Makela
I haven never crate trained any dog. I have a 8 month old border collie and when I put him in the crate, I give him lots of treats, kong, toys..whatever. Usually he just ignores them and starts whining and barking. Someone please help, I have no clue what I'm doing!
Answer
For the others- All dogs should be crate trained, for times like when youâre travelling in the car, visiting the vet or any other time you may need to confine your dog (eg. after surgery or if it has been injured), itâs much easier and safer if your dog has been trained to enjoy being in a crate.
A crate should be big enough for your dog to stand up, turn around and lie down. A crate is intended to be a âsafe havenâ or âsecurity blanketâ for the dog. By nature, dogs like small, enclosed spaces, especially when they are feeling a little bit unsure.
The duration of crate training varies from dog to dog. It will depend on the dogâs age, temperament and past experiences. It is very important to remember that your crate should be associated only with something pleasant and training should always move at your dogâs pace. Always vary the length of time that your dog will spend in its crate, especially during training. This will prevent your dog from âexpectingâ to be let out at a particular time and reduce any issues such as whining or scratching at the crate door.
Place the crate in a central part of the household (living room, TV room, etc). Make the crate inviting and comfortable for your dog. Usually, dogs will go over and investigate. When your dog goes near the crate, reward it by throwing a food treat into the crate or near its entrance. Repeat this every time the dog goes near the crate. If the dog settles down inside the crate, reward this behaviour either with your voice or with food rewards. You want the dog to view the crate as a wonderful place to be, full of goodies and fun. You donât want to shut the door of the crate just yet. Your dog needs to understand that it can come and go as it pleases, therefore reinforcing it as a good place to be.
Begin giving your dog its regular meals in the crate. Place the bowl inside the crate and encourage the dog to enter. If your dog readily enters the crate at dinner time, start asking it to go in and then place the food inside the crate.
As the dog becomes more comfortable eating in the crate, you can introduce closing the door. Start by closing the door as your dog eats its meal. Make sure you open it before the dog finishes its meal. As you progress, gradually leave the door closed for a few minutes at a time. Soon you should have a dog that will happily stay in its crate after a meal. If the dog whines; ignore the behaviour and try to reward it or let it out as soon as it is quiet. Next time, make sure the dog is in the crate for a slightly longer period of time.
Once your dog is happy in the crate for about 10 â 15 minutes after finishing its meal, you can start to confine it to the crate for longer periods. Get the dog into the crate using a command such as âcrateâ or âbedâ. As the dog enters the crate, give it a treat, praise it and close the door. Quietly sit nearby for a few minutes and reward the dog for remaining calm and happy.
Be careful that your puppy doesnât spend too much time in its crate. While it is a fantastic tool for toilet training puppies and preventing destruction, a dog of any age should not spend all day in a crate while you are at work and again when you go to bed. This can affect your dogâs muscle development and condition.
If your dog begins whining in its crate, the best thing to do is ignore it. Remember that any sort of interaction, positive or negative, will be a ârewardâ to the dog, so ignoring the whining is best. However, make sure that you reward the dog appropriately when it has settled and is quiet. Using a towel or sheet to cover the crate if the whining persists can also help settle the dog.
For the others- All dogs should be crate trained, for times like when youâre travelling in the car, visiting the vet or any other time you may need to confine your dog (eg. after surgery or if it has been injured), itâs much easier and safer if your dog has been trained to enjoy being in a crate.
A crate should be big enough for your dog to stand up, turn around and lie down. A crate is intended to be a âsafe havenâ or âsecurity blanketâ for the dog. By nature, dogs like small, enclosed spaces, especially when they are feeling a little bit unsure.
The duration of crate training varies from dog to dog. It will depend on the dogâs age, temperament and past experiences. It is very important to remember that your crate should be associated only with something pleasant and training should always move at your dogâs pace. Always vary the length of time that your dog will spend in its crate, especially during training. This will prevent your dog from âexpectingâ to be let out at a particular time and reduce any issues such as whining or scratching at the crate door.
Place the crate in a central part of the household (living room, TV room, etc). Make the crate inviting and comfortable for your dog. Usually, dogs will go over and investigate. When your dog goes near the crate, reward it by throwing a food treat into the crate or near its entrance. Repeat this every time the dog goes near the crate. If the dog settles down inside the crate, reward this behaviour either with your voice or with food rewards. You want the dog to view the crate as a wonderful place to be, full of goodies and fun. You donât want to shut the door of the crate just yet. Your dog needs to understand that it can come and go as it pleases, therefore reinforcing it as a good place to be.
Begin giving your dog its regular meals in the crate. Place the bowl inside the crate and encourage the dog to enter. If your dog readily enters the crate at dinner time, start asking it to go in and then place the food inside the crate.
As the dog becomes more comfortable eating in the crate, you can introduce closing the door. Start by closing the door as your dog eats its meal. Make sure you open it before the dog finishes its meal. As you progress, gradually leave the door closed for a few minutes at a time. Soon you should have a dog that will happily stay in its crate after a meal. If the dog whines; ignore the behaviour and try to reward it or let it out as soon as it is quiet. Next time, make sure the dog is in the crate for a slightly longer period of time.
Once your dog is happy in the crate for about 10 â 15 minutes after finishing its meal, you can start to confine it to the crate for longer periods. Get the dog into the crate using a command such as âcrateâ or âbedâ. As the dog enters the crate, give it a treat, praise it and close the door. Quietly sit nearby for a few minutes and reward the dog for remaining calm and happy.
Be careful that your puppy doesnât spend too much time in its crate. While it is a fantastic tool for toilet training puppies and preventing destruction, a dog of any age should not spend all day in a crate while you are at work and again when you go to bed. This can affect your dogâs muscle development and condition.
If your dog begins whining in its crate, the best thing to do is ignore it. Remember that any sort of interaction, positive or negative, will be a ârewardâ to the dog, so ignoring the whining is best. However, make sure that you reward the dog appropriately when it has settled and is quiet. Using a towel or sheet to cover the crate if the whining persists can also help settle the dog.
Having troubles with wolf-dog in crate and in car, can someone help me?
btp83760
Ok well we have a wolf dog pup. when we got her she was 11 weeks old. She absolutely hates the kennel! We would take her outside to go to the bathroom and she would go then we would put her in her kennel and she would just throw a huge fit biting, rolling, doing what ever to make a ruckus or get out. When she would throw her fits they would last for HOURS... now for some reason she will poop and pee in her kennel even if she just did it outside. also she throws the fits while going to the bathroom in the kennel so it is all over her body from head to toe. it is AWFUL! She does right when she gets in the kennel. we don't know what else to do. months later she STILL does it... she does the same thing when we put her in the car to go to the vet... she poops pees and throws up EVERYWHERE... we talked to the vet about it and he said it was normal. But it happens every-time and gets worse each time. so recently we don't use the crate anymore because we can't keep cleaning her every time we put her in it. but we need to be able to when we go somewhere so she doesn't chew up anything or potty in the house cause potty training is still in the process...getting better though... slowly. Does any one have any advice for me? if so that would be AWESOME! Thanks.
Answer
Your dog is showing resistance due to being forced to comply with something that you've demanded. In simpler terms, you've gone about crate-training the wrong way, and your dog is reacting.
Have you begun any obedience training with this dog, at all? This is where you start. Through training in obedience you will gain respect, through this respect you will gain a dog who will feel secure enough to know that you are the leader and you will never cause her harm. And timing is everything... I can't stress that enough. Knowing when to reward, and when to release her from any negative pressure is so important. But to understand this, you must understand her body language WITHOUT fault. Are you familiar with her body language? Can you tell just by the move of her eye, or a twitch of her lips, when she's relaxed or when she's beginning to feel stress?
Training wolf dogs is not simple. Gone are the days of alpha rolling and 'showing him whos boss.' These are outdated techniques that get many, many people hurt. Training wolf dogs consists of positive reinforcement/positive motivation. This applies to crate training, as well. It MUST be a positive experience - always.
As with any dog - wolf dog or not - you begin training as early as you can. Again, using postive motivational methods, you will get your dog to enter the kennel, and exit on her own accord. She says "Wow, that wasn't so bad." Reward her for going in, not shutting the door THEN rewarding her.
You must start from the very beginning. There are plenty of websites for you to visit re: crate training. As I said, it doesn't matter what your dog is, it's the method you choose. Forcing is not the method. You will lose.
The same applies for car rides. A
Your dog is showing resistance due to being forced to comply with something that you've demanded. In simpler terms, you've gone about crate-training the wrong way, and your dog is reacting.
Have you begun any obedience training with this dog, at all? This is where you start. Through training in obedience you will gain respect, through this respect you will gain a dog who will feel secure enough to know that you are the leader and you will never cause her harm. And timing is everything... I can't stress that enough. Knowing when to reward, and when to release her from any negative pressure is so important. But to understand this, you must understand her body language WITHOUT fault. Are you familiar with her body language? Can you tell just by the move of her eye, or a twitch of her lips, when she's relaxed or when she's beginning to feel stress?
Training wolf dogs is not simple. Gone are the days of alpha rolling and 'showing him whos boss.' These are outdated techniques that get many, many people hurt. Training wolf dogs consists of positive reinforcement/positive motivation. This applies to crate training, as well. It MUST be a positive experience - always.
As with any dog - wolf dog or not - you begin training as early as you can. Again, using postive motivational methods, you will get your dog to enter the kennel, and exit on her own accord. She says "Wow, that wasn't so bad." Reward her for going in, not shutting the door THEN rewarding her.
You must start from the very beginning. There are plenty of websites for you to visit re: crate training. As I said, it doesn't matter what your dog is, it's the method you choose. Forcing is not the method. You will lose.
The same applies for car rides. A
