This is a situation where your will has to be stronger then the dogs. I know it can be frustrating but you must hang in there and handle the problem. Moving her crate might help but this is not a real young pup anymore and of course this is just IMO in a sense would be giving in. If she is whinning in the morning at the same time, then take her out to go potty and put her back in the crate, don't make a fuss about it, praise her for doing her job and back in the crate. Give her a treat if you like but back in she goes. I like to make it quite clear to my dogs that my bedroom is just that MINE. Covering the crate might work but I think just waiting it out is the best. Give her something to keep her busy, of course something she can not choke on, and be matter of fact about the whold issue. In time she will get over this but it will take time. You have no idea what the previous owners did with her, so that kind of leaves you in a wondering position but her behavior can be changed with patence. This could be the very reson she was put up for addoption, so be smarter than the previous owners and stick to the plan. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Geez Louise, we do all tend to over analyze everything. I've raised 3 dogs from pups. Crate trained all three. And all three were crated beside my bed at night. No dominance issues and they quieted down after just a day or so thru out the night.

Think having a consistance schedule, (maybe the earplugs may help) and being firm with the dogs help. And I also think exercising the heck out of the dog during the day can only be a help during the night.

It would be nice if I could exercise her during the day! Yesterday we went to a friend's house for a BBQ, and we took Boo (the dog) with us. We basically left her tied up on her leash close to the tables where people were. She didn't nap for the whole 5-6 hours we were there.

When we got home, we watched a couple of movies and she curled up on the floor and didn't move or peep through 2 films <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Then at night we put her in the crate, she whined for 5-10 minutes, and then was quiet until 5:30 in the morning.

I think keeping her busy in the day wouldn't leave her any energy to be stirring during the night, but unless I get a job working from home, or have a baby with my wife, it ain't gonna happen <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Eric,

I remember crate training my last pup and it was murder on me at nights... especially since I was working from 2am to 10am and only got 4 hours of sleep a night. (Very Precious Hours)To make matters worse I lived in an apartment at the time and did not want the pup to wake the neighbors either.

I tried the sneaking in and banging on the crate trick and it did not phase him. I played with him for about 1/2 hour 2 hours before bed time. I limited his water and food at night. And kept a rigid schedule for him to follow... All in efforts to keep him from whining at night. NO LUCK!!!
I refused to let him out of the crate and did not want to move his crate into my bedroom. So I decided to move into his room. For about a week I had a sleeping blanket that I set up next to the crate. Over the week I slowly moved farther from the crate and then eventually shortened the period that I was in the room with him. Towards the end of the week I would just leave the sleeping bag in there and I slept in my bedroom. I know that this was an extreme measure but in my situation it worked great.

Now when I go to bed he lays at the foot of the bed until I fall asleep and then he will get up and go sleep in his crate. I can't ask for a better outcome. Good Luck with your training... I belive that most of the owners on this site feel your pain. Don't give up!

Michael, that's great! When I was younger and living with my parents, we had a dog that did the same thing. She would stay with me in my room until I fell asleep, then she would go to her crate on her own. If we wanted her out of the way we would just say "go to your box", and she would go there and lie down for a while.

Today I started feeding Boo in the crate. I put her dinner just inside the crate so she can eat it without going inside. Over the next few days, I'll move it farther and farther back until she's eating inside of it. Maybe this will give her some positive association.

well, i've checked my email, read the new posts on all the discussion boards that i frequent, had myself some blue bunny icecream and now i'm ready for bed. all dogs are in their crates and settled down for the night. i know i won't hear another peep until morning....and at that time it will be the baby (10 wks) "momma, gotta go potty!" i am very thankful for such good dogs and feel fortunate that we have never had crate training problems or a crate fighter. life is good, but it would sure suck without the dogs. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I guess I have one more question. Is there a reason you can not leave the door to the crate open? I have found that once housebreaking is pretty much under controll and I can trust the dog not to have accidents, I make sure they are in a room that is puppy proof, gated off from the rest of the house and leave the door open to the crate. This way the dog can go in and out at will and is not locked in. The reason I do not put the crates in my bedroom is simple it has nothing to do with dominace issues. I have LARGE DOGS and to think of having two large crates in my bedroom which is rather small makes no sense. My dogs also have full access to their crates when they are in the house. I guess I still think this boils down to who is going to give in first. If things are getting better that must mean you are sticking to a consistant plan, and by that I mean the dog is understanding that QUIET means FREEDOM. I too have been very lucky, with crate training all my dogs. Yes in the beggining it was a very noisy situation but I ignored it and in a short time they accepted their crate.Now all I do is say "BEDTIME" and off they go happily. Stay tough and this will work out. You have been at this for awhile so toughen up and keep at it.

Ann, the reason I don't leave the door open is that the dog is not completely housetrained yet. Accidents are rare, but they still happen. I'm afraid that giving her freedom at night would result in accidents almost every night. There is never a problem when we are in the same room, but she still makes a mess on occasion when she's out of our sight. The other day she was in the bedroom with my wife watching TV, and the dog went into the master bathroom and crapped on the floor, then came back into the bedroom where my wife was. If she was completely housetrained, I'd have no problem letting her go where she wants at night. We've only had her for just under two months, so I guess that she'll be more reliable before too long...

The other thing is that since she does most of her sleeping during the day, I think that even if she was out of the crate at night, she'd end up sniffing and scratching and whining at our bedroom door!

Well than that theory is shot for now <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> I know that if you just hang tough she will get over this. I don't like making to many concessions. Once I place their crate in it's final spot that is where it stays. I have never had a dog who could not be crate trained yet, and although some took a little more time to adjust they did adjust. I still think because she came from rescue some of these issues could have been the reason she was given up to begin with, so take your time. It will work eventually.

Well, it's been two months now since I started this thread, and things are not getting any better. I've found that more exercise gets the dog to sleep quicker at night, but she is consistently getting up after 4-5 hours and barking incessantly until she gets let out.

This morning she started at 3:30am and didn't stop until I had to get up at 5:30am to get ready for work.

I've decided to give this one more month, if I can't get the problem solved by then, I'm giving her to someone else.

I've got three ideas in mind...
1. Bark collar. She is a fairly small dog, I'm not sure if they make them small enough to work well.
2. Put the crate in the garage. It's not heated, but it will protect her from wind and rain during the night, and it will provide another set of walls between me and the dog.
3. Put her outside in the kennel at night. She's got a doghouse, but in the winter, temps can get down into the low 20's here pretty regularly. I'm afraid she would get too cold.

Any suggestions on which might be the best route to take?