Rachel27 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 (edited) I have a 3 year old Malamute and 2 year old Sibe. What are your thoughts on trying to crate train at their age? Is it too late? If it isn't too late, what are your tips for training older dogs? Thanks in advance, Rachel Edited January 27, 2009 by Rachel27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Absolutely NOT too late. Hard to give you tips unless you let us know what they know, what you're trying/wanting to teach them and what troubles you are having. We don't know your dogs and haven't had the opportunity to see them. Although one tip I guess I CAN give .... have you thought about joining a good dog school or taking on some one-on-one professional help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel27 Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Absolutely NOT too late.Hard to give you tips unless you let us know what they know, what you're trying/wanting to teach them and what troubles you are having. We don't know your dogs and haven't had the opportunity to see them. Although one tip I guess I CAN give .... have you thought about joining a good dog school or taking on some one-on-one professional help? Sorry- should have given more detail! Nike (3 year old Mal) is an ex show dog, well trained, however, he is not really used to sleeping in the same spot for the whole night. We let the dogs in at night every so often, and sometimes I find a little pee surprise in the morning, but not all the time. He is a serial marker when we are not looking (as he would never do it in front of us!) ... But besides the toileting during the night, he is pretty good, however, used to sleeping outside and being free to roam around. Chika (2 yr old female) is a little cheeky. She is good at sleeping inside though, sleeps in the same spot all night and doesn't need to go to the toilet until we wake up in the morning. However, I'm not too sure if she would be freaked out if I closed the zipper to her crate as she is not used to being enclosed like that. I am really looking into crate training so that we are able to take the dogs away with us more easily, however, the initial reason for looking into this was for Chika in the car as she has all of a sudden decided to jump the back seats in our wagon and decided that she wants to sit in the front now! I am looking for some tips to get Chika into her crate. I have tried putting treats in there and getting her to drop when she gets in and reward her with pats, but she comes straight out after that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 And I'm sorry. I read the title as "Is it too late to train a 3 and 1 year old?" ... missed the "crate" part. The answer is still "no, it's not too late" but I need to nick out now so have no time for details/tips. I'll return, and unless there are posts which give you the tips you need to get started, I'll provide further response. Lots of people do and have crate trained their dogs, so I'm sure they'll be happy to help you by giving you ideas on what to do and how. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelbrook Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 (edited) Absolutely not ... the first thing I did with my 3 year old shepherd was set the crate up outside for a couple of weeks with the door open and would leave a treat or a toy in there. When he got used to that I brought it inside so he got used to going in and out of it and i left the door open and then I started sending him to his crate and rewarding him. Then I started closing the door and there was absolute carry on but as soon as he stopped I gave a treat and let him out - I then progressively left him in there for longer periods of time with the door closed and really had no problems with him ... Both my dogs put themselves in their crates all the time as I always have one setup ... hope this helps ... Edited January 27, 2009 by angelbrook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I crate train all my fosters no matter what age they are. I find crating a neccesity at feedtimes and also with housebreaking. As long as the crate is big enough for them to be comfortable, they adjust to it very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel27 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thanks for all the tips! I'll start now and tell you how it goes! Thanks again for all of your responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 When crate training our dog at 3, he was doing the same thing -- getting in but getting straight back out. One night we put a doona in there instead of just his bed... he went in and stayed in all night with the door open! So maybe something soft would help :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnsdc Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 we recently trained our acd bobbi 6 to the crate as per advice from members here, w fed her and made it the most awesome place ever she has since adopted it as her den Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paws4Thought Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I agree, not too late at all. I crate trained a 2 year old. I just took it more carefully with him, offering a lot of positive reinforcement, motivation, and praise until now he WANTS to be in his crate. You can help the dogs along by increasing their desire to be in the crate, along the lines of what has been mentioned above. This is particularly easy if he is food driven. You can fill a kong or something similar with the dogs favourite treats while he is watching, and then put it in the crate (again, with him watching) and close the door. He will see it in there and it will increase his desire to get in there too! You let his desire build, and then let him in. The stuffed kong (or whatever you choose to use) is then rewarding him :D Similarly, toys work well too. Depends on what motivates your particular dog. I liked the stuffed kong because he was naturally inclined to lay down with it straight way, extending the time he was in the create (my dog would grab a toy and dash off again, but for some reason not so with a stuffed kong). I hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeJane Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Hello, sorry to bump an old post. I am looking at training my 16wks old amStaff to sleep in a crate in the laundry at night. Now, she sleeps in our room in her bed every night. She is toilet trained, she will come to my side of the bed and whine when she needs to go to the toilet. And recently, she sleeps through the night without the need to go to toilet. However, my partner is a light sleeper, he wakes up whenever he hears the dog moves, as pup sometimes like to sleep on the carpet instead of her bed. My partner works at the mine so sleep is very important for him during his week off So we are thinking of making her to sleep on her own at night in the laundry. I have read some info about crate training and my trainer from the puppy class also send me the training instructions. Just want to know if it is OK to lock her in the crate the whole night (for at least 7 hours)? And when she whines, how do I know if she needs to go to toilet or simply wants to get out? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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