crying at night

Question
Melinda, have you ever had trouble with puppies crying all night in their crate?  My 6 month old yorkie hates his crate.  I put him in there at bedtime and he will sleep for a couple of hours, then wake up and cry the rest of the night.  It is the kind of cry/bark/scream that is intolerable.  He is so loud, I don't think earplugs would help.  I have had him since he was 10 weeks old and this is just now getting to be a problem - I feel like he has digressed with the crate training and we have done nothing different.  I have tried to wait out the cries, but I am getting no sleep.  I finally had to give in after 3 hours, the other night and I think he would have kept going.  Do you have any suggestions that I may not have heard for keeping him quiet at night?  He will sleep on the bed next to me all night if he could, but I need him to be crate trained for the long run.
Thanks for any advice you may have.

Answer
Katy,

It sounds to me like we have a spoiled baby on our hands.  He knows that if he cries you will eventually come and get him.  This can be a problem because even if you didn't go and get him ten nights in a row, by relenting one time you have just erased all of the previous nights of training.  There are several things you can try:

Put a small stuffed animal in your bed for a couple of nights (under the covers).  This will make the stuffed animal smell like you.  When it is time for your baby to go to bed put the stuffed animal in his bed and put him in the crate.  While he may still cry for a few nights eventually he should stop.

You said that he slept fine all night with you but you wanted him to learn to be crate trained for the long run.  Does this mean you are home during the day?  If so you should try putting him in his crate (with the stuffed animal) for an hour and then let him out for an hour.  If you do this he will learn that going in the crate isn't such a bad thing because you ARE going to come back.  Puppies are usually scared to be alone and being in a crate takes them away from you which they don't like.  By teaching him in short steps you should be able to get him to calm down when placed in his crate.

I would also like to differentiate between a crate and a cage.  A crate has a door and only a few small window like openings.  A cage is all metal and they can see everything around them.  I do not recommend using crates.  Put yourself in your dogs position.  Would it be scarier if you were in an enclosed crate without the ability to see what is outside or in a wide open space where you felt less confined?

Each dog is different therefore, the reason for his reaction is hard to identify unless you are seeing it for yourself.  Puppies are better able to handle being alone or put in a cage when they become more mature.  Its like potty training a child that is not emotionally ready.  Why pound your head against the wall if you don't have to.  Put it off until they are emotionally ready and you will save yourself and your baby a lot of stress.

A few more simple things would be placing a night light near the cage or turning on some soothing music.  If you have the crate in or near your bedroom move it to the farthest point away from you so the sound will not carry as far.  If necessary close your bedroom door and the door to the room he is in.  You could also invest in a sound machine that could be placed next to your bed.  They have many varieties with lots of sound choices (ocean waves etc.) that drown out background noises (creaking houses, traffic, whining dogs).  I hope you get some sleep soon.