Crate training a new puppy

[twisted]

Hey everyone, i just got a new pup after loosing my 12 year old pit to cancer.I decided to crate train her but i have never done so with any of my other dogs.

I have read a lot and watched plenty of videos on the subject but was wondering what some owners on here have to say.

Heres how i started out.I 1st gave her treats to get her in the cage,i repeated that on and off for 2 days.Then let her sleep in it with the door open for as long as she wanted.I then put the door on it and again gave her treats inside the cage but as she was eating them i would shut the door.As soon as she was finished i opened the door and gave her praise.

After doing that a couple of times i kept the door shut. She started whining.I read not to open the door till she stopped or you will give her the message that whining gets her out.It took 20 minutes for her just to stop long enough for me to get over the crate to let her out.I also praise her for doing good. also i dont use the crate as a punishment.

Today I put a blanket over the crate shut the door with her in it and went outside. I would walk by the door to see if i could hear her whining and she was.So i went on with my business.After 5 minutes she stopped long enough for me to walk in the house and get to her and let her out. I praised her.

I feel so bad when sh is whining tho.

Here is a pic of her.Her name is Bella. She is a boston terrier pit mix.

 

[SINister]

I've used a crate on several of my dogs and it seems to work well. I use it for about 8-12 months then it goes away. Putting an old unwashed T-shirt in there at first seems to help keep them calm along with a blanket over the top. They were only in it when we were gone and at night otherwise we just left the door open.

Cute pup btw

 

[59sled]

I crate trained all 3 of my Golden Retrievers. The blanket of the top is good, and the t shirt or piece of clothing from you is a must. That way they have the smell of you in there for comfort. Even put a toy or two in there.

On one dog I put a small mechanical clock in the crate, they will hear the ticking of the clock arms which represents a heartbeat. It helps keep them calm.

Make sure where you keep the crate is where you want them to sleep at night. So there is no confusion to where he should sleep once out of the crate.

We also put a small water bowl in there too. It makes a mess but puppies get really thirsty at night.

When the dog is in the crate, it should not be able to hear you or the tv. That makes them whine, cuz they know you're out there when the blanket is over them.

Its a pain to crate train them, but its worth it. You can't give into the whining or barking though.

All 3 of my Goldens lay by the bed when we go to bed now( thats where the crate was). Even though they have free roam of the house inside and outside.

 

[twisted]

i put a towel and an old unwashed tshirt i wore to bed the night before in there.iam mainly using it to crate her when iam not home. at night i let her sleep with me.

 

[Mudsy]

My sister does crate her two dogs while she goes to work. Both are Boston Terriers. Both are very well behaved and happy dogs. She said just need to train them early and often.

My mother on the other hand also have a Boston terrier and dose not crate at all. The dog does stay in the house most of the day. She is very well behave also didn't make mess in the house. Again, early training was used also.

Pretty much your preference as long it's been trained early and properly.

Looks like you doing just fine.

 

[Fiftygrit]

Your doing great, the hard part is not going to them when they cry, we crate train our dogs, when we travel the new little girl rides in the crate and is just fine, they get so it is there comfort zone, don't give up. cheer`s

 

[Trubble]

We shut Buster up in the crate at night when we first got him, didn't seem to mind much. Started leaving the door open, he still slept in there. No idea what happened, but one day he got spooked and wouldn't go back in, now when me and the Missus go to bed he sneaks up onto our bed.

At this rate, screwit, dog hair gets dang near everywhere in the house, not like keeping him off the bed stopped us from dragging hair (and likely dander) into the bed with us. If hanging out with her restless legs kicking and me snoring like a freight train sounds like a good idea to him, meh, let 'im pile on up there. Of course, I can say that with a 16 pound Rat Terrier and a king size bed, I suppose if I had a 170 pound Rottie and a smaller bed, I might feel a little differently.

But, yeah, keep at it with the crate training. Gonna be a lot easier to train the pup now (and maybe discontinue its use later) than it will be to try and coax a dog (that's never had to do that) in there later.









.

 

[twisted]

good news, i got her to settle down in her crate for a 1/2 hour. tomorrow we will try a tad longer.

 

[Jeckler]

My wife works for a local rescue here in Phoenix. In the last 5.5 years, we have had 120+ dogs in our house. Not all at once of course. Just about every one of them has been in a crate while here. We have 8 crates in the garage that we use, 1-2 of each size, from 18x24 to 24x36x 30" tall. Whatever size dog we had at the time (or 2, or 3 at one point) would be set up in the living room. There's only been one dog that physically couldn't fit in the largest crate, a 130lb Great Dane that was 6.5' tall standing up on your shoulders. The funny thing is that she'd actually try her hardest to fit, but usually ended up looking like a pile of legs and nothing else.
A good majority of these dogs had probably never been in a crate, or even seen one before. Most of the time though, they'd happily jump in there if we threw a toy in ahead of them. Some would bring it back out, some would plop down and start chewing. We never 'trained' them. We let them do what they wanted when it came to the crate, at least during the day. The only time we shut the door is when we left the house or at night. I think there were maybe 5 dogs that had a problem with it, but they settled down within a day or two, if we kept them that long anyway. There was usually a blanket or a nice soft dog bed in there anyway, so that's where they'd go to take a nap, unless they wanted to spread out and take up to 30sq.ft. of floor space.
I guess my point is that you don't have to train them to use it, just use it. Like you, we didn't use it as punishment, but we didn't give in to any whining once the door was closed either, especially at bedtime. If they barked while we were gone, so be it. If they whined or barked at night, they got sprayed with water until they settled down and went to sleep.

 

[twisted]

i left her in her crate twice today. once while i mowed the lawn. ( at 7 weeks old she can not be trusted inside alone, lol) and the other time to go get some food.

both times i heard her whining but she did eventually stop.i let her out when she was quiet.

 

[twisted]

today while training bella to use her crate more she started yelping loudly. luckily i was still home. she got her lower jaw stuck in between the wire mesh. this is a small plastic crate. the door is mesh.she managed to bite and turn her head just right to get her two lower canine teeth wedged.i got her out with no harm done physically but i am worried about it happening again. maybe put zip ties on the mesh to make the squares smaller?

i was also thinking of an alternative to crating.maybe putting her in the bathroom after i puppy proof it. i just dont want her to tare up the door or floor..

i thought things were going well till today.

 

[cormier33]

All good advice. They need something familiar (smell) inside to comfort them. I've crate trained all my dogs and the biggest thing I find is don't feel guilty when putting them in there (if you are tentative and sad like when you are putting them they may be able to feel that). and its been said but you gotta let them whine...it will stop. Then, it will be normal for them. Good luck. It's def worth it in the end.

 

[RcBro]

What kind of crate is it?

My lab is crate trained and soon our new dog come this Saturday. Our crate has a removal floor for easy cleanup if mistakes are made. From a puppy we placed her in her crate at night to sleep and while we were at work. We placed the crate in the bathroom with a blanket in it for her to lay and one covering it. She did cry at times, but you need to not give in.
We fed her morning and night in the crate as well. If she gets in trouble, she goes to the crate.

Madi is now two, to this day she loves her crate. She sleeps in it on her own with the door open. If she's in trouble, I tell her cage and she immediately goes in it and lies down. She'll lay in there for a timeout if you will and let's herself out.

She was the first dog I've crate trained and really glad we did. It makes traveling so easy knowing she likes to sleep in her crate. Now she free roams at home while we are at work, but still doesn't mind the crate on special occasions. The key is having one large enough for the dog.

 

[twisted]

right now iam using a small plastic crate as Bell is small.

 

[helhedded]

Crate training should be very simple. The best times are when you have to go to bed or when you leave the house. The whining is just part of it, and they eventually quit that as long as you never respond to it.

1. Whenever the dog is unsupervised they go in the crate (a good rule for life)
2. Ignore the whining. As soon as you respond the dog wins.
3. Have them associate the crate with food, so feed them in it.
4. Before they go in the crate they are let outside
5. As soon as they are let out of the crate they go outside
6. Make sure the dog doesn't have too much room in the crate, but it shouldn't be cramped
7. Water should me little to none but that's up to you. I leave mine just a little.
8. Rewards to get in and out of the crate can bite back at you sometimes so be prepared to run into some difficulty when you don't have a treat
9. I'm not fond of covering the crate with anything to hide their vision. If you train at times when you aren't around you won't have to worry about that.
10. Crating them when you're home is always difficult and should be used only when necessary.

 

[helhedded]

As long as your dog doesn't turn into a psycho I think this will work just fine. it really depends on the temperament. My old 65 lb male would never ever mess with his crate, all while my 43 lb female will chew through the bars if given enough time.

:ror:

 

[twisted]

Crate training should be very simple. The best times are when you have to go to bed or when you leave the house. The whining is just part of it, and they eventually quit that as long as you never respond to it.

1. Whenever the dog is unsupervised they go in the crate (a good rule for life)
2. Ignore the whining. As soon as you respond the dog wins.
3. Have them associate the crate with food, so feed them in it.
4. Before they go in the crate they are let outside
5. As soon as they are let out of the crate they go outside
6. Make sure the dog doesn't have too much room in the crate, but it shouldn't be cramped
7. Water should me little to none but that's up to you. I leave mine just a little.
8. Rewards to get in and out of the crate can bite back at you sometimes so be prepared to run into some difficulty when you don't have a treat
9. I'm not fond of covering the crate with anything to hide their vision. If you train at times when you aren't around you won't have to worry about that.
10. Crating them when you're home is always difficult and should be used only when necessary.

thanks for the insightful response.

she peed in her crate tonight while i was outside doing some work. is this normal? its the 3rd time now she has soiled her crate. idk if its because she is getting scared or having to go. i can not imagine it to be the later as ive had her out playing and pooping/peeing tonight before the crate for like 15 minutes.

i had to give her a bath and her crate/blanket. maybe its cause i cover the crate?

thank you for all your help

 

[helhedded]

thanks for the insightful response.

she peed in her crate tonight while i was outside doing some work. is this normal? its the 3rd time now she has soiled her crate. idk if its because she is getting scared or having to go. i can not imagine it to be the later as ive had her out playing and pooping/peeing tonight before the crate for like 15 minutes.

i had to give her a bath and her crate/blanket. maybe its cause i cover the crate?

thank you for all your help

Is there a lot of room in the crate for the dog to get away from the piss? If they have too much room they will eliminate in their crate.

 

[twisted]

Is there a lot of room in the crate for the dog to get away from the piss? If they have too much room they will eliminate in their crate.

no she is about 3/4 the length of the crate. she can curl up and have alot of room left over though.

 

[helhedded]

No telling on that one, I'd just stay persistent with the outside before in the crate and outside when let out of the crate. Plenty of positive reinforcement when she pees outside. I'm talking go crazy! When she goes in the crate, no response whatsoever. Unless you catch her in the act (golden) then you can involve some reinforcement. I hope things work out, and post more pics please.