# Puppy crying at night regression



## Emandmillie (Sep 25, 2018)

Please help. I have a 5 month old welsh spaniel. She has been crate trained&has been happy sleeping in her crate since her second week of being with us. Now she has suddenly started whining about 10 mins after going in her crate. The whining gets louder&louder, and builds to hysterical barking&ends up biting her own paws due to frustration/anxiety. She doesn't do well on her own generally&we've tried leaving her to cry but after 45 mins it's getting worse rather than better&she's worked herself up into an absolute state. after numerous times of leaving her to cry it just isn't working &I'm afraid the neighbours are going to start complaining. 

I've started going down, telling her a firm no then turning my back to ger&ignore her and after a while she settles down but I can't keep doing this every night. She is very strong headed&I'm wondering if this us stubbornness rather than anxiety. I'm at a loss as to what to do. Every forum says don't give in to the crying but it goes on for hours and she's in such a state it's clear that she won't cry herself to sleep at all.I need an alternative option.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

The alternative is to reassure her. If she is distressed a firm 'no' won't solve that - distress is an emotion, not a behaviour. Something is upsetting her and by comforting, you are not giving in to her: you are reassuring her that there is nothing to worry about and you have her back. The advice to ignore her is a bit outdated to be honest and current thinking is that reassuring her when she is distressed will help with her confidence as she will see that you have things under control so she can relax. I read an interesting piece just yesterday, I will post a link if I can find it.


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## Jamesgoeswalkies (May 8, 2014)

Emandmillie said:


> *Every forum* says don't give in to the crying but it goes on for hours and she's in such a state it's clear that she won't cry herself to sleep at all.I need an alternative option.


Not every forum. And certainly not those that advocate positive training methods. I have to admit that I really don't understand the 'let them cry it out' way of thinking. Leaving a pup to have a few moments whimpering before wandering off or falling asleep is very different from leaving a distressed pup to become more distressed. In fact it is usually counterproductive to leave a distressed dog to cry as it increases the potential for a fear of being left which can lead to Separation Anxiety. And if you pup has started to biting her own paws this is a sign she has already become very anxious.

It doesn't matter why your pup has regressed to not settling at night - maybe she was/is teething, maybe she has heard something - either way I would simply start again and hopefully rebuild your young pups trust that being left isn't scary. To do this, personally, I would go back to sleeping downstairs for a couple of weeks - initially in sight of the crate so you can reassure and eventually out of sight (in preparation for going back upstairs). By simply 'being there' when pup goes to bed, you will re establish that it's ok to fall asleep and things should return to normal.

It's not stubbornness - pups really don't think that way (nor do adult dogs) - it's just a puppy being a puppy. But I would work on her general training as this too will help her become more relaxed and independent.

J


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

Sorry it took a while to find the article (I did have to do other things, I haven't spent hours looking )

http://www.simplybehaviour.com/letting-dog-cry-cause-permanent-damage/


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I’d have her crate in my room at night and go back to basics with SA training so she learns to settle happily alone eventually.

She sounds anxious to me, not stubborn, and the more she is allowed to get in a state the worse she will be.


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## Acidic Angel (May 8, 2012)

I agree with all of the above. Our English springer, Hazel, went through this same thing at around 5ish months and instead of leaving her, I worked her back up to being comfortable in her crate. It only took her about a week, maybe a week and a half, and she was back to sleeping soundly through the night and I've not had a single issue since. 
I just treated it like a small bump in her puppy road and dealt with it as if she was an 8 week old pup who just left her litter.


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