My puppy won’t nap unless crated

Are you wondering when you’ll be able to let your puppy sleep on his own without needing to crate him?

If your puppy won’t nap unless he’s crated, there are a few things you can do to help teach him to sleep in other places. Here’s some more information.

Here’s why your puppy won’t nap unless he’s in his crate

It’s important for your puppy to nap. Puppies need a lot more sleep than adult dogs do because their bodies and minds are growing so much.

Most puppies need around 18 to 20 hours of sleep every day. If you want your puppy to be well-behaved and healthy, then you need to make sure he’s getting this rest.

Putting your puppy in a crate to nap is a good way to do this. But what if your puppy won’t nap anywhere else? Is there any way to encourage him to nap well in other places?

Before we get into why your puppy won’t nap unless he’s in his crate, check out these related articles:

• My Puppy Doesn’t Sleep Enough—What Can I Do?
• How Long Do Puppies Sleep At Night?
• Do Puppies Sleep A Lot During Growth Spurts?

If your puppy won’t nap outside the crate, the reason is likely that he sees it as his sleep spot. You’ve trained him to sleep in there, after all, and it may be the only space he doesn’t associate with activity. To transition him out, you will need other calm spots—and teach him to self-settle.

You’ve trained him to

One major reason why your puppy will only sleep in his crate is because that’s exactly what you’ve trained him to do.

Crate training is a great way to give your puppy somewhere relaxing to lie down and rest. Learn more about how to crate train your dog easily in 13 steps here.

But if this is the only place you’ve encouraged him to sleep, then he simply won’t think about sleeping anywhere else!

The good news is that there are certainly ways to encourage your dog to take naps without you having to put him in his crate every time.

Your dog only relaxes in the crate

It’s very important for your dog to learn how to settle himself properly. If he doesn’t know, then he might struggle with things such as over excitement and being over tired.

The ability to know when he needs to nap and to calm himself down is called self-settling. Some dogs learn how to do this on their own with no trouble. Other dogs have a more difficult time.

Your dog might not know how to calm himself enough to take a nap when he needs it. He might not even recognize that he’s feeling tired in the first place!

There are lots of useful ways you can teach your puppy to self-settle and nap when he needs to. We’ll get to those in a moment.

He feels safe in there

When you started crate training your puppy, you probably spent a lot of time focusing on making his crate a comfy, safe place. This is a crucial part of the crate training process. Your puppy isn’t going to want to go in there at all if it isn’t comfy!

But if you haven’t focused on making other parts of your house feel comfy and safe as well, then he’s not going to want to nap there. If your puppy refuses to sleep anywhere except in his crate, then it could be because it’s the only place he feels safe napping in.

It’s a designated calm space

When you’re crate training a puppy, you need to make sure he knows that when he’s in his crate, it’s quiet time.

But if you want your puppy to sleep in places other than the crate and to nap without your help, you should teach him the same thing about other areas of the house.

If your puppy has been taught to see the crate as the only calm space, it might be hard to settle in other areas. He might see other parts of the house as being too-high energy for him to rest in.

How do I get my dog to sleep without a crate?

We’ve covered all the reasons why your puppy won’t sleep unless he’s in his crate. Now, you might be wondering what you can do to encourage him to sleep in other places.

Here are a few helpful tips you can use.

Create a cozy spot

Your puppy might struggle to sleep in places other than his crate because they’re not as safe or cozy.

So what can you do to encourage him to sleep in other places? The obvious answer is to make other comfy spots around the house!

Try to find areas that are calm and quiet where it won’t be too noisy for your puppy to sleep. Set the spaces up with some cozy blankets. You can even use blankets you already have in his crate, because they’ll have his scent on them. This should make him feel more comfortable sleeping in new areas.

Leave the crate open

Even once you’ve made some super cozy places around the house, it may still be hard for your puppy to relax there.

That’s because he’s just not used to it yet! With a little time and with some positive reinforcement dog training, you can help your dog learn to settle in other places.

In the meantime, you might want to leave his crate door open when he’s settling down for a nap. If it becomes too difficult for him to rest in the areas where his new cozy spots are, he can always go into his crate to finish his nap.

Make this spot a calm zone

To help keep your puppy calm in his new resting areas, you need to make sure that these areas are a designated calm space.

Choose parts of your house where there is little activity for your puppy to rest in. Make sure everyone in your house knows it’s a calm space that needs to be kept quiet.

You should make sure that your puppy knows this too. Just like you designated his crate to be a calm space, you should designate this area to be a place for rest.

Make sure you don’t do any playing or roughhousing in the area so your puppy can stay relaxed there.

Make sure he’s empty for the night

If you are trying to teach your dog to settle down at night, then you need to make sure there are no reasons for him to get up and move from his sleeping spot.

To do this, you’ll have to make sure that he’s done all his business right before he goes to bed. Take him outside immediately before you let him settle down for sleep.

If you’re worried about your puppy filling up his bladder, then take away his water about an hour or so before bed. Do the same for his food as well.

Speaking of food, if you have any questions about your dog’s eating habits, take a look at these related articles:

• Why Is My Dog Refusing to Eat Dog Food?
• 7 Tips to Stop a Dog from Begging for Food
• How to Stop Your Dog Guarding Food

Wear him out

Is your puppy struggling to sleep because he seems to just have too much energy? The best way to deal with that is by giving him plenty of exercise!

Just like puppies need a lot of sleep to grow up properly, they also need the right amount of safe, age-appropriate exercise.

There are lots of great ways you can tire out your puppy without overexerting him. Here are some articles that can offer you some fun ideas:

• 21 Fun Things to Do with Your Dog At Home
• 10 Brain Games for Dogs to Play At Home
• Why Won’t My Puppy Play with Me?

Teach him to self-settle

Another important thing you should do for your dog is teach him to self-settle. This means teaching him to recognize when he’s tired and calm himself down enough for a rest.

You can do this by rewarding him whenever he chooses to lie down quietly somewhere instead of getting caught up in other activities.

Another way you can help him feel more comfortable settling down is giving him a food puzzle. A Kong filled with treats and frozen might be a good idea. Licking, chewing and eating makes your puppy’s brain produce serotonin, which increases feelings of wellbeing and encourages relaxing.

If your dog only wants to sleep in the crate, give it time

It’s unlikely that your puppy is going to be comfortable sleeping somewhere other than his crate right away. That’s especially true if it’s the only place he’s been trained to sleep in!

If your puppy won’t sleep outside of his crate right away, don’t worry about it. Stay patient and give it time.

Reward him consistently when he opts to rest outside of his crate, and keep working on making other areas of the house cozy for naps. In time, your puppy will learn that his crate isn’t the only place where he can get some quality sleep.

Crates and puppy naps FAQ

If you still have questions about your puppy and his crate, here are some answers.

When can my puppy sleep without a crate?

The answer to this question depends on you and your puppy. If you’re wondering when to stop crate training your puppy, you can stop once the issue you’ve been training him for has been resolved.

So, for instance, if you’re crate training him to teach him to nap regularly, you can stop crate training once he’s able to settle down on his own.

The amount of time this takes will vary from dog to dog. Stay patient and consistent and soon your puppy will learn to nap outside his crate.

Should you put a puppy in the crate for naps?

Some puppies are able to nap on their own with no issue. They may even pass out without needing to lie down on a blanket or bed!

But other puppies need a little extra help settling down. So, again, the answer to this question depends on your puppy!

However, even if your puppy does manage to nap on his own, a crate might still be a good idea. It’ll keep him safe during naptime until you’re ready to get him.

My puppy won’t sleep when I’m around, what do I do?

Sometimes being close to their humans is just too exciting for a puppy. It can make it really difficult for them to nap if they know you’re nearby.

So what can you do? The best thing to do is set your puppy’s crate up in a quiet part of the house, far away from everyone—including you!

If your puppy can’t see you, he won’t be too distracted by you to sleep.

How do I get my puppy to nap during the day?

If you’re looking for effective ways to get your puppy the sleep he needs during the day, there are a few things you should try.

First, make sure you have a solid routine in place. Also, crating your puppy somewhere quiet will do a lot to help.

Here’s more information on why your puppy is not sleeping during the day and what you should do.

Why is my puppy not napping?

Is your puppy refusing to nap altogether? He may simply not be able to self-settle.

To fix this, you’ll basically need to train your puppy to sleep. You can do this by crate training him and providing him a quiet place to sleep.

If you stay consistent about where and when your puppy sleeps, you’ll find that in time he learns to nap regularly.

My puppy is overtired but won’t sleep, how do I get him to sleep?

If your puppy becomes overtired, it can become almost impossible to get him to go to sleep.

Preventing your puppy from getting overtired is the best way to deal with this. But if it does happen, there are a few things you can try.

Find some helpful advice on overtired puppies in these articles:

• My Overtired Puppy Won’t Sleep—What Can I Do?
• Overtired Puppy Biting—Change Your Little Shark Into a Loving Puppy

Conclusion

Crates are great places for puppies to nap. But there may come a time when you want him to nap elsewhere.

If you follow the above tips, you’ll teach your puppy to sleep comfortably without you needing to put him in his crate.