Q&A on Crate Training

on Crate Training

My dog has recently started to become difficult to get into the crate for my wife. Why has this crate behavior changed, and how do we correct it?
I want to make sure my boyfriend's dog is crate trained before my new pup comes in April. I would like some suggestions before I go about it because I would like to do it right the first time. Should I use the electric collar if she barks non-stop?
When do you think I can sleep through the night & just let my pup out in the morning?
Would substituting the crate for the back yard work? Is the back yard not restricting enough?
What is a normal length of time for the screaming to persist? 2 Weeks? Can I put a citronella bark collar on her this young?
Sense switching to a larger crate, our pup has started urinating in the crate again. Is it too big? Do you think this is something he just needs to get over or should we be taking him out more?
Do you have any training ideas for a dog that breaks out of the crate or could you recommend one of the metal ones you sell.

Common Sense Solutions to House Training Problems

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1. Question:

Dear Cindy,

Our Keeshound has been crate trained for 2 1/2 years, he caught on right after we got him; he is now 3. Recently, he will not enter the crate for my wife- he will run away and try to hide if possible, and if she grabs him by the collar and puts him in, he screams as he enters the crate. He seems afraid and acts flaky, as if he is conflicted. He will not go in for a treat. However, I still have no problem with him, he crates fine for me. Once he is in the crate, he behaves normally.

She has no other problems with him, although we both have a problem with him roaring down the steps past us after we let him out, due to excitement. When we let him out, he dances on his hind legs and is so glad to see us. He usual mode is that he will do almost anything for a treat. He normally seems eager to please. We have done virtually no training with him, because he is so well behaved, and seems to anticipate our desires, with the above exceptions. He acts submissive to both of us. This dog has a fear of new situations, especially with new sounds. He is an excellent walker, he looks up at us and does not go ahead of us, nor does he lag -- he keeps up. He immediately picked up on heeling, and does this better than any other dog in the neighborhood.

Why has this crate behavior changed, and how do we correct it? I believe that when she forces him into the crate, it is making it an issue for him. Unfortunately, she is home alone and has to put him in the crate whenever she leaves the house. We have another dog, a small mutt, and she does not have this problem.

Thanks,
Jeff and Sharon

Answer:

I'd put a dog like this on a program of structure and firm leadership. He's trying to manipulate your wife, and you too to some extent. He needs to go in the crate calmly and wait to be invited out and to behave politely when he's let out. Overly excited behavior (like the dancing around) should be discouraged. Dogs like this need to be taught that calm and respectful behavior get them what they want.

I'd start with our Groundwork program. Since he screams and avoids when she tries to put him in the crate the simple solution is to keep him on a leash AT ALL TIMES when he's not crated. He has too much freedom. Fearful dogs especially benefit from having the
rules refreshed for them in a no nonsense sort of way.

I'd also recommend this video, Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

I hope this helps.

Cindy

2. Question:

This April, I will be getting a Doberman puppy. I have a Pappilion right now who is very well trained and crate trained. The dogs will be separated most of the time, with visitation only when I am present.

However, my boyfriend has a Rottweiler/lab, Scout, that comes to visit during his son's visitation. She is a nightmare. She is spoiled, aggressive, unruly, etc. I have taken her down a few notches with basic obedience training and leash work with a prong collar. Over the past few years, it has really changed her demeanor significantly. The only problem is she only respects me and listens to me. When I am not around, she's back to her ways.

With my pup on the way, I need to make drastic changes in the house. I have decided that it is imperative that Scout is crate trained by the time the pup arrives. My boyfriend has told me that she goes "crazy" when placed in a crate. Therefore, he took her out immediately and she won. It was never considered again. Sort of like clipping her nails! She bites at you and whines and rolls all over and gets away with it. That problem I solved over a two week period, and am now filing her nails two to three times a week with no fuss.

As far as the crate training, I would like some suggestions before I go about it because I would like to do it right the first time (not that there is a right). I was going start feeding her in it with the door open for a few weeks. And when she gets used to that, close it, and then let her out after she's done eating. I would like it to be a positive experience. But if she has a fit, as usual, I just need some help as far as getting her in it and how long to leave her in it, etc. Should I use the electric collar if she barks non-stop?

Thank you for your time,
Margaret

Answer:

For the Rott/Lab I’d start with our Groundwork program.

It’s important for a dog like this to be placed in a secure crate that she can not get out of, or it will make the task of crate training her much more difficult.

I’d also recommend reading this section on Separation Anxiety and this one also on dog crates.

We suggest a bark collar for dogs that carry on in the crate, it delivers a more accurately timed correction than an electric collar. Tri-tronics Bark Limiter.

I would direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website for any additional questions you may have.. If you type in your key words it will guide you to articles, Q & A’s and posts on our forum.

I hope this helps.

Cindy

3. Question:

Hi,

Absolutely love your work! Thank you so much! I have a new Siberian huskie mix that is 10 weeks old & we crate him every night. I have been getting up after about 4 hours to let him out to pee & poop outside in our back yard, but I would much prefer to sleep through the night. I’m a diabetic with a bad cold, & this has exhausted me. My question is, when do you think I can sleep through the night & just let him out in the morning? Thanx!

Answer:

This varies so much from dog to dog, I’m not sure there is an accurate answer I can give. I have owned pups that sleep through the night from 12 weeks old and others who need to get up in the night for a year or more. They are all individuals, so there really isn’t a set age for when they no longer need a break halfway through the night.

Cindy

4. Question:

Hello,

I just adopted a very mellow and sweet Rottie from the pound. He is about 5 years old. I had a question. We live in Southern California(great weather), have a covered patio and 6 foot fencing around my whole yard. I plan on having him as an outside dog for the most part.

So my question is:

From reading your articles. Would substituting the crate for the back yard work? Is the back yard not restricting enough? I am talking about the initial conditioning to establish pack leadership.

Thanks ahead for your time.

Danny

Answer:

For preliminary ground work, a crate is really what we recommend. A dog has too much freedom of choice in a back yard.

I would direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website for any additional questions you may have. If you type in your key words it will guide you to articles, Q & A’s and posts on our forum.

I hope this helps.

Cindy

5. Question:

Hi Cindy,

I have a lab pup that is nine weeks. I got her one week ago. For the the first 1-2 days, she stayed in her crate all the time except to potty. She was/is a screamer, so I needed her to get used to crate.

She's calmed down a little, but still screams when she sees me to get out. I never open crate until she is quiet. After potting or playing in kitchen, she will follow me in to eat when I rattle liver treats. She will fight like a tiger if I just put her in with no food, and then scream.

Question: What is a normal length of time for the screaming to persist? 2 Weeks? I make sure I didn't get a neurotic dog. She whines a lot even when out of crate. Can I put a citronella bark collar on her this young? I know she's too young for ecollar.

Thanks,
Tracey

Answer:

Every puppy is different, some don’t scream in the crate at all and some take longer. She’s very young and it’s only been a week. I would continue like you are except maybe introduce marker training to her and turn going in the crate into a game that she enjoys. I believe that we cover some of this in the Pack structure video also

I wouldn’t use a citronella collar on her, she is till trying to settle in and feel comfortable with you.

Cindy

6. Question:

Hi Cindy,

We have a 5 month old German shepherd puppy named Gunnar who we are currently crate training. We have your DVDs on establishing pack structure and basic obedience training as well as the Common house breaking mistakes eBook. Using this information we were able to train Gunnar fairly quickly using a small crate. We only had to clean it up twice due to accidents in the first month. However when we moved him to a large crate when he no longer fit into the small one he has been urinating in the crate. He still knows to defecate outside, but we feel the urination is ploy to get us to take him outside. We do not correct him at all for this. We only interact with him outside now even though he was spending some time with us upstairs on leash. I guess we have just reverted to treating him like we did in the beginning. We feed a mostly protein no grain all natural dog food (kibble). We have checked him for an Urinary tract infection. We have chosen not to continue with his Vaccines after reading some articles on your site. We exercise him twice a day for at least 10 minutes. He has a lot of room in the crate and I'm wondering if it's too large for him. Do you think this is something he just needs to get over or should we be taking him out more? Here is our schedule for taking him out + or - a few minutes.

6:15 am
8:15 am
12:15 pm
2:30 pm
7:15 pm
10:15pm

We really appreciate any advice.

Thank you for all the hard work you and Ed put into educating us about Dogs.

Rich, Patty and Gunnar

Answer:

I don’t believe dogs are capable (especially 5 month old dogs) of using a ploy to get out of the crate. I feel that he’s either anxious and uncomfortable in the new big crate which may trigger urination out of stress OR the crate is just too big for him at this point. Is it a different style of crate from what he was used to as a smaller pup? (i.e. wire compared to plastic airline kennel)

I’d partition off part of the new crate so he has less room and maybe put a sheet over all the sides to make it feel more secure and enclosed and see if that makes a difference. Your schedule of taking him out looks fine.

Let me know how it goes.

Cindy

7. Question:

My son and daughter-in-law are both active Air Force stationed in Ramstein GR. They have a 8 month old Malamute who is a crate escape artist. They have crate trained him since the day they brought him home since my son's older Mal (who died last fall at the age of 12 ) was also an escape artist, they knew they had to teach him from the start. He was fine for the first 7 months (even flew 12 hrs on the plane in his crate) but now good old Champ has decide he doesn't have to stay in a crate any longer! He busts out of both the airline travel crate and a 48x28 wire crate every time they put him in when they are at work.

Any ideas? Or what crate on your site would you recommend? I see that they are all $700-$1000, they would need a size that would allow them to fly him back to the states in the crate (not for another 3 years). How much would shipping be to Germany?

Or do you have any training ideas? You came highly recommended from a raw feeding list that I am on out of Chicago. I have 7 border collies and a pit that would never think of busting out, actually they all love their crates while they are in them (all trained from the age of pups) Anyway my friends and I are out of ideas except for them to heavily invest in a 'lion crate'

Thank you for any ideas.

Judi

Answer:

The only metal crates that can be used have to meet airlines specs, I won’t go into them here, but they have to have a tray in case the dog pees and ways to give the dog water and food.

We are not open today. I will send this to my office manager and she will try and answer your questions. It very well may be cheaper for them to look for a crate in Europe. These things are not cheap – but they last their lifetime. They will never buy another crate.

A point to mention on escape artists. Some dogs get so hectic in a crate that they try and chew their way out. They end up hurting themselves. Those dogs should be trained to wear a muzzle before they are forced to stay in a crate. The basket muzzles we sell are the best for this because the dog can drink with them on. The training to put them on should be done with markers. I also have a free streaming video on how to use markers and muzzles – it’s in the streaming video portion of my web site.

The fact is if the dog is trained to the crate with markers they learn that the crate is not bad. He should be in the crate when your family is home – then they can correct the dog for misbehaving – (I would use a remote collar and low level stimulation - Remote Collar Training for the Pet Owner). They should also feed the dog in the crate.

Here are the markers DVDs that will teach them how to train:

The Power of Training Dog with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food

The reality is metal crates don’t solve one single behavioral problem. They just forcibly contain the dog.

A lot of things to think about here.

Regards,
Ed Frawley

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