Crying in the Crate....

I can sympathize.  My dogs are crate trained, but I've had two dogs in my home temporarily that both howled incessantly in the crate, it was awful.  One of them luckily turned out to be house trained (he was a stray we picked up), so we let him out and he slept on my legs.  The other we only had for two days and one night b/c she turned out to have a bad parasite and was kept at the vet hospital to be looked after.  I can deal with a lot of noise, messes, whatever, but I live in a duplex and the guy on the other side of my walls has a baby so the howling and crying has to always be dealt with immediately.

Anyway...is your dog small?  If so, what about setting up an ex-pen or gating off an area on a hard floor?  Then he'd have more space, if that's what he needs, and if he did make a mess it would be easy to clean.  You could also tether him somewhere near you at night. 

"Life sucks!!  I usta get MORE walks MORE attention MORE ... well ... MORE .. and now I feel cruddy AND I don't get more walks more attention an insteada MORE I gets .... NUFFIN!"

yep -- lack of exercise, the fact that he feels generally not 100% AND just the change in 'routine' will trigger such.

Remember -- puppies are like "liddle kids" ... (spelling problems and all!!).  They want what they can't have, they will NOTICE (oh boy will they ever) if one tiny small microscopic thing is 'missing' from yesterday (particularly a 'thing' they WANT like attention, time 'out', walks or general time to P-L-A-Y!!!!!) they will let you know.

You're absolutely right -- you can't 'reward' the behavior ... but ... let's check to make sure you haven't already.  When you give him a bully stick or Kong or anything else -- make *sure* you don't open that crate door when he's crying!!  If you do -- even if you "shut it quick" HE thinks you gave him what you gave him BECAUSE he was crying!! (that you might be trying to shut him up unfortunately never enters his brain!!)

 If you have something in your hand, first off HIDE it behind your back.  Or at least say "noooo, I can't give you THIS if you're crying.  Shhhhhhh -- no crying ... nooooo, none at all .... shhhhhh Ok -- GREAT" (shove it in FAST when he's quiet!)

Same thing when you come home -- if he's crying DO NOT open that crate.  Ignore him and walk around for a few minutes.  Be 'close' so you can 'instantly reward him when he shuts up even for a moment. 

Sometimes you gotta be incredibly fast -- to reward the 'good' and NOT reward the bad.

I've got a basset beagle mix (we call her a 'bagle';) who is VERY vocal -- and every single day when I come home she tunes up as soon as I drive in the driveway.  I actually have to wait for her to be silent in order to let her out of the crate -- and she's FIVE!!!!  But I can't reinforce that whine!! 

Do something at home to run his legs off a bit more -- put a kibble in an empty 2 liter pop bottle and toss it down the hall on carpet -- it will skid like no tomorrow and he['ll have to work to get that ONE kibble out of there!  (not a toy to be left alone with but it's a great toy to wear a dog out).  Even sitting on the floor and taking his ration of dinner kibble and just tossing them one at a time across the floor so he has to 'work' for his food -- it's a great game and it will help wear him out AT HOME. 

Tie a knot in the end of that rope and hang on -- such is life with a puppy!!!

 My dog is a real whiny prima donna sometimes and he used to vocally protest being crated. I finally resorted to covering his crate with a blanket when he was barking and - miracle of miracles - it worked! I think it essentially taught him #1: if crate is covered, there's NO way he's getting any attention, so there's no point in trying, #2: nobody can see you anyway, so why bother, and #3: there might not even be anyone around to hear the whines, so it's kind of a waste of energy.

Also, Rascal tends to whine in the crate when he's stressed (like if company comes over), so covering it seems to actually relax him. He typically goes right to sleep, and when I let him out he's happy and calm. If he's making a lot of noise and I *don't* cover the crate, usually when I let him out he's really hyper and all over the place. I think of it sort of like a little forced meditation.  

Liesje

I can sympathize.  My dogs are crate trained, but I've had two dogs in my home temporarily that both howled incessantly in the crate, it was awful.  One of them luckily turned out to be house trained (he was a stray we picked up), so we let him out and he slept on my legs.  The other we only had for two days and one night b/c she turned out to have a bad parasite and was kept at the vet hospital to be looked after.  I can deal with a lot of noise, messes, whatever, but I live in a duplex and the guy on the other side of my walls has a baby so the howling and crying has to always be dealt with immediately.

I can relate to your Liesje. Gaci and Shimmer are very much both kennel trained, have been from puppyhood. But Gaci has been having some issues in her kennel in the new apartment. The first time I put her in her kennel at the apartment and left the house (she is fine if I"m in the home), she cried, not barked, but cried, whined, and bayed, for the four hours I was gone. The neighbours were very kind about it, and were more concerned than upset. Anyhow, I knew that had to be nipped in the bud, with lots of neighbours, so I set Shimmer's kennel up in the bedroom (she too is not yet completely trustworthy while absent - housetrained, but can like to chew if she gets bored. We're almost there though), and put in to have free run of the bedroom, minus the kennel. Gave them each a stuffed Kong before I left, turned on the radio low, and went to work. Both days so far, perfectly silent all day. For some reason Gaci, even though she has been used to a kennel for her four years of life, found it very anxiety-inducing for her in the new place. It's funny how a change in life can bring about new challenges, but thankfully this one was easily fixable.