Daisy's Human

We have been crate training Daisy (now 12 weeks old) for a month. She rarely has an accident but does not notify us when its time to go out... we set a timer and watch for sniffing - then we know its time.

We never use her crate as a punishment... she sometimes goes in there and takes a nap on her own.

However....

When it is time for me to go to work, she will not willingly go in the crate. I have to pick her up and put her in there, then she cries like she is being tortured. She is only a pup but picking her up is not easy... and I can't imagine what it will be like when she is full grown.

Any advice on getting her used to going in on her own four paws? I have tried treats, encouragement, and trying to scoot her little behind in. When I try to scoot her, she seems to have amazing instant paw traction.

What about getting her to advise its time to go out by going to the door?

Mikey T

House Training: Ring My Bell!

see

Crate Games for Self-Control & Motivation DVD


Also part of the problem you are facing is the great discrimination ability of dogs. That is the dog knows when you are getting ready to leave when leave based on the time of day or your activity or both and knows that he will be left there. You need to make that experience more enriching the easiest way to do this is proabably with a stuffed kong toy see Kong Stuffing Pointer and visit the Kong Toy site and look at the tips and advice. Other interactive toy can work as well. You also want to change your routine change the time you try and put the dog in the crate. Spend some time training the dog (see crate games above) during this time. And use the same time and routines during the weekends to try and confuse the dog by leaving for only a brief moment and returning etc.

Soundtrack

Mine actually get their breakfast in their crates before I leave for the day. Right now the only "holdout" is Lenore, I usually have to "escort" her in. The rest dive into crates willy-nilly wanting their breakfast. Even Meo, the foster, was crate diving within a week of being here. If I go out at other times they get a special treat for going in the crate, usually one that takes some time to chew up, like a dentabone or pig's ear.

As for Lenore, she'll get over it and learn to love the crate too. Just a matter of time and consistency.

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mhvonalmen8908

What we've done with both of ours is throw super special treats into the back of their kennel so they have to go inside it to get it. We of course worked up to closing them in and leaving them for a few minutes. Doppler loves his kennel and Virga is warming up to it slowly. She's gets all kinds of praise and an extra treat if she does it quick enough. But she gets a treat either way. And we've actually trained Virga to ring bells when she has to go out. Doppler's signs that he wants out are pretty obvious. But hers are subtle and we miss them most of the time. But we can't miss ringing bells. And we're getting able to tell the difference between her playing with them and needing to go out. My husband didn't think I would be able to teach her to ring bells either. Shows him!

Daisy's Human

wow! amazing ideas. Thank you so much!

Boomer's Mom

Bumping this for a question. What size crate do y'all have for your dogs? I need to get Boomer a bigger crate, he's getting a little squished in his current one, but I'm not sure how big to go.

Simone's Mom

Simone weighs 45 pounds, her crate is 36" long x 24" wide and 27" tall. It is a wire folding crate with three doors, one on the end, one on the long side and one on top. The top one is nice if I forget to give her a treat or toy. I got it on Amazon for about half the cost of local pet store plus I think it's nicer.

charady2

From what I have read online, 36-40 inches long is recommended. However, seeing all the flat basset pictures makes me think I will need an even larger one than that! the one I have now is only 24 inches long but plenty large enough for Flash at the moment

Wworm

Boomah-- we got out the tape measure to see. it's ~30x42x28, from Petco, like Simone's, but without the cool top opening. which would really be useful, my person says. i've been in this since i was a puppy, and it still seems to fit. here's some pics of me in it so u can see.

Also, i use a bell for potty too! i'll include a pic and you can see the bells in the back in my cone of shame pic. my people had to ring it for a month before i got the hang of it.

and, my people throw yummy treats to the way back and i go in and get it. when i do, they shut the door oh well, food vs. freedom? FOOD of course! (duck-wrapped yams have worked well for Worm because they take a few min, but i bet yummy things like hot dogs or lunch meat might be irresistible...)

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Boomer's Mom

Thanks for the advice, it helps a lot!

Poor Worm, the cone of shame.