Dog Training
Crate Train Your Dog — Easy-Peasy!
Your dog will love this!
Why crate train a dog?
Now first up I’ll say, crate training isn’t for everyone, or every dog. It’s not essential. But many people want to have their dog comfortable in a crate, whether for sleeping in at night, travelling, provideing dogs with a safe ‘den’ to go to during thunderstorms or fireworks, or in case confinement after surgery is ever needed.
If you do plan to use a crate for your dog, it’s important to get the relationship between a dog and the crate off to a good start. Buying the right crate is important — the size of the crate should allow the dog to standup and move around.
After taking the new crate home, sadly that’s where many people go wrong.
The most frequent mistake in crate training
Many people rush the process, and instead of helping their dog learn to enjoy being in a crate, they throw them inside and slam the door, causing the dog to suddenly feel trapped and perceive the crate as a place of punishment.
A slightly better way
Some more enlightened people will put a bed and a food treat inside the crate in attempt to lure the dog into the crate, and then close the door over for a few seconds and then open it before the dog realises they were actually confined. It’s important to do this to avoid a negative association developing.
The best way
The best approach is similar but with a fundamental difference.
Use those tasty food treats, or favourite toys — whatever your dog loves, put them inside the crate, and…
…are you ready for it?
Drumroll please…
…close the door, with your dog on the outside!
Using this ‘reverse psychology’, you will see a dog, instead of being suspicious and cautious around the crate, be absolutely desperate to get inside for the fun. But you’re not going to let him in for a while. You build up the anticipation like presents under the Christmas tree that the kids can’t open until Christmas day.
You might practice some sits, downs, loose-leash walking around the house, etc, and only when he’s been a very good boy for some time can he be allowed inside the crate. How long is ‘some time’? Depends on the dog but you might start with five minutes outside the crate. Even then, don’t close the door for the first few days.
Keep practicing this until your dog clearly associates very good things with the crate and possibly sleeps there occasionally (assuming you’ve put some comfortable blankets or a bed in there).
Your attitude (and that of your dog) needs to be:
‘only the best behaved dogs are allowed inside the crate!’
This may also be useful if a dog already has a negative association with crates. It may take longer but it can only help.
A note of caution
Crates are not for every dog. A crate isn’t a replacement dog-minder and should not be used to confine a dog for extended periods unless in an emergency.
Crates can be problematic for dogs with separation anxiety and for dogs not properly socialised with them.
Read your dog’s body language forcing things and causing stress for the dog can make things much worse.
In summary
Ensure the crate is large enough for your dog; set it up for comfort; use the reverse psychology approach described above to make your dog love being in the crate — not just tolerate it; and perhaps most importantly, don’t rush it.
Why not try it? I’d love to hear in the comments how this works for you!
