I have a 1/1/2 year old Great Dane that is shy with strangers. Now that's not what concerns me, we're working on that just fine. There are times when he doesn't want to go back into his kennel at night, and when I give him the command to, not only does he ignore me, but when I approach him to take him by the collar and lead him to his kennel, he shuts down in a frightened manner and doesn't move (all 150 pounds). Most of the time he has no trouble at all with his kennel. In fact he loves it and goes in there on his own all the time. So in these few cases when he doesn't want to go and shuts down, how do I handle this. His is in a fearful state, so I don't want to increase that. I might add that I have not ever over-corrected my dog or been abusive with him.
What do you do when he acts this way? Do you follow through on the command or do you back off? Since he doesn't do it all the time do you notice a pattern to when he does do it such as before you leave the house, or following a game he was enjoying or if he has not gotten much exercise?
I don't know your dog, so I don't want to assume he is delaying going into the crate and is not really afraid.
I do follow through on the command so that he doesn't get his way with this behavior, I'm just wanting to make sure I don't make the problem worse. A couple times I've waited him out and gave him no escape, and then rewarded him once he did go in the crate.
The times when this has happened has been in the evening when he is going to be put away for the night. The thing is it's not every night. Most of the time he's already in his kennel before my other dogs, and already asleep.
Natalya Zahn Webboard User Reg: 12-22-2006
Posts: 1824
Loc: Cambridge, MA
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Peter, does this ONLY happen just before bed? Your dane is still an adolescent and perhaps he's just being bratty some nights because he can... rarely my dog will still, like a little kid, get a bit stubborn about going to bed at night if he's had a slow, quiet day - and he's almost 3. Have you tried doing a 'refresher course' in the "kennel up" command? Just asking him to go in at random times during the day for a reward or praise? As a reminder...
You could also try, on the nights that he balks, calling him away from the crate, doing a little OB around the room (maybe even with tiny treats) THEN asking again for the kennel up... his mind might switch into "listen" mode after a little time working with him.
I'm not a professional dog trainer, but there's my 2 cents. All the danes I know are pretty soft (lovely) creatures and lots of positive reinforcement works very well with them.
Thanks Natalya. It does just seem to be some bratty behavior. It doesn' happen every night. I think your ideas are great, thanks. He is a very soft tempered dog.
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shy Great Dane
#175693 - 01/16/2008 07:05 PM 
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