How to Train Your Dog to Not Cry at Night

Hello Gill, How long have you been practicing crate training during the day for? If you have been practicing the crate with Buddy for five to seven days at least, then you should be fine crating him overnight. If he cries, ignore it unless you believe something is truly wrong with him. All the different advice can be confusing. Essentially, you want to avoid crating your puppy for long periods of time during the day before he is used to it because he will be awake most of the time during the day and has not yet learned how to cope with being in the crate by settling down, chewing on chew toys, and relaxing. You are helping him learn those things during the day by practicing. The daytime is a great time to practice because during the day you are awake to give him feedback when he is doing well, so that he will learn what he is supposed to do in the crate. At night he should go to sleep most of the time. The only time that he will have to self-sooth and self-entertain is when you first put him in the crate and if he wakes up at night and needs to put himself back to sleep. This drastically reduces the amount of time he needs to be used to being in the crate for. If he can be calm in the crate for thirty-minutes during the day, then he will probably do well overnight in it too. Continue working up to longer periods of time in the crate during the day to develop his skills there, but you should be fine crating him overnight in the meantime. When you crate him, put a chew toy in there with him so that he can self-sooth with that if he wakes up. Reward him initially for going into the crate without getting him too excited and give him a chew toy that will not keep him up all night but will give him something to do for a few minutes while he gets settled. After he is in, then turn off lights and make sure it is quiet and stays dark where he is so that his body will feel like going to sleep and staying asleep. Either work on getting him used to you walking out of the room while he is crated during the day or put the crate into your room at first to minimize his crying. This is because he is currently used to you being next to the crate and not leaving him. You can crate him in a different room at night right from the start too but that will be a more abrupt approach, and you can expect a few days of crying that way since he will have to learn to be alone suddenly instead of gradually. In the end it should work just fine but it can be hard to stay firm when he cries, and you need to stay firm and not let him out if you choose to crate him overnight. Crate training allows you to travel with your dog, for others to keep him, for you to keep him safe, to prevent destructive chewing habits, to speed up potty training, and when used properly, to prevent many cases of separation anxiety be teaching independence, self-soothing, and self-entertaining. Try to remember the benefits when it is hard to be consistent at times. Even though many puppies protest at some point, if you persist, then he will have more freedom due to his good habits later on. The crate is to keep him safe and eventually give him more freedom and trust. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Tiffany, That can be discouraging when you finally make progress on something and have to go backwards again. As soon as his stools become firmer and more of a normal consistency during the day you can safely resume your prior night schedule and letting him cry it out without fear that you are missing something. Unfortunately the frequent potty breaks might be necessary for a bit longer if the diarrhea is still bad. If the antibiotic does not help quickly, then give your vet another call or visit. Many of those conditions take under a week to improve once antibiotics are started. If you have any questions about it ask you vet though, as I am not a licensed Veterinarian. As far as when you start back how long it will take. Since he is older and has been rewarded with potty outings for crying for the last few days he will likely protest for a long time the first couple of nights to go back to letting him cry. The training will likely involve longer protests than before but less nights doing it. Try not to get discouraged if he pitched a huge fit for the first three to five nights. Once you get over that hump it should start to improve drastically. He might surprise you and go right back to his old ways of sleeping better even sooner than three nights too, but mentally prepare for three to five just in case. Many dogs do go back to old sleeping habits just fine right away. By twelve weeks of age start taking him out less frequently during the night if he is doing well with potty training at night time. Let him sleep through the normal four hour wake ups and see when he wakes up on his own to go potty one night. When you discover how many hours he will go on his own, then let that amount of hours minus thirty minutes be his new potty break time. A couple of weeks after that try the same thing again and he may surprise you and sleep through the whole night by then. He may even surprise you at twelve weeks and sleep through the night then. Some puppies can by twelve weeks of age. Others can closer to four months. For early morning wake ups, if you think he needs to go potty, take him outside but keep him on a leash so that he cannot play, keep the whole experience calm and boring, and after he goes potty take him straight back to the crate. It will equal a lot of crying at first but you want him to learn to only wake up at that time if he needs to go potty and not habitually for the fun of getting out of the crate to play. If the trip is boring and end with going back in crate, then he is less likely to wake up and ask to go out if he does not have to. It sounds like this was your strategy before the sickness, so keep it up when he is feeling better. As hard as it is right now, with the level of consistency that it seems like you are giving him, you should start to see some major improvements in potty training and sleep within a month overall. It will get easier in those areas soon. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Samantha, Check out the article that I have linked below. You can utilize all the methods but pay special attention to the "Surprise" method. https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Also, make sure you are not rewarding his barking and crying by returning while he is doing it. Give him a food stuffed chew toy in the crate when you put him inside so that he has something to do, and wait until he is quiet before you return to sprinkle treats in - then leave again. If you return or let him out when he cries, he learns to keep doing it to get what he wants, instead of having the opportunity to learn that he can rest and chew on a fun toy in the crate, and you will come back while he is calm. Crying is normal at first...it's new and he needs an opportunity to realize that he is safe in there. Practicing the training from the article I linked above can help him understand how to be in a crate though, so that there is less crying...and crying once he understands that the crate is normal due to practicing the crate beforehand is just protesting being in there and not due to true distress typically, which needs to be ignored until he calms down. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Rosalinda, Is he peeing in the crate or when left out of the crate at night? If he is doing it outside the crate, then he needs to be crated at night. To deal with the whining, first I suggest crating him in another room so that he cannot see you while asleep. The whining might be for attention and he may give up and settle down after a week of being crated in a room by himself. Expect it to be worse for the first three days while he is adjusting, then gradually improve as you ignore him and do not go to him. Check out the article that I have linked below and work on those methods, especially the "Surprise" method, to help him like the crate - you may have already done those things and if so great. https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate If doing the above for two weeks doesn't help or the destructive chewing and peeing is happening while in the crate, there is a more intensive separation anxiety protocol you can do. It is more intense and can seem harsh because it confronts the anxiety and interrupts it so that the dog has an opportunity to learn a different way to be in place of the anxiety. I suggest doing it during the day first and after he understands what to do, then implementing it at night. Work on the above. If you are not seeing progress, then the next step is to interrupt his frantic-ness using an electric collar that has a vibration setting also (he may not respond to the vibration so you need both stimulation and vibration - if he does respond to just vibration then you can use that). When you choose a collar, only get one that has at least thirty-levels. Cheap, poorly made collars can be dangerous and collar without enough levels can be too harsh or not effective enough. E-collar Technologies, Garmin, SportDog, and Dogtra all make decent collars. You can also try using a remote controlled unscented air spray collar (AVOID citronella - only use unscented air or you might make your problem worse). Honestly, many dogs will not respond well enough to the air spray collars though. I highly suggest hiring a trainer who is experienced with separation anxiety and using e-collars to help you. You want to find the lowest level that he can feel on the collar. You want to set a good foundation for him by doing the other training that I mentioned above to at the same time to help him learn independence. You also want to reward him when he is calm. To use the electric collar you would: 1. Get him used to wearing the collar around while it is turned off. 2. Find the lowest level that he responds to - called a "working level". 3. Set up your camera to watch him again. 4. Leave the house, drive down the block so he thinks you are gone, then walk back and hide next to the house - so the collar and remote will be in range. 5. Watch him on the camera and listen for howling, scratching or him getting really worked up whining. 6. Stimulate the collar when he howls, scratches, or starts to get worked up whining (a brief whine is okay but not anxious-continuous whining). 7. When he gets quiet for two minutes, go back inside, ignore him for five minutes (he should be in the crate when you first practice this). When he is calm, then open the crate door, but don't let him come out yet - if he tries to rush out, then close the door quickly again and repeat the opening and closing it exercise until he stays in there while the door is open. 8. When he will stay in the crate while the door is open, then ignore him for another five minutes while the door is open. 9. Tell him "Okay" to let him know he can leave the crate at the end of the five minutes, but act really boring and nonchalant with him when he comes out. 10. Practice the training sessions, correcting him from outside with the collar while watching on the camera, coming back in when he is calm, ignoring him for a total of ten minutes, then acting boring when you let him out. This protocol sounds very harsh I know. It is important to practice him being independent of you through things like "Place", "Stay", and being in the crate. He needs to learn how to cope with independence so that he will be able to handle being alone. When you correct him with the collar, you are correcting him at a more reasonable stimulation level that is high enough for him to feel but not so high that it's any harsher than it needs to be. Right now the anxious response is his go to. He needs an opportunity to choose a different response. When you correct him, you are interrupting his anxious state of mind and expression - which will get more and more anxious as it builds if not interrupted. When you remove that option from him, then he has to find another way to react. By coming back inside, you are essentially rewarding him when he is being calm - showing him that you come back and that it's alright for you to leave. Also, showing him that being calm is how he gets you back, not by getting worked up. He has an opportunity to learn in that situation. Being in the crate simply makes it easier for him to learn because his only other option is to chew on a chew toy and rest. He cannot pace, destroy things, pee on rugs, or try another type of behavior when the scratching, whining, and howling are not options anymore. After he has learned calmness in the crate and that has become a new habit, then it will be easier for him to be calm outside of the crate when you are gone too. When you put him into the crate during the day (not at night), be sure to leave a dog food and liver paste or cheese or peanut butter (NO Xylitol sweetener -it's toxic to dogs!) stuffed- safe- hollow-chew-toy for him in the crate, so that when he calms down he will have that to chew on - he probably won't chew it until he is corrected and learns to calm down though. Dogs typically won't eat when they are anxious. When he learns to be calm and is ready to do something other than get worked up, you will want him to have it though, so that he can learn to enjoy himself in the crate or in your home when you are gone. I suggest that you do all of this under the guidance of a qualified trainer though. You have to be careful to use e-collars correctly. They can be very effective tools when used correctly, but they are powerful and can be severely misused if you don't understand how to use them. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Karla, Having your puppy sleep in another room can take longer for your puppy to settle in but actually be better for them in the long run because then they learn how to sleep without you there - which is great for traveling, boarding, being vetted, and generally preventing separation anxiety. The important thing to do is make sure you can hear them if they wake up needing to go potty at this age. If you decide to keep him in thr kitchen where you can't hear him, I suggest using an audio baby monitor to listen for him at night until he can sleep through the night without needing to go potty consistently. During the day crating him away from you for at least two hours total is also important for preventing separation anxiety - by teaching independence; however, you do not want him to be away from you all day. If he has frequent breaks outside the crate when you are home to play with you, train, and exercise after going potty, then him being crated away from you at other times is not an issue. If he spends most of his time in the crate while you are home, I suggest moving the crate closer for the majority of the time and just making sure he practices being alone for 1-2 hours a day and is close at other times. Dogs are social so they need to have interaction or be near people, as long as they get some practice being alone to prepare them for being alone when they have to be later. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Kimberly, What type of certification were you wanting? Service Dog, Therapy Dog, Canine Good Citizen, or something else? A good place to start with all dogs is basic obedience and socialization. Once he understands basic commands well and is confident and relaxed around all types of people, animals - including other dogs, new environments, and sights and sounds, then work on obedience around distractions, called Intermediate Obedience. An intermediate or advanced obedience class is a great way to do this if you can find one with very knowledgeable trainers who are also experienced with behavioral issues and off leash training - which shows a better general understanding of training. Ask questions and look for reviews and client referrals. Once he can obey commands in the presence of distractions, then a Canine Good Citizen class is a good way to practice manners for future Therapy work and Service Dog work. Finally, if you intend to do Service Dog work, the final step is teaching the specific tasks you want to train for that. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Michaela, Even though it can be hard you actually need to intentionally give her safe times of being alone without you, either in a crate (what I recommend because it also helps with potty training), or an exercise pen for her to practice being alone during the day for about an hour also. Follow the surprise method from the article linked below during the day to help her learn to cope with being alone at night. Work on her being by herself for about an hour each day (it can be longer if you need to leave her, but at least an hour for training purposes). Surprise method: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Most young puppies will cry in a crate or when left alone for up to 2 weeks (some adjust within just three days). Most grow out of this if you give them the opportunity to learn to self-sooth and self-entertain by not rescuing them while they are crying when you know that they are safe. If you go to her whenever she cries the training will take much longer though, so try to stay firm and use the Surprise method from the article linked above to help the process go more smoothly. Wait until she is quiet for at least a couple of seconds before you go back to her during the day, so that she associates your return with her being quiet and not crying. At night, if you know that she doesn't have to go potty and is safe, then let her cry. She might pitch quiet a fit the first few nights, but if you remain firm she should learn to settle down at night, especially if you also practice the surprise method during the day to help her learn to self-sooth. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello David, Puppies have to learn how to be alone by practicing how to handle being by themselves. Check out the Surprise method from the article linked below. If he will not stay inside the crate when you leave the room, then you will need to close the crate door and practice this for an hour each day. You can practice for longer, but he will need to be let out while he is being quiet to go potty after an hour, so spacing out when you practice this, with some free time in between crating time since you are pee pad training. You can also practice this in an exercise pen, with the crate with the door open on one end for him to rest in and the pee pad on the opposite end to go potty on as needed. Surprise method for crate training: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Do not go to him when he cries, wait until he is quiet for at least a few seconds. If you go to him when he cries he learns that crying is the way to get you back and it becomes a habit. If you wait until he is quiet he learns how to sooth himself and stay quiet for longer. As he improves, wait until he remains quiet for longer before you go to him. In the morning, the same thing applies. Since he has access to the pee pad so you know that he doesn't need to go potty, use an exercise pen with the crate on one end and the pee pad in the opposite end for him to sleep in at night, so that he cannot leave that area and will go back to sleep. Ignore the crying. If he won't settle back down within an hour of crying, then when he wakes up in the morning the next day, go to him, calmly encourage him to pee on the pee pad, then put him back in the crate and close the door so that he will stay in the crate. He is going back to bed after a potty trip essentially - you want to remove other fun activities that will keep him awake if he is free, with the exception of possibly a plain chew toy in his crate, so that he will calm back down and go back to sleep. Once he is in the habit of going back to sleep at that time his body is more likely to sleep through that time also. It is a bit like asking young kids to stay in their beds - you cannot force them to fall asleep but you can facilitate it happening by making the environment calm enough. If he stays awake but stays quiet and doesn't wake you, that is fine also. Also, pay attention to his schedule. When is he going to sleep for the night? Is he napping for most of the evening? If he sleeps for most of the evening then that sleep is going to count as part of his night sleep and he will be fully rested and ready to go by 5 a.m.. Most puppies will sleep 10 hours at night at this age, plus take several naps during the day. Keep evening naps to one hour instead of all evening, and make sure that his bedtime is ten hours before when you want him to wake up the next morning. Also, make sure that the environment is quiet in the morning. If other people or animals are moving around and making noise at 5 a.m. that will wake him up. If you can make the area dark too that should help his body adjust to the new sleep cycle - this will be less important as he gets older but making the area darker by blocking out window sunlight can help his body adjust to sleeping. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Christine, You are correct that the crying should be ignored. Unless something traumatic happened this is likely just related to her entering adolescence and pushing boundaries more at this age. She is actually more likely to protest your husband leaving if she respects him less. Since he is not willing to let her cry it out and you are not comfortable having her sleep in your room, I suggest taking a firmer approach and correcting the crying. Teach her the Quiet command using the Quiet command from the article linked below. Work on this command during the day so that she will understand what Quiet means: Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Next, purchase a Pet Convincer, which is a small canister of pressurized air. When she barks at night and you feel confident that she does not need to go potty, tell her Quiet then leave again - If it has been less than 5.5 hours since she last peed, she should be able to hold it. If she stays asleep she will be able to hold it for longer, once awake her bladder control will decrease. If you think she might really need to pee, then take her outside and then put her back in the crate. When she cries after being taken outside, then you will know that needing to go potty is not the reason and can proceed with what I am about to tell you to do. After telling her Quiet, if she stays quiet, great!! Celebrate and continue practicing quiet during the day too to reinforce that lesson. If she continues barking (which she probably will at first), then tell her "Ah Ah" in a calm tone of voice, and spray a spray of unscented air from the Pet Convincer at her side through the crate wires (Do NOT spray her in the face - just the side near her shoulder or ribs). After spraying her, leave again. Repeat your Quiet command, followed by a correction for barking if she doesn't get quiet, whenever she barks. During the day when you practice this also return after 5-10 minutes of her staying quiet and sprinkle treats into the crate to reward her quietness - only give treats during the day though. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Lisa, It sounds like he is being given too much freedom. Puppies do not instinctively know to pee on pads or in boxes - it looks no different to them than your rug or floor. They need to be carefully confined and taught when you are awake to show them how before being given freedom at night - I actually recommend confining a pup at night for the entire first year because there are several destructive chewing phases they will go through at late as 9 months of age, that can be very dangerous if they swallow something they chewed once their jaws get stronger or they find something small now. If you don't plan to use a litter box or pee pads long term, I highly suggest getting rid of them and using a crate at night instead, and just waking up with your pup to take them outside when they cry at night for a little while. Use an audio baby monitor by their crate downstairs so that you will hear him when he wakes up and cries to go potty. The loss of sleep can be tiring but if potty training is done right, night wakings pass quickly and potty training is so much easier in the long run if you start with the method you intend to use long term - otherwise you may spend months trying to change your puppies peeing habits once they are set. Outside Potty training - the Crate Training method and the Tethering method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside If you plan to use a litter box or pads inside for the rest of your puppies life since they are small enough that is an option, then check out the article linked below. Follow the Exercise Pen method during the day. At first, follow the Crate Training method found in the same article below, at night and use an audio baby monitor to listen out for when your puppy needs to go potty to prevent accidents from happening at night while he is learning - frequent accidents can really slow down potty training. Once he will consistently use the litter box in the exercise pen during the day, then you can put your puppy's crate inside the exercise pen, leave the door open, and have the litter box on the opposite end of the exercise pen for pup to use during the night so you can sleep. Doing the training this way helps pup learn to use the litter box faster by minimizing accidents that inhibit his potty training progress, but it also allows you to get more sleep because pup should start to understand to go in the litter box during the day within a few days if it is close by while he is in the exercise pen, at which point you will no longer have to wake up with him at night. With indoor potty training it is just as important to prevent accidents during the learning process as it is with outside pottying training. Exercise Pen method and Crate Training method for indoor potty training: https://wagwalking.com/training/litter-box-train-a-chihuahua-puppy Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Beibhinn, Have her sleep in a crate at night. During the day practice leaving her in the crate while you are home for at least an hour. Leave the room. If she cries, return to her, tell her "Ah Ah" and spray a small puff of unscented air from a pet convincer at her side through the crate wires (A Pet Convincer is a small canister of pressurized unscented air - Don't use Citronella spray). Do NOT spray her in the face, just on the side near her ribs. After you spray her briefly with the air, leave again. If she stays quiet for five minutes, return and sprinkle a few treats into the crate without letting her out, then leave again. Return and correct her with the Pet Convincer whenever she cries, and return and sprinkle treats whenever she stays quiet for a few minutes. As she improves, wait until she stays quiet a few minutes longer before you sprinkle the treats. Gradually space your treats further and further apart until she doesn't need the treats to stay calm. You can also give her a safe chew toy stuffed with dog food during the day, and a safe chew toy without food in it at night. Practice this during the day with the Pet Convincer and treats. At night, correct the crying with the pet convincer but don't give food because you don't want her to have to go to the bathroom or to stay awake waiting for food - that is why you need to practice this during the day too, because the food helps her learn what to do when in a crate - which is be calm and quiet. Practice the crate manners exercise from the video linked below to increase calmness in the crate even more. https://thegooddog.net/training-videos/free-how-to-training-videos/learn-to-train-the-good-dog-way-the-crate/ Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden