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Crate and kennel training


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We got two Labrador pups before we had any children 13 years ago. We had plenty of time to train them and they were extreemly well behaved! The sister had to be put down before Christmas and we got Zoey (BC) for Christmas. She's a pound pup that was approx 4 months when we got her. She'd been house trained and has picked up on many things just by hanging with the brother Lab (who is getting older minute by minute). Anywho, Zoey used to be so eager to obey, but lately when we say "Crate" or "Kennel" she hides. The lab (outdoor only) still waddles to the Kennel without questioning but the kids end up pulling Zoey out from underneath a vehicle to get her into the kennel. I know there's got to be a better way to get her to obey. A way that the kids and us can all do that will work. What books would you all recommend or what ideas would you be willing to share? Zoey is smart as a whip - we just need to outsmart her methinks!

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Mine have always like their crates. I have never had a problem getting them to go in. We give them each a kong filled with peanut butter or other treats when we know we will be gone for a long time. If it is just going to be for a while we give them a few dog treats. That may have something to do with it. Every once in a while Roxie (10 wk) goes in her crate all on her own and then looks at me like where's my treat! It's cute.

 

Maybe if you start giving her treats she'll realize that her crate is not a bad place. Just my suggestion. There are a lot of people on here who have much more experience that I do!

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You need to make the crate the "place of all things wonderful"! Feed meals in there (leaving door open), perhaps store toys in there, give treats, etc.

 

I fostered a girl that hated the crate but ran to it willingly when I told her to because she got accustomed to getting either her meal or a treat when she went in. I fed all of her meals in there.

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RandiJoe and Betsy,

 

Good ideas! Would you suggest treats and food all the time, everytime, or do I gently, slowly wean her from them so she goes in without a treat?

 

This dog is smart enough I can see her figuring out how to shut the door to the crate when the cat is in there stealing food and water! THAT would be funny!

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No reason why you can't feed in the crate at all times. If the crate is there, might as well use it.

 

Our 8 month old still gets fed in her crate at night even though we leave her door open. She goes in on her own when she wants to sleep or just get out of the way. It's her room.

 

We plan to wean her off the crate in the house, but we use the crate in the back of the truck and at trials. So, to wean her off it, we will just leave the door open for some time, then remove the crate, but keep the bed, etc, etc.

 

If you can keep it around (we can't because of space issues) they are great to have if you need to confine the dog for visitors, injuries, etc.

 

Never force the dog or drag the dog to the crate. Only use the command for the crate when you are 100% sure it will go in. Or else you are just barking at the wind.

 

Good luck

 

Denise

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Denise,

 

You are so right! We went camping last week and she DID NOT want to go into the crate. It was late and we had neighbor campers that I didn't want to keep up listening to me try and try to coax her into the crate, so I picked her up and put her at the door of it and then she reluctantly went it. I knew it was wrong but I didn't know what else to do. I didn't have treats (didn't even think to bring them) and decided right then that I was going to figure out how to get her to enter the crate on command and not be angry with me for it!

 

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! Hopefully she'll survive my humanness!

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All good advice! I love my crates, and so do all three of my dogs. In fact, they are to the point now where when I say "go crate," it becomes a race and you see three dogs bumping into eachother to get to their crates the fastest to either a) see what goodies are in there; or :rolleyes: what goodies I am going to bring after they get in. One night, we were leaving to go to dinner, and I gave the normal "everyone go crate" announcement, and I went into the bedroom 5 seconds later with three food bowls, only to find all 140 lbs. of Border Collies all stuffed into a crate made for one 50 lb. dog! Laughed my head off. These guys are characters.

 

Sounds like you're well on your way. Let us know how it goes.

 

Jodi

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Hi, I bought a 6-week old Border Collie for my husband. Her name is Yana and she is now 9-weeks old. I had never heard of crate training until reading about it on these boards and I think I'll give it a try. Yana is very close to being house broken but still has accidents. Yana is also very bad on a leash. She has learned that when I put the leash on her she can lay down, flip over on her back and thus, doesn't have to respond to the tug of the leash to walk with me. My question is, am I expecting too much of such a young puppy for house breaking and learning commands such as sit, stay, down, etc.?

DianeS

Shingletown, CA

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Vicki,

 

I "knew" it was wrong because I "knew" she should have been obeying me without having to physically move her toward obeying me..... No, I didn't force her into the crate, once she's at the door she goes in...but I just think she should be obeying me upon command, not because I'm man-handling her..... DH and I are at an impass right now with the crate. The crate is in our bedroom. We have a strict rule in our family that food stays in the kitchen, so he does not want Zoey's food in the bedroom - even if it's in the crate. We're both coming up with what solutions we'd accept and are going to work at it again this week. Two nights ago, I sat down next to the crate with treats in hand and called her to me, and she wouldn't even come to me, let alone go in the stupid crate. So I tossed a few treats in there and left it. I haven't checked yet to see if she finally went in there to get them..... Big explanation for such a simple question...

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All our dogs are crate trained; that's where they are fed and where most sleep at night. All our BCs have crates in the van and that's where they eat and sleep. Our puppy (Jody) is being crate trained, but would never go in on her own so we pick her up and put her in while saying "go to bed". At some point we'll telling her to "go to bed" while leading her by the collar; if she refuses then we'll pick her up and put her in. This is how we've crate trained all the dogs that we've raised. Older dogs may refuse at times and these we first command them to "go to bed", try leading them by their collar, then we'll resort to physically putting them in their crate. We will ask our dogs to do some things and command them to do others, for example "go lie down" can be more of a request for them to settle while "lie down" is a command. "Go to bed" is not a request, it's a command. We expect compliance and non-compliance will be handled appropriately (according to that dog's level of training).

 

Crates are great tool to help maintain order, help keep things clean, and keep dogs safe. Crate train your dog(s) and then you'll be able to use it when needed for your dog's safety and possibly health (i.e. recovery from injuries).

 

A bit more on crate training. Jody spends time loose and time in her crate. She is learning accept the time in her crate since we don't run to her when she's crying (as long as we know she doesn?t need to go out). Jody eventually gives up the crying and settles down to either play by herself or sleep. At 9 weeks she was holding it through the night (8pm - 5:30am) and was quiet all night. When we get her out of her crate we take her out (we say "hurry up to get her to go), and then she's loose to play (under our ever watchful eye). When we see the signs (those body language cues) that she needs to go, we take her out. She is now starting to ask to go out (at 10 weeks). When she starts to wind down or we cannot watch her she goes in her crate (after going out). This is how we've raised all our dogs; it works well for us.

 

Mark

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When my Lab was recovering from his TPLO, I was sure glad he was crate trained. For the first two weeks he was not supposed to be on his feet except to go to the bathroom, and that had to be on leash. The crate made it possible to keep him off his feet when I couldn't watch over him closely.

 

He was a pretty tough nut to crack when it came to crate training. I adopted him when he was over a year old, and he wanted nothing to do with the crate. I simply taught him that his crate is where he gets yum-yums like frozen stuffed Kongs and dinner. :rolleyes:

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Andi said:

but I just think she should be obeying me upon command, not because I'm man-handling her.....
I totally agree. Crate training---any training should be a positive experience, but I couldn't see you beating yourself up when you said:

 

I knew it was wrong but I didn't know what else to do.
There might be times when the little darling might have to be forced --- God Forid---to do something that you don't have time to positively reinforce and praise lavishly for. It's nice to have the training done and all in place for when you really need it, but life doesn't always work like that.

 

When you described "putting" her into a crate rather than disturbing your neighbors in a campground, I thought you acted wisely. It reminded me of someone I knew who had multiple dogs & cats. She had a safety evacuation procedure in her house---she was such an organized person--and had it in place one day when a tornado warning came through and she had to get all her animals into their crates in the basement. All were fine except for one dog & one cat. In the interest of the other animals in her family, she had no problems at that point shoving the dog into a crate. I wouldn't have either and I wouldn't have agonized over the psychological repercussions that the dog might have had being forced into a crate. Life tends to be rough sometimes, but most individuals, human and canine are resiliant enough to get over it. The dog suffered no permanent psychological damage after the incident.

 

The cat BTW, being a typical cat, refused to come in at all---sort of thumbed her nose at her owner---who had to make a decision to leave her outside. When the tornado had passed, she found the cat plastered to the screen door in a daze, spreadeagled hanging on with her claws---in shock.

Ever since then, when she calls kitty, kitty comes running.

 

I couldn't see you beating yourself up over what you did. I don't think your dog is so fragile that being helped along into a crate will leave a lasting psychological impression and send you running to the closest behaviorist---unless I'm missing something, in which case I apologize.

 

Dog owners, being human, make mistakes. Humans, dogs---we tend to be pretty resiliant creatures, so if you make a mistake, don't agonize over it. Pick up and go on. And if circumstances call for you to do something a little beyond what you normally do, so be it. That's life.

 

Vicki

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Vicki,

 

Wow, nicely said. You really put it in perspective for me. I think I must have made a picture in my mind of how the perfect dog owner and their perfect dog behave and I was trying to make that happen.

 

And I do forget that Zoey is a pup still. And she's still pretty new to us. There are lots of variables, eh?

 

I appreciate your help putting this ito perspective.

 

Warmly,

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