How to crate train even the most difficult dog

DId you know that most dogs actually love to be in their crate.

No SERIOUSLY… they love it!

A well balanced dog will enjoy the calmness of being in a crate.

An unbalanced, nervous dog who wasn’t introduced properly might feel trapped and start to show signs of anxiety.

As a dog trainer I see quite often how crate training can be difficult as some dogs will fight for their life not to have to go in the crate.

Other dogs will scream and whine while they are in the crate.

If you are going through any of these issues, click the link below to get some of your questions answered.

Why crate train your dog

The number one thing crate training will do is provide supervision.

Many dog owners want to leave their dog out free in the house or apartment only to come home to the garbage can tipped over, pieces of the couch bitten off, and wet spots on the floor.

What happens next?

You get so upset with your dog that you start screaming at them. You tell them how “You knew better” and “I am so annoyed with you right now”.

This is typical and could of been avoided if you crate train your dog.

Nobody wants to come home to the trash on the floor. Also you put things in the trash that are not meant to be eaten.

Maybe you put some hazardous material in the trash.

Maybe you put glue or old food in the wrong can.

Whatever you put in the trash your dog was not supposed to eat it.

Your dog can get sick, which means a trip to the vet, which means more money you spend.

What about that half eaten couch?

It was expensive and now you have to buy another one.

In the meantime it looks tacky as your guest see it when they come over.

Who wants to sit on a couch with chunks of it missing anyways?

Now the wet spots or the mountain of poop on your floor is entirely a different beast on its own.

It can ruin your floor!

You can step in it and ruin your shoes or at a minimum have to clean them and wash out the smell.

You get my point.

These things are all avoided by crate training your dog.

You will come home with the assurance knowing that your couch or wall is not eaten. Also knowing that your dog is safe because they haven’t swallowed something they were not supposed to.

Things you will need:

• leash

• collar

• crate

• treats

How to crate train( for dogs who are not anxious or had a bad experience)

1. See if your dog will go in there on their own. Don’t force your dog. Throw a treat in the crate and see what they do. If they don’t walk in, they are telling you

   “I am not ready to go in, even for a treat”

2. Leave the crate door open and allow them to explore. Once they take a step forward, praise them and give them a reward if they will take it.

3. Don’t rush. Let them explore slowly. Once they are consistently doing this with no problem start to close the door slowly and open it quickly and reward your dog.

4. Start leaving your dog in the crate for 5 seconds, then 10 seconds, then 2 seconds.

   (It is very important that you don’t increase time in a linear way. ie: 1 sec, 2 sec, 3 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 20 sec. Doing this is not beneficial for the dog. When you mix up the time, the dog doesn’t know what to expect and doesn’t become anxious since he cant predict the time that he will stay in the crate)

5. Leave your dog in the crate especially when you are home.

   Many people will only leave their dog in the crate when they are leaving. In the dog’s mind they are thinking

   “Every time I go in the crate you leave and I am all alone”

   I know it might not seem to make sense to put your dog in the crate when you are home since you can supervise your dog, but you need to do this.

   It doesn’t have to be long. Maybe 15 minutes. That it!

6. Put your dog in the crate overnight.

   Your dog should not be sleeping with you. They should sleep in their own bed. This is healthy separation. Where as sleeping with your dog or having them follow you around can cause separation anxiety.

Now for the difficult cases.

You can repeat the previous steps, but if your dog will not get in the crate in can be difficult to put them in it.

What you have to remember is you must get your dog in the crate or the next time will be harder. If you struggle to get your dog in the crate and you fail to get your dog in the crate they will put up a strong fight the next time.

In the dog’s mind they won the exchange and you lost.

You MUST win!

Once you win, your dog will settle down and realize the crate is not that bad.

This is so important!!!

Many dog owners don’t realize that they can’t put their dog in the crate because they kept trying and lost every time.

Tip:If you tell your dog to go in the crate, then make sure you can get them to go in the crate

The next step is to make sure your dog is calm in the crate. You want your dog to relax.

The mistake that I see is at this point you shouldn’t give your dog a treat.

A treat is given when you are introducing a puppy or a dog without anxiety to a crate.

A dog with anxiety will need you to stop them from getting so aroused. They need you to help their mind relax and food will not do that.

If you are having difficulty with this then….

You can give your dog a chewing bone, but only after they relax.

If your dog starts screaming then walk over to the crate and say NO!

My #1 favorite command

I love a lot of commands- when a dog comes to heel, down from a distance, come. But there's one command I love the most. This is the place command and I will tell you why.

What does the place command do?

I use it with most dogs I train. Whether an aggressive dog or a well behaved dog. The reason being is because place has several benefits

1. It gives a dog a place to go in the house so they don't get into trouble

   Many hyper and unruly dogs have a lot of energy and lack of boundaries. They have no place to go and it shows. They are the dogs that when everyone else is still, they are still moving around. Whether its sniffing the ground or just looking around looking for some mischief to get into like a bored kid. When you teach your dog place and get her to stay on place you will notice something. Your dog might start shaking like its going through withdrawal symtoms. This is your dog learning impulse control.

2. They give a dog there own space

   Dogs don’t like to be underneath us all the time. Even the dogs that do, you need to know that this is not healthy. You have to teach your dog to not panic while you are away from them. Some dogs develop seperation anxiety because they can’t stand when their owner leaves them. Believe me, if you incorporate the place command you are minimizing this problem. The bed is also like the their crate-a safe space.

3. They help a reactive dog learn how to be a passenger in the world

   This command is especially useful for reactive dogs. Once they learn the 4 steps to the place command you teach your dog to ignore the world around them and just relax. For example once the dog learns to stay on their place bed then I can add distraction like kids shouting from 20 feet away and have the dog remain on the place bed.

   Now comes the steps to the place command

   it seems so simple yet to achieve great results you have to put in effort.

   Step 1

   Send the dog to place

   Lure dog onto place bed with a piece of food. Get them comfortable going on the place bed. Then walk up to place bed and stop abruptly a foot away from the place bed. Remember to pull the dog back as they are likely to just keep walking due to forward momentum. Next say PLACE, then guide the dog onto the place bed.

   Step 2

   Distance

   Same as step 1 but you increase the distance where you stop

   Step 3

Get the dog to stay on the place bed.

Once your dog is on the place bed move around them in a circle. If they try to get off, Say uhuh or nope and repeat PLACE.

Step 4

Correction

Once your dog understand how to stay on the place bed then its time to add correction for failure to comply. Be careful not to move to fast to this command. Make sure that your dog understands the command. You will know your dog knows because you would have performed it hundreds of times correctly.

Thats it!!! My favorite command in a nutshell. Its many used and benefits and how to implement it.

Thanks for reading and comment to let me know what dog training question are giving you problems or if you’re just curious .

An example of why and how of structure and freedom with a dog

I've noticed something with a recent client and their dog. Not only was the dog hyper and unruly, he also did not like it when you told him what to do.

For instance, if the dog jumped on me biting my hand and I told him “no” he would jump even more ferociously. He would have his calm moments after a while but for the most part this was his normal behavior.

Now I am a firm believer in punishing biting by the dog. Some are against this and say that the dog will grow out of it. Some dogs do while others don't. I am not in the business of leaving things to chance.

So that is what I did first. I punished the biting at a correction suitable enough to make the dog not want to bite but not enough to cause the dog pain. It is a tricky balance.

The next thing I did was get the dog to stop taking advantage of the owner, who was a sweet woman. She didn't realize that she was giving the dog way too much freedom. He was allowed access to the whole house and whole yard. One thing always sticks out to me is that dogs with too much freedom can never sit still. They are like kids with adhd. These dogs need duration exercises to teach the dog how to calm down and relax in one place. I had the owner and her family sit still and not engage with the dog. The dog looked lost. He had to be in the grass sniffing, in the garbage sniffing, bothering the owner by biting on her shoes, etc. This dog needed something to do and told what to do. The best way to control is to keep a leash on the dog even in the house. Now it is time to give the dog something to do.

When we are in the house I want the dog to lay quietly on their bed. I will usually put the bed next to the couch where the owners watch tv. This makes it easier and no big deal or effort considering the owner is not doing anything they wouldn't do anyways(watching tv). The dog at first kept trying to get up. This is why the leash is handy. You can keep watching tv and feel if the dog is moving away from their bed by holding the leash.

Structure and limited freedom is the key to get your dog to listen to you without doing obedience.

The above example shows one way to live with your dog in the house. By keeping your dog on its bed for a duration of time, they learn to relax in place.

Another way to add limited freedom is to cut off certain areas to your dog. Areas that are off limits might include the living room, the bathroom, a special room. How do I stop the dogs from entering these areas?

I put up little baby gates that you can get from target the store. If you don't put anything across the doorway and rely on your voice then you'll be screaming a lot of “get out” to the dog. Also the dog is faster than you, so they will be in the room before you can get a word in. If you put up a baby gate the dog will respect the barrier and eventually stop without the barrier there.

A structured walk is also important. On a structured walk the dog is not allowed to sniff, pull, or stare at any dog or person intently. The dog can sniff the ground only when I give the okay command.

It is important that you realize that you don't need obedience if you just want to live peacefully with your dog. Rules and respect make a relationship thrive in the dog world.