Crate Training

For some reason, many dog owners feel that crating a dog is cruel. They don't like the idea of confining a dog to a small space.

However, dogs (and their ancestors, wolves) are den animals. Wild dogs used to dig small holes -- just big enough to stand up and turn around. They felt safe there. That's how a dog, properly trained, should feel in his crate. It is a good place.

Also, a dog naturally will not eliminate (pee or poo) where it sleeps -- so crating aids in house-breaking.

A dog's crate, as I wrote above, should be just big enough for the dog to stand up and turn around. If you are getting a puppy, get the crate for the size you expect the dog to be, full-grown. Most crates nowadays come with an "insert" that you can use to partition the crate for the puppy's current size, and then move it (or remove it) as the puppy gets bigger. Training a dog to like his crate could take days or weeks, depending on the dog's past association with crates.

Assemble the crate, and bring your dog into the room. Reward any interest in the crate with treats. If your dog steps into the crate, toss some treats on the crate floor. Let the dog go at his own pace. Leave the door open so that the dog can go in and out as he pleases.

If the dog is not already housebroken, do not put any bedding in the crate. It will wick away the pee, so it may actually encourage (or at least, not deter) the dog from soiling its crate.

Feed your dog his meals in his crate. Feed extra-special treats (pigs' ears, bully sticks, stuffed kongs) in the crate. Reserve these treats, and ONLY give them in the crate.

As the dog gets more comfortable in the crate, close the door for a few minutes. Then gradually lengthen the time the door is closed. Don't open the door if the dog whines -- wait till he is quite (or else he will learn that whining = crate opening).

Finally, never use a crate as punishment. Doing that will cause the dog to fear the crate, avoid it, and refuse to enter it.

Read more about crate training here.

If you can't tell by now, this is what I worked on with Leo tonight. There is an empty crate in the behaviorist's office. After taking Leo for a walk (during which, he nearly wiggled out of his Easy Walk harness again), I took him into the office. After knocking over the trash can, I pulled the blanket away from the crate and opened the door.

Leo immediately stuck his head in, which was rewarded with tossing treats on the crate floor. Did the same thing when Leo put his whole self in the crate. We did this for about 20 minutes. In and out of the crate.



Then, I brought out the bully stick. I tried to point Leo into the crate, but he jumped up and stole the bully stick . . . and promptly took it into the crate to enjoy it.



I did manage to close the door for a few minutes. I could hear him start to lose interest in the bully stick, so I wanted to open the door before he started to panic. After that, I just let him enjoy the bully stick.



Here's a short video that I took of Leo playing with his bully stick.