We picked up our new pup on Wednesday and now I feel like a new mother with sleep deprivation!  We have a large crate in our kitchen for her and a smaller one in our bedroom for night time but the problem is she seems to hate the crate. She starts crying pretty much straight away and within seconds she is literally screaming the house down. I can't leave her making that kind of racket because I don't think my neighbour will appreciate it and it scares my other dogs!  It's not that she is making the noise because she wants to be with us as when she is out of the crate she will have a play and then go off on her own and fall asleep.
I have 4 other dogs who all happily accepted a crate as pups so it's not like it's my first time of doing this.  I have tried today to section off a large area of the kitchen and leave the crate door open but she is still screaming to come out. I am really not happy to let her have the run of the house when I can't be watching her just in case she accidentally gets hurt by one of the other dogs or chews through a wire etc. I have been feeding her in the crate and when she falls asleep I am putting her in there so that she will hopefully get used to it. Has any one else had a pup act like this and what did you do to make sure they were safe when you couldn't watch them? I realise that it's early days but she seems to have such a hatred of being confined in any way that I just can't see how to get over it.

what breed is she? we had a lurcher pup that when put in a crate she would scream as if she was in awful pain, after a month we gave her away as it just got worse the bigger she got

I've never used a crate so can't offer any advice on that, but when we got our pup we kept him in the kitchen as the 'safe' area.
We had a baby-gate at the kitchen door so he could still see out. I found this the best for us as it kept the pup away from the adult dog while he got used to the pup, it also kept the pup away from any cables, stairs etc.. I work from home and have my 'office' in the kitchen so he wasn't on his own other than at night (he had no problems sleeping in the kitchen at night on his own).

Hayley, did you give your lurcher away because it cried?

If you're happy to have her in your bedroom try sectioning off an area next to your bed with walls only, no roof. I used a puppy playpen panel to create a pen next to my bed and never had a peep out of either dog as pups.

Have a baby gate each end of the galley kitchen.Pup sleeps in his cardboard lounger as we call it .
Puppy pad up other end ! Not a peep out of him sleeps downstairs on his own in this area and is clean.
Horses for corses it's whatever works for you...
Don't use a crate he is getting on just fine even if he does wake up early and squeek a bit!

Some pups, not many, but some just can't bare to get to a structure that they can see through or over but can't get through. A solid wall they have no problem with they accept it is there.  It seems that this may be the problem with your pup.

Easy to solve if this is the case,

1.  Just cover the crate with a blanket or throw, or put a towel or a blanket over the piece you have sectioned off in your kitchen to give the effect of a solid structure.

2. Do you eventually go to the pup when screaming the place down.  You also need to ignore no matter what, allow her to scream her head off for a day, she will learn it does her no good and after the first 5 mins will stop and hopefully go to sleep.

3.  Make sure that the crate is a good place, always give her a treat, a chew a kong in there with the door open so that she does not feel trapped but happy to be there.

I totally understand that you do not want a pup wandering around unsupervised in your home. I remember I was looking after a family pup 11 weeks old once who screamed and screamed when I popped her in her crate on a night, it wasn't the crate she was happy to go in there during the day if I were too busy to watch her, I couldn't work out why she was so upset on a night, until it clicked, she just wanted to be within eyesight my dog, during the day I worked from home even though the pup was in the crate she could see my girl who always sits with me but on a night she sleeps in the dayroom on the sofa, I sat pondering why the pup cried only on a night then it clicked, the moment I allowed her to sleep on the sofa with my girl she slept through all night. I just got up early 4am to let her out, she was as good as gold, not a peep and kept clean, this may also be a factor that she just wishes to be with the others.

Only ever had one pup that did this and as we lived in a terrace house at the time I used to go down and sleep on the couch with him to shut him up. But when he was 5 months the neighbours went on holiday and we let him cry. It took 3 days and a box of ear plugs along with a good deal of pain on our part but it worked he shut up on the fourth day and did not ever do it again.

Thanks I will try some of these suggestions and see how we get on. We definatly won't be getting rid of her just because she cry's though! We will find a solution in the end :-)

that and a few other reasons, and it didnt cry it screamed the place down, the neighbours kept complaning, it was bad, other pups weve had only whinged the first few nights, this was non stop for a month, it would even whinge for no reason while in the same room as us

I'm really shocked at that - I initially thought it was a typo and you meant that you got rid of the cage.  I suppose it is each to their own but I can't believe anyone would get rid of a dog for crying.

it wasnt just the crying, and like i said before it wasnt crying it was screaming as if it was being murdered

> it wasnt just the crying, and like i said before it wasnt crying it was screaming as if it was being murdered

Just curious - did you tell the new owner? And did it scream with them?

yes i did and yes it did

Poor girl. :( It sounds as though a crate didn't suit her and she needed different arrangements to stop her being so unhappy.

Hi,

Personaly I hope you are going to her when she's getting herself that worked up. She's communicating to you in the only way she knows how that she is unhappy in that environment.  She's clearly not attention seeking as she is happy to go off and sleep on her own.  Could she not just have a bed that she uses to sleeps in your bedroom at night time?  Some dogs/pups can actually be claustrophobic which makes being shut up quite frightening.

Was she used to a crate at all before you brought her home?

How long is she being left in the crate during the day?

How did you introduce her to it?

I would suggest feeding her in her crate, leaving the door open so that she doesn't feel trapped.  Try stuffing a kong and popping her in the crate with that.  Basically use any good things that you can think of to help her build a good association with her crate.  Gradually as she starts being more comfortable going in start to shut the door. Then slowly build up the amount of time that she is in it.  Good luck.

With Anton I had to stay downstairs, with the lights out until he finally fell asleep and then crept out.  Took about a month in total but he never looked back after that.  It was the only way I could get a nights sleep and luckily once asleep he stayed asleep until about 7ish.

My dog didn't like her crate at first. Whether or not they sleep in a crate it's a big upheaval for them anyway what with leaving their mum and siblings so it's not necessarity the crate that the problem everything is new to the pup.  I persevered with our pup and the crate and she settled after a few days or so.  Putting a blanket over the crate apparently simulates a den which gives a feeling of security.

My dog liked her crate so much that she would take herself off to it whenever she wanted to lie down. When she was about 18 months old I took her bedding out of the crate for her to get used to not sleeping in the crate but she would drag the bedding back in. 

My dog loves the crate too. At 2 years old he still goes in there to sleep, always in the night, and sometimes in the day. We don't bother shutting him in now though.

Before we bought Louis home, we 'puppy proofed' the living room and put a barrier at the doorway. He had the run of this room only during the day. I also had a pen in there that he went in if we were all out. In our bedroom I sectioned an area between our bed and the wardrobe so he couldn't get out - he had his bed there ( until he started sleeping in our bed after about 4 weeks :) )
After 6 weeks I moved the living room door barrier to the kitchen doorway meaning he had the run of the hall and living room.
Few weeks after that he was allowed in the kitchen and dining room. We put a baby gate on the stairs the very first time he went upstairs on his own to see what OH was doing!!!

We never had any crying cos he could always see, hear or be with 1 of us. We have also never had a problem when leaving him alone for periods but soon found he was much happier out of the pen and up on the sofa ( he has a fleece blanket folded to make him a step :) ). Room is still puppy proofed and we just shut the kitchen door when we go out.

We are going to her when she crys as she makes such a racket there is no way you could leave her! She had not been crate trained before coming to us which is why I have been feeding her in there with the door open and putting her in once she falls asleep. The most she has been in the crate in the day time is around 5 mins unless I put her in when she has fallen asleep in which case she will stay in there for an hour or 2. I leave the door of the crate open all day and she will go in to have a drink or get a toy so she is not worried about going in, it's just having the door shut that she doesn't like. Last night I left her downstairs and barricaded off all of the areas  where she might chew wires etc, sprayed all the bits of furniture that I didn't want eaten with bitter bite stuff and she was no trouble. I came down every couple of hours to put her out for a wee and she settled down again straight away. I think we will continue like this for the time beeing until she is more settled. She needs to accept a crate eventually as we spend alot of time travelling with our dogs so they need to go in the car cages but hopefully as she gets a bit older she will get a bit better especially as the other dogs will be next to her in the car.

Sounds like you've got it sussed :-)  Do you clicker train, as you could clicker train her to go in the crate?  Clicking and rewarding her for any voluntary movement towards the crate.  Also pop a lure in the crate and click and reward her for going in, you can get dogs to love their crate using the clicker.  There is a dvd called crate games by Susan Garrett which is really good and may be of help :-)

I have clicker trained my other dogs but to be honest I haven't started with the pup yet as I have been too tired lol. I will start tomorrow and will look for that DVD. My other dogs all love crates even though they don't use them in the house any more, when I put a small one up for the pup they were all trying to squeeze into it!!

i put a cage up for both my new pups when they came and both times its been used as a dog loo and they have both slept with my oldest boy from night two without the cage door shut so they had a "safe place" if they needed it, but have not used it since the first night which i found to be the wrost night for broken sleep etc.
all three of my dogs have settled in within two weeks going from 11.00pm to about 6.00am.

I was told and I've also seen it posted on this forum, that going to the pup while it's crying is rewarding that behaviour.  Try to go to her at the points inbetween the crying so that she associates you appearing when she's not crying.

I know it's hard, my OH was about to throw me and the pup out he was desperate for sleep but it does work and quicker in the short term than attending when the pup cries.

ah but that does depend on what pup is crying for.  I have had mine for two weeks now and she sleeps in a crate beside my bed.  She will wake up during the night and cry and I will take her out in the garden for a wee/poo and pop her straight back.  Only talking to her when she goes.  This has not meant that she cries at every hour and is now sleeping right through 3 out of 4 nights. 

I do find that you can tell with a pup's cries what they are crying for.  If she wants to go out to relieve herself it is most insistent.  If she is just shouting at being put in her crate then I ignore her and she quietens down in a min or two.