Sleeping with our pet

Question
Hello Kristen,

Thank you for answering my question. We have a year old Yorkshire Terrier who thinks he is human. I have no doubt that if dogs ever take over the planet that he will be in charge. We have been experiencing a problem with our "Bruiser" When we go to bed we allow him to stay with us on the bed while we watch TV. Once the TV is off and it is time to sleep he goes in his kennel. For the most part he hates the kennel even though it is right beside the bed in our room. For the past 4 nights now we put him in the kennel and he then starts to whine, whimper and yelp! We tell him no which does not work. We have had the odd problem with him in the past in these same type of situations but he is normally quiet and stays in his kennel until about 0500 when the whinning and whimpering starts...then we let him out..he jumps up onto our bed and is happy. I think that between my wife and I we have created a monster.  We tried putting him in his kennel in another room but then he howls barks and yelps...drives us nuts..last night he did the same and we finally at about 0200 let him out...when he ran up onto our bed and crawled right inbetween the two of us..quiet and content as a lamb! He never has liked the kennel from day one and the breeder who we got the puppy from laughed when we told her that we were going to kennel train him. She told us that because he was her last pup to get rid of he slept with her. We have tried kenneling him when we are at work during the day and when we were house training him. He tended to whiz or crap where ever so we put him in a room...he went ballistic!..then in the kennel which I think he now associates with being alone.
Anything you can suggest would be greatly appreciated

Thank you very much

Sleepless in Saskatchewan

Answer
I'm going through crate training my German Shepherd puppy right now, so I can sympathize with you! He was 4 months old when I got him, and was never crate trained as a young puppy, which sounds like the problem with your Yorkshire as well.

You have a few options. One is to stop letting him up onto the bed at all (at least for a while). When he gets up there, put him back on the floor without saying a word. Be advised you will have to do this OVER and OVER and OVER again for the first few nights. He should eventually give up and lie down in the floor. When he does that, you should have a little bowl with a couple of treats in it either on your nightstand or within easy reaching distance when you're on the bed, toss him a couple of treats and calmly tell him "Good boy, [Name]".

Another option is to just leave him alone and don't worry about putting him up for the night. Just let him sleep up on the bed with you. A word of caution about this option, though; letting a dog sleep in the bed with you can sometimes lead to dominance issues where the dog starts to think he is above you in 'pack rank.' Some signs of this are growling when you move in the bed if he's up there, or growling if you go to move him. This is the first sign, and if this happens and nothing is done about it, it can lead to the dog biting you, so if you go this route and this happens, let me know.

Another option is to try and 'desensitize' him to the crate. This is what I'm doing with my pup. Move the crate to the room you are in and just put him in there at different times throughout the day when you are at home. Ignore him if he puts up a fuss. You may have to get some earplugs because it's very important that you NOT let him out of the crate when he is whining, howling, barking, and carrying on. If you do, then you have taught him that barking, whining, and carrying on in the crate gets him let out. As soon as he is quiet for a few seconds, praise him and let him out. Feed him in the crate with the door open. Hide treats in there when he isn't looking, so that he can find them later on his own. Instead of letting him up on the bed with you when you turn on the TV, put him in the crate immediately and ignore him until he's quiet for a few seconds, then calmly praise him and toss him a treat through the bars or openings on the side of the crate. If he remains quiet, then praise and treat him every 30 seconds he is quiet for a couple of minutes, and then every minute for a couple of minutes, and then every 3 minutes for 10 minutes or so. This should give him time to calm down before you want to go to sleep, and teach him that being quiet gets him praise and a treat. These treats should be very very small - no larger than a pea - and he should get these particular treats at no other time other than when he's in the crate. They should be very special treats. Plain, boneless, cooked chicken breast works well, as well as Bil-Jac liver treats and also Pup-per-oni. You can break the liver treats and Pup-per-oni up into small pieces very easily.

When you leave for the day, put him in the crate, so he gets used to staying in there. Give him something like a medium sized Nylabone or a Kong stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese to keep him occupied for a little while, when you put him in the crate. Make sure you take him outside and let him poo and pee right before you put him in the crate and leave. He should not be left for more than 8 hours at a time in the crate, and right now, I would venture to say that if you can, have someone come and let him out every 5-6 hours until he gets used to staying in the crate all day (since you said when you tried this last he soiled in the crate). Also, make sure the crate isn't too large. It should be only just big enough for him to stand up, turn around, and lie down in. If it's much bigger than this, he's likely to use one end of it for pottying.



I'm sorry I don't have an immediate solution for you, but if you want him to ever become crate trained, you will have to be consistent and very patient.

Good luck and please let me know if there's anything else you need help with!

Kristen