Barking while in crate

[TxDog]

My pup barks all night long while in it's crate. As soon as the door closes he starts to bark.

It will stop for about 15 minutes of an hour then start up again.

We just got him 5 days ago so he has only been in the crate for 5 nights. My other pup didn't mind the night crate at all. He has gotten worse actually though. First night he did it for just awhile but now he is doing it all night long.

I wake up in the middle of night to let him out. He is very young, maybe 2 months, so his bladder is really small. He stops barking when he sees me then when I put him back he starts up again. I tried moving the crate into our room next to us but it doesn't help one bit.

Any help?

[DenverShiloh]

You could try walking him to tire him out and exhaust his energy. A tired dog is a happy dog. Just makes sure that when you walk him that he is next to you or behind you so that he knows you are the pack leader. Also, when he barks in his cage, how do you respond? If you talk to him whether it be sweet or stern, you are still giving him attention for behavior that you do not want. Only give him attention when he is quiet. Hope this helps.

[Evanescence]

My pup barked for 2 hours in her crate the first night I had her...then I moved her crate into my bedroom next to my bed where she could see me, and the barking totally stopped. Maybe this will work with your pup? Remember, if the pup is only 2 months old, he's used to being in a puppy pile and sleeping next to his mom and brothers and sisters every night...being alone and chilly for the first time is a shock to the system.

After 2 weeks of being in my room I moved her kennel back to the computer room where she sleeps quietly all the time. You will still have to take the pup out every 3-4 hours to pee even if you keep him next to your bed but mine have always whined to go out and woke me up before soiling their kennel.

Hope this helps!

Lisa

[MelissaCato]

:) Forget the crate, give him the bed! :D ;)

Sorry I had to say it. :p

Melissa.

[chacha]

My Shih Tzu did that too. I put her crate on a chair right next to me so she could see me. Then I put my fingers into the cage through the front door. She would smell me and curl up right next to my fingers. It was uncomfortable but she did stop crying and I was finally able to sleep at night.

[TxDog]

I tried EVERYTHING and our pup would not stop barking. As soon as she entered the crate she would start barking, very loud. I finally broke down and got her a bark collar that beeps when she barks. Didn't want too but couldn't keep the whole family up every night.

[DiggityDogs]

I'm curious to know what your trainer at petsmart had to say about the situation? Let us know how the collar works- I assume it's a sonic collar since you said it beeps, no shock? If it were me and the pup didn't stop after I tried ignoring i'd give that crate a good hard whack on the top when she started barking. She sounds pretty obstinate and like she could stand a correction or two.

[eagle12167]

try this, put a stuffed toy in the crate, don't let the toy out of the crate, so when your dog is in the crate he feels that he has company.
as for letting him/her have the bed, i would not do this i have three large dogs, a king size bed, an a wife. we run out of room very fast, and they expect to sleep there all the time.

[tptp279]

i remember when my dog was a pup, did the same thing. i wore a shirt all day, exercised in it and at night i put it in his crate. i also put a hot/warm water bottle in with him as well as put him next to my bed worked like a charm. if he barked, i turned his crate around so he couldn't see me and waited 2-3 mins after he stopped, then i'd turn him back around. worked great, he doesn't bark at all now :)

[spencersmom]

my dog HATED his crate the first week or two i had him in it. he would whine and whine and whine so much that i could never go to sleep. if i put him in another room, he just got louder. if i moved him close to me, he still wouldn't stop. one thing that REALLY helped was when i got a bunch of old blankets that i didn't want anymore out of my closet and stuck them in his crate. i also left a favorite toy that we played with a lot in there. he just tunnelled into the blankets and got all cozy and went right to sleep! the bed i bought him was useless, but old blankets were a big hit! now he loves his crate so much he goes in there during the day to take a nap, or to enjoy a favorite treat. just remember that you MUST be more persistent than the dog, and you must never pay attention to him when he's being loud! good luck!

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[hapixbuni]

so did the collar help any? im having the same problem only my pup has been using the crate for almost 2 weeks now. he settles down eventually, but only after an hours worth of whining and barking. and if he hears ANYTHING he starts up again. that has often led me to putting him in, closing the door, and having everyone be quite around my room once he finally settles down. obviously with a house of 5 thats an impossible task except at night, and even then iv been forced to sleep in another room since he wont stop at all if he sees me. no one in the house really minds it that bad except my mother, who unfortunetly is a firm all animal "disliker" :-(. shes dislikes all my animals and is just barely tolerating our newest addition. i really need to find a way to get him to stop before my mother ends up kicking him out to the garage or outside like shes done before to my other dogs. i also think it could help deterriorate his attention away from being aggressive. my puppy is almost 8 weeks so i dont know if one of those collars are dangerous for him or not. how did your pup handle it TxDog???

[Bonesdaddy]

If it were me and the pup didn't stop after I tried ignoring i'd give that crate a good hard whack on the top when she started barking. She sounds pretty obstinate and like she could stand a correction or two.

Thats exactly what I have been doing my boy, and I have to say it works pretty good. He sort of gives me a sadened, winey look after I do this but it does work lol. Another thing that might quite him down to is to wear him out a lil by exercising him.

[seraphicia]

A bark collar? Maybe trying 'everything' didn't produce the results wanted because of the inconsistency of doing so. It's a beep not a shock?

I've found that a loud noise(not made by vioce or anything hitting the cage though) works well for some pups. But not if theyre too used to getting attention from whining.

My friends puppy she just adopted came with some very intense separation issues, and has busted and chewed his way out of three different kinds of crates(he's about 50 lbs) and doesn't like his crate(he tore out of it and destroyed some blinds in 10 minutes! But since he's been going to doggy day care for about a week and must be crated after hours until she's off work, he's improved greatly. When she walks in to daycare to get him out of the crate and go home, she was instructed to give him no attention until he quieted down, no jumping, whimpering etc. and remain quiet and calm and not coddle him at all all the way out the door into the car. If he started getting overly excited she has to cease any interaction with him. He has improved so much, really caught on, it's really wonderful. The pup also has learned to enjoy all of the interactive toys he gets for being in his crate, and learned to understand that while he may not enjoy his crate or the time in it, he can be distracted from not being next to his momma. Just thought I'd share that...

[Jason]

hi i have had this problem ever since i got my dog. i have been looking into buying a spray called "bitter apple" dogs hate the smell of it when you spray it in there face. so when he barks i will spray it and say "no barking" i can't do this when i'm not home but hopefully he will get the fact that it may spray when i'm not home. i also have learned that when i leave the house he starts barking so i give a quick hit to my door and he starts barking. i have told my neighbors to do the same thing and they say it is working quite well. so try this and see how that does, also it helps to put a towel or blanket over there crate because they think it is nap or sleep time, and we'll stop barking. i work third shift so my dog is in the crate from 10pm until 6am every night.

jason

[GSP4619]

I would do some research before you buy a beep collar for a 2 month old pup. Thats really young I think. Also I thought with those collars you have to be right on the money like when it happens if it is beeped after the fact it will not teach the dog?

Let us know how you make out.

[seraphicia]

hi i have had this problem ever since i got my dog. i have been looking into buying a spray called "bitter apple" dogs hate the smell of it when you spray it in there face. so when he barks i will spray it and say "no barking" i can't do this when i'm not home but hopefully he will get the fact that it may spray when i'm not home. i also have learned that when i leave the house he starts barking so i give a quick hit to my door and he starts barking. i have told my neighbors to do the same thing and they say it is working quite well. so try this and see how that does, also it helps to put a towel or blanket over there crate because they think it is nap or sleep time, and we'll stop barking. i work third shift so my dog is in the crate from 10pm until 6am every night.

jason

Jason, Bitter Apple Spray is NOT intended to be used like that and is bad for the eyes. It's intended to be put on things you don't want the dog to chew as the company description says below.

"There are many reasons your dog may be scratching or chewing his skin. It could be irritated due to fleas, or he could have sensitive or dry skin. Curb that chewing so the spot can heal with Bitter Apple spray. The number 1 bitter spray, Bitter Apple successfully keeps your pet from chewing that sensitive area so it can heal! Great for furniture, plants, anything else you would like to keep your pet away from. Bitter Apple is the solution!

Instructions:
Shake before using. Apply topically. Avoid spraying in eyes. Repeat as often as needed."

If you're going to spray anything, make it just water or a small amount of vinegar in water(for very stubborn dogs) but with spraying anything you have to be consistent and in range, i.e. the crate must be right by your bed.

The blanket over the crate can be a good idea, making it more of a den atmosphere and they'll be less likely to react to every little movement you make. Although it being summer, if you don't have A/C then a circulation issue could arise. A thinner blanket would be best no matter the weather just for air circulation.

[DiggityDogs]

I would not suggest using the bitter apple for this either. I used to work for a training company that employed this method and it's rediculous. for one, you can rarely get a good spray straight in the mouth to truly correct the dog, and if you have to grab it's mouth to spray it in you're not correcting the bad behavior at all. Bitter apple is alcohol based- how would you like to have alcohol sprayed in your eyes? Also, it stings and burns and causes the dog to scratch it's face and drool for a couple of minutes- so the correction goes on long after the behavior has stopped.

I have and still do use a squirt bottle with water with some success, depending on the dog. This is much more humane and more effective. Save the bitter apple for putting on things that your dog is chewing.

[TxDog]

Just an update that my dog no longer uses the bark collar, it was sound not shock. It took her about a month of using it before it broke her barking and now while in crate she is just fine. I bought the cheapest one from Petsmart, roughly $40.

She was a pound pup so she had issues from prior to getting her, horrible seperation anixety. She is over that now, just took some time.

The bark collar made the situation like night and day. She would stop barking right after she started with the collar on.

[GSP4619]

Glad everything worked out for you :)

[chefgirl]

I had this problem also when I brought my pup home. We solved it by making sure puppy was tired, had his favorite stuffed animal(that also smelled of mamma & siblings and we put a light towel over the crate. He started sleeping all night after that, but I did get up every night to let him go pee since little ones bladders are so small. Even after getting him up to go, he still went right back to sleep.