Minnesota Valley Humane Society

Why a crate?

The crate should be a quiet safe haven for your dog or puppy. The most common mistake people make is to use the Crate as a prison for when the dog is “bad”. It should actually be used for quiet time or settling down, so when your puppy is tired and hungry, you can put his dinner (preferably stuffed in a Kong toy with some treats to seal it up or a similar type puzzle toy) and some safe toys in the Crate and simply leave him there. He will usually eat his food and fall asleep.

It is a relatively easy thing to teach a puppy to accept a crate, but it becomes more difficult if your adult dog has already acquired negative associations crating. More training time will be needed (minimally a few days, but sometimes it may take several weeks) to get over anxiety about being trapped in the crate. Hence, the process is a little different for dogs that are afraid of the crate. While you are teaching a dog to like his crate, you cannot trap him in it, as this is what he fears in the first place.

How to do it

Humane training has to do with getting the dog to WANT to do what you want him to do. If the dog has unpleasant associations with the crate, how can you make him want to be in his crate? You can try either of these two plans, or both simultaneously.

Plan 1: Feed the dog in the crate and break up the daily ration into numerous separate courses, up to a dozen. In other words, put a small bit of food in his crate, allow him to go into it to eat while you shut the door, and immediately open the door as he is finishing up the last bite. Also try giving special treats or canned food in Kongs for a few sessions. Put the treats inside the crate and wait for him to go in, then quietly shut the door. Alternately, you can make the crate more desirable by putting the food-stuffed Kongs inside the crate but shut the door before he can go in it. Wait for him to WANT to get inside it before allowing him in.

Plan 2: Another way of getting him to like the crate is to throw a bit of food into the back of the crate and let him go in and eat it, leaving the door open. He will probably run right out of the crate again. That’s fine, just ignore him. Toss another treat in. When he runs in to get it, praise him excitedly and, while you’re sitting right in front of it, ask him to Sit. When he sits, give him another treat. Ask him to lay down in the crate. When he does, treat him again. Step away from the crate. Your dog will most likely run out again – that’s okay. Toss another treat in and treat him through the bars of the crate. Ask him to lay down and stay. Treat him every 10-15 seconds. Quietly shut the door and drop treats through the bars again. Treat him BEFORE he starts to whine. As he’s eating his last treat, open the crate door and ignore him. Repeat this as often as you can, preferably several times a day. As he’s getting used to the crate door being closed, try to increase the time between treats until you are treating him every 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do this while you’re sitting next to the crate, in the room with the dog. Alternate treats with praise. Whenever you let him out of the crate, ignore him – your praise and treats only come to him when he’s in the crate!

Continue the crate training process by giving him a food-stuffed Kong in the back of the crate (check out http://www.kongcompany.com/ for kong-stuffing recipes. Food that has a meaty or smoked scent to it will attract dogs’ attention). Freeze it or pack it well, so it takes a while for him to finish and shut the door behind him. After about 10 minutes and/or before he finishes the Kong, open the door and let him out. Take the unfinished Kong away and again ignore him for five minutes while he’s outside of the crate.

Don’t rush this process! Good things come to those who wait. If your dog whines excessively or panics while in the crate, the process may be set back weeks and all your hard work will be lost.

The ultimate signal that you have obtained your goal is when your dog willingly and frequently goes to his crate on his own. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

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