New barking

[AshleyJohnson]

My 11 week puppy has been with us for almost three weeks now. We started crate training right away and he was so great at going in, whining for maybe a minute then going to sleep. However the last two nights whenever we put him in he barks and whines his head off for over thirty mins. He still has his favorite toy in there, a bed, so nothing has changed. We haven’t made it a bad place- he still gets treats in there. The only thing that changed was he had some medication that made his stomach upset and he had diarrhea for a day. During which we let him mainly stay in his play pen and put him in the crate to sleep once he fell asleep and took him out frequently since he had to dedicate more often that day. Did doing this accidentally set a new habit? Anyone else have a dog regress in crate training? 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

The diarrhea event can certainly play a role in the onset of barking more. If he was taken out more frequently, especially if he barked or moved around more making you suspicious he needed to potty, that could have left a strong impression in his mind and now with the diarrhea resolved, he may be expecting a response and be taken out as often as before. We do have forum members reporting similar regressions in crate training after diarrhea episodes, but usually they are short lived. 

It can certainly be challenging knowing at times when he really needs to be taken out due to diarrhea or just because he has gotten used to being taken out more frequently.  If ever in doubt, it would be important to take him out on leash to the usual potty area for a few minutes to give him the opportunity to potty, being extra boring, no talk, no touch no interaction etc. and then, straight back in the crate.