My 11 week old Westie hates his crate so much that he cries, squeals, whines, and thrashes about for about 30 minutes. We cannot deal. We know we are supposed to let him cry so he'll get used to it, but at night it gets so bad that we have put him in the bed or on the couch with us to sleep. This is probably not good. He's going to be allowed to sleep with us at night once the housebreaking is complete, but we aren't sure of how bad this is until then? He's in a crate during the day and I get him out at lunch for a potty break. Is it ok to have him sleep with us at night and to be in his crate during the day? Thanks for any advice!

Hi guest ..how long is the pup in the crate for during the day? It sounds like he is in it a lot and he shouldn't be ...puppies need to have some freedom to run and play.

Can you register (for free) on here and then talk about the problem more fully?

:)

Melody

Hi Melody-thanks for responding. My Westie is in the crate from 8am until 11:30 and then again at 1pm until about 5:30. He doesn't go in again until bedtime unless we have to put him in there for a few mintues because we cannot watch him.

Julie

Thanks for registering. You puppy is on a crate far too long imho. It's fine to use a crate - but it must be done properly and it is not to be used as a replacement for the time you need to spend with him. I'm not surprised he doesn't like it. He is young and needs time and space to explore and learn. It is not fair to leave an 11 week old puppy alone for such long periods. To be honest - I question that you should have had the puppy - but you do now so you need to look to how to make things better for him. Can you set a room aside for him while you are out? Can you tale some time off work to be with him for a few weeks, or do you have someone who could come and sit and play with him? The longest I would leave one so young alone would be about an hour two if unavoidable and occasional.

You really nee to look closely at the time this puppy has human contact. Without the right type of contact you'll end up with a very troublesome dog on your hands.

jmho

Pam n the boys

Hi Julie ...3 and a half hours and then 4 and a half hours is too long for a pup to be in a crate. He is still a baby ...and needs company and attention . This could be why he yells when you put him in it at night ..he just associates it with being alone and bored.

If you are out at work Im not really sure what to suggest ...other than maybe leaving him shut in the kitchen whilst you are out and getting someone to go around every day to give him some attention? Was this a consideration when you bought the pup at all?

If you use the search button at the top of the forum and type in CRATES or CRATING it should bring up some of the previous threads about crating pups and dogs

Melody

I do agree the pup is in the crate for way too long, as others have said, crates are fine but it is SO important to introduce the crate as a safe haven, and as a "den" and not as a bad thing.

Forget advice about ignoring his thrashing and cries....this doesn't apply in your particular circumstances :) He is unhappy and is trying to tell you so.

It would be helpful to understand whu the crate is used as much as you say, as perhaps we could help you re-assess and adapt your situation/methods.

As an example, although we do have a crate, we kept it downstairs and used it just for the odd half hour when I needed to be sure she was safe. We had our pup upstairs with us for her first few weeks, and just resigned ourselves to getting up when she needed to wee. After a few weeks, she was gradually able to hold on longer and longer, and then she was popped downstairs (bottom of the stairs so she still felt close and could hear us) and were up by 6am to let her out....we always went with her, used a word for her weeing - "Quickie" and popped her a sausage then and there :) )

Maybe you could do something similar...? Inevitably there will be puddles but get a good biological cleaner (not a cleaner containing ammonia) and he will soon understand :)

Hth a bit anyway :)

Lindsay