Am I doing this wrong?

[MysticVance]

I am a new yorkie mom and have had my baby for only 4 nights. We are trying to crate train him but last night almost did me in. He cried and whined for 1 hour and 50 minutes. I have been taking him outside every 2 hours to use the bathroom. Sometimes he will sometimes he won't. I did find that leaving a little light on has helped. He has a blanket and several toys in his crate. Usually by 6 am I am so tired and desperate for sleep that I wind up putting him in the bed with me.

During the daytime he has been allowed to move about all over the house. I really think I should have him in the crate because he will have to be in it 3-4 hours daily while we work. Thats the only reason that he needs to be in the crate.

Its just so hard to listen to him cry. I know that if I just stick to it we will get it down in a few days. Any advice??????

[chattiesmom]

Welcome to YT! and congratulations on your new little one.

I don't crate train so I can't help you there, but I am sure that some of our experience and knowledgeable Yorkie owners will be able to give you some advice.

[airplane]

I think with many dogs you can't introduce a crate that way.

I'd recommend starting to train the puppy to go into the crate on cue. You just need to mark it and reward it for showing interest in the crate, putting the paw in the crate, and so on and so on until your puppy goes into the crate. From there you can put that behaviour on cue. For my dogs I just say "go to your house" and then they go.

From that point you can close the crate door, mark and feed treats through the crate door but then immediately open the door to let the puppy come out, but if the puppy remains in the crate give a couple more treats.

Work on that gradually increasing the amount of time you keep the crate door closed. Use treats and praise to make it an enjoyable thing to him. Work up from just a few seconds to a minute to a number of minutes. Increase the amount of time in the crate with the door closed . Only let him out if he is quiet. If he cries and whines, don't let him out. Wait until he is quiet before letting him out. But keep a mental note of how long he went before starting to cry, and in the next crate-training session just decrease the amount of time so that he is successful. And then obviously in future training sessions you'll want to try increasing the amount of time again.

In addition to the time aspect of the crate training, you'll have to train for the puppy to be ok without you near the crate. So its the same type of thing where you start small and then work up to more. So maybe you begin by just walking across the room and then immediately back and give a treat. And then work up from there where you're gone for longer periods of time and even out of sight.

If he can be in the crate for a long period of time and be ok without having you in sight without crying, then you're doing good.

Sometimes leaving a food stuffed rubber toy like a kong in the crate can also make his time in the crate more rewarding.

Crate training takes many sessions over many days. But the general type of formula I laid out will work. The main thing is to just start small and work up. You can't just put the puppy in the crate and close the door. That generally does not work and of course the puppy will just cry for hours while left in the crate.

[matese]

X-pens or iris pens are a great way to confine a baby without the pup being in an completely enclosed crate. There is enough room for their bed, food, water, pads, toys and roaming room.

Also at night when he's in the crate, is the crate in your bedroom or another part of the house. If his crate is kept by your bed at night, when he cries you can reach down so he can smell your hand and know that you are near.

If the crate is in another part of your home this causes his fear, he cannot see or smell you. This is a baby that has just left his mom and litter mates, 4 days is not enough time for this baby to adjust to loosing his mom, being with new human, new smells, noises, schedules.

[Lovetodream88]

Here is what I do. I have the crate where the pup can see me. I have a treat and tell them to go to bed and give them a treat for being in/going in the crate. You really have to ignore the crying unless they stop and fall asleep and wake up crying then you take them to the potty and put them back. If you give in and take them out they will never get used to it and know that crying gets them out. It can be rough but they will eventually get it. For leaving a pup during the day I would use a play pen/ exercise pen so they have a little more room to move around. We have done this with all the pups we had growing up and I did it with my three. It's definitely important to have them confined at night so they don't get into any trouble or hurt themselves. It's also really important to get them used to a crate because that is what they use at vets offices and groomers and such. I know it can be hard but it will get better.

[Pammy2016]

We just got our first Yorkie last year and I definitely DO NOT miss those nights that you're going through. So you're not alone.

Crate training just didn't work for us. She just cried and whined and cried some more. No matter if she could see us or not. (seeing us actually made it worse) Eventually we gave in and let her stay with us in bed and it worked out great. Of course you will deal with the nights where you have to get up a few times to take your pup out, but their ability to hold it will come along as they grow.

In my experience, it was way better to have to tough out them nights getting out of bed to let them go than dealing with a whining pup all night. It makes them nervous and uncomfortable in the crate. It makes your heart ache hearing them cry and whimper and you don't get sleep because of it. So why not do what works out best in the long run? That's what we did and it worked out great! And we were in a VERY similar situation as you are now.

Good luck!

[bekalu]

I used a pen instead of a crate and a stuffed puppy with a heartbeat for her to lay against. she amazed me by snuggling up to it and sleeping most of the night the first night. I will add the link to it.

https://www.chewy.com/smart-pet-love...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

[chattiesmom]

Originally Posted by matese

X-pens or iris pens are a great way to confine a baby without the pup being in an completely enclosed crate. There is enough room for their bed, food, water, pads, toys and roaming room.

Also at night when he's in the crate, is the crate in your bedroom or another part of the house. If his crate is kept by your bed at night, when he cries you can reach down so he can smell your hand and know that you are near.

If the crate is in another part of your home this causes his fear, he cannot see or smell you. This is a baby that has just left his mom and litter mates, 4 days is not enough time for this baby to adjust to loosing his mom, being with new human, new smells, noises, schedules.

Excellent advice.