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UVRay
Lv 6
UVRay asked in PetsDogs · 10 years ago

How long does it take for a young puppy to get used to it's cage?

Every time I put my little fellow in his cage, he starts to whine and whimper loudly. When he does that I feel so bad that I just wanna let him out and hold him but I know I shouldn't. His crying lasts about 10 minutes and then he passes out from exhaustion.

8 Answers

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  • 10 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    About a week. The first 2 days was all out crying for the whole night, then when i got him out he passed out on me. The next few nights he slept as i rewarded him with 2 treats so he knows his cage is a good place. Now he is pretty good in there 3 weeks later but he hates being stuck in sometimes. But all dogs are different,

    Make sure the cage is comfortable, put a safe chew toy in there. No matter what, do not going coddle your puppy to sleep if it cries, this shows he can bark and you will come. Make sure the cage is the right size. Not to big, just the right size so the puppy can stand and turn around in.

  • 5 years ago

    It's entirely natural for a new puppy to call out for someone to come when separated. Pups alone in the wild would not survive without this alarm system. Therefore all your new dog is doing is following instinct. Either in the nesting box or in the wild, a puppy learns very quickly that when separated from the pack, calls for help will allow other members of the pack to quickly locate him. If the puppy is very distressed and clearly upset, then I will often suggest allowing it to sleep in your bedroom, but within an indoor kennel/crate. Then over a period of time move the crate in stages to the spot where you want the puppy to stay for instance the kitchen. However it is vital to have a play-pen as well as the crate with paper down in the playpen NOT THE CRATE so that the dog can defecate and urinate. Shutting the crate door on a very young puppy could be a total disaster. It can cause crate aversion and toileting problems, it will definitely cause anxiety. Therefore until the pup is at least twelve to thirteen weeks old I would not shut the crate door overnight.

  • Labman
    Lv 7
    10 years ago

    How old is he? With 7 week olds I have never had any trouble except the first few nights. Likely it will cry the first few nights in the crate. I have never had much luck with the old clock or radio tricks. What I do is lay down by the crate like I was going to sleep there. Usually a puppy may fuss a little, but then settle down and go to sleep. Once it is asleep, you can get up and go to bed.

    You could try a small Kong with a little peanut butter in it.

  • 10 years ago

    I don't know how long it really takes I'm guessing every dog is different. It took my puppy 2 weeks to get used to it. He is 20 weeks now and he still whines sometime but it's only for a minute.

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  • 10 years ago

    Keep doing what you're doing. He will eventually except the cage and love it. Same thing happened with my dog and now he's his happiest when he can go in his own little safe house. I tried to take away the cage one time by putting it in the attic. My dog sat in the hall under the pull down steps

    and cried until we brought the cage back down. Then he was happy again. M

  • Anonymous
    10 years ago

    About a week or so, let him bark when you put him in the cage, just ignore it, if you take him out when he starts barking then he'll know that this is what he has to do to get him out of there. So just bear with it, you'll have a few sleepless nights, i've been through it. :)

  • 10 years ago

    Maybe a week

  • 10 years ago

    about a week

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