My dog whines in her crate. How long until she feels comfortable?

What's more important is what you DON'T do. BellaRose is acting like a typical child who doesn't want to go to bed. Once you are sure that all of her needs for the night have been taken care of, put her in there and walk away. Do not scold her for crying, or try to soothe or comfort her. Don't go back to her. And do not let her out of the crate! She is testing you. Ignore the crying completely. Once she realizes that her behavior is not having the desired effect, she will stop. It will probably take a few times for her to get it. Good luck!

It's okay, but ideally we want Baxter to enjoy being in his crate and not whine or cry at all - so next time, I would recommend giving him a special, long-lasting treat of some kind when you put him in his crate. A Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter is a great option for many puppies. This will help him get into the habit of settling down right away when he goes in, and will also teach him to associate good things with being in his crate. This should cut down quite a bit on the barking and whining, and help to set him up for a lifetime of enjoying his crate :)

If Oliver sleeps peacefully in his crate during the night, then clearly he is used to it. As for the daytime . . . you need to decide what the house rules will be, not he. Put him in the crate when he is awake, and ignore any whining or howling. Any attention, even negative attention such as scolding him, will reinforce the behavior. You may have to tough it out for a few days, but once Oliver understands that no amount of noise is going to bring results, he will stop. Just be prepared for an initial escalation if his antics worked in the past to either get him sprung from the crate or some other reward. He will wonder why they are not woreking now, and try harder. Be patient. He will stop if he gets no satisfaction from his efforts. Just be certain that you are not leaving him in the crate for too long a period of time during the day. Best of luck with this! If you need further assistance, you can click on the prompt to initate a consult.

if you are giving in when he whines, you are encouraging the whining (he gets what he wants, right?) You need to ignorre the whining. Don't scold; don't reassure. just ignore him completely. He may increase the behavior at first, since it has always worked in the past. But if you stand your ground, it will eventually stop for good.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. This is a tough part of puppyhood! In general the advice goes to ignore the crying entirely and only pet, talk to, or let Vito out when he is quiet. Otherwise he learns “Hey! Crying gets me attention and out of this crate!” Patience and dedication over several days or weeks with this method usually does the trick. I’ve attached a good handout in the link below with other things you may not have considered about crate training. Hope this helps and best of luck to you and Vito! 

vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/local_resources/pdfs/behavior_pdfs/Crate_Training_Your_Puppy.pdf

You could try giving them a treat puzzle or something else to keep them occupied while you are gone if you are crating them when you aren't home. You can also try starting over and slowly re-acclimating them to the crates: try feeding them in the crates and keeping them in for short periods of time with a treat or other distraction, then gradually increasing the amount of time they spend in the crate. If this is a new behavior you may want to try to determine if something in the environment has changed, like a loud noise that might be startling them or a dog barking nearby.

They key to stopping this kind of behavior is with training and positive reinforcement. If Panda spends a great deal of time whining for things she wants, you must learn not to give into her demands. Any time you respond to whining in a way that will make her happy, you are reinforcing her unwanted behavior. If you are outside and she is begging for you to play fetch, you can not throw the ball until she is sitting calmly and attentively. The moment that this happens, you should say praise her and play fetch. Continue with this in a repetitive way until she begins to see that being quiet and well-mannered is the key to her getting the ball. This type of positive reinforcement technique is the mainstay to training most dogs for any basic obedience. The use of a clicker is a great tool in starting this type of training. You can find countless videos on clicker training on Youtube that will show you just how to use this tool to your advantage. Other things that might be useful are things like the Adaptil collar (http://www.allivet.com/p-5327-adaptil-collar-for-medium-and-large-dogs-246-in.aspx?sku=49617&gclid=Cj0KEQjwi7vIBRDpo9W8y7Ct6ZcBEiQA1CwV2BJDnbVHCRFspwaa-XevpeDb6Tr5L9MFP5z4rAupDhoaApW08P8HAQ) and in some more persistent cases, certain medications that can be prescribed by a veterinarian. Hope you and Panda can work things out so everything is happy and well-adjusted.