I recently moved to a new house. We have put the puppy's crate (5 month old, beagle/jack mix... about 11lbs.) in the basement during the day as to not disturb the neighbors. We tried to stop feeding him in the later evenings and make sure he goes to the bathroom in the morning... but consistently when we are not there (even if only for an hour or two), he makes a HUGE mess. The lights stay on, there is music in the background and we are just frustrated that he doesn't seem to be able to control himself while we're gone... We did have him in a crate in our bedroom at the last place and he did fine in there... occasionally making a mess, but nothing close to what we're encountering now. He sleeps well during the nights with us and I figure maybe it's a separation thing or just the fact that he isn't comfortable in the basement since everything is so new... We try to keep him down in the basement with us to get him adjusted, but so far, no luck. I know he's till a puppy, but he's been doing well with litter box training when he's out of the crate and not doing much damage outside of his crate either. We also can't figure out where all the MESS is coming from if he stops eating in the early evening and goes to the bathroom in the morning?? Any advice or help would be so appreciated!

The problem is that he is fouling the crate? When under stress, dogs always seem to be able to manage to have a bowel movement. Try leaving him a small Kong filled with peanut butter. Depending on how food motivated he is, he could be too busy licking the peanut butter out to be stressed.

Are you sure he would howl if you left the crate upstairs, perhaps facing a window where he could see out? Dogs do like there protected dens, but they like to be able to see out too.

Stronger leadership may help too. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position

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Originally Posted by BuddyWinston

I recently moved to a new house. We have put the puppy's crate (5 month old, beagle/jack mix... about 11lbs.) in the basement during the day as to not disturb the neighbors. We tried to stop feeding him in the later evenings and make sure he goes to the bathroom in the morning... but consistently when we are not there (even if only for an hour or two), he makes a HUGE mess. The lights stay on, there is music in the background and we are just frustrated that he doesnt seem to be able to control himself while we're gone... We did have him in a crate in our bedroom at the last place and he did fine in there... occasionally making a mess, but nothing close to what we're encountering now. He sleeps well during the nights with us and I figure maybe its a separation thing or just the fact that he isnt comfortable in the basement since everything is so new... We try to keep him down in the basement with us to get him adjusted, but so far, no luck. I know he's till a puppy, but he's been doing well with litter box training when he's out of the crate and not doing much damage outside of his crate either. We also can't figure out where all the MESS is coming from if he stops eating in the early evening and goes to the bathroom in the morning?!?! Any advice or help would be so appreciated!

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Put a little gate around him so he has a little place to run around. Put a mat you don't care for ( or something else) under the gate. Spray him a little bit if he makes a mess. (With water) He won't like it and soon realize he only gets sprayed when he makes a mess. Eventually he will grow out of it.

Thanks for the response. Im afraid to keep his crate upstairs, just for the fact that the basement does provide some more "insulation" from the noise... and the mess... however, you do bring up a good point and I will consider this. This morning he knew he was going to have to go downstairs while we were getting ready for work and he whined and cried. I did get him a Kong yesterday after reading a few of your other post, so we will see how that works out. We are also taping him to see how long he barks and what else he does while we are gone. If his barking is too excessive, do you think a muzzle during the day is acceptable? I had barking issues with my other dog at one time, and with neighbors complaining, and I used a muzzle for that... after a little while she figured out it was better to just be quiet then to have the muzzle on... I don't want to punish my dog or muzzle him, but if it will correct the behavior then Ill give it a shot. We are also trying to spend more time in the basement with him in order to get him used to the area... hopefully to help him feel more comfortable.

Thoughts?

I am really surprised a dog barks loudly enough to annoy neighbors from inside the house. Before I found the trick to it, we have had new puppies cry until they set the neighbors' dogs to barking, but never a complaint. Of course, you never know how much something is annoying others that may just not complain.

The camera sounds like a good idea. I have had puppies that barked when left alone in the crate, but never knew how long they may have continued after I left.