Hello everyone,
I'm new to the site and in need of some advice.
Last weekend my wife an I picked up an 8wk old beagle puppy. The thought is to have have him as a companion for our older (~8yr) lab/boarder collie mix and also to train him up as a hunting dog for myself.
The issue I am having is with placing him in his crate at night to sleep. While he willingly goes in and out during the day to sleep/eat, and doesn't fuss, when placing him in the crate at night as we go to bed, he cries and howls and won't settle down. I was always taught to wait out the dog ( as long as you knew it's needs were met) but even after 1.5-2hrs ( time to take him outside to go) he is still crying and hasn't settled, and we can go on like this all night.
however, if I sit/lay beside his crate until he lays down and closes his eyes, it only takes a minute for him to settle down and he sleeps well until he needs to go out again (~2hrs).
His crate is a pet carrier with the door removed set inside of the larger crate that I originally used to train my lab. He has toys in the larger crate and one of my old t-shirts in the pet carrier that he curls up to. I have a blanket over the larger crate, and a nightlight/heartbeat noise maker ( that we had for our son) just out side the door. The latter two were added to try to help the dog settle.
his daily routine is shaping shaping up like this:
Around 5 I get up up to get ready for work and take him and my lab out to to do their business. They pal around until my wife and some get up sometime between then and 6 when I leave.
after my wife and son have eaten, she feeds the dogs (older dog first) and then they go about the day with the puppy playing with my son/ doing his own thing with a lot of outdoor time and normally a short walk some point during the day. I get home in the evening, try to work with the puppy, we eat dinner, feed the dogs, and then take them for a longer walk. After this walk I spend more time with the puppy Working on his manners. Then around 10 we all head for bed.
At this point my wife has started sleeping in the guest room (my dog my problem) and I'm starting to drag from the lack of sleep, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get over this hump? I'm afraid that sitting beside the crate until he goes to sleep is just going to make the problem worse long term.
Thanks,
Mike
I'm new to the site and in need of some advice.
Last weekend my wife an I picked up an 8wk old beagle puppy. The thought is to have have him as a companion for our older (~8yr) lab/boarder collie mix and also to train him up as a hunting dog for myself.
The issue I am having is with placing him in his crate at night to sleep. While he willingly goes in and out during the day to sleep/eat, and doesn't fuss, when placing him in the crate at night as we go to bed, he cries and howls and won't settle down. I was always taught to wait out the dog ( as long as you knew it's needs were met) but even after 1.5-2hrs ( time to take him outside to go) he is still crying and hasn't settled, and we can go on like this all night.
however, if I sit/lay beside his crate until he lays down and closes his eyes, it only takes a minute for him to settle down and he sleeps well until he needs to go out again (~2hrs).
His crate is a pet carrier with the door removed set inside of the larger crate that I originally used to train my lab. He has toys in the larger crate and one of my old t-shirts in the pet carrier that he curls up to. I have a blanket over the larger crate, and a nightlight/heartbeat noise maker ( that we had for our son) just out side the door. The latter two were added to try to help the dog settle.
his daily routine is shaping shaping up like this:
Around 5 I get up up to get ready for work and take him and my lab out to to do their business. They pal around until my wife and some get up sometime between then and 6 when I leave.
after my wife and son have eaten, she feeds the dogs (older dog first) and then they go about the day with the puppy playing with my son/ doing his own thing with a lot of outdoor time and normally a short walk some point during the day. I get home in the evening, try to work with the puppy, we eat dinner, feed the dogs, and then take them for a longer walk. After this walk I spend more time with the puppy Working on his manners. Then around 10 we all head for bed.
At this point my wife has started sleeping in the guest room (my dog my problem) and I'm starting to drag from the lack of sleep, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get over this hump? I'm afraid that sitting beside the crate until he goes to sleep is just going to make the problem worse long term.
Thanks,
Mike
