I have a 1 year old boxer named Killian. He is the smartest dog that I have ever owned. Listens well and is eager to please! How long will it be before I can leave him in the house alone instead of in the crate. I tried just one room with his crate in it a few months ago and he destroyed everything and releaved himself all over the floor. And he was real whinny when I got home and he almost looked scared. What can I do to make this transition work out?
How long do I crate em...
- Thread starter JeniD
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If the dog has been crated all his life, it needs to be a slow transition out of the crate - and otherwise can be quite a shock for him. That's a major reason why I think training to NOT be in a crate should be started by about 4 months old (the crate is, after all, primarily a housetraining tool).
Still, just because he's a year old doesn't mean he's not perfectly capable of learning. It just means that it isn't going to be a normal, everyday, non-event for him as it would have been if it had been going on all his life. The way to train follows the same lines, whatever the age though.
He needs being loose in the house and on his own to be a non-event. Just a normal daily occurance that is not exciting, not frightening, doesn't mean he's abandoned - basically just a normal everyday occurance. And for that to happen in his mind, it needs to happen in reality
You can start training him in short periods. You leave the house, making a big show of your normal leaving routine (getting keys, coat, etc), and don't crate him before you leave. Of course, you're not really leaving - you're just going to sit outside your front door for 5 minutes. Then you return home - pay no attention to the dog, but just take off your coat, put your keys away - your usual hometime routine, minus paying any attention to the dog.
After 15 minutes, do it all again. And again. Try "leaving" for 10 minutes, for 15, for 30. Sometimes just for 5 minutes. So he can't guess, and gives up even bothering to look or guess how long you might be.
You need to do this over and over, for a period of days or even weeks. When he's paying absolutely no attention, try being gone for a couple of hours.
And when that works out OK, then try crating him in the morning when you go to work, come home at lunch, and don't crate him when you leave to go back (for some reason, they're usually more relaxed in the second half of the day). Keep that up for a little while, and then you're ready totry leaving him out all day.
For obvious reasons, dog-proofing wherever you leave him is a good idea. So is leaving him with a treat ball or other toy that has some mental stimulation attached to it. All day is plenty time for a dog to get bored
Do you see why I said it's easier if you start training them to be alone in the house and uncrated as young puppies though? It's easy for that to quickly become "normal" to them, and if it's never not been normal, then they're less likely to see it as a big deal when they're well enough housetrained for the crate not to be needed. It doesn't mean you can't train him now, of course. It just means that you need to go through that long desensitisation exercise first.
Still, just because he's a year old doesn't mean he's not perfectly capable of learning. It just means that it isn't going to be a normal, everyday, non-event for him as it would have been if it had been going on all his life. The way to train follows the same lines, whatever the age though.
He needs being loose in the house and on his own to be a non-event. Just a normal daily occurance that is not exciting, not frightening, doesn't mean he's abandoned - basically just a normal everyday occurance. And for that to happen in his mind, it needs to happen in reality
You can start training him in short periods. You leave the house, making a big show of your normal leaving routine (getting keys, coat, etc), and don't crate him before you leave. Of course, you're not really leaving - you're just going to sit outside your front door for 5 minutes. Then you return home - pay no attention to the dog, but just take off your coat, put your keys away - your usual hometime routine, minus paying any attention to the dog.After 15 minutes, do it all again. And again. Try "leaving" for 10 minutes, for 15, for 30. Sometimes just for 5 minutes. So he can't guess, and gives up even bothering to look or guess how long you might be.
You need to do this over and over, for a period of days or even weeks. When he's paying absolutely no attention, try being gone for a couple of hours.
And when that works out OK, then try crating him in the morning when you go to work, come home at lunch, and don't crate him when you leave to go back (for some reason, they're usually more relaxed in the second half of the day). Keep that up for a little while, and then you're ready totry leaving him out all day.
For obvious reasons, dog-proofing wherever you leave him is a good idea. So is leaving him with a treat ball or other toy that has some mental stimulation attached to it. All day is plenty time for a dog to get bored
Do you see why I said it's easier if you start training them to be alone in the house and uncrated as young puppies though? It's easy for that to quickly become "normal" to them, and if it's never not been normal, then they're less likely to see it as a big deal when they're well enough housetrained for the crate not to be needed. It doesn't mean you can't train him now, of course. It just means that you need to go through that long desensitisation exercise first.
kayboxer
Boxer Insane
Do you do the same thing with 4 month old puppies to train them? Also, do you leave them out of the crate at night? I trust Buster out at night now, but we have two crates in our bedroom. One that is his, and one that is Roxy's. Roxy starts out on our bed but usually goes to her crate after a few hours because of my tossing and turning (she sleeps on my legs). If I let Buster have free reign, he ALWAYS goes to her crate and gets in. I can't get him to use his own crate by himself, so I have to make him go to his bed and lock him in. Any suggestions on how to make him use his own bed without having to force him in and lock it?
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