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Transitioning a puppy into a larger crate
My fiance and I have a 12 wk old puppy that is growing like a weed! He is quickly becoming too big for his small plastic (travel) crate that he has been calling home and I wanted to transition him into the large wire crate we have that has a partition. The crate is partitioned so that about half the space is available so that it is not too big for him that he would have any accidents.
We have tried to use this crate a few different times after he has investigated it (i.e. we would put some of his favorite toys, treats, etc. in the open crate so he can wander in and grab things he likes) however, the first night we tried to use the new bigger crate and after he was in there for about 3-5 minutes he started barking and whining frantically and very loud (like he was in pain--not typical bedtime behavior for our pup), after a few minutes of this we let him out and put him in the old crate, not a peep all night......any suggestions on how to make the new crate more inviting?
Re: Transitioning a puppy into a larger crate
FF
Some dogs like the den feel of plastic airline crates. In order to make a wire crate feel more cozy, putting a sheet or something over it might help.
Just make sure that he isn't going to chew the sheet (and to be honest, at this point, he will).
You may just need to see if you can get a plastic crate the next size up off of freecycle or something.
There are a ton of great tips in our FAQs about crate training a puppy. Sounds like he is getting more familiar with you and trying to see what he can get away with.
Your dog is a wonderful mix of two very smart and energetic breeds of dog. He will need lots of playtime and exercise to wear him out. A tired dog is a good dog.
While you are checking out the FAQs, please take a moment to read about why the Pets board asks that you don't call your dog by the designer dog name.
This was my first thought as well.