I’m going to discuss the best tips to stop your puppy from crying in their crate,and help you settle in there faster.

You’ve been trying to get your puppy to love their crate and right now it seems

like it’s never going to happen.They keep barking, crying, whining..

Maybe you’ve resorted to sleeping on the couch with the crate right next to you,Or you’ve just decided it was far easier to stop them from crying if you brought them into bed with you.Both of these aren’t the solution and I’ll share in a moment why!

1st things first, crate training a puppy is one of the top skills your puppy should master as soon as possible.It’s the place they should stay when you can’t watch them, when you leave the house,go to work, or even if you’re working from home…Puppies need down time or nap time.They get overstimulated and can’t settle easily on their own, this leads to trouble.Trouble comes in the form of biting, nipping, destructive chewing, not listening well.Just like little kids need naps, so do our puppies.Here are some really important things to consider when teaching your puppy to love their crate and not cry in it all night long.

#1 Your puppy needs to be well exercised before going in their crate, a revved up pup will not be able to settle and will bark and cry in their crate

#2 Puppies should go potty right before going in their crate ，so they don’t have accidents in there and so they don’t bark for attention and demand you let them out.

#3 Your puppy needs to go in their crate periodically throughout the day，otherwise they will learn the only time you put them in there is when you leave or it’s bedtime .They quickly pick up on this and will throw a tantrum when it’s time to go in.Make sure you are following the puppy sample schedule. I think the most common reason puppies bark or cry in their crate is because owners accidentally reward the behavior.A puppy barks and it’s owner quickly runs over and gives puppy attention, it only takes one or two tries for puppy to realize the behavior works.Some Owners always ask me all the time why their pup won’t stop barking, even though they already fed their pup, played with their pup, took pup out to potty ,and pup still won’t settle down.I ask them if they have ever gone back over to their pup who was crying in the crate.

95% of the time owners say “YES, I wanted to see why he or she was crying”.I then say that’s your mistake!You reinforce the behavior.

So what’s a puppy owner to do?

1st I want you to start to teach your puppy that their crate is a great place to be by.

#1 covering the crate ,but make sure the sheet doesn’t touch the top or sides by something bigger than the crate on top ,and then the sheet over the top of that.The front and sides get covered ,but the back which is against the wall stays open.If you have to make the crate cozy and provide a darker quieter place for your puppy to rest.Too much light or access to see all the activities going on around them will just keep them overstimulated,revved up an unable to settle.

#2 Playing calming music near the crate

#3 Feeding meals in their crate (only leave food down for 10-15 min), then take it out,and don’t leave water in there as it will only backfire if you’re trying to work on potty training or if your pup gets bored and wants to play in it

#4 Teach pup that going in the crate means good things

#5 Letting pup cry it out.

If all needs are met and you’ve been teaching pup how to love their crate than the next best thing is to leave them be.Will it be easy, no, but the more you go to them when they are crying, the more you teach them, their behavior makes you react.This is also why we don’t allow them in bed just yet either.

Where the puppy peed or pooped in the bed while the owner was sleeping ,or

when they woke up the blankets had holes in them or the pillows “just exploded”Most pups aren’t trustworthy until they are… brace yourself… about a year or older.

We need to start right away from day one by teaching puppy a set schedule, a set of routines and how to settle in on their own with limited assistance from us.

This isn’t always an easy skill since they will be so used to their littermates and mother but it’s crucial that they don’t accidentally get rewarded for the very behavior you’re trying to stop.If you know for sure they don’t have to go potty, they aren’t hungry and they have been well exercised, then it’s ok to let them cry it out.

If you do have to open the crate to let them out, make sure you wait a moment of so till they are quiet, you can teach your puppy quiet behavior gets you to open the door ,but barking and hopping around in the crate don’t get them any attention.Before I share one last tip about crate training…