Overnight Crating

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I have an 8 week old male boxer. We are using the crate for housetraining purposes. We use it when we are away a couple of hours at a time, and during the night. He did great the first few nights at home with us. He would only whine every 3-4 hours...so we would take him to go potty and he would go back to bed...but last night after his potty he just kept whinning...for an hour and a half! We took him out repeatedly to go potty and would tell him to be quiet once placed back in the crate. He finally fell asleep after my husband slept on the couch. (We're up stairs and the puppy is kept in the kitchen.) Any suggestions...are we doing something wrong?

Any advice will help!

Thank you!
New boxer parent

ANSWER: Hi Nelly,

People often find that they do better when the crate is kept in the bedroom.  Isolating a puppy tends to make them anxious.  The whining will cut down if he can see/hear/smell you.

By taking him out every half hour, you're giving attention to unwanted behavior.  By sleeping on the couch, same thing.

Move him to your room and take him out the first time he wakes up and whines.  If you are SURE he went, he should not have to go out again for another 3 to 4 hours (or when you get up in the morning, whichever is first).

Whining should get no attention.  If he has to go potty, that's what he does.  There's no play time, no cuddles, no excessive talking.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Nicole for the advice, but another problem has showed up...now the puppy seems to be peeing during the night in his crate! Eventhough we take him out when he whines. He didn't do that the first couple of nights. Now what could be causing that? (I just read your response about keeping him near us so we will try that tonight.)

Thanks again,
Nelly

ANSWER: Hi Nelly,

Because you don't hear him each time he wakes up.  :)  

An 8 week old puppy is JUST developing control over his bladder and bowel movements.  Up until this point he was essentially incontinent.  

Some people have found that setting an alarm for every 3 hours helps rather than waiting for the puppy to whine.  That will be up to you.

He also should have gone out several times prior to being put away for the night and should not have eaten or drank anything at least an hour before he's to be in the crate.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again!

Well setting an alarm works great! Will that create a habit though as he gets older as far as always wanting to go every 3 hrs instead of trying to hold it a little longer?

Also, he will be 10 weeks tomorrow, and he weighs 11lbs 8oz, but he seems rather thin to me. He can see his ribs, and you can kind of see his hip bones as well...you can defiantly see his waist line when you stand looking over him. We just started feeding him about 1 1/2 cups 3 times a day...but we were feeding him only twice a day since that's what the breeder told us to do. I am worried that he is not getting enough to eat.

As always, thanks!
Nelly

Answer
I can't tell you if he's too thin or not without seeing him.  I can tell you that you were terribly misinformed by the breeder.  At his age, he should be eating 4 times a day to keep his energy levels consistent.  

I also don't know what food you're feeding but hopefully it's a good quality, highly digestible food like Chicken Soup...Dog Food, Canidae, Solid Gold or Wellness.  Your breeder should have steered you away from foods like Iams, Eukenuba, etc.

You should also be feeding according to the back of the bag and adjusting accordingly.  If the back of the bag of food says he should be getting 4 cups a day, he gets 1 cup at each feeding.  You'll have to do a bit of math to figure it out.

And no, the alarm won't create a habit.  In a couple of weeks (at about 12 weeks of age), set it for every 4 or 5 hours instead of every 3.  Once you notice that his accidents have stopped during the day and that he's reliably potty trained, he should be able to sleep through the night and you'll not need the alarm.