Crate and an older Newf

[Keira25]

First of all, this is my second Newf, and I feel like a newbie all over again. Kanga is 18 months old. We have had her for a week and a half, and things are going beautifully, except......she is increasingly unhappy sleeping in the crate at night. She was crate trained at the breeder, but she was not in the room with them, and instead was with a bunch of other dogs. The crate is 5 feet from our bed, we feed her in it, put yummy treats there etc. There is no problem in the beginning of the night, but the past night or 2, she starts about 1 am, and doesn't let up except for a few minutes here or there, until I get up at 5. I should add she was perfectly fine in the crate up to a few days ago. The more she bonds with us, apparently the less attractive the crate is! We waited her out the past couple nights, but I am not happy getting 3 hours of sleep a night. She does not spend much time at all in the crate during the day, sometimes none, so it's not like she's stuck in a crate for hours on end. Another complication, she doesn't pee before she goes to bed at night! Goes around supper time, and that's it. When she does go out in the morning, it's not like she runs out and pees immediately. So at 1 in the morning I worry she's making noise because she needs to pee, but I don't think that's the problem. Should I put a baby gate up in the room and see how she does, or try and wait her out? Sorry for the long-winded post! Sleep deprived, hope this makes sense.

 

[Jeannie]

My guess is that she is getting hot. Try a fan blowing on her.

 

[catseyes]

Sounds like my little lad lumpkin he is only 14 weeks but we worked on a crate and then baby gating in the kitchen but either way he freaks to the point of diarhea so for weeks we have been taking it in turns sleeping on the sofa so he can be loose in the lounge as that is the only way he will settle, he would be fine without us there but we worry he will chew something he shouldnt so its more a watch over him than a be there for him.

He was the same if we went out, shut him in and he would freak bark and bark.. at night he would go for 5 hours solid as well.. but now i leave him for 30 mins every day loose in the lounge and he is fine, just dont leave him for long again risk the chewing.

I would try the baby gate and see how that goes with her.

 

[CathyC.]

Obi doesn't much care for his crate either. We let him loose in our bedroom and bathroom at night but there is very little he can get into mischief with. Except toilet paper- had to put that up! Anyway, he does get crated from time to time for brief periods. The relaxation training helped. I will see if I can find the link.

 

[CathyC.]

http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf[URL="http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf"[/URL]

Hmmm. Copying and pasting the link but it is always messed up.

http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

For me I'd say it depends on how much you want her to sleep in the crate at night. If this is important to you, I'd make sure she's not getting hot, and continue with the training.

If you don't care about her sleeping in the crate, just dog-proof your room and let her have free run in there at night.

Just make sure you continue with using the crate during the day.

Like Jeannie said, its possible she's getting hot in there. That is around the time Maggie wakes up and changes her location/position to find a new cool spot in the bedroom. (We do not have her in a crate at night).

 

[Keira25]

My guess is that she is getting hot. Try a fan blowing on her.

Already do that!

 

[Keira25]

For me I'd say it depends on how much you want her to sleep in the crate at night. If this is important to you, I'd make sure she's not getting hot, and continue with the training.

If you don't care about her sleeping in the crate, just dog-proof your room and let her have free run in there at night.

Just make sure you continue with using the crate during the day.

Like Jeannie said, its possible she's getting hot in there. That is around the time Maggie wakes up and changes her location/position to find a new cool spot in the bedroom. (We do not have her in a crate at night).

I'm not positive how well potty trained she is. She had 1 accident the second day we had her because my daughter was on the computer, but has been fine since. We carefully watch her so there isn't much opportunity for failure. I may try the baby gate tonight and see how she does. You are right, she may be hot even with the fan because we have a bed with bumpers in her crate. Her place of choice to lay down is the hardwood floor in the bedroom or the kitchen floor, not a rug or any place soft. This will be the first day she has to spend a whole day in her crate, so tonight might be the time to give it a shot outside the crate. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Keira25]

http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf[URL="http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf"[/URL]

Hmmm. Copying and pasting the link but it is always messed up.

http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf

Very helpful read! Just printed it out. Thanks.

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

I'd take out the bed. I know it seems mean to have them sleep on the plastic crate floor, but I bet she's really, really hot with that bed in there. Elvis tore up three different beds in his crate before we finally realized he hated having one in there. We swapped for a twin sized light blanket and he's been fine ever since. He can smoosh it back in a corner if he's hot or paw it around and spread it out more if he wants it.

 

[Keira25]

Another good suggestion. I am so used to my arthritic old dog needing padding I should just use common sense. I have a beautiful, expensive LL Bean giant bed that is sitting unused in a different bedroom! This one loves smooth surfaces. I think I'll try that first then baby gate if needed and see how that goes.

 

[victoria1140]

Max hated the crate,he moves around a lot at night to keep cool

 

[fall3n-ang3l]

Bernie hated his crate with a passion,in the end I let him sleep in the kitchen but now it's getting warmer he's been whining and barking, so nearly all last week, I slept on the sofa and let him have downstairs and he was fine he didn't chew anything, so this week I've let him have the downstairs at bed time, if I wake up in the night then I spy on him with the ip camera I've got,I put one in the room and have a look on my iPad and he's been fine, I just need to have enough courage to do it in the day time now lol

 

[dgsumner]

My dog, slept in a crate every night from 8 weeks till about 14 months. He would go in - but really didn't like it - it just wasn't big enough for him to stretch out and roll around in. he did not like the floor and wanted to sleep on the stone tile in the kitchen which is cooler, and he can move around it, once he has warmed a spot up.. In the end we just let him sleep in the kitchen, and ( touch wood) we have yet to have a single issue.

 

[Keira25]

Just an update. The night before last we took the bed out from the crate, but let her sleep in the room outside the crate. She did great, I just got a big slobbery kiss at 3 am, but then she went back to sleep. We thought great, problem solved. Well last night, she got an incredible burst of energy, discovered how the wobbly Kong works, tried to get into bed with me, got a hold of a book and started to chew it, and just generally was a terror. So back to the crate without the bed, and she was perfectly fine. I think everyone was right on target with her being hot. Miss Kanga is not ready to be outside the crate yet obviously. Also, my husband was home with her yesterday and my guess is while she had a companion all day, I question how much exercise she got. I will take care of that today! Thanks again.

 

[dreamchaser456]

Sounds like she isn't quite ready for freedom yet, lol. Takota refused any padding at all in his crate, he will pick it up and carry it out of the crate! He came crate trained and is much more comfortable sleeping in his but we leave the door open since he's good in the house. You can occasionally try leaving the crate door open every few weeks and see how a night goes to check if she's ready for freedom yet. Takota is my first dog that's been crated as I usually just use a dog proof room for when I have to be out, and then they sleep in the bedroom at night with us. I always made sure the young ones got a good "training" session before bed to tire out physically and mentally so they slept well. Hope she does better without the padding and YOU get your sleep too.

 

[Elizabeth M.]

Just peeking in. Abbi is 4. I tried to give her padding in her crate when she was a puppy, but she just pawed it out of the way. She sleeps directly on the metal floor. Sometimes in very odd positions, and always with several her "friends". Her own little pack!

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

Sounds like its going well!