My puppy hates her crate

cota65 · #1 22nd November 2001, 08:15 AM

Ok, everyone, I need help ASAP!!! My puppy is 4 mos old and hates her crate. I don't mean a little, I mean alot.!!!!!! I have tried everything from leaving the door open and putting treats in there, to putting her food in there so she can come and go as she pleases and learns to like it. I have never put her in there as a means of negative reinforcement. I can't figure out how to get her to like it. It is like WW2 trying to get her in there when we have to go to work. I come home everyday and let her out at lunch time and I am almost at the point that maybe it is causing more harm to take her out and traumatize her just to put her back in there again. what am I doing wrong? HELP!!!!!

buster1 · #2 24th November 2001, 11:07 AM

I have the same problem, Buster is only 2 months old but he hates the crate/ being away from us. I don't think he is going to grow out of this, but I have my fingers crossed.
Good Luck

Bubba · #3 24th November 2001, 01:27 PM

I have a 10 week old and he doesn't like being left in his crate when we are not there.
The first day at home he howled himself hoarse!

We moved his crate to the bedroom so he can still " be with us" and he is now very content. He still doesn't like being left though, but I think this is because boxers are a breed that loves company.
He is getting better when we go out so I'm hoping as he grows he will be OK

Good Luck, hope you get more sleep!!!

graciegirl · #4 1st December 2001, 10:13 PM

Have you ever tried throwing a delicious, and I mean yummy, treat into her cage and wait for her to follow. Say something like "in your crate". Praise her after she goes in. But, do not let her back out. You can eventually work up to saying the command and waiting for the dog to go in the crate before giving the treat. Good Luck!

Molly's mum · #5 31st December 2001, 11:56 AM

arial
I must say that when we first brought our boxer home at 7 wks she cried and we held her most of the night. But when we would try to put her in during the day for a nap she was fine. SOOO we moved her crate into our room and she has slept great!
She doesn't like it too much during the day when we go but ...she doesnt howl for long. I will say they do require more attention than some dogs and may not take kindly to being in a crate all day long--especially as a puppy that needs and wants to run and play! Dogs will get attention-good or bad it is attention. maybe someone can come over and take her for a long walk and possibly leave her outside in good weather to play.

Wunk · #6 7th October 2002, 04:17 AM

Our 5 month old pup hates his crate too..

The crate is great as long as the door is open, he'll nap in it, just rest in it, but the moment the door closes, it's panic mode..

It starts with a frightened look, then come some soft squeeks, followed by barking, howling and going wild until foam stands on his mouth, peeing in the crate..

We've tried treats, never negative punishment in the crate, and even ignore the barking, but he'll go on until we get home, totally exhausted, he once howled and barked for 4 hours straight according to the neighbours..

atm we gave up the crate thing a bit.., it's just always open, and when we're not there he won't be locked in either..

We puppyproofed our house somewhat, barricaded the stairs up, cleaned out tables when we leave.., put all wires into cable managers so he can't reach them, and all we gat atm is a torn up paper or something like that when we get home, I don't care if that happens..

mymax · #7 7th October 2002, 10:55 AM

My puppy hates his crate too!!!!!

Max is six months and although he is better than before he still hates his crate! Try a kong filled with yummy treats...that will keep him busy and leave the radio or tv on. But other than that I don't know what to tell ya. Everyone is saying that they get used to it but it's been two months crating now and when I leave I still her him woo-wooing.....it breaks my heart! hang in there..your not alone! Denise

Denise mom of six month old brindle boy

J-Bird · #8 9th October 2002, 12:59 PM

Meeko hated her crate at first too. We started it when she was a pup and had the smallest crate out there and put it right by our bed from the time we got her (8 weeks) till about 12 weeks old. We live in a 3 level townhouse, so we then got the 42 in. crate and put it on the lowest level of the house and that's where she stays now at night and while we are at work.

In the beginning there was a lot of whining, etc. I started to pick her up during her naps and move her into the crate w/ the door open and leave her there - she got to the point where she'd wake up but choose to stay there.

Now she loves the crate - she usually will get up around 11pm from our bedroom floor and look at us like "ok, time to go to my bed now". When I leave for work she walks right in at the "crate" command and I leave her a kong filled w/ either peanut butter or cheese wiz (this was the key when she was really young).

With Meeko, it was just all of a sudden that she got used to it. All i can advise is stick to it and DON"T EVER LET HER OUT JUST B/C SHE'S WHINING. once you do it, they will continue!

Good luck!

Scrapper's Mom · #9 9th October 2002, 01:58 PM

What kind of crate do you have? Is is dark and cozy when they are in there? What about leaving the radio on when you are gone so they hear some sound besides just the silence of the house and the humming of the refrigerator. J-Bird is correct, if you do open up and let them out because of the whining, they learn that eventually the whining will pay off and they'll just keep at it until you finally give up. Part of the problem may be that the puppy associates you leaving with going into the crate. Are there times when you are there that the puppy is in the crate with the door closed and can see that you are there and hear you?

tazo02 · #10 10th October 2002, 02:38 PM

I agree with just about everyone who posted! I began crate training while my Tazo(who's 10mo old now) was still at the breeders at 7wks!!! When I took him home I'd put him in the crate while using the "go to bed" command, while we sat around and watched t.v. Then I'd take him out and let him play for about 30min and repeated this several times during the evening and on weekends. I also use the "stay" command when I leave the door open and walk away...letting him know it's okay to be in your crate. He's gotten so used to it because my parents and I didn't take him out while he whinned or cryed or barked until he'd stop..then we praise him with a treat and say "good boy, no barking." So now he's used to it and that's where he stays sometimes while I'm gone, unless my parents are there. Even now, when we're outside and he's tired of playing, he'll "go to bed" and go to sleep or play with his konk toy.....Just stay with what ever you're doing and don't let him sucker you with the whinning and crying, and he'll be just fine.

jennyp130 · #11 15th October 2002, 01:13 PM

Oliver was the SAME WAY as everyone said. He doesn't sleep in there at night though - we share the bed. He absolutely hated it. Foaming of the mouth...our neighbors thought we had a baby b/c of the way he cried. It took him a long time to walk right in on command though. He is a yr and 4 months now. About 1 yr old he would go in there on his own. I have a water bottle in there, food, toys, chews, comfy pillow, everything. I didn't think he would ever get over being in there. He even tried to bite his way through and recently got a tooth pulled b/c he wore the enamel off of it! He still hates going in there and I think he always will - but he walks in with ease now and I don't feel bad anymore. I recently tried to leave him out - bad idea. He's still too young and HATES being alone. Some people say chicken is a real good reinforcer for the crate...

malinda · #12 24th November 2002, 07:44 PM

We had the worst time trying to get Megan crate trained so I can sympathize with everyone of you. I tried a variety of things to get her to like the crate and there were many days I broke down in tears going this isn't working. My mom use to tell me it wasn't hurting Megan as much as it was hurting me to leave her in the crate and she was right.

We tried feeding her in the crate for meals. We would put her dish in the doorway and the plan was to move it back a little each time until she was in the crate eating. It didn't work. We would put treats in the crate, that didn't work. Her favorite toy in the crate, still didn't work. It got to a point where she would sit and stare at the crate and cry when she wasn't in it.

I called the vet who told me patients, persistance and time. After many months I called him back going what am I doing wrong and he replied some dogs can't be crate trained. Never tell me can't.

Just as we were about to give up, Megan decided the crate wasn't bad.

There is a lot of information on crate training in the forums. Do a search and patience and persistance is the best advise I can give.