EDIT: turns out this really was just a “ride it out” situation. My puppy is now nearly six months old and hasn’t had any problem being in her crate for the last couple of months. The first few weeks of puppyhood are really hard and it’s hard to see that things will get better, but it really does!
Hi all, I brought my sweet pug puppy home one week ago. She’s now 13 weeks and is very sweet and smart and fun and we love her so much, but I’ve noticed she’s getting increasingly uncomfortable when it’s time to put her in her crate for a nap or after potty breaks at night. She’s taking longer and longer to settle down and sometimes howls for over 30 minutes, particularly if she can hear me or my roommate moving around. I feel that part of this issue might have to do with the fact that we had to remove her bedding and soft toys from the crate, because we realized that if she has any absorbent material in there she will pee on it.
I’m going to have to head back to work full time in about 9 days, during which time she’ll be crated for about 3 or 4 hours at a time with walks in between. I’m getting concerned that she might be developing isolation distress, and I really want her to be comfortable in the crate when I have to go back to work. I’ve been playing crate games with her daily and giving her high value treats only reserved for the crate. I give her kongs. I’ve also started to try clicker training to get her more interested in it. Ultimately she would just much rather be in my lap or on a carpet or couch. I haven’t indulged her crying and try to reward her when she’s being quiet in her crate. And I haven’t put her in there for any other reason than games/sleep/naps when I need to get things done around the house. And she always goes potty right before and after crate time.
Another factor in this is that the breeder had her litter box trained, so she’d spend time in her crate that had access to pen with a litter box. She was doing fine with this setup and didn’t mind her crate then at all, so part of me feels like a failure that she is now with me and not liking it anymore. I’m afraid she’ll develop some traumatic association with crate time if I keep letting her cry it out. Part of me wonders if I should bring back the litter box so she can have bedding back in the crate and will have a separate place for potty, but I’m very hesitant because I don’t want to set back her potty training if I can help it.
Anyways, any advice on how to get through this process would be very much appreciated! Or just words of hope if you’ve been through something like this with your pup. Sometimes I feel like I’m making her life worse everyday!
Hi all, I brought my sweet pug puppy home one week ago. She’s now 13 weeks and is very sweet and smart and fun and we love her so much, but I’ve noticed she’s getting increasingly uncomfortable when it’s time to put her in her crate for a nap or after potty breaks at night. She’s taking longer and longer to settle down and sometimes howls for over 30 minutes, particularly if she can hear me or my roommate moving around. I feel that part of this issue might have to do with the fact that we had to remove her bedding and soft toys from the crate, because we realized that if she has any absorbent material in there she will pee on it.
I’m going to have to head back to work full time in about 9 days, during which time she’ll be crated for about 3 or 4 hours at a time with walks in between. I’m getting concerned that she might be developing isolation distress, and I really want her to be comfortable in the crate when I have to go back to work. I’ve been playing crate games with her daily and giving her high value treats only reserved for the crate. I give her kongs. I’ve also started to try clicker training to get her more interested in it. Ultimately she would just much rather be in my lap or on a carpet or couch. I haven’t indulged her crying and try to reward her when she’s being quiet in her crate. And I haven’t put her in there for any other reason than games/sleep/naps when I need to get things done around the house. And she always goes potty right before and after crate time.
Another factor in this is that the breeder had her litter box trained, so she’d spend time in her crate that had access to pen with a litter box. She was doing fine with this setup and didn’t mind her crate then at all, so part of me feels like a failure that she is now with me and not liking it anymore. I’m afraid she’ll develop some traumatic association with crate time if I keep letting her cry it out. Part of me wonders if I should bring back the litter box so she can have bedding back in the crate and will have a separate place for potty, but I’m very hesitant because I don’t want to set back her potty training if I can help it.
Anyways, any advice on how to get through this process would be very much appreciated! Or just words of hope if you’ve been through something like this with your pup. Sometimes I feel like I’m making her life worse everyday!