[JasperNY]

Hi, we brought our new golden home on Saturday and have spent the past 5 days focusing on crate training and potty training. We've even gone as far as keeping a written log to help us determine when he should go out to do his business. The good news is that he is sleeping 7-8hrs through the night without any fuss. However, during the day he really doesn't like being left in the crate. For example, after his morning walk we put him in the crate in the living room (he still needs to be coaxed in with treats) and then the "fun" begins. Usually, he'll cry for 5-10min and then fall asleep for a couple hrs, but sometimes this will go on for 30-60min.

I'm sure you all can relate to how difficult it is to ignor these sessions, but we're wondering if the solution is to just keep ignoring and hope that over time he'll get used to it? Are we on the right track? Should we enter the room where the crate is, but continue to ignor him? Or will this set us back in our training? We live in an apartment so we're also trying to be contious of our neighbors during this training period.

Would really appreciate your thoughts. We're really happy with the progress he's made in only a few days (we've skipped the pee pads and he has gotten used to going outside...almost on command!) and I'm sure we're just being overly anxious. It feels like we've made some good first steps and now I'm looking for help to make the next few.

Here's a pic of our little Jasper.

 

[Abbydabbydo]

Jasper is darling! It sounds like you are doing everything right!

Are you home during the day? If so, the next step would be letting him have a little sleeping time out of the crate, but supervised. If not, just ignore the whining and keep going. FWIW I threw treats in the crate for as long as I was crating. It was part of the training! Good luck and post more pics!

 

[tippykayak]

Once a crying jag starts, you need to stay away from the dog. Don't show him that he can bring you into the room by crying or even that he can get you to yell from another room.

Address the crying at other times. Spend time in and around the crate playing games and having cookies, all the with the door open. Show him that it's a fun, safe, calm place.

If you put the time in to work on the space and successfully ignore the crying jags, he should give up on the pretty quickly. If you rescue him during a cry, you'll simply teach him to cry longer the next time in the hope it might bring you.

FYI - the crying may get a bit worse right before it stops entirely. When dogs learn to stop doing something or learn that some behavior doesn't get them what they want, they often try harder for a bit first. It's called an extinction burst in behavioral science.

 

[CaptCooke]

Jasper's family...He's Adorable....the two comments here are absolutely true. Joy is only a few months down the road from you at 8mos and these folks helped us keep our sanity. The crying can actually be useful to you to learn the changes in Jasper's voice to know just when he will give up. Just when you are ready to give in Jasper will settle down. Hang in there. PS Please dont tell my wife I shot this phot when they were both sleeping.

 

[inge]

I think both pictures are really sweet!

 

[john72kcc]

Hmmm, We never put the dog into the cage unless we left the house. At night when she was real little we blocked her off in the kitchen. It took about 2 months to fully potty train her. Everytime she got up from a nap, we took her outside through the same door with the command, lets go outside and go potty. This worked great. Escpecially after she was done going she got a treat. As far as cage goes, she knows when she is in the cage there is no one home so she did not whine or cry. She loves her cage. At times when she was younger she would hesitate when being told to go into her cage but she always went in. Now she is 5 and her cage is her refuge, she chooses to sleep in it at night, we do not lock it but she loves sleeping in it. DO NOT use the cage as punishment for ANY reason. We always put a little bit of food in her bowl, a place to sleep and a snack, what else does a golden want?

 

[buckeyegoldenmom]

Captcooke...the picture of your wife sleeping by the crate with sleeping puppy is adorable!! Fortunately my husband does not have such evidence to post about me!! Not that I haven't been caught sleeping next to a crate as well. But don't tell!! :no:

 

[jenlaur]

Hi, we brought our new golden home on Saturday and have spent the past 5 days focusing on crate training and potty training. We've even gone as far as keeping a written log to help us determine when he should go out to do his business. The good news is that he is sleeping 7-8hrs through the night without any fuss. However, during the day he really doesn't like being left in the crate. For example, after his morning walk we put him in the crate in the living room (he still needs to be coaxed in with treats) and then the "fun" begins. Usually, he'll cry for 5-10min and then fall asleep for a couple hrs, but sometimes this will go on for 30-60min.

What a cutie!

I can only tell you what we did with Riley as far as the crate. When she was younger 8 - 16 weeks (roughly) we would crate her at night and when no one was home. Other times she was crated were times she was out of control and we knew she needed to sleep but she didn't and when I was too busy around the house to have her under foot. Otherwise she had the freedom to roam about the family room and kitchen. Baby gates kept the rest of the house safe. I really saw no reason to crate her at other times. She often fell asleep in the middle of the floor with chaos going on around her...she still does. Now (she is almost 5 months old) I can leave the house for a couple of hours and leave her out of her crate, (confined to the family room and kitchen). She goes in at night with no problem. We give her a frozen cream cheese kong at bed time and she never fusses (although she did for the first few days).

 

[msdogs1976]

Good looking pup! You are fortunate to have a pup that sleeps that long during the night. My golden didn't. No advice on the crate. I flunked crate training with my golden. My rescue lab was already crate trained so I'm good to go.

 

[zephyr]

Jasper is SUCH A CUTIE!!!

We also live in an apartment, so we were really concerned that our neighbors were hating us during those first few weeks of wailing puppy during every "crate time"... Oscar was doing well sleeping through the night, but if he could see or hear us during the day (and wasn't exhausted from playing that he was asleep), he would cry (no, more like SCREAM!!). We had tried to keep a crate in the living room so he would be near us and not lonely, but I think this just made him more upset because he couldn't be out playing with us. (Even though we work from home, some crate time during the day was necessary just so we could get some work done!)

We eventually figured out to just keep the crate in the bedroom (the farthest room from the kitchen/living room, which is our busiest & noisiest room) during the day, and always give him nice treats every time he is put inside for naps. He learned pretty quickly that "go to your crate!" meant he was getting something extra-special, so now he BOUNDS down the hall and leaps into his crate when you say it! it is very cute... Sometimes he even goes in there himself for naps when he wears himself out playing, or goes and gets his favorite toys that he likes to be in there

It sounds like you are on the right track; keep up the good work! I am jealous of your hardwood floors for ease of accidental potty training clean-ups... we only have carpet, so it was a rather stressful endeavor for the first while... sigh!

 

[Jupiter's Human]

Jupiter had a habit of whining and whimpering for an extended period of time. Our approach was to nip it in the bud. We would always make getting into the crate a really positive experience (treats or a Kong) and praise him a lot. But he would still whine and whine when we put him in for the night.

We tried to wait it out, but that wasn't working. So we used a correction. When he started to whine, we would smack the front of the crate with our hand and say "No" sharply. We only had to do this for two nights, and then NO more whining (unless he had to go pee in the middle of the night...which was fine.)

Some people don't believe in using corrections, but I found it effective in this instance. Also, during the day, you might try putting a blanket over the crate. It makes it a little more "den" like.

Best of luck to you~~~

 

[Blondie]

Crying in the crate

Just wondering about putting on nice classical and/or soothing-type spa music to promote a calm environment? My puppy isn't born yet, but this site is amazingly helpful and getting me ready for puppyhood. I need all the help and ideas as far as this crate training goes and I was wondering about putting on music, especially when leaving the house? Has anyone tried this? I don't want my puppy to become anxious or have difficulty going in the crate. I will be on vacation the first week when we get the puppy in January, as it is due to be born around the November 11-14th, or so. My idea of crate training is a gradual approach rather than just put the puppy in there for a long period of time and expect it to be okay. I am thinking of starting off with 20 minutes to a half and hour in the crate, let it out and go in again a little longer to build up a getting acquainted approach. Over the period of a week, I'm hoping to get it prepared for when I go back to work. Everyone I talk to says how wonderful crate training is, so I feel much better about the crate than I initially did. The picture shown with the puppy in the crate and the person sleeping right next to it has me wondering about putting a towel in the bottom? I read several different sources not to put anything from expensive bedding to even a towel in the bottom of the crate, as the puppy would either chew it up or possibly soil it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. I did read that when you pick up the puppy, to take a towel or a receiving type blanket to rub on the mother and the puppies to take home so that your new puppy will not suffer separation anxiety so badly.

 

[tippykayak]

I need all the help and ideas as far as this crate training goes and I was wondering about putting on music, especially when leaving the house? Has anyone tried this?

I've heard many times that classical music soothes pups, so you may want to try it. In my personal experience, music just kept them awake and interested, so it kind of backfired.

My idea of crate training is a gradual approach rather than just put the puppy in there for a long period of time and expect it to be okay. I am thinking of starting off with 20 minutes to a half and hour in the crate, let it out and go in again a little longer to build up a getting acquainted approach. Over the period of a week, I'm hoping to get it prepared for when I go back to work.

This is a great way to do it. If your pup experiences the crate as a temporary, calm, safe, fun space, he'll build those early associations. If, however, he has a negative experience early in the process, it'll take him longer to build the positive associations. For example, if you leave your pup in for four hours on the first try, he'll probably learn a very strong lesson about hating the crate. If, however, you spend a lot of time in and around the crate with the door open, even before you try that first 20 minute spell, he can learn it's a nice spot. Invest some time in throwing treats in there before you ever shut him in. Show him that he can walk in, grab a treat, and walk out before you try confining him. Then, you can build up with short confinements.

Everyone I talk to says how wonderful crate training is, so I feel much better about the crate than I initially did. The picture shown with the puppy in the crate and the person sleeping right next to it has me wondering about putting a towel in the bottom? I read several different sources not to put anything from expensive bedding to even a towel in the bottom of the crate, as the puppy would either chew it up or possibly soil it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. I did read that when you pick up the puppy, to take a towel or a receiving type blanket to rub on the mother and the puppies to take home so that your new puppy will not suffer separation anxiety so badly.

Crate training is a great life skill and enables you to teach all kinds of positive behaviors. I do put something in the crate at first, just so the pup isn't sleeping on cold plastic. First, use the crate divider (or build one) to cut off most of the crate so the pup just has enough space to turn around and lie down in. Then, fold an old towel in the bottom and roll a couple of other old towels as bumpers around three sides.

That way, the pup has something comfy to sleep on and against, but it won't upset you if he chews the towels or has an accident. If you leave the same single toy in for each confinement and nighttime, he's more likely to chew that object than the towels. Even so, definitely hold off on expensive bedding until after the second teething stage (at least 10 months).

As far as picking up the pup, it does help to have a toy that the litter played with or a towel with the mom's smell. You can also help by putting your own smell on the old towels you use for the crate. Put them in the bed with you for a few nights or use them as blankets on the couch as you watch TV. You'll feel silly sleeping with a towel in the bed, but those smells can help your pup bond to you, rather than to your dryer sheets.

 

[Blondie]

Thank you for the advice!

Thanks tippykayak for your reply and help! I'm just trying to get it all together before I venture into this golden world! I love your insight and ideas!
Very much appreciated,
Blondie

 

[JasperNY]

Great ideas everyone. Jasper has progressed over the past few days. He's getting more comfortable going into his crate for his daytime naps. I think we'll try the kong with PB in the crate so he has more positive experiences in there!

 

[Willow52]

When Hank was younger, the only time he was in his crate was at night or when we weren't home. If I had to mop floors I'd pop him in his crate but he usually had run of the kitchen/laundry room. Now that he's housebroke he has run of the house except at night (in his crate) or when we aren't home (in the laundry room).