while I did food shop DH said he didn't hear a peep and she was still where I left her when I got back! I think beyond an hour though she'd have prob get upset and start looking for me or barking!

We have a play pen rather than a crate for during the day. He has more room so is happy to potter about in there for most of the day when I'm working (upstairs rather than out of the house though)

Thanks for your replies. However, it’s not really practical to leave the back door open and then he would just wee/poo in the house plus room is v open plan so not confident giving him free access so am really looking for advice on leaving him in his crate. Anyone managed this in the day when they weren’t keen?

How much time are you expecting him to be ok with being shut in the crate?

In that case can you try @GryffsMum suggestion of a play pen as it's more space and doesn't feel as restricting as a crate? That way you can fit a bed in it, plus space for food/water and toys

I haven’t got a fixed time in mind. Eventually no more than a couple of hours, enough that we can do a short activity with the kids where not practical to take the pup but was hoping I could at least leave for short periods by now e.g to have a short (15 min) meeting for example in another room of the house.

Unfortunately he’s worse in a pen and has managed to jump/climb out if it!

When mine was young I did want crate to work but she didn't need it for long though she still likes it at night.if I was around the house and she cried in it I would come back to the room and sit with my back to her and read or something, so no attention but not leaving her either. She could see I was there.
Also put her in when I was in kitchen or watching TV and she could see me. When she was quiet and lying down I would take her a treat.

I’ve just been through this and was starting to get anxious about the the fact that we couldn’t do anything without the dog. There’s lots of advice about separation anxiety but I worked on the basis dogs aren’t going to understand you go out and come back unless you, well, go out and come back! I just built it up and now I leave my pup (older than yours) for a max of two hours ish. She’s fine and fast asleep when we come in. I leave a frozen Kong with something stuffed in it and then there’s no choking risk. I just built it up from a short ten-min school run where she barked the whole time to where we are now. I fully sympathise though and I was starting to feel trapped. It’s a bit like having a baby, you forget the bad bits! Worth noting that our dog doesn’t like it during the day if we put her in her crate and she knows we are still in the house. But she’s fine in it at night and when we go out (I know because the neighbours tell me she doesn’t bark). I know there are lots of people on here who prefer the softly softly approach but sometimes dogs just have to fit into your lifestyle. My dog gets the best of everything and she’s been spoilt by the fact that always someone here as I work from home. But, I work on the basis they have to get used to being alone sometimes! It’s much easier when you can just leave them out of the crate, but we are not at that stage yet. Oh, I’ve just remembered that I have the Adaptil calming plug in on all the time. No idea if that helped!

Thank you @catsforlife, that’s really helpful. Can I ask what you leave in the crate when you leave your pup?

Thanks @sochran , I have been trying to do that with working at my desk with my back to him so he can see I’m there.

I got rid of the crate and started by leaving him in the puppy proofed utility, then expanded into the kitchen. Eventually he was ok in the lounge as well, now he has the whole house.
Think about how you would like being trapped in a space that is as much bigger than you as his crate is to him. He’s put in there all night, then he gets put there in the day for periods as well. How about a baby gate instead so you can restrict him to certain rooms until he is old enough to be allowed to roam ?
Some dogs have separation anxiety and won’t like being left alone.
When you’re going out walk him first, and have a special treat for when you leave. Mine likes a stuffed Kong as it keeps him busy for a while.

I leave this filled with primula and frozen. They do a puppy version too I think.
KONG - Goodie Bone - Durable Rubber Chew Bone, Treat Dispensing Dog Toy - For Medium Dogs www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0002AQPA2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_44JBC06PX3ANH3ARMTHR?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I think shutting a dog in a crate for two hours of a not great. Where did this bizarre idea of crates come from? We never had them growing up with dogs. Ours just got shut in the kitchen.

Give the RSPCA a ring if you like @Poorlykitten

If he's in the crate all night long it's no surprise he doesn't want to go back in once awake. I think you need to stop putting him back in as it's reinforcing that he dislikes the crate. Crate training for leaving in the day is different to natural bed time training and takes quite a lot of work where you just treat in the crate but don't close the door reward for staying there even with door open as you retreat etc. It can take quite a long time and not all dogs will take to it even then. Crates are sold to us as a safe space for the dog but not all dogs agree and many. Mine included prefer to have the run of a room and a sofa to chill on etc when you go out

Have you looked at Facebook, dog training advice and support?.

He's still a baby and getting used to everything.

I never understand this about people with dogs. Dogs don’t have”off-switches”, they are not going to stop being dogs for periods of time that suit their owners.
How would you like it if someone locked you in a crate everytime you were a bit of an inconvenience?

@MumsGoneToIceland And here is the lesson in why posting on here is often completely pointless. You don’t get help or advice or shared experience, you get people telling you what they do is better. @Temp023 What do you mean by “stop being dogs”?! My dog chooses to sleep in her crate because it’s one of her beds and sleeps while we are out. She would sleep if we were in. She’s been exercised. She’s tired. A lot of problems with dogs are created by owners who project human emotions on them. They aren’t humans, they are animals. It is dangerous to presume they feel the same as humans. They don’t. My dogs have always been very happy and loving but you do an animal no favours when you presume it thinks in the complex way people do.

@Poorlykitten

I think shutting a dog in a crate for two hours of a not great. Where did this bizarre idea of crates come from? We never had them growing up with dogs. Ours just got shut in the kitchen.

Quite. I've had dogs my whole life and crates are a very new thing. I've never once crated a dog and got by just fine with good old fashioned training. Poor bloody dogs.

Hate the things, remember speaking to a lady who locked her boxer in one from 7am to 6pm each day when she went to work . I have two dogs and never crated them . I agree with @poorlykitten .

@CatsForLife RSPCA are not a great organisation sadly, so don’t quite see the point in that. I do work for a rescue though. Crate training is a weird fad that originated in the 90s but is now starting to be seen as cruel. My natural instinct told me forcing a creature to be confined in a very small area is unkind I’ve never liked the idea and would not do it to my animal.I mean, how would you like it? PETA has a lot to say on the matter …

@Naaaaah Is this a sort of “my dog is happier than yours” competition? I’m up for it!

@Cloverleaf20 that is really awful.

Like a PP has said, getting a dog to accept the crate at night when they're exhausted and naturally sleepy is very different from expecting them to go in there at your convenience during the day.

If he's not tired or has hasn't had much play or attention from you beforehand, then he's not going to be happy to be put in there when he's wide awake and just wants some company.

I never crated mine and he was just left in a puppy-proofed part of the house when I went out or had to leave him to go and shower etc.