Refusal to obey?

[Sandy]

Since we got him, Toby has been sleeping in our room in a crate. Last night he did not want to come up. He plopped in the living room, and that was it. I tried to stand him up, and he was like a limp noodle. I got him up the stairs and he took off into the bathroom. My hubby had to take him by the scruff and put him in his crate. I didn't like that, but it had to be done. Is this an aggression thing, or an Alpha thing, or what? I don't want to struggle at bedtime every night! After he was in his crate he was fine, and slept all night. Help!! I plan on bribing him up with a treat tonight, perhaps.....

[Teresa]

At this point I wouldn't be concerned that it is agression or Alpha - its a puppy testing what he can do. I don't agree with grabbing him by the scruff of his neck however - you don't want to make this a fight or a bad experience. For the next several nights when it is bedtime just pick him up and tell him bedtime and take him to the crate and put him in. Shut the door and ignore him until morning. Don't make a big deal about it - just do it. In about a week, try getting him to follow you again and if he refuses, don't make a fuss just pick him up and put him in the crate.

My only question to you is - did he have a bad experience on the stairs in the last couple of days?

[Sandy]

No bad experiences on the stairs. He's about 30 pounds, so I'll let my hubby carry him up. There's no way I'll let him sleep in the living room unsupervised yet! I think I'll try shaking his treat jar tonight, and if he doesn't come, we'll carry him.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

Are you asking whether your husband is showing agression or alpha behavior, or did you mean the dog? Certainly doesn't sound like your dog is aggressive!! How old is he? He may just be going through a bit of a stubborn phase, which is common throughout the teenage years. And this only happend once? My dogs "misbehave" ALL the time and try to avoid going to bed, snatch a sock, run away from me at the park etc etc, just like little kids do. If you handle it with a sense of humor, you avoid escalating minor disobedience incidents into major problems and power struggles. I'm not convinced that forcing a dog into his crate will work in the long run. He may develop a fear of his crate if he gets manhandled into it. I believe that positive training always works best, though I know that sometimes it's hard not to loose your temper and get mad... sounds like the treat method might work just as well as the scruffing method, so definitely give it a try ! Best of luck.

[Adina P]

it is merely an untrained puppy (aka all puppies are untrained...it takes MONTHs to achieve good obedience). Keep a short leash on him and then you can grab the leash and in the meantime KEEP working on "go to your crate" or whatever it is you say as a command.

[Jessica]

Without meaning to sound rude, the approach you describe in handling your puppy sounds most inappropriate, and the image it conjoured up in my mind quite upset me! Even the title you gave your discussion makes me wince!

[Adina P]

I agree with Lauren. It's just a crate--there's no reason NOT to bribe him with treats for another couple months at least. He's way too young for you to expect the well trained behavior of an adult dog. Work on practicing the art of making crate time fabulous and fun and rewarding during the day when it is not critical for him to go to his crate.

He is not at the teenage rebellion stage. He is too young. He is just a puppy with his own thoughts about what is most fun. That's all it is.

[Sandy]

Last night I shook his treat container and got him upstairs, and then into the crate, rewarding him with a treat when he got in. I'll keep doing this for a while. Thing is - he doesn't even like to get up in the morning, so I know the crate is not the issue. It was just that he had it in his head that he would sleep unsupervised in the living room, thank you very much. :)

[Nina]

I had a similar problem with my puppy trying to run out of the crate after I put her in. I didn't want to make her afraid of the crate so I let her run out for a few minutes and didn't make a big deal of it. Then in the following days at random times, I threw some treats into the crate. Now when she wants some treats she goes into the crate. This doesn't produce treats either. I still put some treats into the crate at random for her. She now loves her crate and no longer tries to run out of it at any time. And, best of all, she goes into her crate at night when she is tired. I really didn't want to make her afraid of her crate in any way since I do use it when I can't be at home with her during the day. She is 5 months old and this happened about 3-4 weeks ago and is now fixed.

[Sam]

Ollie does something similar to this when we take him outside before he goes in the crate. We have just moved the crate into the laundry (now that he can do stairs - yeah!!!!) and the first time we took him outside the laundry door to go to the toilet then inside to his crate he went straight away. .... but now when we say outside (at night) he just looks at us. We put it down to him being to smart for his own good (or our own good!!!!) and knowing that this was the beginning of the bed time routine...... We have started putting the lead on him so we can coax him if we have to but I like the idea of having a treat in there for him to find. Once Ollie is in the crate we have no issues whatsoever - he doesn't try and jump out before we shut the door or anything.
I don't think its an aggression thing at all - hes just trying you out, finding his spot in the pack type thing!!!!

[Lake Girl, Lizette]

I am not an expert by any means but forcing a puppy in an aggressive manner into his crate that you want him to believe is this area is a great place to spend some quiet time when he is not with you guys. I stuck my head all the way in as far as I could get and threw a treat in before that. I made happy sounds like I was really enjoying my moment in there(claustrophobic so it was short and sweet). My puppy tried to get in there the second time I came out and ate the treat. I moved a new treat further and further into the crate. Periodically during the day I threw a treat in there...pretty soon Molly was walking in and out without any concern. I also leave a bully stick in there for her to chew. Try to make it a fun thing...entering the crate. I don't think not wanting to be in a crate is an aggressive type behavior. Sometimes my Molly doesn't want to go into her crate willingly when she knows we are about to leave for a few hours..I know it is not because she is exerting an Alpha behavior. Good luck with your crate trainig at night.

[Janie]

Sandy, I doubt very seriously this has anything to do with aggression.