Barking and whining all night

[glo]

Wrigley has been wonderful. He arrived on Wednesday and has had no accidents, has not eaten anything he shouldn't...has played wonderufully with the kids and is getting along perfectly. Our one problem is that he can't stand the crate at night. I give him a dog biscut in his crate, and he goes in, but then cries, barks and whines the rest of the night...He will make noise for 3o minutes poop out and be quiet for 20 and start all over. We are exhausted, and I feel horrible for him. His breeder said he was crate trained, and that he loved his crate...we do not see that We are using the crate he was shipped to us in for his crate....

Any suggestion...ideas..anything????

[fancypants]

I read a book called "smarter than you think" before bringing my Emma home at 8 weeks. The book is very much against crates in spite of how popular they seem to be and it made sense to me (probably because I'm old enough to remember when they were unheard of!) He recommends the use of a "tether" instead. It's an 18" piece of light chain (which you can buy at the hardware store) and it has a clip on each end. He recommended that you keep your pup close to you at all times for the bonding and you use the tether to do that. For example, at night, you put a small eye-ring in the base of your bedside table or perhaps the leg of the bed and tether the dog there so that you can reach down and comfort him/her when they feel lonely. It worked like a charm for me and I'm so thankful for that book! I had eye rings all over the house for months!

Best,

MJ

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! I am thinking he needs a small regular crate - - not a shipping crate - - to sleep in - - I am talking about the ones sold at any pet store that are usually black and easy to see out of. If his current crate is anything like the one Riley was shipped in - - it has a top on it and he could only see out the door. I think that may be a bit confining and the dog might be feeling a bit isolated. Also -- try putting a soft blanket - - a baby blanket works well - -on the floor of the crate - - it is easy to wash - - and a stuffed animal of some kind. These worked well with Riley after leaving his 3 siblings - he cuddled right up to the stuffed animal. Sometimes it is "trial and error" until we get it right! Good luck with your little guy!

[glo]

Thanks guys...Wrigley is a year old, and the breeder said he loved his crate. Yes, the crate he was shipped in is the hard plastic kind with the wire front door and the sides have long cut outs he can see out of(it looks like the travel crates we can get at Petsmart). I had a soft lambs wool type material at the bottom, but he does not seem to like it much...so I am removing it tonight and putting in a soft fleece type baby blanket. I will put in a stuffed animal too.

DH really wants him crate trained...

Do you guys think maybe get him one of the full wire type crates? How long should we try this crate?

[kayharley]

Could it be possible that he had a bad experience enroute to your home and sees this crate as a reminder of it? I'd try getting a new crate, putting some toys in it, comfy bed and maybe keeping it in your room for the first night or so.

I have a hard crate that I use when I have to bring Madison the terror to the vet.....she HATES it, claws like a kitten, whines and totally freaks out. Now I tie her leash to the back seat headrest where she's confined but can look out the window but stays off my lap. Sometimes we just have to make adjustments to keep our little furry friends happy and anxious-free.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! I think you should try the full wire crate sold at many pet stores - - you can use the crate for the lifetime of your dog! It is an excellent way to confine your dog on those days when you are not home for a while - - - overnite - - or I even collapse mine and take it when visiting relatives or friends - - keeps them confined and out of mischief! Get one large enough for the dog to turn around but small enough so that he does feel limited with space.

Placing the crate by your bed at night might calm the dog down - - we did that for a short time when first getting Riley. After a while you can move them somewhere else in the house - - it just takes getting used to - - - see what works for you!

[bradl]

It's good to have the dog in the room with you at night. One vet and cairn breeder I know recommends keeping a flyswatter on the nightstand so you can startle the whining puppy with a smack on top of the crate. They usually get the idea that sympathy is not what comes of whining.

[Toto times 2]

Hi Ghillie was crate trained when we got him but we put the crate in our bedroom at night. Try covering the top with a towel or blanket to make it seems more like a den unless it is really hot.. We used to give him his favorite toy and then a bone stuffed with cheese. Now at 8 years he still knows it is bedtime when he gets his bone.

[toomanypaws]

I agree w/ Brad except I always used a rolled up newspaper to smack the crate with. The crackle sound of paper seems to work. I have a new puppy right now that is in the crate at night next to my bed. I make sure she has been played w/ so she's tired and taken out before bed. She has a soft blanket and stuffed animal and a little nylabone in her crate. She's still young so she's been having to go out in the middle of the night. I take her out and bring her right back to the crate. I praise her softly for going but I don't talk much to her. I don't want her thinking it's time for play. So far she's been great. My first cairn use to cry so I had this machine that played different sounds like the ocean, rain, heartbeat type stuff. I use to put it real soft on rain and that helped her sleep. I also agree about buying a new crate.

[CallisMom]

I think I agree with Kayharley - there might have been an unkown traveling incident that has turned him "off" of that crate. Maybe a new crate would work better. Our Calli likes her hard, plastic crate - I think she likes the enclosed feeling - but if your baby had an experience maybe he wants something he can see out of.

Personally - I keep the crate as far from my bedroom at night as possible. I haven't had a problem with Calli because she only whined for one night. But with one of our other puppies - having him in the room with us only increased his noise and made it harder for us to ignore. He knew we were right there which helped fuel his drive. Plus at the breeders it his HIGHLY unlikely he was in their bedroom (probably in the kennel). Theorically - if you ignore this for a week he should stop the noise. But sometimes there are dogs as there are with babies - that don't follow theoreticals. I wouldn't get him up in the night because he is old enough to make it through - if he isn't yet - he'll learn pretty quickly that he doesn't want to soil his sleeping area. If you get him up at night - he will keep whining because he will know that if he keeps it up someone will eventually let him out.

If he liked his crate before - then I still think that Kayharley is onto something with the bad experience enroute idea and maybe another crate is the answer.

[glo]

Thanks everyone...he slept through the night without any incident the last two nights. Maybe he was testing us, or whatever, but he just walks into the crate now when I take him and waits for his biscuit. We are really enjoying him

[CathyAnn]

That's good news, glo !

I had wondered if maybe he was just nervous to all the adjustments he had to make!

Enjoy your new Cairn and look forward to hearing 'fun' tales!

Cathy