Crate Training- Almost Giving Up

[all that glitters]

Glad its going well now!! :cool:

[Guest Ams]

Hi everyone. Thanks for your replies.

I do have the XL crate partitioned, with a piece of wood which has a hole in each corner which I attach to the inside of the crate using cable ties. However my 12 week old puppy is HUGE! He already fills almost half the crate! and i am thinking that when he is fully grown I may need an XXL crate!! I have attached a photo so you can see him and no, it isn't that I am feeding him too much, his father was a very big dog and when the litter was born they were already the size of 1 week old puppies!!!

I also have tried stuffed kongs and he has a pigs ear, but he isn't really food motivated unless he is really REALLY hungry. Initially it works to entice him into the crate (I close the door with them in and him out and make him beg to be let in) but then he just freaks when I lock the crate door on him.

HOWEVER, tonight I really exhausted him with play and training and walking on the lead,and I didn't let him fall asleep in the early evening. He was looking fairly sleepy so I gave him a belly rub and he just fell into a deep sleep. I put him in his crate and have not heard a peep out of him. I have to get to bed now so I can get the same amount of sleep!

About six weeks ago I decided to crate train my dogs. One is 10yrs, the others are 2 years. It took a month but now they will "go to their rooms" when told. I didn't force them in at all. To start with all food (including dinner was placed inside the crate. If they wanted a treat they had to go to their room first and once inside, the treat would be supplied. In my house they are referred to as "lollies". They could only eat if in their crate. Door was left open initially but after a week the door was closed, but they could push it open if they wanted. Then I would put their dinner in and lock the door but be sure to be around to unlock it once they had finished. After a bit longer I would open the door, take away the empty bowl and relock the door telling the dogs to lie down. Slowly increasing this time, they will now go in and lie down on their own.

This was not a quick process and took about a month to achieve but now I have dogs that will quite happily go to their rooms and not be stressed. All was done without any crying. Good luck.

[nikitaken]

This reminds me of my first dog, who cried...actually barked ALL NIGHT non stop...

Because she barked so loud I could not get to sleep so I eventually had to get up and see her after 1-2 hrs of barking.

She kinda stopped for a bit but continued barking once I left... that whole week was painful... (not for me, for my neighbours tho )

We are planning on getting a puppy very soon, and hopefully this time we can do better. Its great to read a thread like this. We were to set up a huge area in our living room for our future puppy but looks like I should consider setting her crate next to our bed too for the first few weeks

[KAT1]

About six weeks ago I decided to crate train my dogs. One is 10yrs, the others are 2 years. It took a month but now they will "go to their rooms" when told. I didn't force them in at all. To start with all food (including dinner was placed inside the crate. If they wanted a treat they had to go to their room first and once inside, the treat would be supplied. In my house they are referred to as "lollies". They could only eat if in their crate. Door was left open initially but after a week the door was closed, but they could push it open if they wanted. Then I would put their dinner in and lock the door but be sure to be around to unlock it once they had finished. After a bit longer I would open the door, take away the empty bowl and relock the door telling the dogs to lie down. Slowly increasing this time, they will now go in and lie down on their own.

This was not a quick process and took about a month to achieve but now I have dogs that will quite happily go to their rooms and not be stressed. All was done without any crying. Good luck.

Thanks Ams,

I am going to try your locking-unlocking door method and see how that works because Darcy still crys a bit on some nights when he goes into his crate. I do have a lot of trouble getting him in there initially, but once he settles down he sleeps right through until the morning and lets me know when he has to go outside (he has better bladder control then I do! ). I bought a video baby monitor from Dick Smiths (quite reasonable and excellent picture quality) so I can see what he is doing when he is crying. Generally he is lying down and whining... I don't go in, though. When he whines while he is sitting up (in the mornings) it means he needs to go outside.

KAT