How do I stop my puppy barking in the crate or pen?

All the steps you need to help your puppy stop barking at crate time

Getting your puppy to settle without barking is simple, if you follow the right steps Image: Ayla Vershueren, Unsplash

I’ve written another blog on this site about the many reasons why your dog might bark. So many reasons in fact that I’ve broken them down into various categories to help you. This one is specifically about puppies who bark when they’re put into a crate or pen and how to stop it.

There’s a couple of interesting things to know about puppies who bark in their crate or pen. The first is that it’s a really common problem. And the second? Well, the chances are you have trained them to do it. Let me explain why.

If you google ‘how to stop my puppy barking in the crate’ you’ll see all kinds of advice. Some of it dreadful (like squirting them with water) but much of it good. The good advice comes down to ‘ignore it’. And that’s basically right, so how come this is a problem so many owners still have? Well, it’s just not as easy as it sounds. Mostly, internet advice doesn’t tell you exactly how to set your puppy up for success. And if you’re not properly set up, at some point, most caring puppy owners are going to feel that the puppy is barking so hysterically that there’s actually something wrong. And the thing is, there might be! So we need to start with a slightly more structured approach.

1.     Know the difference between ‘I want’ and ‘I need’

The first thing you need to know is the difference between ‘I want’ and ‘I need’ barking. How do you tell? The only way is to eliminate any possibility that the puppy has a reasonable ‘need’ that you haven’t fulfilled

·      Might they be hungry or thirsty?

·      Has he had enough, social interaction?

·      Enough physical and mental stimulation?

·      Could they be sick, need the toilet, or be in pain? Remember teething can be painful and rough play can cause discomfort or injuries

·      Is the crate/pen big enough, comfortable, warm/cool enough?

·      Is the environment free of distractions/sudden noises/drafts?

2.    Proper training + no previous problems

BUT, I’m assuming here that

·      You or the breeder have done proper, individualised crate and confinement training (not sure how to do this? Drop us a line info@hotdogtraining.co.ukl)

·      The puppy’s been sleeping quietly and happily in the crate or pen at the breeders house, has settled well into your home and family, built a bond, and been doing well in this particular confinement at your house, up til now

·      There's an established routine.

·      The puppy doesn’t have a legitimate need (see above)

·      You’ve got time to see this through. It’s not last thing at night when you (or your neighbours!) need to sleep

3.    How to eliminate crate barking

PLEASE, please don’t plunge in without being absolutely confident that 1 and 2 above are in place. Get it wrong or try to shortcut the measures above and you risk your puppy’s welfare, their relationship with you and potentially causing separation distress (one of the most difficult things to change and a major reason puppies and dogs are put up for adoption or put down).

But, if all these boxes are ticked, you’re ready for your puppy to learn that when they are put in the pen or crate, after all their needs have been fulfilled, this means ‘time to settle’.

The reason crate barking starts is that one day the puppy goes in their crate or pen and they think, ‘I want to play some more’. So she barks. You’re worried something’s wrong because she’s been settling in the crate up til now, so you go back in. You shush the puppy, or reassure her. The puppy realises that if she barks, you’ll return. Having set everything up for success, you're ready to change this. I can’t emphasise enough, you have to make sure that it is, in fact, fair to have put the puppy in confinement at this time. You got to tick all those boxes above before proceeding because otherwise you’re going to traumatise your puppy AND ruin any crate and confinement conditioning you and the breeder have done.

So, you’ve done everything right. It's fair (by which I mean, to the puppy, not to you!) to put the puppy in his pen or crate and expect him to be quiet. Now we’re going to do something called ‘putting the behaviour on extinction’

Let me explain how that works in this context. Basically, it means leaving the puppy alone to bark until he gives up. Ease the process by giving your puppy a stuffed food toy or a raw, meaty bone when you put him in his confinement area (assuming he’s had raw meaty bones before and you know he’s safe with that type of bone). This gives your puppy the best chance to self-soothe by chewing and possibly fall asleep before he starts his attention barking. Regardless, you’re going to ignore the barking until it stops.

Generally, your puppy will bark and, as you ignore the barking, you'll hear it starts to get less shrill and become more spaced out. It might seem like the barking has finally stopped. But hang on… it will start again. And now it’s likely to be really intense. You might think your pup has injured itself (which is why it’s a good idea to have a doggy cam on them or simply use two phones on Facetime to each other so you can see what’s happening). This hysterical barking is the ‘extinction burst’. It’s your puppy’s last ditch attempt to get you back. But this is the point when the average puppy owner just cannot take it. And then they run in and yell at, soothe or let the puppy out. By the way, this is exactly how training works. We withhold rewards in order to get the dog to work harder/better/longer and then we reward that harder/better/longer behaviour. And so it is with attention barking. Reward it by returning at its height and that sets the bar. Puppy learns that frantic barking earns the reward (your return and attention). And this is how owners inadvertently teach the puppy to bark.

At the end of the day, it's simple.

1.      Make sure it's appropriate for your puppy. Check their needs are met, be confident confinement training has been done thoroughly and has been working until now. If not, work on that first.

2.    Set it up for success, when you have the time and patience to see it through.

3.    Put the puppy in confinement with a chew and steel yourself for however long it takes.

4.     That's your first successful session.

Then the next time your puppy goes into confinement, he'll probably bark and there'll be another extinction burst but it won’t take so long or be so dramatic. The third or fourth time your puppy goes in it'll be a routine. There might be a bit of a grumble, but that's it.

Set it up right, ensure there are no unmet needs, ensure confinement training is already in place before you do this, and you will be teaching your puppy some really valuable skills. To be able to calm themselves, to settle quietly, to be self-sufficient alone for short periods, and to build resilience around ‘wants’.

Still feel daunted? Talk to our puppy experts. We offer 1-2-1 puppy advice as home sessions or on Zoom/Teams for this type of issue or any other puppy issue. info@hotdogtraining.co.uk