[slaus2]

It has been a week of crate training so far for our 10 week old beagle. We had some problems with her pooping in her crate, found out she had worms and diharia, stool is now firm sometimes and super loose others. She is on a pill for her diharia and we gave her her worm pill last night. She is also on a vet recommended diet of boiled rice and chop meat. Stool was firm during our walk this morning but runny again when Itook her out before I left for work. (it's only been 2 days on new diet and meds).
Last night was her worst night yet. She slept for the 20 minute car ride on the way home from the vet, went potty when we got home. Once we were inside she was nuts! Running and jumping all over the place (more hyper then I have ever seen her). My husband and I were pretty happy because we figured she would sleep most if not all of the night. We played with her for a few hours she went out right before bed. I laid in front of her crate and talked and sang to her until she fell asleep. She slept for about 1 hr and a half. When she woke crying up I went and took her out, she peed. Brought her back to her crate and laid down with her again. Well she did not sleep from that point on (midnight). She cried and barked even with me laying in front of her crate. I tried soothing her for about a half hour and then tried ignoring her. Nothing worked she would not sleep. I am honestly at the point of having a nervous break down, I have not had a good night sleep in a week. I don't know if she is just not bonding with her crate or was it the worm pill that made her so restless? We live in a ranch so there is no where to go that I won't hear her barking, I even tried ear plugs last night. We have a basement but it gets so cold down there. I knew that having a puppy was not going to be easy but this is getting way out of hand.

[labman]

Time to try the Kong with peanut butter. The Kong is sort of a tapered hollow rubber dog toy. Any pet story has them. Buy a fairly small one. Fill it with peanut butter. She will be too busy working at licking the peanut butter out to bark. Eventually she should tire and fall asleep. Be a little careful about how much peanut butter you give her. It is not that bad, but you may need to cutback on her chow to keep her lean and healthy. I hope it helps you get some sleep tonight. We went through many bad nights before I discovered the lying in front of the crate. It is bad when your puppy has all the dogs in the neighborhood barking. I am glad to hear it is working part of the time for you.

You seem to have a strong willed little puppy. I hope you are starting obedience training. It is much easier when they are still young, and helps build the relationship with her you need.

[slaus2]

Thanks for all the tips... you have been really helpful through out this whole ordeal. She has a Kong she licks the peanut butter for a couple minutes and then realizes I am not around and starts her whining again. She is not easy to please but I am not going to let her win. She is going to learn to sleep through the night in her crate or I am going to dye trying. I just called about obedience training and we start on Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed.

[labman]

Try a soft cheese. The more highly food motivated the dog, the better this trick works. Nothing works every time.

[mrs.pennell]

Have you tried covering her crate with a sheet? I had to do that with my puppy in the beginning until he started sleeping through the night in his crate. I think the sheet creates the cozy feeling of a den. I hope this helps, I undertand how frustrating it is when your puppy barks all night long. The first night I brought my puppy home he barked all night and I cried all night. Good luck!

[labman]

Covering the crate may be more needed if it is a wire crate. Might choose something heavier than a sheet to make sure she doesn't pull it in and shred it. Putting the crate under a table or in a corner may help too.