Sorry I don't have a picture yet, but i do have a question. My wife and I have a ~11 week old Lab/Huskie mix. We both work during the day and little Jovi is now able to avoid having accidents in her crate during the day. At night though I have to get up two to three times a night to take her out. When I first put her in the crate at night she has stopped whining. When I take her out, she always goes potty, but when I put her back in the crate she whines and barks. Either my wife or I lay on the floor next to the crate (which is covered) and place our hand close until she calms down and falls asleep. I guess my first question is if she can hold it during the day, why not at night? In addition, are we supposed to just let her "bark it out" after we put her back in the crate?
Thanks,
At 11 weeks going out two or three times a night isn't unusual. Put your energy into training your pup to go outside to go to the bathroom will be well worth it in the long run.
As for the crate. If your intention is to have the dog in the crate, the only way to get the dog to stop the whining/barking is to IGNORE it. If you know the pup has just gone to the bathroom, put her in the crate and walk away.
Yep, there will be some nights of no sleep for you, but, eventually, when the pup learns that the noise isn't going to get positive attention (which it does now), the pup will stop making the noise.
Or, do what I did, say the heck with it, and let the pup sleep on the bed!
I had a puppy to potty train too once and my adivice for you is every hour try and let her out. Then if she goes potty outside and not in her crate then give her a treat or surprise-weather it is food or a favorite toy. Try and let her out as ofen as you can. You will see a change in her potty problems! :)
At 11 weeks old a puppy can not reliably hold it for more than 3 hours. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. It all depends on the dog. Its not that your dog can't hold it at night it's just that she knows you're home and she knows she has to go out to go potty, its a good thing that she lets you know that she has to potty.
Your dog knows that by whining and crying it will get the attention that it desires. What you need to do is ignore the behavior in the crate. If you acknowledge it then you are just rewarding the unwanted behavior.