My Baby hates his crate!

[lola2429]

My 4 month old baby does not like his crate. I have tried the treats and have even got down on the floor and laid beside the crate to see if he will go in...nothing! He is not crated often as I work from home he has alot of freedom and a older brother who does not use the crate. I didn't use the crate to housebreak him as he picked up on bell training very easily. I go out everymorning for 30 mins and have to crate him..he gets so very stressed..yesterday he made himself sick which breaks my heart. Now my older boy Desi who is just the most special boy in the world has decided to start sleeping in the crate and now Duncan is following him in and snuggles with him. I am convinced that Desi knows just what he is doing and he is trying to comfort Duncan as I'm sure it's upsetting for him to hear Duncan cry when I am gone. They were both in the crate this morning and I closed the door and all was quiet! Do you think this is a good idea? Having both of them in the crate together...am I going to confuse Desi? Your comments would be appreciated!

 

[caruse]

If they get along I don't see why you can't crate them together if its not for that long of a time....we have two crates but Frazier (6 months) likes to get in with Laila in her crate and we will do that for short periods....When I need to be gone longer we crate separately and they get treats to eat in the crate...you can also try to crate short periods while you are home and my trainer had a suggestion to another in our group having the same problem...feed him a meal in the crate with the door open....it will help him to associate the crate with a good thing..mine have learned to like their crate and will go in just to lie down occasionally, it just takes some time....good luck
Barbara lovicon

 

[apollosdad]

even though your situation does not present a need to crate your dog very often, or for very long periods of time, it is still a good idea to get your dog accustomed to being in a crate so when the situation arises they are not so stressed out due to being in a new environment.

try leaving their crate door open while you are all at home and see if your dog enters the crate on his own. try throwing some treats in the crate on occassion so your dog has to go inside and get them. also try placing some toys in there so they can enter and play and associate "fun times" with the crate. eventually place your dog in the crate even while you are at home. start off by just a minute or so, and then gradually build up the time. the important thing is to NEVER release the dog from the crate while they are crying, whining, barking, or displaying any other form of negative behavior. to do so is only rewarding it and encouraging bad behavior to continue.

good luck.

 

[Barron's mom]

I initially had problems with Zeus liking his crate, as well. I then started giving him a frozen peanut butter and treat stuff kong and now he looks forward to going into this crate.

 

[mikroma]

SAME ISSUE. My husband works from home and Nero didn't have enough crate time on his own. So he would freak once we left and bark and bark. We have worked our way up to the cookies and now he runs in there and is cool with it. He even lays in there when we are home to eat a bone. When we come home we hide a cookie in our hand and he is let out and comes up to us to search and find it. We only let him out of his crate when he was calm, he would fuss to get out when he was younger, so we would wait until he was calm, them reward him. I think the ritual of it is helpful. Leave it is rewarding, coming home and being calm is rewarding.

I would suggest making the crate a place of fun, like play a game and throw the toy inside and ask them to bring it to you for a cookie.

We go out a lot at night and the more time we were kind forced to leave him in there - the better for him to get used to it. He really loves his crate now and gladly runs in there for his cookie when we leave. Good luck.