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Crate Training Australian Shepherd Puppy

I just picked up my Australian Shepherd on Sunday and he is 11 weeks old. First time having a puppy!!! Wow! Anyways, I am trying to crate train him and he does fine during the day in his crate. He is not in there very long at all, however, he has cried during the nights. When I say cry, I mean bark, howl, shake the crate!!

I take him out every two hours to potty but then he continues to holler and fuss. He is crying most of the night. I was told to let him cry by my vet, but I was just wondering if this will stop? Any helpful advice?

Comments for Crate Training Australian Shepherd Puppy

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Exercise
by: Anonymous

I have had many dogs, but I recently got an Aussie mix. Best thing I can say to you is that you gotta wear them down. They need to run and play to deplete some of that energy. I would also suggest getting them a puppy safe chew toy such as a Kong.

Hard decision
by: Anonymous

We’ve had one Aussie that adjusted well to crating and three that hated it so we never pushed it with them. With the latest one it was very hard cause he was our first only-puppy. He couldn’t be alone in our outside fenced area due to owls and eagles. We penned off a good sized area in the garage, that he liked way better than the crate, for when we were gone. At night he raised hell about the crate because he wanted to be closer to us and we couldn’t fault him for that. Letting him out resulted in a few more accidents and a couple of chewed up things but we thought it was worth it. Others might chaulk this up to "giving in" but we don’t mind being considered "sappy"

Dont worry
by: Anonymous

Yes it will stop. Puppies normally can not sleep all the way though the night like we can. So when they get tried of being in the crate they start to fuss. Let him fuss till he settles down. Then reward that, he will soon learn the fussing gets him no place and being quite gets him a treat.

My own girl did the same thing. She would howl and bark most of the time. The minute she stopped I said Girl girl and made a party out of it and took her out. It takes some time but he will get it.

Close to you
by: Anonymous

You might try putting the crate right against your side of your bed so you can put a hand or at least fingers on the pup. I did this when I got my pup at 8 weeks and she did not cry at all.

Getting your puppy to sleep at night
by: Anonymous

We got an Aussie puppy at 8 weeks. We put her in a crate at night and she cried and howled and went basically nuts for 2 nights straight. My husband and I had to sleep with ear plugs. On the 3rd night we brought the crate upstairs and put it right next to our bed. She has not complained since. Sleeps through the night till 6am. Good luck

Crate training
by: Anonymous

Our little girl is 20 weeks. She has been in her crate at night since the 3rd night. The trick was putting an article of clothing in the crate that had either mine or my husbands scent on it (a shirt that had been worn). Once we did that she would go to "bed" without a peep. Good luck with your new little one.

Nothing will work
by: Anonymous

My 8 week old Aussie has non stop howled and barked for 5-6 hours straight with a couple potty breaks and after a few nights of little to no sleep I’m going crazy. I’ve tried a warm toy to simulate littermate, lavender for relaxing, crate in my room, article of clothing of mine, nothing is helping. I’m going to go CRAZY! And I cannot just give up.

Blanket
by: Anonymous

I just got an 8-week-old Mini Aussie last night. The first night he did great in the crate. Tonight he will not settle down. I just put a blanket over the front of the crate and it was instant silence for a little bit. He is whimpering for a few seconds every so often but for the most part it has worked.

4 months old and still crying at night
by: Anonymous

We started crate training our pup when we got her at 8 weeks. Now she’s 16 weeks old and we are still not sleeping. Her current schedule is go in at 10:30/11pm, potty break at 2:30am, and then she’s wide awake at 4:30am crying and yelling. She will not go in the crate voluntarily regardless of the treats and coaxing. She still has accidents in the kennel, but rarely any in the house. She rings the bell to tell us she wants to go out. I don’t know what else to do.

Crate training Aussie at 14 weeks
by: Prince

We got our Aussie at 11 weeks. Being raised on a farm he was a no fuss boy. We slept near him in the sofa for the first five nights and then he got comfortable. Potty at 10:15pm and early morning at 5:15 am. We step out for 30 - 40 mins every 2.5-3 hrs. He gets 3 hrs yard time a day and barks only when the neighbor’s dog barks.

He nips and jumps a lot and working on that behavior with the dog trainer as my 9-year-old is a bit scared.

We absolutely adore him.

Cover the crate
by: AnonymousAusser

First night with 8 week old Aussie. She threw tantrums during the day when we tried to crate her. And then more of the same tonight, so I thought we were screwed. Googled and found this site — saw the comment about putting the crate cover/sheet down, thought what the heck, did it, and she went silent three minutes later! Thank you anonymous commenter on random site — it works like a charm!

Cover the Crate Part II
by: AnonymousAusser

I'm adding to my previous comment about covering the create, which I sent in partial desperation, without giving it a chance to fully 'take'. The update is that covering did NOT do the trick. But a couple nights later, something else did: keeping my hand in the crate. Just as puppy would start to whine, I'd put my hand through the bars (crate is on my nightstand), and gently pet her until she calmed down. If she started to whine, I'd take my hand out -- which made her stop, and I'd say "good girl!", and put my hand back in as a reward.

I did this for about 10 minutes and bam, she passed out and slept the entire night, with only one brief potty break. After the potty break, I put her back in her crate and did the hand-in-crate thing again for a couple minutes -- worked like a charm!

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