Crate problems

[Winkner]

Hi everyone! I am new to this sight and have really enjoyed reading about all the different subjects you talk about. It is very informative. I have a problem of my own. I adopted a 5 month old female rottie from the pound 1 1/2 months ago. I had a rottie in the past that we crate trained, so I thought this would work out well since the puppy had been living in a crate at the pound for about 3 weeks, since she became ill after they picked her up. I know in the beginning they usually don't like being confined. Well everything was o.k. for the first couple of weeks and then she would flaten out on the floor and you would have to pick her up and put her in the cage. Then she started crying a little after you put her in the crate and turned the lights off. (Her crate is in the living room). After a few nights of that, with each night the crying going on longer and longer, she began this kind of a moaning and crying and trashing and jumping around.... till she had worked up to pretty much off and on all night. Well I had enough of not getting any sleep so I got up and was going to sleep on the sofa and try and to verbally correct her when she would act up. That lasted about 2 nights (again with no sleep for me), and out of desperation I let her sleep out of the cage. Well tha has worked out o.k. except for the one night that we didn't get up at the usual 6:30 and slept in till 7:00 and she had chewed my end table. I am sorry for making this into a novel, but there are a lot of details.... The problem I am faced with now is that I cannot leave the house and leave her out by herself and be trusted since she is still so young and I am afraid to put her in the crate since on the three occasions I have she still does the crying, jumping and thrashing till she makes herself sick and she will throw up and it ends up everywhere (and on the one occasion she pooped...and well you can imagine!!!!!) If anyone has any idea why she would go from being alright in the crate to throwing such a fit till she makes herself sick I would appreciate your input. Thank you!!!

[gmo1379]

Hi, you were doing it right at the start with the crate training. No matter how much she cries you CAN NOT give in to her! If you continue this, she will know that all she needs to do is cry a little and mommy will either let me out or give me attention (attention being sleeping with her or even talking to her.)

I would suggest re-crate training her and not giving in this time.

As far as her soiling in her crate, it's common for puppies to have mistakes. Just make sure you take her outside before going in the crate.

You sound like you know what your doing so I'm sure everything will work out just fine!

best of luck

[gilby00]

you were on the correct path with the crate. first try to make it fun for her. during the day or eveining put her in for a minute with a treat or toy, let her out, back in,then out..... going longer every time. At night if she cries try to ignore it, if you can't maybe move the crate and dog into the garage she'l learn that crying will only get her moved to a place away from her humans.....it's tough to do but i had to do the exact same thing with one of my pups, she doesn't howl anymore. it took a week or so for me..good luck

[Anne]

How long had she been in the crate for when she vomited...and when she soiled the crate?

I would crate her in your bedroom at night. That way she'll probably settle and will wake you up if she needs to toilet.

As an afterthought. Would you mind please using paragraphs, it makes the post easier to read.

[aldelgreco]

you are going to have to let her have her "Elimination Burst"
I heard the phenomenon explained like this:
If i was used to getting $20 from you every time i clapped my hands, and all of the sudden you stopped giving me twenty dollars...I will probably begin to clap louder and louder, eventually getting up in your face and screaming "DONT YOU SEE I AM CLAPPING?!? DONT YOU HEAR ME CLAPPING?!?!?!" By the end of the deal, I may be jumping up and down, yelling your name, wretching my body around etc.

The thing is, if you give in to me at the point in time that i am being most ridiculous, you will in some way condition me to understand that i can still get what i want, but now i have to throw this ridiculous fit in order to attain the same reward as previously.

when it gets THE WORST, that is the elimination burst. The moment at which the dog realizes the behavior doesn't "work" anymore. You need to leave her down there and just let her have hers. It may seem inhumane or dangerous, but it is a crate. it is far from either. just go to the store, buy a few earplugs and forget about her for a little while when she starts her routine. i honestly think this will be better for her in the long run than leaving a 5-month old baby unsupervised all night. my rot would likely kill herself knowing how she likes to jump and investigate, etc.

[AngelBunny]

All our personal dogs and fosters are crate trained. We have the foster's crate set up in our bedroom. Our girls sleep in the bed with us and the foster joins the pack in the bedroom by sleeping in his crate.

When I'm crate training fosters, I feed all meals and treats in the crate.

You haven't had your Rottie puppy for very long. Perhaps she was fine in her crate during her honeymoon period and now that she feels more comfortable in your house, she's trying to see what she can get away with.

Put down a big tarp under her crate. This will help make cleanup easier.

I wouldn't be picking her up and carrying her to her crate. I'd put a leash on that puppy, get a yummy treat, and walk her over to her crate saying "Kennel up!" in a big happy tone. If she won't go in readily, stand behind her, toss in the treat, and push her into the crate with your knees. When she goes into the crate--even if you had to push her into it--tell her "Good crate!" in a pleased tone and feed her another treat.

When you get home from wherever, leave her in her crate for a few minutes before letting her out calmly and quietly. Don't throw a party--you're not letting her out of prison or a cage, you're letting her out of a crate.

[Winkner]

Thanks everyone for your advise!! I will try to reply to all of you at once. I quess I gave in too soon, but the crying and working up to jumping and thrashing had been going on for a week and during that time we had totally ignored her.

I ALWAYS take her outside before putting her in the crate. On the 2 occasions she threw up in the crate, she had been in the crate about 2 hours. On the occasion she had been in the crate when she pooped about 4 hours.

I guess I will give it another try(maybe with some earplugs!!!!!!)

[Winkner]

Thanks AngelBunny...I will purchase a big tarp along with the ear plugs. Hadn't thought of that.

[Terri Lambert]

I agree with Ann she needs to be in your bedroom at night as dogs are pack animals, don't put her as far away as possible. Also I would talk to your vet because you maybe dealing with separation anxiety even this young, as she was in a shelter (probably afraid of being alone). Many shelter dogs including puppies get separation anxiety because of there very beginning up bringing. It sounds like she works herself up so much as to vomit and eliminate in the crate hopefully she doesn't end up hurting herself.

[casenh]

I have a 12 week old puppy that is in the crate when I sleep or is away. At first it was awfull with the crying and some accidents, he know does very well in it. It is in my bedroom as the others suggusted and he never cries if I'm sleeping right beside him. I'm a heavy sleeper and have no problems sleeping through his whines but you have to let him whine. It does become better with time.

[grewals]

In my experience, not an expert here, I would suggest making sure your crate is the correct size for your puppy. Or, if your crate is a large crate, to be used at a later date when your puppy is an adult dog, then make that crate smaller to fit the puppy at it's current size. Example: when we brought Kahlua home for the first time, we put her in the crate at night. We have a fairly medium sized wire crate for her to adjust to as she grows to be an adult dog. We had already adjusted the crate by putting a flat cardboard folded box up against a plastic box container to fit her current size with plenty of bedding of course. As she gets bigger, I remove the plastic box container and the flat cardboard folded box to adjust to her current size. At this time she fits perfect in the crate without any adjustments. Hopefully this helps. Good luck!