[SandraDee]

I have a lot of questions

We have been crate training Scout. It is going alright but we have had some issues. We have problems with our kids bugging the crap out of the poor dog when he goes in there (we are trying our best to resolve it), and we have issues with him not settling.

When we go out (we haven't left him for more than an hour and half yet). He seems to yelp and howl the entire time we are away. Also if he goes in there when we are trying to do stuff like have a shower in the morning (when the kids aren't around), he will cry and yelp and howl the entire time he is in there.

In terms of how long this will go on, what is everyone else's experience? Is this just something he's going to do, or will he evenutally just get it and learn that the crate is someplace for him to chill out.

He does quite well in it at night, and doesn't make a peep when we go to bed, and only wakes up once, with just a little wimper. But once he is up at 6 am, its again full out yelping, wailing, howling.

 

[Mischa]

Have you tried feeding him in his crate? And maybe things like a kong with frozen peanut butter to occupy him.
That helped us, but Mischa still doesn't 'love" her crate.

 

[deeco3307]

We have a 6 month old puppy and he does great in his crate. A couple of thoughts:

1. The Kong with peanut butter absolutely works. But he can ONLY get that treat when he goes into the kennel. You need to make the crate the number 1 place for treats and rewards so he gets a positive feeling about that space.

2. Don't ever force him into the crate. Use the Kong or other treats to lure and let him decide to get in.

3. The kids can't bug him. Nothing will work if he's in there and someone else is out there giving him attention.

4. If he's in the crate whining, you have to ignore it 100% of the time. If its 99%, then he'll get positive reinforcement for the noise he's making and he'll continue.

5. Don't ever let him out of the crate when he is whining. Again, its positive reinforcement. So if you know he starts whining at 6 AM, then get him out of the crate at 545 until he gets used to the crate more.

Our dog never really had whining issues in the crate. The first weekend we got him, he whined a bit and we didn't answer and never had troubles after that. Sometimes its easier to get him in there than others, but again, its always his own doing.

 

[janz99]

What worked for us was placing a blanket over the entire crate. Not just a portion of it, but the entire thing! She would wine slightly and then settle right away. Before he put the blanket over, she would go grazy in the crate.

One time she even got her teeth stuck in the wire gate, im sure this didnt help her situation! Now, we lure her in with a few treats and toys, shut the door, and put the blanket over. She settles quickly and doesnt make a peep untill we let her out.

Good luck!

 

[Keneomac]

I second Janz99! We had a wire crate and Darwin would be quite noisy in there until we bought a canvas crate cover and he now is silent! It makes the crate much more den-like and he seems to behave much better with the crate covered!

K

 

[SandraDee]

Unfortunatly the whole food/treat thing won't work. This dog is apparently not motivated at all by food. I've tried a bunch of different types of treats and the whole peanut butter in the kong trick. I got nothing. What kind of crazy dog doesn't like treats

We did try the blanket over the crate thing. Seems to work sort of. If he's not totally tuckered out when he goes in the crate he just ends up pulling the blanket off. We've tried different blankets, and he's managed to pull the heaviest one we have off (a few others he pulled right through inside the crate.

 

[CraigB]

When I got my puppy at 14 weeks old, I had the same problem. I live in an apartment complex and was extremely fortunate the lady above me was a dog lover and was ok with the yelping (knowing it would end eventually and he just had to learn to "get over it"), but she said that some days he would go on for at least an hour sometimes while I was at work. I work very close to home so I would check on him multiple times a day and had the neighbor and friends visit him, too, when I couldn't get out to see him. It took almost 2 weeks, but it DOES get better. I tried the blanket covering the crate (I got a plastic crate because it is darker inside and more "den-like") and would play music to at least give him something to hear. The key I found, like you just stated in your last post, is to completely wear him out so that he/she sleeps while you are gone. Mine, at almost 6 months old, is finally starting to find some semblance of independence, albeit he is still definitely a velcro dog (no complaints though ;D). He now knows that the command "kennel" means he gets a tasty treat (he likes the Blue Buffalo Treats the best) as long as he goes into his crate by himself, which he has been doing for a while now and no more incidents of yelping (at least to my knowledge). He also no longer needs the blanket. Also, I know this sounds weird, but whenever I would take Tex out for a walk, I would throw a pair of socks in the crate (because he seems drawn to them because they smell like me i guess?) and would take them back out when we got back. Maybe the smell of you will make the crate even more appealing to him. Good luck!

 

[Kobi]

If you're not monitoring him, he may actually be settling down when you leave, you never know!

With Kobi, he seemed to be adjusted very quickly. He will whine for maybe 5 minutes max when he heads into the crate, but he always stops. If I'm gone long periods (3 hours maybe), he'll have moments where he wakes up and whines more, but again, they are very short lived. Unless your dog is crazy, I imagine he settles sometime in that 90 minute period that you leave him. However it does sound like he is less willing to accept the crate than Kobi was.

I know all this because I spied on him with a webcam for the first few weeks. I had it set to record motion.