Just read the article link - very good - will commence immediately ;o)

Lots of good advice again already!

I was recently looking after a young JRT pup. The owner uses the crate now and again and provided me with the crate when he came to say overnight. He didn't appear to be used to the crate, perhaps that may have been partly to do with him not being in his own house. To be honest, his owner is a bit of a soft touch and gives in to him, but there was no way I was going to.

Nevertheless, he had to get used to it as he would be sleeping in it that night! I lined it with newspaper, just in case. Put his bed, blankets and toys in it. As well as a bowl of water. (You can get bowls that attach to the bars of the crate).

I took him for a walk, ensuring he did the toilet and played with him before putting some treats in the crate for him, he went in and ate some, but not them all. After he had a good sniff of it he decided to go to his bed, after he had settled himself, I shut the door.

He was a bit whiney and fidgety at first, but I ignored him as he had been fed and did his business. He could still see me as I was sitting on the bed using the laptop, which was beside the bed. I carried on ignoring him and after about 10 minutes he went back in to his bed, lay down and watched me, making no noise. Then, after about 5 minutes, he snuggled up and went to sleep. I got myself organised, had a shower and dried my hair. Most of the time he was asleep but he occasionally decided to watch me from his bed, with the odd whimper but nothing much, and it was ignored. After I was finished getting ready, he was awake, though still lying in his bed, so I went down to him in the crate and told him what a good boy he was and made a fuss and had a play with him in the crate, blocking him from getting out. He was happy to play in it. Then we all went out again for more tiddles!

At bedtime, he was put back in it after doing his business. Without saying anything to him and not making eye contact, I shut the door. I lay in bed and read and he, again, could still see me. Once he had settled and got himself off to sleep, I covered the crate all over with an old single bed sheet and he slept all night without so much as a noise, and he was dry all night. First thing in the morning, he was taken outside immediately and did all his business outside.

The idea is to get your pup used to the crate gradually, buidling the time up that he's in the crate. I never had my Westie in the crate in the bedroom at all, the crate was always in the living room, she settled in to it fine, very quickly. Get a routine going and make the crate a really good place to be. Give him all his meals in it, and try and stroke him in it.

Hope this helps. I think in hindsight you'll look back on this and realise that crate training your puppy was a very good idea. All the best.

Here's some pictures of Rusty in the crate:

Starting to settle down:


Almost falling asleep while still keeping an eye on me:




Out for the count!:

Nice story!

He's been in there 3x now. We think we might try him in it overnight. What do you think?

Also, if we do, how do we know when he needs to go out to the toilet? He's only 9 weeks old so can't go the whole night. Normally he just goes on the kitchen floor (as we've never been able to tell the difference between a yelp for attention and a yelp for toilet). there isn't enough room in the crate for him to go in it.

Are we to expect (having finally been able to get him to be quiet through the night) some sleepless nights?

When we first got Skye, the breeder had advised us on getting a crate,i was very unsure as at the time i saw it as a "prison", but it was the best thing we ever did Skye is now 3yrs old, & still loves her crate (no longer a door on it!) we even bought her a bigger one, but had to return it as she wanted to be in her original one we have a blanket over the top of it, and its her "safe place" or just somewhere to go & be on her own!!! Persevere with it, introduce it slowly, and i promise, you will never regret it

Jann

I think you should give the crate a try overnight.

As he is young, I would set the alarm for a couple of times through the night. Let him out quickly and quietly and pop him straight back in his crate. Don't fuss him. With luck, he should go straight back to sleep. If he fusses after being out, you can safely ignore him, knowing that he doesn't need to go out to do his business.

Good luck - I will look forward to hearing how it went!

Yes, I would try him overnight now, worth a try and you've got to try it at somepoint!

Just make sure he's done all his business right before he goes in to it for the night. Feed him at least a couple of hours before going in it. When you put him it, you could give him a tiny treat and tell him "good boy, bedtime" or something like that, and do this every night time so he eventually learns that it's bedtime.

If he makes a noise immediately, then just ignore it for as long as you can, he doesn't need anything and probably only wants attention and for you to attend to him. Start as you mean to go on! He'll have to learn to adjust to being on his own. I've he gets attention at this point now, he'll learn to expect it.

I would say he would need out once or twice during the night at this age, then down to once a night, and then once he starts to be holding it in for a while, then leave him for the whole night and see what happens. When you do take him out at night, don't make eye contact or a big fuss, just tell him he's a good boy when he goes, and that's it. Then put him straight back in to the crate.

He probably will make a riot at first, but then again, he might not. Just play it by ear and see.

At least, this is what I'd be doing. Hope this helps.

We're wimping out and putting the crate in the usual spot (kitchen) with the door open, for tonight.
See how that goes (we've worn him out and taken him outside to "empty" so let's see how it goes, then tmrw night I think we should do what you suggest Westie.
Thanks all! I'll keep you posted.
(Still hate the crate personally, but I'm willing to persevere to see how it works out ;o)

Well. We wore him out, put him to bed in the crate, door open in the kitchen. He was quiet all night and slept until 7am (we woke him up).
There was one poo and lots of wees oon the kitchen floor. This is what worries me about putting him in the crate overnight with the door shut. Where will he go. How will we know to let him out? He doesn't make a sound if he needs to go.
Also, during the day when he's abit pooped he squeezes in by our feet and sleeps quite comfortably. No amount of coaxing into the crate will help.
We have been giving him all his meals in there and using treats (including a stuffed kong). He'll settle in there and sleep, but you can tell he just can't wait to get out.

Like lilyput suggested, set an alarm to go off twice during the night and get up and let him out as said earlier. Over a short period of time, reduce this to once and then when he starts to be able to hold it, then try all night. Crate (with the door closed) can often help toilet train them far quicker than they would do than have free access to one room or more. The crate is smaller than the kitchen (obviously) and most dogs don't want to do the toilet in their sleeping quarters, so the fact the crate is smaller than the kitchen should eventually help with this.


Dont namby pamby him and be firm, but fair. When he falls asleep by your feet, just scoop him up and put him in the crate, without eye contact or saying a thing. Just put him in, close the door, ignore him and carry on with tasks such as reading, doing the dishes, preparing a meal etc. Don't sit and watch him. He's obviously tired to have fallen asleep beforehand at your feet.

You have to persevere and be strong, the more you give in to his whims, the more he'll play you and take a loan of you as he gets older. You have to establish boundaries now and also socialise him plenty with all sorts of situations as mentioned previously to you. Stick at it, he will settle eventually but stay calm, perseverance and don't give in.

Keep on feeding him is his crate, but now you should try closing the door and take it from there.

We've just scooped and he's pooped (the tired kind). Onto stage two ;o)