# Help!! Crate Training



## hunna05 (May 1, 2006)

I have a year old miniature daschund, and the owners who had him before me never crate trained him. I am moving into an apartment complex where he absolutely cannot make a mess at all. Right now, he sleeps in bed with me, and sometimes (not always) he will get up in the middle of the night and pee on the floor. We have hardwood floors right now but soon it will be carpet. We have tried now for almost a month to crate train him. He goes nuts inside the cage. He freaked out so bad one night that he hurt his paws from scratching around inside the crate. Its getting so bad that no one can get any sleep in the house anymore because of his carrying on all night. We have tried putting blankets over the crate, music playing, putting the crate next to us, putting toys, treats, practically ANYTHING in the crate to make him comfortable, but he will not stay in it no matter what we have tried. We even tried just keeping him in there all night, so maybe he would tire himself out from barking and yipping, but he did it ALL night!!! I am running out of ideas. I went to the Vet today to possibly get him put on some sort of sleep medication, but they didnt seem to concerned with it so I am on my own. I need help!!!!!!!!!


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

Okay...at a year old your dog should be capable of holding it's bladder through the night. Since you took your dog to the vet, I'll assume it does not have any bladder or urinary problems. That being said, it sounds as though you have a common case of a dog who is not properly exercised, or disciplined. Let me deal with that first before we move on to the crate. There's a formula for how you should interact with your dog. The formula is, half your time should be spent on exercise (i.e., walking your dog properly - at least twice a day for 30-45 minutes). A third of the your time should be spent on discipline. Discipline is teaching your dog the rules of the house, the rules of the walk, or basic commands. If you ask your dog to sit and stay, and she moves, correct her by making her sit and stay in the same location again. If your dog jumps on the couch, correct her, make her get off the coach. That's discipline, showing her what's acceptable and what's not. Everthing unacceptable must be corrected, no exceptions. Corrections must be made in the same state of mind you want your dog to be in...most likely calm, without frustration and bad energy coarsing through you. They will feed off the energy you project. The last piece of the formula is affection, the remainder of your time should be spent on affection. If you noticed it, affection is the smallest piece of the formula. Affection can be anything from food, water, shelter, attention, or a rub of the belly. Let me repeat the formula again, exercise - discipline - affection (in that order). Most dogs with problems have this formula reversed. They get nothing but affection, their owner let's them get away with everything, and they get no exercise. So, the first part in solving your problem will be to exercise your dog, discipline it, and then after accomplishing all that, love her to death. 

Now for the crate...all the vocalizations and self mutalation are symptoms of built up energy. Energy that can be released on the walk. Before you put her in the crate again, take her for a long, long walk. Get her really tired, and see if you notice a difference. But you'll also need to associate the crate with a positive. Start by teaching your dog to sit in the crate for a reward. Grab a treat, throw it at the front of the crate, and tell the dog to "get in bed," or whatever command you want to use. When she retrieves the treat, give her a ton of praise, make it seem like it was the biggest accomplishment ever. Continue to do this until you have thrown the treat all the way to the back of the crate. Now you'll want to give the command, but no treat until she gets into the crate. If she follows your command, give her the treat and a lot of praise. Continue to do this until you can get her to jump in the crate, and can wait for the treat. Eventually, you'll want to give only the command, and treat her with affection later (like after your walk the following morning). But you have to build her trust and confidence with the "nothing in life is free" motto in mind. Finally, you'll have to ignore the whining and excitability until the formula begins to work. Don't give in. if the dog learns that her freedom is earned by whining, it will take a lot longer to break that habit. It may take just one walk, or a few weeks. Just be patient and follow through with the exercise and discipline. Good luck, but don't give up!


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## dog_whisper (Apr 15, 2006)

*she is right*



Curbside Prophet said:


> Okay...at a year old your dog should be capable of holding it's bladder through the night. Since you took your dog to the vet, I'll assume it does not have any bladder or urinary problems. That being said, it sounds as though you have a common case of a dog who is not properly exercised, or disciplined. Let me deal with that first before we move on to the crate. There's a formula for how you should interact with your dog. The formula is, half your time should be spent on exercise (i.e., walking your dog properly - at least twice a day for 30-45 minutes). A third of the your time should be spent on discipline. Discipline is teaching your dog the rules of the house, the rules of the walk, or basic commands. If you ask your dog to sit and stay, and she moves, correct her by making her sit and stay in the same location again. If your dog jumps on the couch, correct her, make her get off the coach. That's discipline, showing her what's acceptable and what's not. Everthing unacceptable must be corrected, no exceptions. Corrections must be made in the same state of mind you want your dog to be in...most likely calm, without frustration and bad energy coarsing through you. They will feed off the energy you project. The last piece of the formula is affection, the remainder of your time should be spent on affection. If you noticed it, affection is the smallest piece of the formula. Affection can be anything from food, water, shelter, attention, or a rub of the belly. Let me repeat the formula again, exercise - discipline - affection (in that order). Most dogs with problems have this formula reversed. They get nothing but affection, their owner let's them get away with everything, and they get no exercise. So, the first part in solving your problem will be to exercise your dog, discipline it, and then after accomplishing all that, love her to death.
> 
> Now for the crate...all the vocalizations and self mutalation are symptoms of built up energy. Energy that can be released on the walk. Before you put her in the crate again, take her for a long, long walk. Get her really tired, and see if you notice a difference. But you'll also need to associate the crate with a positive. Start by teaching your dog to sit in the crate for a reward. Grab a treat, throw it at the front of the crate, and tell the dog to "get in bed," or whatever command you want to use. When she retrieves the treat, give her a ton of praise, make it seem like it was the biggest accomplishment ever. Continue to do this until you have thrown the treat all the way to the back of the crate. Now you'll want to give the command, but no treat until she gets into the crate. If she follows your command, give her the treat and a lot of praise. Continue to do this until you can get her to jump in the crate, and can wait for the treat. Eventually, you'll want to give only the command, and treat her with affection later (like after your walk the following morning). But you have to build her trust and confidence with the "nothing in life is free" motto in mind. Finally, you'll have to ignore the whining and excitability until the formula begins to work. Don't give in. if the dog learns that her freedom is earned by whining, it will take a lot longer to break that habit. It may take just one walk, or a few weeks. Just be patient and follow through with the exercise and discipline. Good luck, but don't give up!



you need!!!!! to put him/her in the crate. i dont care if he/she wines or barks or cryes........ NEVER!!!!!!! NEVER!!!!!!!!!!! take him/her out. its about you and what you want!!! not them! you may think its cruel but its not. you can have the crate in your room when you sleep.


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## GSD lover (Apr 8, 2006)

Try making crate time special time. Get a certain bone or toy that the dog can ONLY have when it's in the crate. Also, try not calling the dog to you to put it in the crate but grab it's collar when you walk by to lead it to it. Put it in the crate for five minutes at a time and reward it with jackpots and such and slowly lengthen the time. Try getting a treat cube also, for something for it to do. Boredom and dogs in crates are classic and the whole idea is to just keep it entertained. This is difficult especially if your dog came from a kennel, generally they still have the seperation anxiety they developed there and carry it on into the rest of their life. They do from being with a mother and 3 to 7 litter mates to complete aloness with no slow transition so its hard for them. Good luck with this, it's hard to deal with but patience and love will get you through it.


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## dog_whisper (Apr 15, 2006)

hunna05 said:


> I have a year old miniature daschund, and the owners who had him before me never crate trained him. I am moving into an apartment complex where he absolutely cannot make a mess at all. Right now, he sleeps in bed with me, and sometimes (not always) he will get up in the middle of the night and pee on the floor. We have hardwood floors right now but soon it will be carpet. We have tried now for almost a month to crate train him. He goes nuts inside the cage. He freaked out so bad one night that he hurt his paws from scratching around inside the crate. Its getting so bad that no one can get any sleep in the house anymore because of his carrying on all night. We have tried putting blankets over the crate, music playing, putting the crate next to us, putting toys, treats, practically ANYTHING in the crate to make him comfortable, but he will not stay in it no matter what we have tried. We even tried just keeping him in there all night, so maybe he would tire himself out from barking and yipping, but he did it ALL night!!! I am running out of ideas. I went to the Vet today to possibly get him put on some sort of sleep medication, but they didnt seem to concerned with it so I am on my own. I need help!!!!!!!!!



leave the crate in your room. if he barks, crys, wines, what have you...... never let him out of the crate. if you do this will encourge him that if i bark ill be let out.

also you need to get up and take him out as needed...... again only give him enough room to walk in and sleep comphy lol..... if not he will go potty in one spot in the crate and sleep in the other, we dont want that!!


always NEVER let this happen. if hes sqatting its too late...........

Matt


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## drfong (May 24, 2006)

You have a small dog so make sure the crate is not to large. With one of my dogs, he would do good thru much of the night with the crate next to the bed but in the morning after I took him out and I wanted to get back in bed, he would whine and claw at the door, etc. I started putting the crate in the bed next to me. I would have just put him in the bed but he was not trained yet and would pee in the bed while I was asleep. With the crate in the bed he would just go back to sleep next to me. This might help your dog get used to the crate because he is used to sleeping the bed already. Also all dogs will object to the crate at first. The best way is to let them get used to it, leave it open so they can make it their den, etc. In reality there never seems to be time to do that. Both my dogs went nuts for a while, but with time they both will now stay in the crates as long as needed. They only whine to get out if they need to go out to do their buisness or if we get home and they haven't seen us all day. Good luck


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## Cooperstown (May 26, 2006)

It's tough but you have to put the dog in the crate and leave them alone, especially if they whine. During the day, leave the crate door open and entice them in with treats, tossing them in so the dog associates good things with the crate. They will soon come to love it and wont sleep anywhere else at night. Whenever you cannot watch them when they are puppies they must be in the crate, and leave them there even if they cry bloody murder. Never give them attention or take them out when they are crying.

We use a command every time he goes to his crate, "go to your house" and now we can say it in the middle of the day and he will lope on in.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

I feed my corgi pup all his meals in the crate. I also give him his kong stuffed with goodies or bones only in the crate. He has now associated his crate with feeding/special treat time, and he leaps into it and waits for his food. >^_^<

Perhaps associating it with all his meals and his best chew treats might help.


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## iamcool1109 (May 20, 2006)

that is not a great idea, especially for the short-legged, low to the ground breeds (like corgis, dachsies, etc.), because if you overfeed the dog, (which is not hard to do with little dogs, believe me) they can seriouly get injured, if they try to jump off the bed or couch. they can fracture their backs, like one of my patients a while back.

i am a vetrinarian at davis, so i know this ttpe of stuff.


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

If I'm not mistaken, her crate is probably only 3 inches off the ground. I doubt her corgi is going to break her back jumping into it.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

The crate is on the ground yes. The pup eats in the crate, and stays in there when not being supervised. He is not allowed on the furniture, and I carry him down flights of stairs until he turns a year old. I do not overfeed my pup. I am confused about how you connected crating to overfeeding?



iamcool1109 said:


> i am a vetrinarian at davis, so i know this ttpe of stuff.


Can I see your credentials?

A certain other vet (no need to boast any names) that lives close to me says that my dog is fine and that I am doing a good job. >^_~<

EDIT: I just came home and read my own post and it sounded snippy... sorry about that! ><


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## bigdawgs (May 21, 2006)

How is the crate training going?

Cheetah, you were NOT snippy!


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