Hi,

I have a 4 1/2 month old Belgian Malinois pup who is having a bit of trouble in his crate. He doesn't mind being in the crate, as long as you are in view. We have his crate in the living room near the computers where we spend most of the time, and when we put him in the crate during the day when we are in the room he has no problems. He can be passed out sleeping in there, and if you get up and leave the room to go to the bathroom or something--anything out of his line of sight--he will start whining and barking. As soon as we come back into the room, he will quite right up and lay back down. I'm not sure what to do to stop this behavior, any suggestions would really help.

Another note, we move his crate in the garage at night and he sleeps in it in there. He doesn't make any noises in the garage when we leave him in there at night either. We need to start leaving him in the house at night but the noise is ridiculous. He will also pee in the crate a lot faster in the house than he does in the garage. He has held it as long as 6-7 hours in the garage when the alarm doesn't wake us in the middle of the night to take him out. The last time we tried leaving him in the house at night he lasted about 1 hour after he settled down, before he started going berserk barking and peed in the crate.

Thanks,

Wayde

How long have you had the pup?

When the crate was inside at night, was it in your bedroom?

(Just clarifying -- we have lots of puppy experts who will see the thread and help.)





Welcome to the board!

We have had to pup since he was 8 weeks old. When we had tried the crate at night it was in the living room where it normally is.

I also have done a lot of training with him since he has been a little pup so I spend lots of time with him. He is always with me unless we are sleeping/at work so I don't know if it could be some sort of separation anxiety.

Hopefully this helps.

Thanks!

Hi Wayde,

It's been a long time since I have had a puppy but a couple of things you mentioned jumped out at me. And they back up the need to generalize behaviors to all settings.

You have the good crate behavior in the garage and the not so good crate behavior in the house. My thought is that the garage is far enough away from your bedroom that you didn't hear his protests and he learned "I settle myself out here and then they come and get me." He doesn't get riled up which can activate the bladder and thus has no problem holding til morning and sleeping peacefully. WELL DONE!!

Now the in the house crate behavior, inadvertantly he believes his crying brings you back into the room. You were probably coming back after using the rest room and didn't think not to enter the room until he quieted himself and just returned. After a few repetitions of this behavior the pattern of behavior was formed and when you leave the room the crying begins.

It sounds like you may have tried to train him away from that and are being met with some resistance. And if he's throwing enough of a hissy fit he is activating his bladder and being a puppy can not hold it.

A few suggestions. First reestablish a housebreaking routine; you do not want to lose the progress you have made there and every accident in the crate that can be prevented is stock in a well house broken dog.

Secondly, I would try the crate in your bedroom at night; it is a nice easy way to bond and it doesn't require any additional effort on your part.....what can I say I'm a little lazy

Have you done any marker training? I think this will be your easiest way to overcome the crate crying in house. I would begin with quick departures and returns before he can even cry mark his silence and reward. He will start to figure our there is a reward when you return but you can only come back in while he is quiet not ever while he is carrying on. If you are unable to leave the room and pop back in immediately without his crying you need to be patient and as soon as he stops to take a breath reappear to reward the silence.

Most of all enjoy him and welcome to the board.

Thank you Sheila, I will definitely try this.

Yes Matrix is trained with markers so he will definitely pick up on this and now that you mention it, walking back in the room when he is whining seems basically the same as letting a whining dog out of the crate--which I know is definitely a no no.

After he is okay sleeping in the bedroom, do you think it's okay to eventually start moving the crate further away from the bedroom? Those nails are just so loud on that plastic!

I am going to be making a move soon to a place without a garage so he is going to have to get used to being in the house at night.

Thanks again!

Wayde

 Quote: Wayde Barnes

Those nails are just so loud on that plastic!

Just wondering if there is a reason he doesn't have a crate bed or other soft surface to sleep on?

Yea I don't have anything in there for him to sleep on atm since he still has random accidents sometimes, and it will probably get shredded. I am planning on getting the rubber matting that they sell here on Leerburg.

You might try giving him something to occupy him while in the crate without you there. All my dogs get black extreme kongs, filled with peanut butter or cream cheese & frozen, to keep them busy for a while when I am gone. Young pups also get bully sticks to keep them busy when crated. (but only when I'm in the house to keep an eye on them).

My dogs all sleep in the bedroom with me. At one point I had 3 dog & 2 crates in the bedroon. A 9 week pup, a 10 1/2 month old pup, both in crates & a 3 yr old sleeping on her bed. With my first pup, I used to move the crate from the kitchen, to the living room, to the bedroom upstairs. I eventually got another crate for the bedroom so I didn't have to haul the crate up & down the staires every am & pm. I still have crates & dog beds in differnt places in the house. (kitchen, bedroom, familyroom)What is the reason that the pup can't be in the same room that you are in at the time. I have NEVER had any separation anxiety issues with any of my dogs in living with them this way. BTW my female didn't have anything in crate until she was well over a year....she used to shred everything. At 1 1/2yr she was sleeping on her bed in my bedroom & only crated when I was not home, usually in the bedroom. She has been loose in the house 24/7 since she was 3 & my now 3 yr old male is still in a crate at night & when I am not home, in my bedroom. He will instigate & start roughhousing with her if I am not there to inforce pack structure. Pack animals live together 24/7... at least mine do. As far as any noises that they make, just like kids sleeping, you learn to block out the usual noises that mean nothing & hear only the ones that are not the normal ones. Maybe the ability to do this is only a 'mom' thing. :-)