Can anyone give some advice on crate training?

[LeeAnn Mink]

We have adopted a wonderful, amazingly smart and receptive Doodle who will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. She is doing fabulously with every aspect of training with the exception of the crate.We've tried several techniques trying to get her to enjoy her crate. Unfortunately all of our efforts have been thwarted and she still barks and cries through the night. Not only is is extremely disruptive to our sleep but it breaks my heart for her to be upset like that. If anyone can give us some tips on how to get her to want to be in her crate we would greatly appreciate it! Thanks so much in advance!

LeeAnn, Joe, Mary, Vida, Funny Cat and Lola II

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

First off...Congrats to the new little one....Lola Two is a sweetie!

 

I tried the following tricks with Bailey and they worked:

 

Put an old fashioned wind up alarm clock outside of her crate so it ticks at night.  I also put a night light where she was sleeping so it wouldn't be so dark for her. This was her routine every night.

 

I would say, "go to your crate" and point to her crate....she would walk in and I would tell her goodnight and give her a few rubs, close the crate and tell her "quiet...shhhhh" and close the door and then give her a few treats through the crate.

 

I would then walk away and go to bed.  The first two nights she would cry so I slept on the hardwood floors in front of her crate with my fingers in the crate so she could smell me...Not great on the ribs or back for let's just say...I'm not a little person hehe..anywho

 

After the first two night I would follow the routine I mentioned and go to bed.  If she started to bark or cry I would go out to her crate and hit the top of the crate and yell quiet....And then walk away and go back to bed...Keep doing this until she stops....It took me one time...Don't hit it real hard but hard enought to get her attention...I know it sounds mean but I got this idea from other DK'ers and IT WORKED!!!  I was so afraid that she would then be afraid of her crate..But everyone says that they associate the word quiet with the noise of the crate not the crate itself....

 

Good luck and keep us posted....

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

I'm sorry, I don't have much advice.  Bexter was pretty good in his crate, but we did have a snuggle puppy in there with him.  I have heard of people feeding treats in the crate like Elizabeth said, to get the association of crate with good things.  I think the worst thing is to take them out of the crate when they are upset.  I did that with my first dog many years ago, and so she never got crate trained.  A huge mistake on my part.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

LeeAnn, Where are you keeping the crate? It is in a place where she can see you?  With Fudge and then with Vern, I had the crate right next to my side of the bed and if they started fussing, I just put my fingers in the crate to soothe them. I tried not to talk to them. I also used a Snuggle Puppy, which I swear is the reason crating went so well. Plus, I threw in a shirt or something that had our smell on it.  When our dog had to go potty, I took them out with very little interaction and put them right back in the crate. I will confess, though, at around 4 am, if they got me up, I would take them out and bring them back to bed with me for some more sleep. I loved that time of day, but just remember once you start something, it is hard to stop it. Also, both my dogs got very hot in the crate. I had lots of blankets, etc. initially and eventually took everything out except one piece of bedding. Good luck. You should also go to Sandy and Hattie's page. I know she had trouble initially and now her dog goes with her to hotels.

P.S. I also put in a special treat to entice Fudge or Vern into the crate. Plus, I started from day one leaving the house for short periods while crating them. I left a TV on and a Kong with peanut butter inside. I do not crate any longer, but I still leave the TV on and PB in a Kong when we leave.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We also kept the crate right next to our bed.  If they cried, I didn't speak to them but I did slip my finger through like Laurie to remind them that we were right there.   I also gave a treat each time they went into the crate and settled.  I did wait to give it to them until they were lying down and quiet.  If you're consistent, I really don't think it will take long.  Good luck....she's a beautiful puppy!

[Christine & Shelby]

Things I did with Shelby:
Serious play time before going to the crate.... Would wait until she was drifting off to sleep and then would put her in the crate and lay down by it until she fell asleep.
T-shirt with my scent on it in the crate with her.
Covered the crate with a blanket except for the part with the door
** she crate trained quickly, but never became the dog that loved her crate. She would go in if I gave her the command, but never went in on her own to chill out. The crate training is really important for potty training. I didn't have her crate in my bedroom, but in the kitchen/living room area. For the first week I slept in the same room with her so she could see me. I think I was lucky... She only whined about 5 minutes the first night... And it was smooth sailing from there.
Good luck and congrats on your new pup!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

You have to be consistent and give it time. Try not to talk to her OR feel sorry for her, this is where I went wrong with Myla. You got some really good ideas here and we also used the clock next to the crate. If we were gone we would put the radio on so they didn't bark everytime they heard the neighbors. Good luck!!