Crate Training An Adult Dog

[niki schaef]

hi all! i need some help i'm going to start the delta dog instructors course next year and there are 2 'live in' session that i need to attend with my dog and it is necessary for the dog to be crate trained. ted is my jrt maltese cross who i will be taking but he isn't crate trained. he is just turned one so kind of an adult! ted is perfectly fine to leave in the house alone and is totally house trained so i was just after a few tips on how i should go about training ted? should i just do it like a puppy? and when hes used to it, should i leave him in it when i go out? i would feel a bit mean because he is fine to leave free in the house and has been all his (long :rolleyes: ) life. also can you move crates around the house or is it better to leave them in one place? i would like him to eventually sleep in it (also necessary for delta training) but he is used to sleeping in my room (on the bed) so i think it would be a bit of a shock to make him sleep in the lounge room? or do they do alright once used to the crate?

any help would be great. i had never heard of crate training until i came on this site once ted was already over the puppy destructive phase so i didn't need to do it... until now. i now can see what a great tool the crate can be and will definatly use it for future puppies.

also are crates all collapsible? and are the airline approved to fly?

[piper]

Good luck with insructors course. I really enjoyed it when I did it.

For crate training my 2 older boys I started off leaving it open and feeding in there with the door open, then went to shutting it while eating but reopening before they finished it. Then to leaving it shut until just after they had finished eating. I also left it setup all the time and open and available to her. At about the time I was able to leave it shut until after finishing dinner Reagan started using it himself - putting himself in it for short periods which I rewarded when I saw it occur. From there I went to putting go in on cue and then cueing them to go in at other times of the day, closing the door and dropping a reward in. Next step was a stuffed kong or bone or something that would keep them occupied for awhile and gradually increasing the time that it was left shut after they finished. At that stage I was using a wire collapsible crate. I now also have a vai kennel and find that they all prefer that as it is darker.

In terms of flying them - the type of crate allowed depends on who you fly with. Unless Qantas have changed their rules they will fly a collapisble crate (just cable tie the door closed and also around the top and ends to preent it collapsing) however Virgn Blue will not fly anystyl of crate that is not held together with screws as a friend and I found last year. She had something similat to a vari kennel and we assumed as this was not collapsible tat it would be acceptable. We left Adelaide no problem but when we got to Sydney to pick up the dogs were told they would ot fly that crate again as it was held together with plastic clip locks and they must be bolted or screwed together. So I would check with the airlines before choosing a crate.

[niki schaef]

thanks piper i'm really looking forward to the course good to here from someone who has done it that it was good.

thanks for the tips to very helpful. teds pretty smart so i think he should be easy to train, he just has to get used to the new rules

havne't gotten much off the qantas website. we're flying to melbourne for christams so i wnat to start crate training ted asap so hes used to it. and also to help him settle where we are staying. will definatly give them a ring before i get a crate.

again thanks for the info. how long roughly do you think before your dogs were happy to stay in their crates?

[ness]

Hi,

My thoughts (not much to add from what Piper has already mentioned). I got a crate when my adult BC was around 4. I just left it open and she eventually took up residence in it along with a few treats. While she isn't great in it she will settle sort of. She now by choice sleeps in it of an evening rather than on the bed where she is more than welcome. She isn't properly crate trained but didn't seel to suffer to many ill effects from our trip to Perth when she flew it in last year. She wasn't to tramatised and happily hoped back into it for the return trip 3 weeks later (and slept in it while we were there).

I would recommend a vari kennel (plastic airline crate) over the wire ones as I feel it offers the dogs a better form of protection when flying compared to the wire ones. Not cheap but I found the cheapest place in SA was from the canine shop at SACA park. Certainly for the larger ones they had the best price by obviously you wouldn't need a huge one.

[poodlesplus]

"i'm going to start the delta dog instructors course next year "

Let us know how you get on. I am planning pretty firmly to do the course the year after. It seems a really good choice to me! I have a few concerns with crate training because my little dog while knowing all about crates etc, thinks she belongs on my knee or at my feet most of the time. I will check soon what she thinks of some arbitrairy crate time.

[piper]

"i'm going to start the delta dog instructors course next year "

Let us know how you get on. I am planning pretty firmly to do the course the year after. It seems a really good choice to me! I have a few concerns with crate training because my little dog while knowing all about crates etc, thinks she belongs on my knee or at my feet most of the time. I will check soon what she thinks of some arbitrairy crate time.

lol I'm sure she will be fine.

When I did it, not many dogs were reuqired for the 2nd inensive but those that were "invited" back (Piper wasn't - she wasa thorough pest while we were at the first 1 inspite of having been crate trained - but I put that down to the fact we had already been away and her mostly in the crate for about 4 or 5 days befoe we got there so she was fed up, and a just over 12 month old BC that needed more exercise than she got) were allowed to be on mats in the lecture theatre rather than crated. SO if she can get through the first 1 she can settle at your feet for the 2nd 1 If they still do it that way of course.

[piper]

thanks piper i'm really looking forward to the course good to here from someone who has done it that it was good.

thanks for the tips to very helpful. teds pretty smart so i think he should be easy to train, he just has to get used to the new rules

havne't gotten much off the qantas website. we're flying to melbourne for christams so i wnat to start crate training ted asap so hes used to it. and also to help him settle where we are staying. will definatly give them a ring before i get a crate.

again thanks for the info. how long roughly do you think before your dogs were happy to stay in their crates?

Hmm not sure - I wasn't really in a hurry or needing to train them for any reason so didn't pay super close attention to the time frame. It wasn't that long though I don't think.

Piper was crate trained from a pup but as I just mentioned she didn't cope with the intensive. But I really do feel that in hindsight I shouldn't have gone away with her first. We had been away and been to some herding and agility training days. When she wasn't crated she was having a great time and I think she was way too high when we got there to cope with the huge hours she had to be crated, combined with the fact that she had already spent substantial hours in it or the back of the car over the preceeding days. And as Ness will attest, Piper is NOT a laid back border collie so her age and general activty level was probably another contributing factor. I think she had 1 really bad day and then they moved her crate in the crating area and she settled. When left in her own crate in my room for meals and things she was fine.

It is a big thing for the dogs - around 70 of them crated in close proximity to each other and for long hours. Definitely make ure you get them used to the crate being covered as covering them in the crating area really helped settle many dogs and 1 of the lecturers ended up doing a shopping run to buy sheets to go over crates for those who had not brought something to cover them with.

[bordacollies4me]

i just seen that Susan GArrett has a new Crate training dvd available, can see more about it at www.agilityclick.com

i have seen some snippets of it when i was at her seminars a few months ago and it is definetly on my shopping list...

[B-Q]

I plan on going through Delta i 2009. if buster is trustworthy enough by then I'll take him.

I've been considering crate training him anyway. Just incase I ever need it, it would be very conveniant.

[B-Q]

double post

Edited August 18, 2007 by busterlove

[niki schaef]

just like to say thanks for all the help from everyone :D

now update: i got a crate for ted. its a plastic 'travel' one. with the more solid sides. i thought this would be best when flying and at the training course as it will (hopefully) make ted feel more secure. especially when flying.

so i got the crate yesterday and as soon as i got home i put it down and opened the door. and ted went straight inside hes a very curious boy!! so i praised him, told him hes a good boy and gave him some treats. i then threw some treats right to the back at he was straight back inside, he loves it!!it didn't take him long to work out if he was in the crate he got treats, so he stayed in there i didn't leave him in there for long but when i stopped treating an walked off he stayed and looked at me as if to say- hey i'm still here give me treats!!

today we did it again and he willing goes ino the crate. i threw some more treats to the back and as he was looking for them all i shut the door. as soon as he was finished sniffing the back and turned around i gave him a treat through the door and praised him. then i opened the door and he didn't want to come out again

so i don't think crate training ted is going to be too difficult after all thanks again for the tips everyone. i'll be sure to check back in if i have any troubles