Wolf Femme
New member
Darnell, the pup, came crate trained. He knew what "crate" or "kennel" meant [three of us use one word, the other two use the other word] already, and he's finally learning that if we say "go to your crate/kennel" -- he'll get a yummy treat [generally it seems to be more in the form of regular dog food now; he doesn't seem to care].
He never whined a lot when we put him in the crate at night. It was a few short minutes of low whining; and then he was out and done until 3 am when he had to potty.
But lately; he's taken to higher-pitched whining and even short, sharp barks. It's lasted up to 40 minutes before as well [on average, it's 20 minutes until he shuts up].
We don't plan on keeping him in there at night for very long, though. We're doing a complete puppy proof this weekend [it's already puppy proofed -- it's just not where we'd need it for when he's not being supervised] - and we're going to at least experiment letting him sleep outside of his crate with Walker.
He loves the dining room floor; as it's a decently cool surface in the summer and it's the only place besides outside that's comfortable temperature wise for him -- so he has his favourite place to lay; and then his kennel as well.
But until we have everything completely finished and where we would like it to be for him to be able to free roam at night -- is there any way to get him to shut the hell up at night?
I do put the pillow over my head, and it does work until he decides barking is better 10 minutes later.
And 20-40 minutes doesn't *seem* like it's that long to wait for him to shut up; but I don't retire until I'm *real* tired, and everyone else is already gone to bed.
I'd yell through the wall [no insulation, so it's not that loud for me to yell anyway] to tell him to quiet; but not only does he not know the quiet command yet -- but I don't want him to think that his whining/barking will get me to give him what he wants every night.
Any other solutions for the following week to come? Thicker pillows, maybe? *sigh*
As per the second question.
He tries digging at the dining room floor. It's not full out "i want to find something down here" digging; it's light but meaningful digging -- like when a dog is trying to dig a little way into the dirt to find a cool patch to lay in during the summer heat.
Except there's no dirt and it's not outside.
It doesn't really bother us as it's linoleum [old, too, so that makes us even more careless] and he isn't trying to tear it up so there's no real issues -- it's just that we've never had a dog that's done that before; ever.
So is he trying to "make the ground cooler", or is he just trying to "gather the blankets before he sleeps"?
Cheers.
Responses:
-He loves his crate, it's not that. It's his third favourite place to sleep aside from the Dining Room floor and Walker's Dog House in our back yard.
-He won't be sleeping with any of us at all. Not only is he going to be a very large dog; but the only person with room on their bed is upstairs and that's forbidden territory.
-He doesn't have to potty, as I make sure I take him out before he goes to bed [and a couple of hours before that as well], and he always pees and defecates.
-I couldn't spray him if I wanted to, as I'm not sleeping on the floor or over the arm of the couch to get to him, thanks.
-No, my avatar is not my puppy. Chickoa is 2 years old, sleeps in my bed with me, and I'm more educated on her breed than anything else in the dog world; Darnell is about 17/18 weeks old and is of unknown origin.
-No squeaky toys are allowed in the house, as the two females go crazy thinking it's a rat/mole/mouse/etc.
Cont'd:
-His crate has one blanket in it. It's one that I used to use during the winter months; so that he has my scent [and even Chickoa's] with him in the crate.
-We keep a Kong, a Tennis Ball, and an Old Glove of my father's in there [don't ask, he gave it to the dog without us knowing].
And we'll just settle that the Digging thing is for nesting. =]
He never whined a lot when we put him in the crate at night. It was a few short minutes of low whining; and then he was out and done until 3 am when he had to potty.
But lately; he's taken to higher-pitched whining and even short, sharp barks. It's lasted up to 40 minutes before as well [on average, it's 20 minutes until he shuts up].
We don't plan on keeping him in there at night for very long, though. We're doing a complete puppy proof this weekend [it's already puppy proofed -- it's just not where we'd need it for when he's not being supervised] - and we're going to at least experiment letting him sleep outside of his crate with Walker.
He loves the dining room floor; as it's a decently cool surface in the summer and it's the only place besides outside that's comfortable temperature wise for him -- so he has his favourite place to lay; and then his kennel as well.
But until we have everything completely finished and where we would like it to be for him to be able to free roam at night -- is there any way to get him to shut the hell up at night?
I do put the pillow over my head, and it does work until he decides barking is better 10 minutes later.
And 20-40 minutes doesn't *seem* like it's that long to wait for him to shut up; but I don't retire until I'm *real* tired, and everyone else is already gone to bed.
I'd yell through the wall [no insulation, so it's not that loud for me to yell anyway] to tell him to quiet; but not only does he not know the quiet command yet -- but I don't want him to think that his whining/barking will get me to give him what he wants every night.
Any other solutions for the following week to come? Thicker pillows, maybe? *sigh*
As per the second question.
He tries digging at the dining room floor. It's not full out "i want to find something down here" digging; it's light but meaningful digging -- like when a dog is trying to dig a little way into the dirt to find a cool patch to lay in during the summer heat.
Except there's no dirt and it's not outside.
It doesn't really bother us as it's linoleum [old, too, so that makes us even more careless] and he isn't trying to tear it up so there's no real issues -- it's just that we've never had a dog that's done that before; ever.
So is he trying to "make the ground cooler", or is he just trying to "gather the blankets before he sleeps"?
Cheers.
Responses:
-He loves his crate, it's not that. It's his third favourite place to sleep aside from the Dining Room floor and Walker's Dog House in our back yard.
-He won't be sleeping with any of us at all. Not only is he going to be a very large dog; but the only person with room on their bed is upstairs and that's forbidden territory.
-He doesn't have to potty, as I make sure I take him out before he goes to bed [and a couple of hours before that as well], and he always pees and defecates.
-I couldn't spray him if I wanted to, as I'm not sleeping on the floor or over the arm of the couch to get to him, thanks.
-No, my avatar is not my puppy. Chickoa is 2 years old, sleeps in my bed with me, and I'm more educated on her breed than anything else in the dog world; Darnell is about 17/18 weeks old and is of unknown origin.
-No squeaky toys are allowed in the house, as the two females go crazy thinking it's a rat/mole/mouse/etc.
Cont'd:
-His crate has one blanket in it. It's one that I used to use during the winter months; so that he has my scent [and even Chickoa's] with him in the crate.
-We keep a Kong, a Tennis Ball, and an Old Glove of my father's in there [don't ask, he gave it to the dog without us knowing].
And we'll just settle that the Digging thing is for nesting. =]