Jennifer,
Here's what I would try:
Just put a piece of flat cardboard on the floor that is the same length and width of your box. Marker train him to sit/down on the cardboard as you would train the PLACE command.
Once he masters that, transition to higher sides on the box until you get to the size of the box you want. Seems like that would work pretty easily.

I know I could easily get him in the box by luring him.

but the point of the box exercise is to get them thinking and offering behaviors and to learn the art of shaping.

here is a link that explains it better
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/167

Yeah I wasn't implying that you should train the PLACE command by luring. I also didn't know the box only had 3" sides.

The only other thing that hasn't been specifically mentioned in this thread is the placement of the reward. I after marking the desired behavior, i.e. moving towards the box, I would be sure to reward at the spot where I wanted the action to take place, i.e. in the box.

Have you tried hiding treats under the box?

Also if it's cardboard will he respond when you scratch/tap your fingers inside?

Are your treats visible? Could he be focusing on them instead of the box?

Jennifer,

Your post inspired me to try something this morning with Falcon. I put a rubber mat on the floor, put on my treat pouch and did the "are you ready??" thing with Falcon. I stood near the mat and just stared at it. The first time he looked at it I clicked/YES and dropped the treat on the mat. After this Falcon went into a mode of jumping on me to get to the treats and when turning my back on him or gently pushing him off didn't work, I calmly put him back in his kennel and put the blanket on top. I just stood nearby for about 3-4 minutes then brought him out and tried again. Although he did jump on me once again, he did look back at the mat which of course let me click/yes and place the treat on the mat. It struck me that the last time I tried this I was not placing the treat on the mat - which Ed STRESSES in the DVD (brain fade on my part). In any case, it didn't take long for Falcon to figure it out and we had four paws on the mat in no time. He did have his own brain fade partway through and started offering his "repertoire" of tricks, but I would just say "no" softly and he went right back to the mat! YEAH!!

I have to really concentrate on not helping too much and giving him time to figure it out. At first Falcon would get a bit frustrated and "shut down" on me, so I was glad for those "screw up cookies" of going back to something he absolutely knew so we could end on a high note.

Thanks for the inspiration and good luck with Nico!

We did it.
This time I got a bigger box and stood in it.

I didn't say or do anything I just stood in the box and when he put his front paws in it I clicked and kept clicking for him paying attention to the box at all.

The next time I got the box out and stood beside it and he sniffed it and got a click then put his feet right in, and out, and in and so on. LOL

I figured if he was going to be so over focused on me I might as well put myself where I wanted him to be to help him figure it out.

Excellent! What a smart dog! ( and you!)

And, er...way to think outside the box!

Thanks, I was proud.

The other trick we are working on is pure silliness,

When my husband says WAAAA! and puts his hands up in a martial arts fashion Yote tends to stand up on his hind legs then jump towards him.

So we are working on getting him to do it reliably, and without then lunging for my husbands butt to nibble it.

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This time I got a bigger box and stood in it.

smart lady

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When my husband says WAAAA! and puts his hands up in a martial arts fashion Yote tends to stand up on his hind legs then jump towards him.

Kota has a ho-ahh like this where he sits and flails his front paws in the air. Kids LOVe it

I might try to get him to do it sitting down, it would be less likely to break something in the house that way.

Plus right now it usually happens in the middle of the two of them playing their little game where Chad will "goose" him on the side or the hip and Yote does it back with his mouth...but really gently. So he is always riled up when it happens...which I love with 70 gallons of water in a glass box in the room