Why won't my puppy settle in his crate during the day?
Puppies often sleep through the night without issue but struggle to settle down during the day, resulting in 20 or more minutes of whining and excited barking. This makes owners unsure whether to let them bark it out or how to prevent ongoing noise when others are around the house.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Waiting for a quiet moment to let the puppy out
- 2Trying to get the puppy to settle out of the crate
- 3Using a crate covered with a blanket and a sound machine for white noise
- 4Putting a blanket over the kennel
- 5Leaving a white noise machine or fan running near the door
- 6Having roommates toss high-value treats when entering
- 7Distracting with a frozen Kong or chew toy
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Yes it is excited barking. The only issue is that my roommates won't always want to take her out of the kennel when they get home though, so I'm worried she'll keep hearing them and keep barking.”source ↗
“When we put him in because he’s showing signs he’s tired during the day he will bark and whine often times for 20+ mins at which point he either falls asleep for a little bit or we wait for a quiet moment to let him out try to get him to settle out of the crate.”source ↗
“He just has a really hard time settling in it during the day. No problem at night though.”source ↗
“I just don’t know how to get him to settle in his crate better in the day. Is it okay to let him bark it out?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Why does my puppy pee in their crate during the day?
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- 8How to survive pet crate rest without losing your mind
- 2Why is my puppy suddenly growling and snapping near me?
- 12How to tell normal puppy crate whining from real distress
- 4Why is my puppy barking and growling at strangers?