# Confinement whining, making potty training difficult



## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I have not tried to raise a puppy in an apartment. I know others have and I am sure they will give you advice.

Dakota cried for 15 minutes straight when I first crated him. I waited him out.and he stopped. And he got better each time he was crated. Soon he only cried when I left the room. So I went in and out of the room quickly and he got use to that.

Maybe your neighbors cannot hear him cry. These first days are hard while you are figuring out your routine. There will just be times he is going to cry.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

I would go talk to your neighbors and explain the situation and let them know if there is ever a time when the puppy noise is bothering them to please let me know.

You have only had him a few hours. Don't expect so much. It will probably be 3 or more months before he is potty trained and longer before it is reliable. Hang in there!


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## hopetocurl (Jan 8, 2014)

You should check out some crate training games and exercises. Also, give him a tasty treat whenever you put him in the crate. I used frozen Kongs for a while.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I think it is a big ask of a baby puppy, just removed from his mother and litter mates and dumped in a completely new and strange environment with strange people, sights, smells and noises to stay quietly alone! In fact I think it is expecting too much. I would keep him with you for the first few days, working on making the crate a lovely cosy happy place to be right next to you even at night, and then very gradually work on separation when he is a little more settled. At eight weeks he doesn't have much control of his bladder anyway - put him on the pad when he wakes up, after play, after eating and drinking, and anytime he begins to squat. Have a party when he gets it right, have a good enzyme cleaner to hand for when you get it wrong. And focus on enjoying him - he will get housetrained; they mostly do!


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## maelee (Mar 19, 2015)

I think you guys were all right. Today he's been great! he is quiet as long as he can see me. Like Minipoo suggested, ill start leaving him alone at small intervals and build it up. He's been sleeping all day so I think the excitement of the new environment yesterday left him tired.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Timi was a whiner from day one, but I did not think it was loud enough to be heard through my apartment walls, and much better than barking, which she almost never does. Make sure that the crate is in a place as far from the neighboring walls and front door as possible, and lots of rugs, and soft things in the room really help to absorb the sound. 
Anyhow, I don't think that there is much that you can do as far as training other than working on a lot of obedience that requires building patience and waiting for them to mature. Now, at 17 months, I would say that it has dissipated 90 percent.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

Funny story about apartment living with a pet. I did own a cat in an apartment once. And because he bothered me when I slept I would put him out of the bedroom. Then he would stand on the other side of the bedroom door and meow and meow and meow. I would yell SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!

Later I asked my neighbor if they heard my cat meowing and he said, no, but I keep hearing you yell SHUT UP! 

So explain to the neighbors as suggested and don't worry about the whining. Barking could be another matter.

It gets better in a few months (that is what they told me).


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## gr8pdls (Jul 13, 2010)

Remember to reward the pup often for being quiet in the crate. Also know that "you" are a reward also. If you are out of sight and the puppy starts whining, wait outside the door until the pup is quiet(even if only for a second or two at first), then go into the room without much fanfare. I do the same thing when the pups are outside. If they're barking to come in, I wait until they're quiet before opening the door.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Archie has been here for almost three weeks, and he's getting better about not crying when he goes in the crate at expected times, like bed time and when I leave for work, but my goodness he HOWLS if he's in his crate at any other time and we're anywhere in the apartment. My solution is to just try very hard to only crate him at times when noise is acceptable. It helps that I live in a really pet-friendly complex, so most people around have dogs and are used to it. And then I just try to stay as quiet as possible until he quiets himself down and goes to sleep, because if he can hear me he seems to take that as encouragement to keep crying. You might try putting him in there and then leaving your apartment to see how much noise travels outside. Whining doesn't seem to carry as well as barking and howling do.

Archie is 10 months old, so quite a bit more mature than your baby, but I do find that a predictable schedule helps. He cried a lot for the first week, but he's figured out now when he can expect to be put in there and, more importantly, when he can expect to be let out. It just takes some time for them to figure it out.

Make sure you reserve some special treats/chews exclusively for the crate - stuffed Kongs are a winner. If you use them for other stuff as well as crate time, then at least make sure he gets the very best ones when he's in the crate. It's also good to hide some treats in the crate, so that as they settle down and start to explore the space they're periodically getting rewarded for being in there. I've also heard that feeding all meals in the crate (with the door open) is a good idea to create a positive association, though Archie won't eat a regular meal in there so it depends on your dog.


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