Getting my 6 month old puppy into his crate at night lately is becoming a real struggle when he would previously go on command.
Tonight it was just me and him at home … it took me over an hour to coax him in, even though he was clearly tired and wanting to lay down to sleep!
Once he’s inside the crate though, he settles immediately and sleeps through the night, so I’m wondering if we are unknowingly making a mistake in our training.. or if it's just a phase in his development? He has been trying to challenge us more in other ways too, but nothing is as problematic as this. I'm pregnant and I get so tired by the end of the night, so I really need a solution.
Here’s what we’ve been doing. I’m hoping someone can help me figure out where it’s going wrong:
He only sleeps in the crate at night. During the day, he either naps in his exercise pen or freely around the house. We have never stopped reinforcing positive associations with the crate. We sometimes toss high value treats in there for him to discover, and occasionally we also feed him in the crate (with the door closed), letting him out shortly afterward.
He’s only been crated a handful of times during the day since we got him. Crating during the day has therefore not been a regular occurrence. We usually use the exercise pen instead, have someone watch him, or take him with us.
The crate door is always open during the day so he can go in whenever he wants to self-soothe. He has done that on ocassion.. he even hides his chews there, so it definitely seems like a safe space for him.
At night, we follow a bedtime routine. Everything goes smoothly until it's time to go into the crate.
Today really made me feel how much this is becoming an issue. By the end of it, I got desperate and began enticing him with whatever treat option it would take to get him to go in. He settled on peanut butter. I know this is not at all sustainable so I need help.
My husband thinks this is temporary, that the puppy is testing our boundaries at this age, so we just have to stay consistent, stick to the routine, and the puppy will eventually realize this is how things go. Tonight however, I just felt like I was bribing the puppy … : /