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September 08, 2023

My 4 month old puppy sleeps in his crate at night and readily jumps in but during the day he throws a fit if he's confined in there. What can I do?

Full Question:

I have a now 4 month old (European) Doberman puppy. We have done a fair bit of crate training, and he sleeps in there at night, and readily jumps in with a treat. He doesn't "hate" the crate - but since day 1 when he came home at 10 weeks old, he HATES being locked up and not being right by you or what interests him. Barking and throwing a fit since the day he came home unless he's flat out exhausted, and sometimes even then.

There is plenty of play, exercise, training, enrichment, etc. He'll nap right by me just fine.

We will be training in some sport(s) so he needs to learn to be in his crate. I don't let him out when he's demanding, but besides listening to the demands for extensive periods of time until he quiets down, what else can I do? "Positive" doesn't help (he doesn't hate the crate itself), because this is only an issue if he is left and doesn't want to be. I don't want to create separation anxiety though, either, but he can't be with me 24/7, 365!

Cindy's Answer:

I would put him in the crate more since he shows the tendency to want to be right next to you. Do you have crates in different locations in your home? I would not allow him to nap by you right now, that just builds the expectation of not being in the crate for rest.

There are some puppies that need some type of aversive if nothing else works.

I've raised many puppies over the years and bred working-line Dobermans and Malinois since the 80s. I put crates everywhere in my house that I could and just let the demanding ones bark. Have you tried covering the crate with a blanket or sheet so he can't see out? Try a different style of crate. How about being crated in the car, does he bark in there?

User Response:

Crated in the car I only did once when I picked him up and he screamed the entire way - it's an extended cab truck, a full size crate won't fit in there. He is fine in the back seat (have one of those seat cover/extenders with a little panel that goes across the opening between the front seats) with his harness and "seatbelt" - actually rides great that way.

House is pretty small so fairly limited on how many crates I can have around lol, but I can certainly make better use of his crate (which is covered in the bedroom). When he doesn't want to be locked up, it doesn't seem to matter though, outdoor playpen, crate covered in the closed bedroom, crate with my other dog crated next to him - he has a fit if he doesn't really want to be in there (practically drags you in there if he wants in there though).

I "feel" like he's one who just needs to bark and figure out he's not going to get his way, and 10 years ago I wouldn't have given that a second thought, but there's so much "anti-crying it out" out there now that I was really second guessing myself even though I am as confident as I can be that it stems from just not being where he wants to be, not any true fear or even separation anxiety (yet).

Cindy's Answer:

Trust your gut and just keep using the crate, even when you may not think he needs to be in there. They're smart dogs that think they often need to be in the thick of things. If you want to do dog sports at some point it might be worth figuring out a crate solution for inside the cab. I drove a Tundra crewcab pickup for years and had a custom crate made for the backseat that my Malinois could ride in. I'm also a stickler for safety and a well-built crate is the best option.

I almost always crated my dogs in my vehicle when doing competitions or going to training club so I wanted a safe option to do that.

User Response:

Thank you Cindy, appreciate your time to respond and help me (all of us!) out!

Cindy's Answer:

You're welcome, I wish you and your pup all the best.

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