Puppy sleeps in crate but cries when awake
Many puppies learn to nap and sleep through the night but will cry to be let out the moment they wake up. Even after months of daily practice, the dog still cannot tolerate being in the crate while awake. This inability to be left alone forces owners to pay astronomical costs for daycare and pet sitters for absences over an hour.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Utilizing a pen for time-outs and decompression time
- 2Sleeping on the kitchen floor or couch next to the crate
- 3Paying astronomical costs for daycare and pet sitters
- 4Letting the puppy sleep on the human's bed
- 5Putting the crate in the bedroom right next to the bed for the first week
- 6Dangling a hand down if the puppy gets worked up
- 7Tiring the puppy out and giving a frozen kong before crating
- 8Covering the crate with a sheet to make it den-like
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Since day one, we have been crate training. It’s been almost 5 months of everyday working on it, and he’s still not able to be in the crate at all, unless he’s sleeping.”source ↗
“He is at the point where he can nap and sleep at night in the crate, but as soon as he is awake, he cries to be let out.”source ↗
“The result of him not being able to be left alone has been astronomical costs for daycare and pet sitters when we have to leave him alone for more than an hour. I am desperate for faster progression!!”source ↗
“She’s been having trouble sleeping in her own bed at night.”source ↗
“She keeps trying to jump on my bed and so far I have let her because she seemed stressed on the 2nd and 3rd nights. But now I’m realizing that my ultimate goal is to have her sleep in her crate at night.”source ↗
“First few nights he whinged for ten minutes then conked out.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 7How to potty train a puppy with a busy work schedule
- 27Puppy blues and regret when training isn't working
- 23Puppy too scared and overwhelmed on walks
- 12How to tell normal puppy crate whining from real distress
- 11Why can't I bond with my adopted dog?
- 3How to get a dog to stop jumping and use a ramp instead