Crate when I have to leave

[Dewberry Family]

Scout likes his crate at night, but when I have to leave during the day, he does not like to be in his crate.  Did anyone else experience this and will he learn to like it during the day.  He is 10 weeks old and I crate him when I pick up my kids..and I would like to run some errands.  We have the crate in our room during the night.  Also, when will he start sleeping through the night and where do most of you have your crates at night and during the day.

[Natasha]

I had to get in the habit of asking Rouser to get in his crate here and there when I WASN'T leaving because he figured out that crate during the day meant I was going to leave him. I didn't want him to develop a negative association with the crate as he, too, liked to sleep there at night.

So, from time to time, I would give him a little treat (like a bone) in his crate which was handy when I needed to get some solid work in (I work from home). I would not give him a treat when I left him alone (too dangerous), but I would give him one of his favorite toys.

We had a crate in our main living area (and I relocated my computer to there when he was a puppy). We also had a crate in our bedroom where he slept until he was around 5 or 6 months old when we relocated him to the downstairs crate for sleeping.

[shelly]

I actually had 2 crates for Tori. One in my son's room where she slept, and I borrowed another from my sister to keep downstairs for during the day. Tori was really SO good sleeping through the night. Even on the first few nights she slept through the nights and woke early in the morning. She has since moved to the downstairs crate only for sleeping. We no longer crate her during the day. To get her to go in her crate at night.... all I do is open my freezer - yup... I make some 'meatballs' with her canned food and freeze them. She zooms right into her crate and waits for me to close the gate and put in her meatball... she lays down and sleeps well. (before I did this, she used to attack the gate whenever I shut it and bark fiercely. She still tries it a t times, but is mostly great at bedtime!)

[BG and Gavin]

I agree with Natasha - put him in a couple times a day just because. I also varied the amount of time he was in for. Sometimes I crate him when I leave for work at noon and my husband meets me in the driveway coming home for lunch - so he is only in there for 5 minutes. Other times its 4 hours. He really never knows. I also fix him up a kong with kibble and peanut butter. When he sees me fixing it he runs to the crate and lays down. At night he gets a biscuit when he goes in. Once I start turning the lights out, he heads to his crate. We were getting up in the middle of the night to let him out to pee until he was about 4 months old. He likely was ready to sleep through the night prior to that, as we nearly had to drag him out to go, but we didn't want any mistakes. He is 7 months old now.

[Camilla and Darwin]

There is a lot of advice on getting your dog to like their crates. You can probably just search "crating" or check out the Puppy Madness group. But, I think a few good ideas are as follows.

-During feeding time, feed him in his crate.
-Teach him the "crate" or "kennel" command. We just threw a treat in, and every time Darwin walked in to get the treat we would say "kennel" he know knows to go in on command, and it's fun for him because he knows he will get a treat.
-Don't use his crate as punishment (time out). He may associate the crate with being punished... and that could add to his anxiety while he's in the crate.
-Put him in the crate while you are home, and make sure he is able to see you.

Good luck!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I have two crates. I keep one in the bedroom next to my side of the bed. When we first brought Fudge home if she fussed, I would just lean over and put my fingers in the crate to soothe her. I also had another crate in the living room (since moved to our foyer). When I leave, I never make a big deal about leaving or coming back. I leave the TV on for her, a fan, and always put a kong in the crate when I leave. She certainly would rather go with me than stay in her crate, but she goes right in, and is usually licking on her kong when I leave. Sometimes, I think it is harder on us to crate them, then it is for them to be crated. For your sanity, you do need a break and he will be fine. I love Shelly's idea about the meatballs and will be copying that idea. Also, I did put her in the crate during the day and stay where she could see me initially. I have not crated her at night since she was about 6 months old.

Fudge was pretty good about sleeping through the night after a couple of weeks home. Good luck!!