By Janette from Rockford, IL
The crate needs to be a place where she wants to be and where she feels at home, not a place she only goes at night. I would keep the crate door open during the day so she can go in and out at will and take daytime naps in there if she wants. You can encourage this at first by letting her see you place an occasional treat in there. If she has toys she especially likes, I would put them away and only keep one in her crate at a time, changing them out every day or 2, along with a couple of regular toys. I would lay special treats in her crate to 'surprise' her a couple of times a day. You can buy rubber toys that you fill with peanut butter, and dogs love them, they will chew on them for a long time trying to get the peanut butter out. Maybe the first night or 2 you could put that in her crate before you close it for the night.
I hate to point out the obvious, but sometimes you have to. Take it and clean it out really well and wash the bedding. Perhaps the pup had an accident in there! There is something about it making the pup unhappy.
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My dog is usually really good at going into his crate, but lately he will not go in. I really need help because he is not old enough to stay out of his crate by himself yet. Please help!
By sammy from Buffalo, NY
The crate has to be a place he wants to be, not a place he is forced to go. Place a special treat in his crate before you urge him to go in. My sister uses a little piece of braunschweiger, which dogs love. They also sell a rubber toy, you put peanut butter in it and dogs work a long time trying to get all of the peanut butter out.
I am thinking it is probably a plastic crate. I would get a wire crate. If it is already a wire crate something might have happened to scare him in the crate.
Try a calming spray from drfostersmith, and see if it helps. Also, throw high value treats in there, get a kong and stuff it with something great, not just cheap treats but somethinhg that might cost a little more because there is real meat in it.
If you would like to contact me I can offer my advice, from having a few doggies that would not get in the crate at first. There are a lot of leerburg.com articles and podcasts regarding this technique. Looks as if some training is in order, like play clicker training, look for these articles on leerburg.com that deal with this, and watch this free podcast from that site also and see if it inspires you:
leerburg.com/
Blessings,
Robyn
My dog goes to the bathroom on the rug while we are out. When we are home, he lets me know he needs to go out by going to the door. I only leave him alone for three hours at a time and make sure he eliminates before I leave. He's five months old so he should be able to "hold it" for that long.
First of all, there is nothing wrong with using crates for your pets. Some animals actually look to their crates as home. I had a similar problem with my Pit bull Puppy and I just had to slowly retrain her to be more accustom to the crate. Putting her in it while I was home for just like 5 minutes with her favorite toy and giving her, her favorite treat when she goes in. The urinating in the cage will stop over time, but I would say to keep working at it. Also some dogs think once they go in that crate they know you are leaving. So putting them in it while you are home will comfort them more.
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My 6 month old puppy hates his crate. He cries every night when we put him in it. He has gotten better though. He now only cries for 5-10 minutes (as opposed to an hour). I thought dogs were supposed to like their bed. We have never used it for punishment, we put his favorite toy in there with him and a few treats.
