Raising Puppies

Barking in a Crate

Some puppies bark or whine when they're in their crates. This can be because they're not used to them yet. Don't yell at your puppy, because she can interpret that as attention. The best thing to do, although it can be the hardest thing to do, is to ignore it. If you let your puppy out of the crate when she is barking or crying, she will learn that all she has to do is bark or cry to get what she wants. And this is not a lesson that you want to teach her.

If you are following a proper crate program, your puppy is not being hurt in her crate. Be sure that you are making her crate a pleasant place by always giving her a treat for going in and by giving her some safe toys to enjoy as well. Also, give her plenty of potty breaks and lots of exercise outside her crate.

You may want to consider putting the crate in a different place. In general, puppies prefer to be near you. This may mean putting up with barking and crying for a couple of sleepless nights if she still continues that behavior. But you can do it! Ignore it now, and there will be relief in the long run. Don't be tempted to lie down by her crate, let her out, or reassure her. If you do any of these things, you're teaching her that being noisy works, and you could be setting back your housetraining program and other training as well. If your puppy is too young to be unsupervised at night, and you let her out of the crate too early because she's barking, you are giving her the chance to eliminate inside the house. This is setting her up to fail. You may have a quiet night, but now you have housetraining accidents to deal with.

Instead, work on your crate training program more, and reward your puppy for quiet behavior in the crate. Stick with the program, and she will learn that the crate is a safe, cozy den.