Ideas to stop crate barking throughout the night - Page 3

P.S.  I no longer use prong collars used to but I find now that I don't need to, with proper reinforcement for being in (RZ reinforcement zone next of my leg) they want to be there not pulling on the lead.  I am not saying I have eliminated all corrections but overall I am just learning a different way of doing things and I am seeing very good results. I am not telling everyone to do it my way, I am just sharing some positive experiences I have had by training this way.  I continue to learn more everyday.

One example I will share;  I have to untrained dogs that live next door that are fence runners and barkers.  Whenever I go out to train or play with my dogs they are out there being obnoxious and running the fence.  My new pup would Leave me and run over there up and down the fence.  Not good.  So I began by making her games with me more fun, i.e. ball play if she made the choice to leave me ball play stopped.  If she chose not to go the game increased in intensity.  by the age of 6 mos she has a reliable recall and will no longer leave me to go run the fence, She continues to focus her attention on me in the yard and gets to play fun games with me. The only correction she received was no access to reinforcement when she made the wrong choice.  I like the results I have gotten,  My old girl was trained through correction, you will not go there,if she did she got scruffed.  What I ended up with was as long as I was watching she wouldn't go there, the second I wasn't she was over at the fence fighting.  My new pup doesn't do that even if I am not working with her directly she knows she will not get anything if she does that, and that staying attentive to me will get you more fun.

Don't mean to go on but I am very happy with the reseults I am getting.  Like I said I am not looking to bash anyone only offer another way.

news flash.... dogs CAN see in the dark... lol  No need to leave the light on.
soothing music is good and works for my litters.
What has worked in the past for me.... and this will take some time... but

have a large number of cans with stones or pennies in them that rattle and make noise when shook. Stay out of sight but with in throwing distance. Every time the puppy barks or whines in the crate throw a can at the crate. It is important to stay out of sight, because if the puppy sees you he will associate the cans with you and when you are not there it will be the same old barking story. When you are out of sight all the puppy knows is that every time it barks in the crate a terrible noise happens. You must be consistent and work with it for as long as it takes. Although it usually doesn't take very long. The objective is to use the element of surprise to distract the pup from barking ie: they forget about barking. Once this is done even when you are not home the dog will be quiet in the crate. It is also important to make sure before you start this, that the puppy does not have to go out or any other need. Otherwise you are teaching them not to let you know if they have to go out.

The other thing is that it sounds like the puppy needs much more exercise! It should be tired when you send it to bed.
Hope some of that helps!
Debby

Certainly we have the debate of positive/negative training methods etc.  I know both kinds of methods and I use bits and pieces.  No one single method is the right way or the best way.  Every dog and every trainer and every situation is different.  I start all my dogs with positive training methods, but when behaviors become dangerous, or the dog starts to challenge rank in the pack, or a bad behavior begins to develop, those behaviors need to be nipped in the bud so to say.

My dogs love their crates, they go in willingly and happily.  They are quiet and well mannered whether crated at home or at a dog show.  But they certainly didn't start off that way!  Each dog really was different in how they handled their crate training too.

One of many methods I have tried, and honestly I came up with this one out of frustration due to lack of sleep, was to throw something at the crate or in the general direction of the crate.  A kong toy works well.  I didn't even get out of the bed, which is good because if I got out of bed and walked towards the crate  to do anything, I was giving the dog what it wanted - attention.  It startles the dog, it doesn't hurt them.  They don't know where the correction came from.  For their purposes a correction came unexpectedly from the sky.  It can be paired with a command word like quiet, but usually I don't say anything.  This method also worked for my Conure bird that wanted to scream as soon as light came in the window even though he was covered.  I would toss small objects (usually a beanine baby) at the cage while he was squawking.  He learned in a short time to be quiet until his cover came off.

I have not bothered to read all of the posts on this thread after skimming a few of the suggestions offered. 

Have you tried leaving one of your other dogs in the same room as the pup?  The pup is seperated form it's pack and anxious.  If you leave a dog in the room the pup will quiet down.  It won't feel seperated and isolated. 

Just a thought, it has worked for me in the past.  Very simple solution, I would not bang or smash on the crate for a dog that is already anxious.  For young puppies I leave a tshirt that I have worn in the crate and the radio on low. 

Jim

Jim,

I have left one of the big dogs out with her, but I started to think that was what she was barking at (the big dog moving about the house).

Her brother is also crated next to her crate.  Their crates are about a foot apart, so she is not left in the room alone. 

Thanks for your suggestions, though!

I don't agree with any of this. YOU have had this pup from birth. This is YOUR fault. YOU need to by YOURSELF and YOUR family some earplugs. Ignore YOUR pup. Sleep well and stop paying attention to the bs. The sooner YOUR dog realizes that barking in the crate is useless, the sooner YOU get a good rest. I had a 7 week old pup that never stopped the first weekend. She could barely bark by Sunday. Monday night was quiet.

LOL..@..chaz.
With a hint of truth, you must ride these things out, every time the dog gets a response from you it has learned and you have a set back.
Everything else is just a waste of time.

Why is the dog crated if others run free?
I didn't read everything all that closely either, I must have missed something.


Perhaps the dog has already learned and you have a real battle on your hands.

Moons.

Two Moons,

The two puppies are crated at night while the big dogs are out because they are five month old puppies who will tear everything up!

Update:

I tried the tapping on the crate and saying nine in a firm voice.  I just tap on it with my hand.

I have to report for the past three nights we have had no middle of the night barking.
Now she is just barking when my alarm clock goes off in the morning and we are working on that!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

Glad it worked well for you missy, Those first couple of nights after you finally get the pup to start howling or barking in the crate are better than christmas, by that time you are usually exhausted and praying the poor pup gets laryingitis .  Sleep is a wonderful thing esp when they have kept  you from getting any!! I don't think any of us asked your pups name or if you had a pic you would like to share? We all love puppy pics!! I also apologize for the fact that a few of us got off the topic of helping you to argue with each other, it does tend to happen frequently here but that does not excuse it when it does happen and in this thread I was one of the guilty parties, so I do apologize.