# 8month old puppy still dislikes crate.



## LisaNicolle (Jul 16, 2011)

Hello,
Me & my husband have a 8 month old Siberian husky. She is the center of our world. We have owned her since 9 weeks. She is not aloud on couches & only aloud on the bed when she is invited up by us. Crate training has been a blessing for potty training. She never pee's or poo's in her kennel. She is very smart dog, & we have trained her very well. She graduated with 108/100 in her puppy class & 107/100 in her beginner class.*
My only concern is she still very much dislikes her kennel. Me & my husband both work during the day, but work close enough that we come home for lunch. So the most during the weekdays she is locked up is 4 hours at a time. But we know she is fine to be left alone longer.*
Every night before "bedtime" (she knows this word & runs the other direction) we have to gently hold her by the collar & guild her up the stairs because she won't even go upstairs because she knows!*
We try to cuddle her in our bed before we put her in at night, but we still have to guide her in with cookies (which only work some time) or by leading her with her collar.*

We introduced her to the kennel the way our dog trainer told us to, always making it a pleasant experience & lots of cookies! When she was only 8-13 weeks approx. she would cry & scream!!!! When ever she was in her kennel.. Huskies are the worst for crying!!! But she quickly realized the kennel would get pushed out of our bedroom when she cried, so that behavior stopped when she got older. But she still hates her kennel.. I really just want her to go in it on her own.*
Will she grow out of this behavior? Will she realize that its going to happen any way & stop fighting it?


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## a7dk (Mar 30, 2011)

My dog wasn't a huge fan of his crate when we first got him (about a year old at the time and we think he had spent a lot of time caged in a shelter before the rescue got him) but he doesn't mind it now. We started by leaving the door open and sitting next to the crate. When he would come to be near us (which he always does...this may present a problem if your puppy isn't so clingy) we would throw treats in and jsut sit with him with the door open for a few minutes. Then we would close the door (just for a few seconds at first - stop before she starts crying!) and progressively make it longer. At night, he gets a special treat in his crate - in our case it's a frozen stuffed kong. We soak his kibble in water or broth until it gets a little mushy, then mix it with yogurt or peanut butter and freeze it till it's rock solid. This is a special thing that he always gets when he's in his crate and NEVER gets otherwise. This has worked very well. So well, in fact, that he now goes straight back there when he gets tired at bedtime. We turn off the TV around 11 or so, and he just gets up and walks to his crate b/c he knows its bedtime. 

Also, never, ever, respond or let her out when she's crying/barking or she'll learn that that's a good way to get what she wants. If you have to let her out, wait until she's quiet for a little while so she doesn't associate crying with getting out. And be patient - this may take awhile. 

Good luck!


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## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

My first thought is maybe it is too small.

Kodi suddenly started to hate his crate too and would dig his toes into the carpet and lean back hard to avoid going in there. Even though it looked big enough to us, he thought it was too small. We happened to have a bigger one in the garage from when we crate trained our other dog and voila! He didn't hesitate for a moment to walk right into there and lay down and we never had a problem since then. 

If you have a bigger one then try that, or maybe you could go to a store and take him with to see if he will go into a a bigger one better?


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## LisaNicolle (Jul 16, 2011)

I am 100% positive that her crate is not to small.
& I would never ever let her out when she whines. 
She never crys in her kennel & hasn't since she was just a tiny ball of fur. 

I think she is just really clingy, she's part of our pack & just wants to be in the bed with us. 
But it's not her choice.. 

We give her lots of treats for going into her kennel, but taking the door off isn't a option yet. 
When I guide her into the kennel with treats she try's to walk out just as fast as she walked in. 
I just want her to like her kennel.  

Do u think she will just eventually like it? She's only 8months. 
But she has slept in her kennel every night since she was 9weeks & still dislikes it (of course she had gone up two kennel sizes since)


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## a7dk (Mar 30, 2011)

Have you tried feeding her in her crate? Not just treats, but put her bowl in there so she has to go in there to eat. When I started this with my dog, he would go in, take one bite, and come right back out, and then repeat until it was gone. EVentually he got to the point where he'd stay in long enough to eat the whole bowl. It just gives them one more good thing to associate with the crate.


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## luvntzus (Mar 16, 2007)

Have you ever filled a kong with something like peanut butter and put that in there with her? It has to be something special that she doesn't get at other times (meaning the kong and whatever you put in it). People put all kinds of things in kongs like yogurt and then freezing it. The idea is to give her a fun distraction that takes awhile to go through, and of course another positive association of the crate.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

So you give her a cuddle on your bed, before putting her away in her crate for the night? I would stop that, that's probably why she hates it, or part of the reason anyway. Crate = end of cuddle on human bed.

I would get a special crate treat, something she loves and doesn't get any other time, and give her that when she goes in her crate. I would also do crate games (search on youtube for examples) to make the crate a cool place to be for her, and teach her a cue that means to go in the crate. If you tell her to go in her crate once in a while just for a minute or two, and then call her back out and play a game with her, she will soon love to be put in her crate.


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## 9x19 (Jul 13, 2011)

mine didnt like its crate placed in the evening room and in the bedroom. now its in the corridor and it sleeps there all the time
hope this helps


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## Jenn~n~Luke (Aug 20, 2010)

I'm probably going to be the odd man out here lol...but is there a reason in particular that she HAS to go in her crate at night? Is it to prevent her from destroying or getting into things, or is she ok left out of it? 
When Luke was a pup, I had a crate. And for a while, he loved it. Until the day he realized that crate meant barrier between him and I. I tried everything, and I mean EVERYTHING known to man to get want to be in the crate again because I was terrified of leaving him out free when I had to go out (at this point I hadn't left him alone yet) Nothing worked. He absolutely refused to go back in it. No food, no toys, no begging, nothing worked. So when I left him alone one day because I HAD to leave, and he didn't bother a thing,I simply got rid of the crate. It wasn't needed, and I knew my dog, I knew he'd never be comfortable in it and I didn't want to constantly force him. But that's Luke, and he never destroyed anything. I don't know what I would have done if he had....but I guess my point is, if your pup is fine while left out alone, and she really hates the crate, maybe you could just not use it. All kinds of dogs live just fine without one. maybe you could teach her that she can sleep on a nice dog bed beside your bed instead? That way she's still near you at night but not as confined? If she MUST be crated though...I'd try the suggestions already posted, and hope they work for you. Most dogs can learn to tolerate a crate sooner or later but there are those few like my Luke who simply won't. I hope for your sake it's the former


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## LisaNicolle (Jul 16, 2011)

It makes me so sad, it's not just at night time, but when we get up for work in the morning my husband leaves before I'm out of bed, I have enough time to feed her & have a coffee before I have to go, but she is so sad, when she knows it's a work day she mopes around the house then when it's time to go upstairs, she cowers like I beat her! Which I assure u I have never even raised my hand to this dog she is the center of our world. But I usually don't have time in the early morning to chase this dog around the house because she doesn't want to go in her kennel. I wouldnt say she puts up a fight or even really struggles, but I literally have to holder collar to bring her up the stairs. Even when I let go of the collar to let her walk in by herself, she walks the other way.. 
She just looks so sad giving me those puppy eyes. 
Leaving her out of the kennel during the day is not a option, it's to dangerous for her to be unsupervised. & a bord husky is a destructive husky.

There really isn't a reason why she can't sleep in the bed with us at night, I just really don't think she should, it's not her bed. I'm perfectly fine with having her snuggle us when we welcome her onto the bed. But it is not her bed. From all the reading I've done on the breed you have to show a husky you are alpha, even tho I can tell that Luna just wants to please us & be loved by us. She is a very affectionate dog. Loves beig around people & in our pack. 
But I just don't think were ready to have her sleep on her own bed in the bedroom. *knock on wood* she hasnt chewed anything yet. & I'd like to keep it that way. 
Also even when we leave a towel for her to sleep on in the crate during the day some days we come home to shredded towels. Shes bord. I have in the past left safe toys in her kennel but no more towels. 
Leaving her alone in the house unsupervised at 8 months, not going to happen. 
2 years old, maybe. Will see.

My phone won't let me post pictures, but here's a link to one of my many many many Facebook albums of Luna 


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150501654565417.641445.642590416&l=915281ebc6

Hope it works


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