Crate Training
The biggest issue we're having is that she DOES NOT want to go into her crate in the morning when we leave for work. My husband spent 30 minutes trying to coax her in only to end up putting her in the basement because he was going to be late for work. It seems that once she gets in she's fine. We have a nice blanket and some toys in there and she usually lays right down after a tiny bit of whining... Any tricks? ideas? thoughts on why she's hesitant? We are super hesitant of leaving her out b/c we're still new to her and her new to the house and us. Plus, we crate Sam, the goldendoodle, and don't want one in and one out. |
|
|
| You know... I don't think Asterisk every really LIKED going in her crate when she was a wee one. She would always pout and hang her head. Now that she is two, I find her sleeping in her crate (we stopped crating her at 6 months old). Now that Levi is being crated, we have the same problem. Part of his problem is that he spent from age 8 weeks to 8 months in a 5x3 crate outside by himself. So he has a bit of anxiety being crated when we aren't home. We are trying treats to entice him. When I'm grooming at my grooming table in the basement (our crate is down there, since it's always cooler in the basement than the upstairs), I have seen him sniff inside and I praise the heck out of him! Try using treats and getting her used to using the crate once you get home. She doesn't have to be placed in there and locked in. Do some exercises using treats. Have her get inside give her a treat, praise her and repeat. Do this a few times, give her a break of a half hour to an hour and repeat. |
| We put some kibble in a Kong and then top it up with a bit of peanut butter (maybe a tablespoon). We say 'crate time' in a happy voice, wave the Kong around, and in she goes without fuss. We make sure we are ready to head out the door before we do this. She goes in, we close the door, say 'see ya later' in a very casual voice and off we go. We leave a radio on for her. Peanut butter is a very powerful tool! She is busy licking that up, then getting the kibble out of her Kong. I have watched through the window to see what happens after the Kong is empty and she usually has a drink, then flops down for a nap. |
| Great idea Kim. Thanks! I have tried using the trail of treats and that works to some extent (mostly her head in and her butt hanging out the door still) but already knows that she adores pb!!! I'll let you know how it goes... |
We have to crate Ryleigh to because she keeps tearing up things when we are gone and Im afraid she is going to eat something that will hurt her. What we do, or my 12 year old son does, is when he is home he sits in the crate with her. Sometime with the door open and sometimes he shuts the door. lol She goes in and lies down with him.  She still whines when we leave her in there by herself and we are heading out the door, but I know she is safe and wont hurt herself. And my 2 labs get a break from her hearding them so they dont mind either. |
Ryleigh wrote: What we do, or my 12 year old son does, is when he is home he sits in the crate with her. Sometime with the door open and sometimes he shuts the door. lol She goes in and lies down with him. OMG! I love it! If only I were small enough to do that. Space would be pretty tight with me and a big ole pup in there too!  |
New OES Mama wrote: Great idea Kim. Thanks! I have tried using the trail of treats and that works to some extent (mostly her head in and her butt hanging out the door still) but already knows that she adores pb!!! I'll let you know how it goes... So, last night my husband practiced with Nola to go in her crate. she was having none of it! As soon as the PB filled Kong passed over the entrance she booked it out of the room. I'm assuming she must have had some bad experiences with crates at one point. Will she get over this/ |
| Can the dogs see each other while in their crates? Are they wire or "airline" plastic? Are they near? Are they face to face or alongside each other? |
| When we crate trained, we actually fed the girls their meals in the crate, with the door open. That way the association was with something good. We put the crate away when we moved a year ago. Recently it came back out to help with a foster dog. Tonks and Luna were so excited to see thier old crate; they dragged a blanket and some toys in there! And they couldn't understand why the foster dog got to have HIS meals in THIER crate! |
Ron wrote: Can the dogs see each other while in their crates? Are they wire or "airline" plastic? Are they near? Are they face to face or alongside each other? Ron, they are in the same room in wire crates. they are in an "L" shape so not face to face. (sam's crate is in the corner and nola's is kinda in the middle of the room). I'm pretty sure they can see each other. UPDATE: Nola is doing much better the last couple of days. It's not taking her as long to go in the crate but it still involves making a trail of treats to get her to go in. Thanks for the ideas/help everyone! |
| When we first got Mady, we were crate training her and I was under the impression that I should "coax" her in there, that it's best if she goes in willingly, and never to force her because you don't want her to think it's a punishment. Well, coaxing her in was such a pain when we were putting her in for the night. We had our dog trainer laugh at that and just told us that when it's crate time, say it's "crate time" and put her in. Nothing mean, but no messing around either. I started doing this, I just put her in her crate when I wanted her in and that was it. She now goes willingly in the crate with no fuss, whether she's getting a peanut-butter kong or not. It may be a bit different for a dog that's already a couple of years old, Mady had zero experience with crates before we got her at 8 weeks (so no bad experiences), your dog may have had bad experiences. |
Baba wrote: It may be a bit different for a dog that's already a couple of years old, Mady had zero experience with crates before we got her at 8 weeks (so no bad experiences), your dog may have had bad experiences. That isn't quite true, dear. I think that she was free to run in and out of crates at her breeder's, so our crate wasn't a complete surprise to her, she had had some exposure. |
| got my oes last night. wants nothing to do with the crate. Plus we both work and are gone all day so we don't know what to do with her. any ideas? Tomorrow will be her first day home alone all day. we can't leave he loose - she could get hurt. looking for advise. |
| our oes is 9 weeks old. got her yesterday - wants nothing to do with thecdrate. PLus - wework all day and will be gone all day tomorrow. Don't know what to do with her. can't leave her loose for feel of injury plus potty issues. Looking for advise. |
| Lily hated it at first. Try and disassociate it with you leaving. A couple times a day play the "crate game". Throw favorite treats and toys in there. |
rosie 1 wrote: our oes is 9 weeks old. got her yesterday - wants nothing to do with thecdrate. PLus - wework all day and will be gone all day tomorrow. Don't know what to do with her. can't leave her loose for feel of injury plus potty issues. Looking for advise. I fear this might sound rude, and I don't mean it to, but right off the bat I have to wonder why you got a 9 week old OES and didn't have a plan in place for her care while you are at work. OES can be high-maintanence puppies and high-maintanence dogs, but NO new puppy shows up and can be Left alone all day while people are at work. Do you have someone that can come in and take your new puppy out to potty while you are at work? A new puppy cannot "hold it" for multiple hours. Unless you have a plan that involves someone coming multiple times a day to let your new puppy out, you are going to come home every day to a puppy covered in urine and feces every day. When we got our puppies, I took some time off from work to be able to get them settled into the routine; to crate train them and work on potty training. Do you have some vacation time? Do you have a family member that can help out? Maybe you can hire a dog walking service or a trainer to look in on your new puppy several times a day? Perhaps consider doggie training camp-- though I suspect your puppy will need to have completed its last rounds of vaccinations (at 4 months old) before they can attend any kind of training outside the house. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|