Kennel Training – Crying

[melissa_9485]

We just adopted a 7 month old Pit Bull. She is a very laid back girl who just loves people. We are trying to kennel train her and all she does is cry at night. I have done what other say to just ignore them and they will get the hint that whining doesn’t get them attention. I only let her out if she whimpers a little to let me know she has to go outside, but I wait til she is quiet before doing so. She has been with us for a week and some days she does ok and others it is terrible. The other night I was up 3 times to let her outside and she went to the bathroom each time, but every time I put her back in the kennel she cried for 2 hours at a time. She just doesn’t stop. I have given her a Kong with Peanut Butter, that is a special treat and she only gets it in her kennel, but sometimes even that doesn’t work. Any suggestions would be very helpful, I would love some sleep.

[amberc922]

Melissa,
The fact that she is already 7months makes it more of a challenge. But getting up through the night to let her out is a HUGE no no when crate training them. I know it sucks and you don’t want a mess to clean up in the mornings but sometimes you just have too. It is suppose to be natural for them to not want to potty where they sleep. I don’t know her background so I will give you the advice I have learned from several puppies over the years.
1.)Don’t let them out in the middle of the night. She is at the age now where she should be able to hold it during the night.

2.)Put a stuffed animal in her crate to mimic a sibiling.

3.)If she has a wire crate that is all open place a blanket or towel over it to help her feel sheltered.

4.)Put her in the same room with you. If she is in another area of the house and it’s new to her she may feel lonely at night and scared. If she can see you and smell you she will feel more at ease.

5.)Either take a towel(that you rub all over you to get your sent) or an old shirt of yours and place in her crate too.

I tend to think of them like a baby. When they cry and the minute you hold them or they are with you they calm down and are fine.
Try those things and see if that helps. Let me know.

Amber

[melissa_9485]

Thank you for your comment. Yesterday was Libby’s first day at doggy daycare and she was so tired we had no problem putting her to bed. Tonight I tried using a blanket over the kennel and that seems to have solved the problem.

[screamin86]

The crate I use is one of those travel crates that’s made of a tent like material and can be folded up but its completely covered and at first kami was afraid to go in but like others have said I ended up putting it in our bedroom and put a pillow in it that I rubbed all over myself to put my sent on it and now she goes in it by herself and I don’t even zip up the door and she is 10months old no

[Nico91710]

Hi Melissa!
I have a similar issue, but my pit is 7 weeks old. I’ve had him for 4 days, and he seems to be adjusting well to his new home with no problem.Honestly the past 3 days I’ve had him sleep with me, until I took him to the vet and it was highly suggested to crate him ASAP. So last night I left him with water, a pillow, and a comfortable blanket in a crate. He cried for some time, but eventually stopped, he had deworming meds and I felt it was important that when he cried to take him out…I thought it was ok to take him out given the circumstance and place him right back into the crate. I took him out about 5x last night. So I guess my next question would be how long does the deworming med take to get out of his system?

[joneskj]

Like Amber said, placing a blanket over the crate REALLY helps…also one thing that also helped with my pit (just turned 1 on 11/6) is having a good thick dog pillow. we originally had one of the ones that have a lip on them but she chewed on that so we just got her one of the oversized dog pillows as a bed to encourage her not to mess in the kennel…

Also, like you said about having no problem with it after she was at doggie daycare…exercising her good before bedtime will do WONDERS…we take Nina on a mile walk every night when we get home form work and her hyper level has dropped signifiacantly which makes it easier to get her to go to bed

our pit actually changed the veiwpoint our landlord had on pits because once she saw how well behaved our nina was & that she was crate trained she had no issue with her being a pit.

[stayc]

Grab a water bottle, squirt when whining and walk away. If the whining persists, spray again.
It took our pup 2 nights to understand we were not going to put up with the whining.
I also agree with a comfy bed liner. But I disagree with placing water in the crate. (to each is own) That will increase the nightly bathroom trips. Night time is the time for sleep, not drinking and restroom breaks. (again, just my opinion)
Also, a walk or jog before bed time is great. After we eat dinner, while the kids are cleaning up the mess, we take our pup on a walk with a backpack on that has 2 water bottles in it for extra weight to wear him down. We get home, he gets a drink and we let him out right before bed and all is well through out the night.
Best of luck

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