Dog owners - My dog is whining in her crate @ night -help!

ebayaddict0127
ebayaddict0127 Posts: 523 Member
in Chit-Chat
Here's the situation...

I have two rescue dogs. Our first rescue dog has always been crated in our room while we sleep and is a champ! Our second rescue dog that we got last March, whined a tiny bit at first, but then stayed pretty quiet all night in her crate. That was until we fostered a dog last November. She suddenly acted like the crate was hell and wouldn't go near it. Stupidly, we let her sleep with us the past two months. We love her, but she can disrupt our sleep. Our last foster dog was adopted, so we have a new foster guy. We put him in the crate last night and decided it was time to put our girl back in her crate. Foster boy was ticked for about an hour, but finally calmed down. Our dog whined ALL... NIGHT.... LONG.... We ignored her the best we could. How can we get her back to being calm in her crate? The crate isn't some new thing to her.

When we put the dogs in their crates last night, we had fresh clean blankies, gave them each a treat for going in, and then another for just being in it, and put a small, safe toy in there. Trying to make the crate a positive place to be.

Any other suggestions? Or do we just have to ride this one out since we were dumb and let her sleep with us for two months? Oh and they got plenty of exercise yesterday and everyone peed and poo'd right before bed time.

Replies

  • Trishsimon
    Trishsimon Posts: 129
    Hi there,

    Your dog is just chancing her arm and knows that is she whines you will let her out of the crate and into your bed, I am afraid you are just going to have to stick this one out. I had the same problem with a foster dog he whined when I left him downstairs in the crate but was okay when he was outside our bedroom door and could hear and see us.
    I would suggest putting her in the crate for an hour during the day just to get her used to it again and if she whines just ignore her.
    Sorry I can't be of more help she obviously is an intelligent dog and knows that if she whines she will get her way.
  • sarahc142
    sarahc142 Posts: 156
    Whenever my family gets a new puppy they cry so loud in their crates for the first few weeks but the only solution is to ignore them, I remember when I was little my parents talked to us about it really sternly about how if we responded to the whining, it would never stop lol.

    My dog cries in his crate sometimes now and we have this thing called a peanut butter ball, it's just a toy you can get at the pet store where you hide a bone in the middle and it has all these crevices to put peanut butter in. The dog spends a long time trying to get all the peanut butter and then has to spend more time trying to get the bone until they tire themselves out, it seems to work well on my dog at least.
  • Beastmaster50
    Beastmaster50 Posts: 505 Member
    Instead of a clean blanket, wear an old shirt all day and let him sleep on that. Dogs crave your scent. Its also possible the previous owner used the crate for punishment. If the dog is housebroken and not destructive, try a dog bed on the floor (with one of your worn shirts on it)
  • DamianaKitten
    DamianaKitten Posts: 479 Member
    Our pup has always been crated at night (well, since we got him). He does really well. However, when my folks were in town, he lost his mind every night because of their two dogs. It just takes time for all to adjust. Since your pup has been in bed with you, he now wants to stay that way, and knows that whining is what got him there the last time. I like the idea of using a shirt with your scent, but you're just going to have to ride this one out. On the rare instance that ours whines at night, just firmly saying his name is enough to get him to settle down.
  • arrseegee
    arrseegee Posts: 575 Member
    Ignore the whining, she'll get used to being in the crate again.

    Our dog sleeps in his own bed in our bedroom and we never had many problems with him until we went away on holiday for a month and left him with my boyfriend's parents. Whenever he pestered them in the middle of the night they'd eventually let him into bed with them, and now since we've come back we've had three weeks of him trying to get in our bed. He is getting a bit better at it but still tries it on 3 or 4 nights a week. When we first adopted him he whined the whole night for weeks on end because he wasn't allowed in bed and then eventually learned that his bed is just fine, now he needs to relearn it.

    If the sound distresses you then get some earplugs. It sounds harsh but if you allow her to disrupt your sleep every night she will continue to do it for the attention.
  • Sinisterly
    Sinisterly Posts: 10,913 Member
    Okay.... Before you "ignore" the whining, you need to take a step back and see if there's anything that could have startled your pet.
    Scents, odors, changes of scenery, food, pain.

    They don't have a voice to tell us what's going on.. For all we know, something could be spooking your dog.
    Maybe consider moving the crate elsewhere, see how your doggy handles this.

    All of that needs to be taken into consideration, before you decide to ignore your baby.
  • kclipp3498
    kclipp3498 Posts: 2
    You may want to try covering the crate with a blanket, I cared for a friends two dogs for about a month and only one would carry on and whine when in the crate. I covered it up with a blanket and he was fine, except for in the morning when he was ready to go out. :)
  • AA1ex
    AA1ex Posts: 223 Member
    You would be upset if you had to sleep in a crate, especially after sleeping a comfy bed.
  • lousoulbody
    lousoulbody Posts: 663 Member
    "Or do we just have to ride this one out since we were dumb and let her sleep with us for two months? Bingo! You are just going to have to wait this one out and be sure to never use the crate for discipline it has to be a happy place for the dog, scolding the dog in or sending it to its crate after scolding is not what the crate is for. Best wishes to you this will work out. :)
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
    Any other suggestions? Or do we just have to ride this one out since we were dumb and let her sleep with us for two months? Oh and they got plenty of exercise yesterday and everyone peed and poo'd right before bed time.

    Pretty much this. Dogs will behave as they are treained and conditioned to behave. If she thinks whiing will get her out of the crate, she will whine. IF you take her out of the crate, you reinforce that.

    Things that can help:
    1) Not also crating during the day - a dog should not be crated more than 8-10 hours per day. Longer than that and you want to consider soemthing like baby gating into a room or using an ex-pen
    2) Logn walk before bed. Tired dogs are happy dogs.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    How is the dog in the crate in the day time?

    Is it a place it WANTS to be in, does it feel it's a "place of safety", or is it viewed more as a 'bad' place?
  • Unknown
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  • ebayaddict0127
    ebayaddict0127 Posts: 523 Member
    We do not crate our dogs during the day since they get crated at night. I feel that it's too much crating. We have a dog sitter who stops by at noon every day to let the dogs out and play.

    We've never used a crate as punishment. It's always a positive and comfy place. And sometimes they get treats in there! The foster dog is having a rough time with it now too. Today I fed both him and our dog in their crates. Then each dog was given a breath treat in their crates as well. Right now I've left the door to the bedroom open and the crate doors open so that both dogs can go in and sniff and smell and see that they aren't scary.

    Each dog was also given a new toy in their crate. Last night the foster barked like a maniac and finally we had to let him out. He would sleep on the dog bed we put in there, but also peed on the floor. So - we have to get him in that crate.

    I also have two kong toys and put a tiny bit of peanut butter in each and let the dogs hang out this evening in their crates with the kongs.

    I just don't know what else to do. I praised them both when in the crate for anything. We have carpet and the peeing can't happen at night.

    I've also asked my dog sitter to give each dog a treat at noon and have them eat in their crate.
  • airforceman1978
    airforceman1978 Posts: 100 Member
    Try a ticking clock it has worked for me in the past it reminds them of a heart beat
  • MB2MN
    MB2MN Posts: 334 Member
    You would be upset if you had to sleep in a crate, especially after sleeping a comfy bed.

    Yes, but humans aren't den animals. That being said, she just wants to be with you...we're going through the same thing with our 4 month old lab pup now. Our solution is to have her on a puppy bed on the floor beside us. We keep the door shut so she can't roam around the house. It's been working so far and it only took a few nights of her jumping on the bed every once in awhile until she stayed down throughout the night.
  • jenmarie2012
    jenmarie2012 Posts: 180 Member
    I know it's hard to just let them sit there and egnore them but that is the only way tat I know of. Otherwise if you give in it will teach them it s ok for them to whine bc you'll come get them out ???????? hope ts little helpfull . We just got a puppy so she knows its bedtime when we put her in fr te night. Also since you have a rescue she may just be getting used to your routines ????
  • SomeGirlSomewhere
    SomeGirlSomewhere Posts: 937 Member
    If you really don't want her to sleep with you then the only thing you can do is ignore her until she realizes that her days of sharing your bed with you are over.

    I actually had the opposite problem---I trained my dog to sleep in his crate as a puppy then decided when he was about 3 years old that I wanted him to sleep with me. Now he stays on my bed through the night, but the first few nights I woke up to find him sleeping in his crate with the door open.
  • jamiebxo
    jamiebxo Posts: 116
    I think you'll just have to stick it out and let her get used to sleeping in the crate again and ignore her when she cries as hard as that might be. Also, continue using the treats as positive reinforcement when she gets in the crate. Eventually she should stop the whining.
  • ebayaddict0127
    ebayaddict0127 Posts: 523 Member
    Try a ticking clock it has worked for me in the past it reminds them of a heart beat

    Interesting... although it might drive ME insane. :)
  • bearkisses
    bearkisses Posts: 1,252 Member
    ride it out. It will be loud. Annoying. and Sad.

    I had my puppies crate right in our bedroom so she would still be part of the 'pack'. Because we were suckers that let her sleep with us, in our bed, at first too it was hard to crate train her after. But take a water/spray bottle, fill it with water, spray dog for barking. Eventually they will shut the **** up.
  • bearkisses
    bearkisses Posts: 1,252 Member
    I think you'll just have to stick it out and let her get used to sleeping in the crate again and ignore her when she cries as hard as that might be. Also, continue using the treats as positive reinforcement when she gets in the crate. Eventually she should stop the whining.

    and in the morning when she gets out. Take her STRAIGHT outside to do her business so she gets the rhythm of waiting till you are ready.
  • fortally
    fortally Posts: 78
    You may want to try covering the crate with a blanket, I cared for a friends two dogs for about a month and only one would carry on and whine when in the crate. I covered it up with a blanket and he was fine, except for in the morning when he was ready to go out. :)

    ^^This. If your bed is in line of sight with the crate the pup is going to whine endlessly to get your attention because she can see you. Unfortunately you've also taught her that your bed is WAY better than her crate. :wink: She's going to use every tool she has to get you to give in and let her back in the bed!

    Sucks, but you just have to ride it out. And as annoying as it is to listen to the whining, please don't put the crate in another room. That's essentially banishing her from the family, and it is just going to upset and stress your pup out even more.

    One more idea - and this might go against other schools of thought - but I don't give toys in the crate at bedtime. Treats for going in, yes, but not toys. My girls have their own blankies (just like toddlers) that are only used when it's time to go night-night. Just cheap $4 fleece blankets I got at Walmart (easily washable). Toys signal playtime, but blankies signal settle down time. They're older now and sleep in their own beds (as opposed to crates), but I started the blankies when they were young (but old enough not to shred them). Now when I tuck them in they stay put all night long on their beds. On the few occasions they had to go back in the crate at night they went in with no fuss because they had their blankies and understood that it was time to settle.

    Best of luck!

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