Puppies and crating UPDATE

Awwww

I know many people crate their dogs. I don't have a problem with it. I haven't ever been able to do it even though we have had a crate. I always let mine sleep next to me. I had whimpering the first few nights, but no crying or keeping us up. Potty training was more difficult the first few weeks, but that was expected. I was also the mom who did the cry it out with babies. They were also trained within weeks. I have always had dogs that just went wherever they wanted to go in the house and other than the Christmas Tree Incident of 2011 and Chipgate of 2012, we haven't had big issues. For me, I want my dogs to have freedom and always have access to their people. Maybe you could move the crate as close to you as possible so that she doesn't feel so far away.

Once dd started 4-H and we did her yearly dog caper, we started crate training. It's been the best decision ever, well right up there with obedience training

We have trained both her 4 yr old German Shepherd Dog and my 1 1/2 yr old Samoyed puppy to sleep in their crate. Nita the GSD her crate, when we lose her in the house, she is almost always snoozing away in her crate! We got both of them as puppies and did feed them in their crates since we had other dogs and didn't want anyone stealing anyone else's food.

We always treated them for going into their crates when told to. The puppy knows to go into his crate when he is told crate or even bedtime We also use our crates when we transport the dogs, so they are used to going into them then too. The older boy (11 yr old Samoyed) always runs to be the first into the crate when we open the RV and he does not sleep in a crate at night.

We keep the doors open to our crates at home during the day unless we need to put the dogs in them (maintenance people, visitors at first, etc.). At about 2, when Nita stopped chewing she was allowed to sleep outside her crate at night. The Samoyed is a very restless sleeper so I still close his door at night.

Is your puppy a German Shepherd? She is adorable!!!! There is a really good GSD message board that has been wonderful for learning about the breed and training tips. It's German Shepherds dot com

not advice.  Just wanted to say "what a cutie!"

I read up on it one night when our new dog was doing that, and it said to say their name, and "That's enough", in a stern voice. It worked on him immediately!

Good luck. She's a cutie!!!

I've always crated pups. One day, my 12.5 year old boxer crowded himself into the puppy's crate to get a little peace and quiet, I think

Super cute puppy!!!

I've got nothing to offer for help, but I wanted to say that I read your title as
"Puppies and CRAFTING"

And I was like, well I guess you could paint with your dog or knit a little doggie throw blanket...I think I need a nap!

I've crate trained 3 dogs. Two were Westies (one is 16 years old and the other is just 9 weeks!) and the 3rd was a beagle, basset, corgie mutt. The westies were easy and took right to the crate. The mutt, not so much. She cried/barked at night for a good 2 weeks. Then she did great.

Things I've done to help: treat when going in the crate, feed in the crate, put a small towel that I slept with (or one that I rubbed on the puppies litter mates & mom) in with the dog, radio on talk or static. With our newest westie, I got a stuffed toy that has a heartbeat. She LOVES it! She will pull it out of her crate and cuddle with it even when the heartbeat is off.

Crate training can be tough, but once dogs get used to it they really seem to identify it as a safe place for them to go when things get crazy.

The only dog we didn't crate was the one we didn't get as a puppy. He was two when we got him and he'd spent the better part of his life alone in an outdoor kennel, so that explains why he never took to one. All of our other dogs loved their crates and often would choose to sleep in their "houses" when they wanted to be away from the action. 

If we ever get another puppy at some point down the road, I will NOT let it sleep in my bed. I've gotten to the point in my life where it's hard enough to sleep without every little thing waking me up, and I'm not going to go down that road again! However, if DD wanted to let it sleep in her bed (and she probably would), I wouldn't have a problem with that.

Do you have a cover for the crate?  It's like their own personal little cave and they're happy to go in which is were I usually find them during the day.

I had one that wasn't thrilled with the crate at first and would whine.  I kept it by the side of the bed at night and let my arm dangle by the side.  Once he could smell my hand and stick his tongue out to lick my fingers he settled right down.

I forgot about a cover, we put a black table cloth over ours when he was little. It's still there but we hardly ever put it down any more. 

Try to ride it out!  I made the mistake 13 years ago with our miniature Dachshund and gave into the crying.  Granted, she wasn't just crying, she eventually became mentally and physically frantic about being in a crate.  She would mess in it all the time, and trust me, it wasn't oversized.  She was just so freaked out about being in there that she did not care.

We had very successfully crate trained our other dogs prior to her and were shocked at how much this didn't work for her.  We only had one other dog (that we got when she was a year old) that acted similarly.  That dog hurt herself multiple times trying to get out.  She would move the crate across the room throwing herself around in it.  So while it works for most dogs, some are just not mentally able to handle it.

Still, I wish it worked for her and us because she's never been 100% house broken as a result.  No carpet is safe and we've gotten rid of most of what we had in the house (we had already replaced most of the carpet with hardwood before we got her).  We can't even have throw rugs or area rugs because of her.  

Keep at and it and good luck!!  It's really worth it when it works.

You have gotten a lot of great advice. We have crate trained all eight of our dogs over the years. We currently have 3 dogs (9 1/2 year old, 14 month old, and 1 1/2 year old). All always sleep in their crates, and they have since 8 weeks old. We have 5 crates--3 in the bedroom and 2 in the living room. The younger two have two crates because they have their own in the living room and in the bedroom. Their crates in the bedroom have covers over them (except the door). They also have a pillow. Yes, they sleep like humans with their head on their pillows. Cracks me up. Anyway, their crates in the living room are where they eat all meals (fed 3x a day), and if I need a short crating during they day they go in there. They LOVE their crates. One will even walk in before I instruct him when he sees a routine that requires the crate. My command is "in your box." They immediately go and are treated. You could start with feeding in the crate during the day, keeping the door open for him to investigate, treating everytime he goes in (clicker training will work great for this), and making it their safe place. One of my younger ones cried horrifically for a week. We played soft music all night long in our bedroom where their crates are, and he finally felt good. We didn't give in, and each night got better. The youngest one never minded his crate from the beginning. We really believe in crates for our dogs because we have seen such great, great benefits over the years. Also at the daycamp they go to, they have a rest time each day. All dogs go into crates for their rest time. We do the same at home. The behaviorist talks about how good it is for the dogs. Glad to see we were already doing that.

Anyway, you have a cutie pie there. Remember, he is a baby that has left his littermates and mama. It will get better with lots of love, praise, and routine. Have fun!