Training our new puppy.

Hi Shannon...welcome and congrats on the new pup! Crate training can be quite a challenge. It seems like Sasha may be in manipulation mode, if she thinks that "whining = someone will come get me". If you want her to sleep in her crate, then you may just have to stay strong and ignore her whining (if she already went potty). And having to go often, even every hour, is quite normal for a puppy that young. Don't worry, it won't last forever! []
 
Try to make her crate a fun place...have you tried giving her a kong stuffed with something yummy (peanut butter, treats, etc) and making sure there are several -safe- toys available? Also, when you have time, try working with her to go in the crate (treat), then eventually closing the crate door for a few seconds (treat), closing it for a little longer (treat), etc. Patience, patience, patience. Good luck and keep us updated!
 
I'm sure that many others will have other advice too.

Hello Shannon

While I agree with some of the things goetz said, but I also would like to point out some important caveat lectors. First off, make it clear to yourself what you are asking from your pup. You are asking an immature member of a highly sociable species to sleep by itself and stay by itself in a wire cage - because you say so. Can they learn to accept all these things? Of course, but they do not come natural, as little as it does come natural for many human toddlers.

There is nothing wrong whatsoever with the pup, which actually looks for the warmth and security her mother and littermates normally still would provide, sleeping in your bed with you. If you want to train her to sleep in the crate, you can do so, with much patience and using proper procedures. If you have to leave the pup by itself, it often is better to not crate them, but putting them either in a small puppy-proof room or an exercise pen is easier accepted and can avoid long lasting negative associations with the crate.

That she has to urinate as much is normal. Some dogs (in some breeds more than in others) do have to pee a lot - as you say, sometimes 2 or 3 times an hour. This will calm down when they grow up and can hold it longer. They also will become a little calmer and more relaxed, which also will help aleviate this nuisance.

All in all I would strongly advise you to get a good introductory dog training book, something along the line of Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash". It will explain you some behavioral basics, learning theory, and protocols as how to train basic obedience and housebreaking.

Good luck and lots of fun with your new dog!

This pup left her litter at SIX weeks??  Wow.  Poor little thing.  Most places its illegal to transfer ownership prior to EIGHT weeks and I never let pups go until TEN weeks.  Those extra weeks with the litter are crucial to the pups social development.
 
In general, pups can hold it for an hour for every month of age, plus one.  So at 7 weeks, the max you can expect her to hold it is about 2.5 hours.  You don't say what breed she is, but typically the smaller the breed, the less holding capacity they have.
 
It's been awhile since I've had ONE pup since I foster and get them in bunches....but, last time I did, I put the crate right beside my bed, up so the pup could SEE me.  In the wild, a pup left alone will DIE, so it's natural for her to be terrified when she is separated from you.  Put the crate in your bedroom right next to the bed.  Wrap a hot water bottle in a towel and put THAT in with her to keep her warm and comforted.  You can get special aids, like the snuggle pup, but I've never used one of those myself.  When she whines at nite, put your fingers through the crate and sooth her.  If she settles, she's just frightened.  If she doesn't, she needs to potty and you need to get up and take her.  And I'd be grabbing a towel and carrying her because at that age, when she needs to go, she REALLY needs to go.
 
Since she IS frightened of the crate, I'd suggest an exercise pen for the times that you need to go out.  Daytime crate training can come a bit later, once she's a bit more settled in and less frightened.
 
I don't honestly think that she's in manipulation mode...I think she's a tiny baby who is still terrified of being abandoned and left to die.  She still should be with her litter, so she's going to need extra TLC for a few more weeks.  Be sure that all of your interactions with her are slow, steady and gentle...she's about to enter a fear stage and if handled improperly (ie: soothing her cuz the big bad broom scared her) she'll carry those fears for the rest of her life.

Welcome to i-dog!

Here is a great, FREE resource, a pamphlet you can download and read, all about new puppies and crates and whatnot:

http://www.jamesandkenneth.com/new_puppy.html

She is very young, it's great that you're looking around for information. Puppies are work. Good work, but work. Once this crate thing is solved, you're probably going to want to think a lot about socializing her. Dogs learn a lot from one another about how to behave nicely while they are with their littermates. Being taken away at 6 weeks puts your pup at a disadvantage, and it's great to know about that now so you can give her some experiences that will help with that.

Just wondering on the background of this pup. How did you get her so young?[]