4 month cockapoo

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karllewis14

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Hi all,

I am very new to the forum - so i hope i dont come across to much of a novice. But just wanted some help and guidance.

Most recently we bough (as a newly married couple) a cockapoo. He has been at our home for the last 2 weeks and in general he has been brilliant.

We have taught him to ring the bell when he wants out ( when we are at home with him) , he sits and gives the paw , sits when getting his treat. Comes when u call him; great when walkin on and off the lead , great around other dogs but we do notice a problem at night . He is crated in the kitchen (dogbed and toys in it; a small light on and radio background noise) at 1130pm (our bedtime) with crate open but he goes mental , cries and hits kitchen door for ages ... eventually he goes into his bed and then 5am he is up again crying and howling - any advice or thoughts to stop this ? Or am I maybe panicking too soon.

He goes into and out of the crate from time to ime when we are in the kitchen ; i set his food bowl into it too.........

It could be that its still early stages but these 5am wake up's are getting tiring - so lookin for extra help
 
The 5am thing is probably more to do with sunrise and resultant bird and animal activity outside....can you cover his crate or get blackout blinds?
I'd actually put him in the crate to signify 'bedtime'.
I wouldn't have light on either. It's a bit like old people's homes where the staff wear PJs to remind them if they get up in the middle of the night....dogs sometimes need cues for certain behaviours. Night time is for chilling and sleeping.
 
With my pups that are reluctant to settle at night, I like to encourage sleepiness with a game of some sort to tire them. At four months old, I would have a little game with them before bed, place them in their cage, cover the cage, all lights/TVs off etc. No fussing them, talking etc & leave quietly. Just to add, during the day, when puppy falls asleep, I place them in their cage & leave. I want the pup to learn that his cage is his sleeping place, whatever the time of day. Some puppies will be more clingy/stressed than others when it comes to bedtime but if your consistent during the day by placing him in the cage every time he falls asleep, eventually it will become his sanctuary!
 
We’ve just got a 6 month old rescue who screamed the place down on Friday. He had apparently been crate trained but had been sleeping upstairs with 3 other dogs so got used to company. So I’ve been trying to make the crate a nice place to be, feeding him in there and giving him treats is he takes himself in there (even if it is with a bit of help) on the command “crate”. Every time he falls asleep he goes in there, plus I put him in there when I’m cooking because he’s a trip hazard and so he doesn’t think crate = being completely alone
 
Blazingsaddles said:
With my pups that are reluctant to settle at night, I like to encourage sleepiness with a game of some sort to tire them. At four months old, I would have a little game with them before bed, place them in their cage, cover the cage, all lights/TVs off etc. No fussing them, talking etc & leave quietly. Just to add, during the day, when puppy falls asleep, I place them in their cage & leave. I want the pup to learn that his cage is his sleeping place, whatever the time of day. Some puppies will be more clingy/stressed than others when it comes to bedtime but if your consistent during the day by placing him in the cage every time he falls asleep, eventually it will become his sanctuary!
Click to expand...

do you lock the crate door each time?
 
ill definately try this - ' four months old, I would have a little game with them before bed, place them in their cage, cover the cage, all lights/TVs off etc. No fussing them, talking etc & leave quietly'

am guessing everyone closes the crate door - ive not tried this yet ; just closed the kitchen
 
My dog is seven and still sleeps in his crate, usually with the door closed...at bedtime he will go nuts to get into it because he still associates it with positive things (usually and handful of food ;)) after all these years.

You do have to build it up as described - don't just shut the door and leave him to it.
 
I always shut the crate door, it is 100% safe in there and if you aren't going to shut the door you may as well just let them sleep in a basket. Good luck, be consistent and lots of good advice above.
 
My terrier X was a bedtime and morning terror. He was born round same time of year as yours and unfortunately "mornings" start quite early! Birds, other animals out and about, etc ... 5/5.30 was the norm for us for a looong time. However we ended up moving the crate closer to our bedroom so we could reassure him at night (gently shhhh him when he kicked off). Crate always closed (and still is even though he's a big boy now) and a towel over the top including he front so can't see out. He learned to settle pretty quickly once we had him upstairs - I think he panicked and thought he was alone downstairs. I also set my alarm to go off before "kicking off" time .. starting at 4.45! Then taking it further and further so he learned NOTHING happens before the alarm goes off. That helped enormously as conditioning his waking up.
 
does he need to pee at 5 am, if so it may be worth setting your alarm and taking him out before he starts creating, then settle him down and go back to bed yourself. if not i would start shutting him in the crate while you are pottering about in the kitchen, maybe give him a kong filled with something nice to take his mind off anything else, and gradually get him used to being in there. when i got my puppy home at 9 weeks he wouldnt settle downstairs in his crate(even though i have another dog) and as i am in a terraced house and my neighbour has to get up at 5.30 every day i couldnt just leave him to bark so took the crate to my bedroom and he settled straight away... after about a week i could leave him downstairs in his crate and never had another problem. he is now 15 months and i still shut him in the crate as he would chew wires etc, so i want him safe...
 
my dogs sleep in their crates, with the door shut. And have done eversince I brought them home. They know the routine, out for a wee and in to their crates at night, they go to their own crate, and lie down. I shut the door and cover the crates. They sleep until I let them out, and sometimes even when I open the door they carry on sleeping :) When ever I go to stay anywhere I take their crates, and they just settle wherever their crates are. Makes life so much easier
 
We've recently had a 4 month old sausage dog staying with us. She was crated overnight (in accordance with her home routine).

We gave her a last night wee at around 11.00ish and then she was popped to bed. Crate door shut, blanket over the top, blinds closed. I was setting my alarm for 5.30 to give her an early morning wee, then back to bed until 7.00.

So basically - secure, dark, quiet....
 
so thanks to you all for your advice yesterday and last night ......

UPDATE:

- when i went home i put him in crate through out the evening ; when i cooked , when i walked out of the room etc - dropping treats into it as he stayed in for long periods.

- removed his water and meal around 830

- took him for a walk and toilet run , got him settled - turned the lights off , put towel over the top of the crate and then after 5mins of sitting with him left the kitchen. Slight noise but nothing major.

- woke up at 6am - went down ; and he was sitting in the crate - lookin out but not making a noise :)

- so definite progress - long may it continue.


......
We are getting day walker in to help us - as we both work split shifts - so i dont think ill crate him during the day i.e close the door during the day. for now ill let him wander about kicthen and hall (all other doors closed and he will prob go in and out of the crate anyway
 
It will continue - well done!
Crate training can be so very handy esp in modern houses where often there's no extra rooms or space for the dog to have their own area :)
 
Well done! My rescue pup has just taken himself into his crate for a nap, he wouldn’t go in it at all on Friday. So patience and perseverance pays off :)
 
Glad to hear that your cockapoo is doing well. Thought I'd tell you about my 19 month old cockapoo. He slept in a closed crate from 8 weeks and he's still happy to go in at bedtime and if he needs to be safely out of the way for a while (e.g. plumber in the kitchen). I've been trying to give him the option to sleep in his bed in the kitchen at night and sometimes he's happy to do this. Sometimes, however, he starts to bark until I go down and put him in his crate and close it! He's got quite a working mentality, so it's as if he can't switch off until choice is taken away from him and he knows he's not 'on duty' anymore. Initially, I wasn't convinced about crates as my experience had been with older, calmer dogs and I didn't like the thought of caging him overnight, but he's convinced me that it really is his safe place. It's definitely worth continuing with crate training.
 
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