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Crate Training suggestions

Behavioral Issues
  • N

    My wife and I have enjoyed the company of two B's over the last 3 years. They are perfectly crate trained to the point where they sleep in their crates with the doors open all night.

    We've recently adopted a male foster B, and we are overjoyed at the new addtion to the family (the resident male B probably isn't at that point yet, though). However, we've noticed that our new B, a 10-month old, acts quite anxious in the crate. We suspect this stems from having been stuck at a Petland store in a display crate for more than 4 months before being purchased and consecutively owned by two previous families before coming to ours.

    Any good tips on deconditioning the bad experiences of crating for our new B? We've got him going into the crate and sitting for a treat, but closing the door seems to make him frantic. We've left him in there for a few nights, but his constant anxious behavior has trained us to let him sleep with us. It's gotta end so when we travel, he'll be ready to sleep in a crate at night at the dogsitter's place.

    TIA

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  • BDawgB

    Check out our post on Miles: A Rescue – you might something useful. ;)

    Miles & Lexi's Mom

    www.stelladot.com/barrick

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  • BDawgB

    http://basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?t=921

    Here's the link. :)

    Miles & Lexi's Mom

    www.stelladot.com/barrick

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    DebraDownSouthD
    I think it depends on the dog. It is funny, but yep the bear hug has worked with both Sayblee and Cara when they were into the wilds. (Arwen never gets wild in any way… far too dignified to be like that thank you!) If bear hugs escalates or they seriously try to bite you, then it isn't working. But most do hate being restrained enough that they get it. In fact I'd rather restrain than ever use a crate for PUNISHMENT. Now if you used the crate just to make him sleep in, yeah. But bad behavior then in crate sets up a bad connection. Hope things continue to go well.
  • P

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    JazzysMomJ
    As some of you may recall, I had HORRIBLE problems getting Keoki to crate – took me until he was 9 mos old {and three crates!!} before he would sleep at night at all w/out screaming and shredding his bedding. For him, the issue was NOT crating, but separation. I could put him in the crate and while wasn't crazy about it, he would lie down and go to sleep as long as I was in the room w/him. As soon as I moved to leave, he would go absolutely insane. X-pen didn't work either as he tore his nose up while moving the pen across the floor. I finally bought a large crate {-a great dane could be comfy in our current crate} and we crate Keoki and Jazz together. Jazz would prefer to be alone, but she has always been a dog that rolls with the punches, so she does fine. Keoki now runs to his crate if I just say, "Go to bed". They go to bed at 10 PM and although I open the crate door at 5:30 AM, the seldom come out before 9 AM. I can crate them when guests are over if necessary {Jazz gets uncomfortable if too many people are over}, when we go out, and all night w/no complaints. {I am home all day, most days}. My family says he still whines at the window for a few minutes any time I leave the house, which is funny to me because he doesn't seem to be particularly attached to me when we're all home together although both dogs seem to know that I am THE MAMA and they behave best and listen most to me. I wonder how often the dog's anxious behavior in crates is like Keoki - not a crating problem, but a separation anxiety issue.
  • jys1011J

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    BenkuraB
    Couldn't agree more! Although, I do think that in most situations it is the OWNERS that need training not the dogs!! We frequently have people attend our training classes who think they can just come along for an hour or so and that I will 'fix' their dog! We always explain that most of training the dog is about training the owner to be responsible, consistent and to keep up the training at home. There's no point in just doing an hour a week at club and not practising at home. So well done to jys1011 your training efforts are paying off! :)
  • wizardW

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    shankara_nS
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  • C

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    JazzysMomJ
    @luvsmy2bs: Have things gotten any better? Just curios,,,,,,I was reading your post and felt really sorry for you. Currently I have turned my dd's bedroom – thankfully she's away at college -- into a kennel. There is a 6 x 4' ex-pen w/top taking up the entire floor space of her room. Both Jazzy's and Keoki's crates are in there. At night he sleeps okay in that ONLY as long as BOTH crates remain open into the pen. If I close either crate, he flips out. During the day when we have to go out, as yesterday and today, I have to remove all "real" bedding and leave just paper toweling. Yesterday I made the mistake of leaving a small piece of carpet UNDER Jazzy's crate, and when we got home it had been pulled out and torn to shreds. It is obvious that he still wigs out, even in the large pen w/Jazz as today I noticed that the front of his crate {above the door, which was open} has been all chewed up, even though he was not shut in. Still working with the behaviorist; she and the vet are thinking long-term meds may be in order. That is still being discussed. He's going to hurt himself one day if we don't get a handle on this...and eventually dd is going to be home from college; then what? We can't travel with him like this either.
  • R

    Need help with crate training please

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    DukeD
    How is the crate training with Ripley going? It's been awhile since we've heard any progress.