How Do You Stop Your Dog From Crying When In Crate?
October 30, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
We recently had to crate our rescued greyhound after he started soiling in the house. He’s been with us for 6 years with very little problems. He started soiling when we moved to a new house. Its been 2 years and he’s destroyed the carpeting. He’s been to the vet and all checks out. He doesn’t soil everyday but enough that we decided to crate when we cannot watch him and at night. His crying is horrible. Especially at night. But we need to stop him from destroying the house. Just a note – we have a second dog that’s crate trained. In fact the second dog enjoys his downtime in the crate. Both crates sit side by side. Any tips to make the greyhound more comfortable in the crate? Thanks in advance.
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You can leave a towel hanging over the front of the crate, or all around it depending on what type of crate it is. Otherwise, try a bigger crate. My GSD used to cry, and it was a mix of separation anxiety (which training fixed), and the fact that the crate was too small (he’s fine in a bigger crate).
ADDITION: Depending on how attached your dog is to you, it is normally not a good idea to have something with your voice near them as they will think you are just outside the crate and they’ll keep whining to get out. Also, having the dog in your room is bad for the same reason. (I know both of these from experience.)
If this was a rescued racer, the crate might have a lot of negative feelings for him. You might try putting a gate around him instead of the crate. He won’t feel as penned in, but should stay within the confinment area. There are little fences or gates you can use, or maybe just take the top off of the crate — if it’s tall enough he will probably stay in it, but feel much less confined. Good luck!
Is it possible he wants to be with the other dog? Can they go into the same crate? I find that my 2 dogs usually like to be in the same crate.
But to stop the crying, I’ve had fairly good success this way: When the dog starts crying, I wait a little bit. Then I walk over to the crate (no eye contact, and not saying anything) and rap 5 times on the top of the crate. Then walk away.
Eventually he should get the idea.
is it large enough for him? invest in a radio that has flip mode on it or restart and make a disk or a tape of your voice just so he can hear it. it normaly soooths a dog or even have the crate taken into your room when it is sleep time.
just like a puppy, give him, something to chew on, leave the raidio/tv on with the sound on low. your could make sure he gets his exercise so he is tired before bed…u can try covering the crate with a blanket, but sometimes that makes it worse
Do you keep the crate in your bedroom? If not, that is something to try. Also, put a chew toy in the crate (chewing relieves stress), and something that smells like you.
Maybe a radio? When we had cocker spaniels, one of them used to cry at night sometimes, so we’d play a radio and she’d calm down. She wasn’t in a crate, though, so…you could try it, i guess.
That’s tough. Make sure you clean up any soiled areas with a pet cleaner that has enzymes in it. This will eliminate any odor that may cause him to soil there again. Back to the basics of potty training. The dog needs to learn that potty training rules apply in this house too. Do not give the dog any attention while he is being loud in the crate. This will only encourage the dog to behave badly. Try soothing music or some kind of background noise. Make sure the dog has toys to keep him busy. Try stuffing a kong for him. Try to make the crate feel like a warm den and not a cold cage too. Good luck. I know how frustrating that can be.
I think you should take the dog to the vet to be looked at. There might be something wrong if he has normally gone out side to go to the bathroom and now he is not.
As for the crying in the crate, all you can do is ignore it!! Put the crate in the basement so you are able to get some sleep at night and don’t ever let him out of the crate while he is crying or else it will only get worse. You can also try and put his favorite toy in with him. I give my dog a kong full of peanut butter while he is in his crate, and thats his special toy/treat and only gets it when he is in his crate. I hope this helps.
You need to make the crate a “happy place” for the dog to be. DO NOT just start locking them up if they are not used to it…they will think that the crate is punishment. Crate training takes time…especially for an older dog. Start by feeding your dog in the crate. Go into the crate with your dog and sit with him while he chews on things, or just while you are watching t.v. go sit in the crate with him. Throw treats or his favorite toys into the crate and give lots of praise just for going in. Have him walk in and then shut the door, then immediately open in and tell him how good he is. Do this a lot over a period of about 2 weeks, increasing the amount of time you leave the door closed before opening it. This will slowly teach him that if he is good and quiet, then he can come back out. If he begins crying or misbehaving, tell him no and make him behave before you let him out. You cannot just shove him in a cage and expect him to understand. Also, do your dogs get along well? Maybe try crating them together?