Starting the training at home

The first 3 nights are always the hardest especially if your puppy has never been in a crate.  There are many options for housebreaking but I prefer a regular routine of the puppy being told “kennel” and then placed into the crate.  If they have not been exposed to a crate they will often cry for the first 10 minutes before settling down to sleep.  The most important part of crate training is responding when they cry in the middle of the night.  If they start to whine or bark I take them outside for a potty break and always reinforcing how good they are when they go outside.  BUT, the most important part of crate training is that you don’t reinforce the fact they are barking but rather that they need to go out.  Once they do their business you put them back into the crate.  You can expect your puppy only to sleep 2-3 hours at most for the first few nights.

Our first night went like this: in crate at 9:30 out at 10:30 to pee and poop.  12:30 back outside to pee and poop.  3am back outside to pee and poop.  4am back outside to pee.  Esme then decided she wanted to play, I put her back into the crate and she did bark for 15 minutes before settling down.  6am is the time all dogs are let out and breakfast is served!