Hello.

Me and my girlfriend recently got a new Boston puppy, an 8 week old girl, Lilly. We are having really hard time to adjust her to her crate. We started feeding her in there, praising her when she isn't crying, giving treats.

The problem is that she will not stop crying when shes alone, and I mean she will go on forever. I know you supposed to start leaving her inside for short periods of time, but we don't really have any choice to leave her in there for about 1-3 hours a day due to being students. We tried leaving her in the living room, well that ended up with a nice pee puddle and poop on our couch.

We also have a 1+ year old boy Boston, Baxter. We never had a problem with him.

So we just looking for some advice on how to make her stop crying inside the crate.

Thanks in advance.
John and Mandy.

Have you tried putting a blanket over the crate? Leave her one side open for ventilation of course, but sometimes putting a blanket or something to shield the light and all the other action going on in the room can make for a more calm environment while she's in there. Good luck!

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Little Debbie
(Rock and Jazz's mom)
Web Hosting Doc

What all do you have in the crate with her? I mostly keep Roscos bed in his crate, but sometimes he'll take a toy in there. Definately try the blanket thing.
8 weeks seems kind of early to take a pup from her mom, but you should remember that she can probably only hold it for 2 hours. A good rule of thumb is for every month old they are is about how many hours they can hold it.

She has few towels and a blanket that she loves inside. There is also a few toys and a puppy pad. We have tried the blanket and it didn't help, she will just cry even louder. And about the 2hr you are absolutely right.
Last night we tried leaving her in a room by herself for the night, and she would wake us up every 2 hours just like the 1st day we got her.

How about a Kong with peanut butter?

We'll try it out.

You could try leaving the tv or a radio on for her. It might help to keep her calm, but just keep trying. If you take her out when she cries, she'll learn thats what gets her out of the crate. Maybe try wearing her out before she goes into the crate so she'll be sleepy.

I didn't start crate training Elvis until he was able to hold it all day. Prior to that I had a baby gate up and kept him in the bathroom with one side set up for toys and bed and the put puppy pads on the other side. He felt much more safe and not closed off in there. As he got older I started making the space in the bathroom smaller by moving the baby gate in until it was more like a crate. Try that out it worked wonders for me. I also have a wire crate for Elvis so he feels more open and comfortable and part of his environment.