introducing boxer to crate

[zenlakin]

Hello everyone. I did some searches within the forums and didn't find anything relating to introducing a boxer puppy to a crate. My 11 week old female boxer once in her kennel does pretty well but she will not go in the crate by herself. I was just curious what methods some of you other boxer owners have used in this situation? She is a new puppy that I have only had for about 4 days and I am not expecting her to be training now or anything. The main thing I am looking for is the most gentle way of getting her used to the kennel and going in on her own as possible. I don't want to cause her any stress and don't want her to develop a fear of her kennel. Thanks guys.

Just to tell what I have done so far is I have been trying to put treats in the kennel to try to lead her in but she doesn't seem interested.

 

[TwoDogs]

Just toss the treats in and leave the door open. She will eventually wander in to get them. When she does, tell her "good girl" and toss in another handful. Feed her meals in the crate with the door open. When playing with her, toss a toy in the crate for her to get. Right now, don't close the door--that can come later--just work on getting her to associate the crate with good things and feel comfortable going in and out.

 

[zenlakin]

Ok, with that said what shall I do at night when it is time for bed? I have been putting her in the crate at night because we really don't have any other place in our condo to put her at the moment.

 

[RoxiesEcho]

The best thing you can do is make the crate a good experience. Never use it as punishment. I would toss treats in, toss toys in and make sure there is always something she likes in there. Even if you have to physically put her in at night, make it a fun or calming place to go. Are you concerned because she fusses when you put her in at night?

 

[shadowlk]

zenlakin - When I got my puppy 2 months ago I did extensive research through books and these forums. What you're supposed to do when its time for bed is first make sure she doesn't drink too much or eat right before putting her in the crate. At that young age, they don't have control over their bladder yet and would need to go potty once every 3 or 4 hours..some even less. So for the first few weeks of crate training you will have to wake up at those intervals and take your puppy outside. This is actually a great opportunity for you to start getting her/him used to the training word for potty. In other words, you keep repeating this word or two words every time shes going potty and she will eventually pick it up and in the future respond to that word appropriately. I myself say..Hurry up (in a playful tone of course). Anyways one thing i've noticed almost everyone agrees on is that crate training is one of the most important things of raising a puppy. It takes a lot of work but it pays off in the end.

 

[zenlakin]

RoxiesEcho - That is exactly what I was curious about was if it was going to cause any issues later on if I physically put her in her kennel at night. When I put her in there she will whine a little but all I do is tell her "no" when she is whining but immediately once she stops I tell her "good girl". She only whines for maybe about 1-3 minutes at the most and then she calms down and goes to sleep.


shadowlk - I was taking her out about every 4 hours or so the first couple of nights that we had her and oddly enough last night she didn't even wake up at all and I put her in her kennel at about 9 pm and I let her out at about 4:30am when I got up to get ready for work this morning. So she has already made it through one full night without needing to go out.

So in a nutshell my only concern was if having to physically put her in her kennel would be damaging later on? Her kennel is very comfortable as I bought a nice fluffy pillow to put in the bottom or it as she seems to really like fluffy things to lay on. I also put in her stuffed animals and kong as well as a little rawhide bone that she likes to chew on.

 

[shadowlk]

It won't be damaging if you put her in at the right times. By that I mean, if you put her in after shes been out for hours playing, jumping, eating, what have you, that is an appropriate time for her to be back inside the kennel and take a nap. Sure she might start to whine and yelp a bit, but if you ignore it for 5 minutes or so she will fall asleep and take a long nap. After you make a routine out of this, she will realize that its not so bad to be in the crate as she comes out eventually and goes right back to playing, eating etc. Just remember it is very important to ignore her whining when you put her in because this teachers her that the whining wont get her results.

 

[zenlakin]

Would just ignoring her provide better results you think that telling her "no" when she whines, and praising her immediately when she stops? I assume it might be on a case by case basis and so far the latter method actually seems to be working very well.

 

[RoxiesEcho]

The thing to remember is that she is just a baby yet and whining isn't unusual when she's being left alone. But as long as she settles down within a reasonable amount of time, she'll get the hang of things. I'm not sure I would tell her no while she's in the crate just because it's giving her a negative in a place that you want to be positive. It sounds like she is on her way to figuring things out so the best thing for you to do is be patient with her. It won't be long before you are scratching your head and wondering how she grew up so fast!

 

[zenlakin]

Thanks for the input and words of encouragement Roxies. I will keep everyone up to date and I am sure that it won't be long at all given that she seems to be changing every time I work with her. She appears to be quite sharp and very eager to please.