Crate Training: The First Night
To Crate Train or Not to Crate Train?
As new Italian greyhound parents, we did a ton of research about crate training your puppy vs letting your Italian greyhound (IG or iggy for short) sleep in your bed overnight. We polled our community online and found that most owners sleep with their iggys because the breed likes it best that way. While we want our puppy to be happy, for our lifestyle it just makes more sense to keep her in the crate overnight. We have a very high bed that would pose a risk of our puppy breaking her leg if she jumped down and we wanted to give our puppy an option to pee on her pee pads during the night. For someone who is outdoor potty training, you will need to get up every 1-2 hours because these tiny puppies have tiny bladders. Since we live in an apartment in a cold climate, indoor potty training was our desired choice.
While crate training may be unpopular or undesired by your dog, this method is for the dog’s safety. We’ve been warned by many that the first night is always difficult and hearing the iggy cry is both heartbreaking and can also wake up your neighbours (since we live in an apartment). Armed with knowledge, we decided to try our best.
The First Night of Crate Training
First off, we got Adelaide good and tired with her very first (and very short) walk. This got her so tired that she fell asleep in her carrier sitting on the couch with us watching Netflix. She stirred a little when we placed her in her crate for bed time. It was great timing though, because she peed on the pee pads in her pen. We’ll talk more about her potty training journey as we go.
Back to bedtime...It was a miracle! No fuss. No whining. She was so content to sleep. We went to bed praying that she would make it through the night…
4am rolls along and like The Little Mermaid, Adelaide found her voice. I would best describe this as a singer learning how to belt for the first time, a big brassy sound. She started whining, which sounded like little squeaks. And then the sound got deeper. It was a bit of a “moo” or like a baby wolf howling for the first time. While it was a funny sound, we worried about what to do. Ignoring her on her first night seemed like a scary choice. Ryan briefly got up and passed her pen on the way to the bathroom but ignored her on the way. He got back into bed, quickly read an article for reference and chose to go back to sleep. It took about an hour but she finally settled.
What to Keep in Mind
Crying is normal. Puppies leaving their littermates and mother will have an adjustment period to being alone.
What kind of crate/pen setup do you have space for or want?
Are you potty training for indoor or outdoor only?
Your personal risk factors for letting them roam free, like high furniture, cords within reach, other dangers, etc.
Don’t reward the crying. Going to them when they cry encourages more crying.
Crate training can be an opportunity to encourage independence, something iggys have been known to struggle with (Velco Dog).
Crate Training in the Future
We don’t know how crate training will continue as Adelaide matures. We’re happy that we are able to keep her in the pen/crate for the whole night, but as she grows older, stronger and more independent, we might be open to letting her in the bed. We’ve been told that Italian greyhounds are prone to leg breaks when they are puppies and they jump from high places. Our bed is high and we just don’t want to risk it! We want Adelaide to be good at traveling and happy sleeping alone. We’re proud of our little girl and look forward to all she has to teach us about being good Iggy Parents.
Until next time!
†This article was originally posted Jul 9, 2019. It has been updated to reflect our experience as of Winter 2021.