Hi All,

We have had our Boxer Puppy for 10 days and at night we use a Dog crate. She is very very friendly and loves human company.

At night she barks and cries all night long. I don't really want her to come upstairs to sleep and want her to be well trained. But it breaks my heart to hear her cry. We have tried everything, leaving a light on, switching the light off, leaving a radio playing, keeping her warm, you name it we have tried it.

As soon as we go down in the morning, she comes rushing out, and sits on our laps and goes to sleep. She loves being snuggled more than anything.

We love her to bits, and hate to hear her so distressed!

Please have you got any tips to settle her? She is only 9 weeks.

Many thanks.......

Does she happily go in the crate in the day time ?  If so, it sounds as if the problem is more to do with separation rather than being crated. She needs to know she's not been 'abandoned'. I think I would move the crate into the bedroom.  Being physically closer to you should reassure her and (hopefully) she will settle down. 

i wouldnt start taking your pup upstairs if you dont mean to take her up all the time as you will have the same problem when you leave her downstairs try and put a jumper with your smell on it so she feels a little more secure.As hard as it is if you give her attention for crying she will soon learn you will come when she cries ignore and it will soon pass.

This little pup has been barking and crying for 10 nights - you'd have to be very hard hearted to carry on ignoring her.  Letting her sleep in her crate in the bedroom does not mean she will grow up untrained, which, it seems, is what the owner fears.

no i wasnt saying the owners pup would be untrained im saying the owner doesnt realy want her to sleep upstairs so taking her up will only delay the problem when the pup is put back down stairs to sleep it would be much kinder in the long run to stick with what he is doing or maybe talk to the breader about the sleeping arrangements the pup was used to before.

Basically the pup is terribly lonely on her own. There are several ways of sorting this; the owner can sleep downstairs with the pup till the pup's settled; he can have the pup upstairs (easier in a crate, then he will wake when she needs to go go outside) till she's settled enough to sleep quietly then move the bed downstairs again; he can have the pup upstairs (again easier in a crate) and gradually move the pup's bed further and further away (by the door for a few nights, just outside the door on the landing for a few nights, at the top of the stairs for a few nights, at the bottom of the stairs etc etc etc); or he can leave her to howl. All methods work in the end, some just take longer (and are noisier!) than others.
:)

I think that some dogs settle quickly, but others don't. I don't think you can take a hard line on a pup that hasn't settled for ten nights. I think its time to compromise :)

A pup whose learnt to feel secure will be a lot easier to train when it comes time to move the crate, than one whose learnt that whatever she does, she'll never be secure........

Move the crate into the bedroom and when you have had a couple of peaceful nights, try putting it further away, in stages - first the landing and when that is acceptable to her further down the landing or at the bottom of the stairs, whatever. Once she knows you are not that far away I am sure she will be fine. Also make sure she spends short times happily in her crate during the day whilst you are in the same room so that she becomes secure in her "den"

Hi,

My pup cried and howled, he done this for 3 nights in the end I slept in the kitchen with my pup for a few nights and that seemed to settle him down.  I left the crate door open so he could go in and out and he would come over to me and try to cuddle up but I would fidget and make him uncomfortable and he would end up on the tiled floor (not very warm and cosy) he would then go back into the crate, he tried this a few times during the night and eventually on the 4th night I slept in my own bed.

Help the pup to feel secure and either sleep with it downstairs or take it upstairs. I did this straight off with my BSD and IMO it helped her to become very confident and happy as she grew. We gradually moved her out the bedroom and downstairs over a period of about a couple of months. By then she was used to the house, strange night noises etc and sleeps happy as Larry downstairs on her own.
Give security and confidence and i think the anxiety would disappear :)

Lindsay
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