Crate Training Question

[winnied]

How did you get your dog used to his/her crate, and more importantly, when you left the house?

Background: We adopted our dog at the age of two from a rescue. The rescue requires that you sign an agreement stating that you will not crate train your dog. Fast forward to two years later, we decided to try crate training so that when we travel he adapts better (my parents house, cottages, etc.) Right now, when we leave, we babygate him in the kitchen and he does very well. He likes his crate but he freaks out if he's left when crated. He sleeps in it, he just chills in it when we feels like, etc. I'm not sure what we're doing wrong. 

[Susie]

I'm stuck on a rescue requiring you to agree not to crate train. I think of crate training as a normal, healthy thing to do, especially with a puppy.

It will probably be harder to do now than if you'd done it right from day 1. It's hard to guess at what the issue is from your description though.

[Deleted]

I'd start by crating him with the door closed at short intervals while you're home and in his sight. If he starts acting out, look him in the eye, give him a stern 'hey!', point at him and stare him down until he turns his head (submissive behavior). Then start leaving his sight, coming back and doing the same thing until he stops. Eventually he'll start calming down while crated with the door closed and you can start leaving the house for short intervals (5-10 min to start). Then you just work up to leaving him longer. 

It's also good to hide delicious treats in the crate while he's not looking and have some favorite toys only be available to him when he's crated (kong, tug a jug, etc). 

[Deleted]

Aug 7, 2013 12:26:25 GMT -5 Susie said:

I'm stuck on a rescue requiring you to agree not to crate train. I think of crate training as a normal, healthy thing to do, especially with a puppy.

It will probably be harder to do now than if you'd done it right from day 1. It's hard to guess at what the issue is from your description though.

This is bizarre to me. I foster for our rescue and we're required to crate train all fosters.

[aspentosh]

Aug 7, 2013 12:26:25 GMT -5 Susie said:

I'm stuck on a rescue requiring you to agree not to crate train. I think of crate training as a normal, healthy thing to do, especially with a puppy.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought it was weird.

I like @ameliapond's suggestions. That is what we've done when getting our dogs used to anything, and it's been successful. 

[winnied]

Sorry for the lack of clarity, he barks and if it goes on long enough, might pee the crate.

I think the rescue's rationale was that these dogs have been through trauma, etc. I found it odd as well but didn't think it would be a huge deal. My dogs before this one were extreeeemely laid back.

[hz80408]

I agree with @ameliapond's suggestions.

It same really odd about the rescue requirements. For our rescue we say it's up to the disgression of the adopter but recommend they rely on what the foster home did. We've had fosters love their crate and some fosters hate it.

We get our dog/fosters to initially go into the crate with a treat. If your dog is already comfortable in his crate, I'd have him go in their, shut the door and give a treat through the door while you're home.

Like Amelia said, other treats, like a frozen kong with peanut butter or yogurt in it can help keep the dog occupied.

[orangeblossom]

The rescue we got our dog from, has a similar agreement. Whatever. They had some other questionable things, and we won't be going back there if we get a second dog.

We left treats that he only got when we were in there. We also practiced with the door shut when we were home, but not in the same room as him.

I wouldn't say he ever really liked it, but he got used to it. Now, we don't use one at all, except sometimes when we visit my father and there's no one home. I worry about those times, since he's not used to it anymore.

[winnied]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. It's helpful!

[Susie]

One other thing, I'm not sure if it's been said yet: try feeding your dog his meals in his crate. We did that with our dogs as puppies and I think it really helped. It's one of the ultimate happy things for them to associate with being in the crate.

We started at the very beginning with the door open, then closed the door while they were eating and let them back out after. It acclimated them to the whole thing.

I am really only questionably qualified to answer crate training questions though.  My pups didn't give me any kind of run for my money:

[hz80408]

Aug 7, 2013 14:34:29 GMT -5 Susie said:

One other thing, I'm not sure if it's been said yet: try feeding your dog his meals in his crate. We did that with our dogs as puppies and I think it really helped. It's one of the ultimate happy things for them to associate with being in the crate.

This is a great point.  Especially given that you're concern with accidents.  If your dog views the place as where he eats, he will be less likely to have accidents in the crate.

[phunluvin82]

We adopted our dog at 2 years also...we've had her for just over a year now and it is still a struggle with the crate. It's same as yours...she does fine with it if we're there, but has a fit if we leave the house with her in her crate. She just barks and stuff, but her bark is LOUD and has been a problem in the past with the neighbors. Oh, she will also destroy anything and everything we put in the crate, including the plastic tray in the bottom...after breaking 3 consecutive trays into little pieces, we switched it out for a pricey, but extremely durable heavy duty rubber mat. So I feel your pain!

ETA: We tried letting her stay out and it was okay for a while, but she slowly got more mischievous and more destructive, so we had to revert back to the crate and she was NOT happy about that!

[luvmagoldn]

The dog trainer we used suggested giving them a special toy only when in the crate. Something like a kong with treats inside - something to keep them busy and provide a positive association with the crate.

[AAM2012]

I agree to start slow and be consistent. We used treats EVERY time we put them in there and used the same word (crate, bed, whatever you want to use) and after a few weeks they started to automatically get in there when they saw us getting ready for work.

[orangeblossom]

I'm not sure if this would hurt or help, but have you thought about putting a crate cover on it. Sometimes the darkness makes them feel more comfortable.

I know when my dog was a puppy, he really took to his soft sided crate/playpen, because the mesh was so dark. The downside was that he learned how to unzipper it and get out, so we had to upgrade to a regular crate. When we put a blanket over it, he seemed to do better.

[Deleted]

I would recommend reading "I'll be Home Soon,". The author has some good tips for working on alone training. More than anything patience and time are huge. Our dog had some anxiety at first and would roo for an hour or more in her crate after we left for work. Now she has free run of the house and doesn't notice me walking out the door in the morning because she too busy with her kong.

[midnightmare81]

Aug 7, 2013 16:54:04 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

I agree to start slow and be consistent. We used treats EVERY time we put them in there and used the same word (crate, bed, whatever you want to use) and after a few weeks they started to automatically get in there when they saw us getting ready for work.

This is what we did. Our dog gets a marrow bone/kong stuffed and frozen with PB. The only time he gets it is if he goes in his crate. We ended up getting him a bark collar, but that was only because we lived in an APT and we were going to get thrown out if he didn't stop barking. We felt horrible doing it, but it was better then him being back at the rescue in a run for who knows how much longer. He was a tough dog to adopt do to lack of manners, size(55lbs already) and age (6months, so no telling how much longer he would have been there. We did work on it as well, but just couldn't get it solved before the time came where we both finally had to go somewhere together. We also fed him in his crate and he slept in it since he couldn't be trusted free without supervision (and still can't when we aren't home). He used to destroy whatever was in his crate at first, but that stopped pretty quick now that he actually enjoys it and he associates it with positive things.

He now will go in his crate as soon as either he sees us starting to get ready to go somewhere or one of his bones comes out. He runs in it and jumps around in excitement. He even wags his tail and gets excited while we put on his collar, even if no bones are out. I don't think he even needs it anymore, but since we live in an APT and his bark is loud and carries, he still wears it just in case.

At his age it may be a process, but it can happen as long as you make it a positive thing and wean him to it. Just don't try it for the first few times in a new place...


ETA- WTH to the rescue?