My puppy whines in crate at 4 AM. How to get him to sleep longer?

Question

We are desperate for help with crating Woody. From 4 am on he whines and cries. We give him a VetriScience Composure Behavioral Health snack before bed, and give him plenty of toys (right away and when he starts whining). We even got a larger crate for him (30 inches), and cover it so it's den like. Is there anything stronger that will keep him sleeping longer? What can we do to help him ease into crating? We are ready to give up on crating/put him in another room :(. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | neutered | 8 months and 15 days old | 20 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem! Crate training puppies at night can definitely be frustrating at first. It sounds like you're doing lots of good things - the Composure calming treat at bedtime is a good idea, and it's great that he has toys and things to chew on in his crate. When my own puppies were going through this phase, I would first take them outside to potty when they whined - I assume you've probably tried this, but if not, definitely make sure he doesn't need to pee! No playtime or anything fun, just a quick potty break. After that, bring him back inside and put him back in his crate with no fuss. With my puppies, if I'm sure they're "empty" and don't need to go out, I will tell them "hush" or "shhh" as soon as they start to make any noise. This often works better than simply ignoring them and hoping they eventually stop! It may take a few repetitions of "shushing" him matter-of-factly each time he whines, but most puppies soon work out that whining at 4 am isn't productive and settle back down to sleep. As he gets older, his tolerance for sleeping later should improve - just like human babies :)

My puppy whines in crate at 4 AM. How to get him to sleep longer?

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