I’ve had a few people asking me about crate training recently. The question always goes along the lines of, “We tried putting food in the crate to make it a positive experience but when left alone the dog cried / paws at the door / barks. We heard we should let them cry it out, is that right?”
How can we make this a good experience?
Letting the dog cry it out is, perhaps, a slightly old fashioned way of crate training although that isn’t to say it doesn’t work.
I prefer to build a good “place” command and associate it with a blanket or old towel. Once this association is made you can put the towel anywhere and the dog will go to it and stay there when you give the command. Once the dog has a strong “place” you can put the towel into the crate and give the command, the dog will be happy to go to it and stay there. It is still worth rewarding with some calm praise or food (but only food if it doesn’t cause too much excitement).
The added benefit is you can roll up the towel and take it anywhere you like, visiting friends, the pub, it won’t matter. Once the dog has that association of being calm and relaxed on the towel it will make travelling with your dog much easier.
Building the “place” command
Lay the towel on the floor and put a simple slip lead onto the dog. Lead the dog to the towel and as they step onto it say “place”. Tell the dog to sit or encourage it to do so by stepping in front of it and giving it a little spatial pressure. Then from a sit move them into a down. Once lying you can say “place” again and share some calm affection with the dog. Sit next to the dog until it has calmed to the point of being almost asleep. Every time it seems to relax a little more you should share a little more affection, it’s a reward for the dog for learning to relax further and you’re nurturing that state of mind. Repeat this exercise multiple times a day. Once the dog can go to the towel in that one spot, lie down and be calm just by giving the command, you can then move the towel to somewhere else not far away and try the command again. You might have to help the dog a little. When the dog becomes comfortable in this new place you can move it again. Keep repeating this so the dog knows for sure the command is associated with the towel and not the location of the towel. You can now try putting the towel into the crate and repeat the exercise. Leave the crate door open until the dog is extremely comfortable with the concept.
How and when to use the crate
Even with a good place, if you put a high energy frustrated dog into a crate it won’t take long before he gets bored and tetchy. This will build the frustration within the dog and you’ll start to build negative associations with the crate. A dog should be in a calm submissive state of mind if you want them to spend any great length of time in there. First you should work them, walk them, play with them, even do some obedience, anything to get some energy out, then take them to water to make sure they aren’t thirsty. Then help them to calm, then they are ready to try the crate.
In summary
Crate training is a useful skill to teach any dog but it has to be done in the right way to avoid negativity and frustration. Always remember, if you want your dog to be calm you must reward with calmness.
Until next time, enjoy your dog.
Nick
