Crate Training a Puppy

Question
I have a dachsund/chihuahua mix puppy, male, not neutered yet, who is 6 weeks old.  I just got him yesterday, bought a soft side kennel and padded it with lots of blankets, a heating pad and a clock.  He whines and cries when I put him in it and walk away, but he sleeps just fine if we put him in our bed.  The problem is that we need him to learn to sleep on his own, without keeping the whole house up at night.  What are we doing wrong?  Should we put him in another room in the kennel?  I almost hate to do that because I am afraid he will be too lonely because he is so young.  Please help!

Answer
Whoever sold you this puppy did him, and you, an injustice.  This pup is too young to have been removed from its mother.  That shouldn't happen until the end of the seventh week, and in many states, it's illegal!  Do not put a pup in your bed.  Studies have shown that dogs that sleep in the bed as very young puppies are more aggressive than those that don't, although older dogs sleeping in human beds doesn't seem to have that effect.  You should put him in a crate in your bedroom, and let him cry (get earplugs, but it only lasts a couple of nights.  He will be able to hear your breathing and take comfort from it eventually, but if you speak to him, he has gotten attention for being noisy in his crate and will continue to harass the household to be let out of it.  He has to learn to be separated from you, and learn that you always come back in the morning, or that you will take him out for potty breaks.  When you do that at night, don't talk or play, just take him, quietly praise when he pees outdoors, and put him directly back in the crate and go to bed.  You can use a phrase like "bedtime" to give him the hint that once he hears that you will not be paying any more attention to him until morning.  It basically becomes a cue to just go back to bed because nothing's going to happen anyway.  Get this book: http://www.amazon.com/Puppy-Primer-Brenda-K-Scidmore/dp/1891767011  And sign him up with a positive or clicker trainer for puppy class starting when he is ten weeks old (ask for a class for small breed dogs).  Because he was taken from his litter, he needs to play off leash with lots of other puppies to develop bite inhibition, and so class or day care are very useful.  Read the position statements on this page (especially the one on puppy socialization):
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id...