# Help--my beagle hates the crate



## cocoabeagle (Aug 4, 2009)

I have a rescued beagle/dachshund mix, 3 years old, clean bill of health. We got her on August 1st. I've been on summer break since then (I teach) but I go back to school next week.
The dog has been mostly home with me, going on frequent walks, and out to pee (we live in an apt.). She's gotten pretty attached to me (or else she just doesn't want to be abandoned again).

She appears not to have been crate trained. We put her in a wire crate (chosen for her size) with cushion and a filled Kong (PB or canned dog food, frozen) when we've left her home alone. 

She absolutely hates the crate! She whines, cries, digs at the floor of the crate, destroys the cushion by digging at it, and barks. When we come back, the cushion is frequently drenched, and it's not urine (doesn't smell). I think she's just drooling and anxious. 

How should I handle crate training in this final week of summer vacation? I want her to be able to be calm in the crate (when I'm home with her, she sleeps or lounges for hours on the sofa, or chews at her filled dog toys, so I wish she could just relax and do the same in the crate).

I would really appreciate your recommendations for step-by-step crate training while I am at home, so she can be happier when I am gone starting next week. I can even leave for short periods for the training; today I have just put her in the crate with me in another room so I can hear what she does because I am so amazed at how wet the crate is when I return and I want to know what she does.

thanks!


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## skelaki (Nov 9, 2006)

You need to associate the crate with positive things. Feed her in the crate with the door open. Play games where you toss a treat or toy into the crate and let her fetch it out. Perhaps make the crate more den-like by covering it with a blanket or something. Keep the crate in an area where she can be with or at least see you (when you're home). Praise and reward her only for going into the crate and don't let her out unless she's quiet. Then praise her for being quiet and let her out. If necessary ask your vet for meds to help her over the adjustment period. Start out with very short periods of time in the crate while you're home. You could even start out as simply as putting her in, shutting the door, praising, and immediately opening the door and letting her out.


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## cocoabeagle (Aug 4, 2009)

thank you, skelaki.

I have been trying some of these techniques, but probably need to keep practicing them, with more patience. Haven't fed her in the crate yet, will do that.

She has gotten to the point where she will follow a thrown treat into the crate and maybe even stay there and dig around/play for a few seconds with the door open, and I do praise her for that. As soon as I close the door, though, she starts whining. Maybe I'm moving too fast and need to break it down into smaller steps.

She whines when she's inside the closed crate with me in the room. She even whines when the crate door is closed but not latched! --she hasn't figured out that she can push the door open with her nose!  she paws at the floor of the crate instead.

Today I put her in the crate with a filled kong for one hour with me in the same room half the time and in the other room the rest of the time. Just to see what she does. She whined almost non-stop. When she got quiet I went into the room to praise her, but of course seeing me started the whine situation again. Once I let her out of the crate, she got into her dog bed and promptly went to sleep.

Will work with making the crate a more positive place again at feeding time tonight.
She just doesn't like to be alone at this point. If I close her in one room with me in the other room, she whines. Maybe I need to build her confidence?


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