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Permalink Reply by Betts on September 7, 2010 at 10:34pm

I put Rufus right by my bed on a table about the same height as the bed. As he was falling asleep, I put my hand in the crate and did the same after he got up at night, but didn't talk to him or play with him. He whimpered the first night or two, but never cried or screamed. After a week or so, I put the crate on the floor right next to my bed and slowly moved it farther away over time. He's very content sleeping somewhere in the room, and will even not fuss if we put him in the nearby laundry room. Obviously, every dog is different, but I would definitely do the same thing with a new dog. Our last puppy we put in another room, and she cried for a week.

Oh, I took too long writing this. I see Sammie wrote exactly the same thing I did. I guess it worked for both of us.

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Permalink Reply by Molly and Isabella on September 8, 2010 at 1:34pm

THANKS to all for the kind words and suggestions! I do try to keep her up as much as possible in the evenings. Sometimes there is just no waking her! I've taken her outside to try to wake her up and she just flops in the grass, I pick her up, move her and start over! Funny. Her crate started out upstairs with us but she just would not settle down. I was worried I wouldn't hear her if she was downstairs. HA HA! No chance of that! I put her crate in a half bath downstairs. At first, I'd always close her in at night (close the crate door). Yesterday was my first day back at work, so she was in the same space but with the crate door open. I put some papers out in case she had to pee (she did!), even though she still got let out several times yesterday. So, last night, I put a tshirt of mine and my husbands dirty socks (I know, eww, but she was snuggling then before bedtime) in the crate, tossed in a treat and she went in and laid right down! I left the crate door open again and she didn't make a peep. How bad was that that I didn't close the door? I guess she really needs to get used to that part! She slept for about 4 hours and then woke up. I took her outside, she pooped and then I put her right back to bed. This time, she whined for maybe 3 minutes before she went back to sleep. She was up before the birds (buy only and hour before my husband gets up anyway), but that's OK. We got some sleep! This morning when it was time for me to leave, she actually went in and laid down! Yeah! She's getting it, but I know we still have a long way to go!

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Permalink Reply by Carol Rea on September 8, 2010 at 2:08pm

It is so hard to remember that far back! I don't remember that Odie cried when place in his crate at night. i do know that we made sure that he was worn out before putting him in the crate, and that we played a radio real low. some of these suggesions are good, so give them a try. Good luck.

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