Crate Training

[eevee-13]

We have had Winston since he was 10 wks (now 4 months) we have not started any crate training yet. Partly due to the fact that we had to move, but is it too late to start now? As it stands now, My husband & I take turns going to the store and running errands so he's not left alone. (too spoiled huh?)
Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks a bunch!

 

[gmacleod]

It is never too late Adults can be successfully crate trained.

Obviously, it's easier if it's something started from day 1. But it's certainly not impossible.

The best way to start is by introducing the crate as a fun and secure place for your puppy to be. So don't shut him in it

Instead, give him a nice comfortable bed in there and encourage him to play in and out of it, to take naps in there (which probably means transferring him after he falls asleep somewhere else while you're watching TV), and you can feed him in there too. Don't worry about shutting the door at this stage. Just play games with him going in and out, and wait until he gets over any distrust of it. It would help if you keep the crate right in the centre of activity in your home - don't put it away somewhere quiet. He's far more likely to accept napping in there if it's right beside where you're sitting than if it's away somewhere on his own.

And once he's happy with all that, then you can shut the door on him. Shut him in while he eats, and shut him in while he's napping. If he complains, just keep going about your business (don't go away - just keep doing what you're doing around him) and wait until he's quiet. Then let him out.

Eventually, you should get to a point where he's comfortable enough with being in his crate (and well enough aware that crying won't get him out of it) that you can start to leave him in there while you go out an run errands etc. Do try to leave him with something to do though (a stuffed kong to chew on or something similar).

 

[eevee-13]

Thanks

I really appreciate the time you took to explain crate training to me. This is a first for my husband and I so we need a little guidance. We will get started right away and hopefully soon it will be smooth sailing and we can go out together again!

 

[CondoPup]

Once you do the above and he's got the basics down, when you're ready to go out/away for the first time and leave him crated, try the following:

Prepare the yummiest, longest-lasting treat you can - the best suggestion I have is a filled Kong toy, with lots of peanut butter or whatever else inside - then put it inside the crate with the doors shut (and the puppy on the OUTSIDE, unable to get to it).

Do this for the last 3-5 minutes before you walk out the door, and by the time you leave, the puppy should be anxious to get IN to his crate. Then you open the crate door, in he walks, shut the door, and off you go, while he happily starts working on his treat.

 

[paradave]

gmacleod has it down pat!! That is exactly what I did with gunner, and he took to it right off. matter of a fact, when he outgrew his first one, we had to get him a full size one, and he was UPSET untill we got him a new one!!

We did exactly what gmacleod has suggested, we put the crate in the living room during the day, and every chance we played with him, putting his toys inside of the crate and left the door open, and whenever he crashed out, we would put him in the crate, again with the door open, and come bedtime he would go right in!! Again, we always kept the crate close to us, at night for example, right beside the bed, so he wouldnt feel alone. If he started crying, we could immediatly calm him down....

Good luck!