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GiGi came home yesterday. we hit the ground running with potty training and crate training. She just had a couple of accidents inside but also has done very well going outside. Particularly at night. we played some crate games early on when she got to the house and she has already started to take her favorite toys into the crate to play with them all by herself.
last night I slept on the floor next to the crate and had the door closed while she was sleeping. She would fuss a little bit when I put her in the crate but settled down pretty quickly with me right there.
Each time she woke up I comforted her and if it had been a reasonable amount of time I took her out to pee which she did most of the time. Couple of false alarms but by the end of the night she went a three hour stretch sleeping.
The issue now though is at this extremely early stage we are noticing that if we close the door to the crate, or if she's alone for any length of time at all she not only whines but screams and howls bloody murder. It's like a horror show is happening in that room. And today she seems more content to nap just outside her crate.
I understand that the crate is new and it's distressing for her to be away from her litter mates and in this new place with all the new smells sights and sounds. And I don't want to encourage her screaming behavior by rescuing her when she's in the crate but I'm a bit surprised by the intensity of her distress it's so clearly distressing that I'm looking for tips as to how to get her to progress to remaining calm in her crate when it's closed and no one is with her. I sit outside the crate when she's going bananas and wait for her to have a calm moment when I can reward her, but thus far there have been no such moments. LOL. Thanks in advance for your advice.
EDIT: She's 8 weeks old
last night I slept on the floor next to the crate and had the door closed while she was sleeping. She would fuss a little bit when I put her in the crate but settled down pretty quickly with me right there.
Each time she woke up I comforted her and if it had been a reasonable amount of time I took her out to pee which she did most of the time. Couple of false alarms but by the end of the night she went a three hour stretch sleeping.
The issue now though is at this extremely early stage we are noticing that if we close the door to the crate, or if she's alone for any length of time at all she not only whines but screams and howls bloody murder. It's like a horror show is happening in that room. And today she seems more content to nap just outside her crate.
I understand that the crate is new and it's distressing for her to be away from her litter mates and in this new place with all the new smells sights and sounds. And I don't want to encourage her screaming behavior by rescuing her when she's in the crate but I'm a bit surprised by the intensity of her distress it's so clearly distressing that I'm looking for tips as to how to get her to progress to remaining calm in her crate when it's closed and no one is with her. I sit outside the crate when she's going bananas and wait for her to have a calm moment when I can reward her, but thus far there have been no such moments. LOL. Thanks in advance for your advice.
EDIT: She's 8 weeks old