Followup Question on Crating

When we last spoke... I had decided to confine Willie to part of the house for most of the day instead of crating him. What I do now is put him in the crate when I leave for work. When the dog walker comes about 11:30, he does not put Willie back in the crate after their walk. He comes again for a walk around 4:00, and Willie is again left confined but not crated until I get home.

I really want to continue with the crate for part of the day because I want Willie to be able to travel with me when possible. Many vacation rentals and hotels require that dogs be crate trained. And he's really only in there for about 3 hours!

Here's the problem. Having tasted the freedom of being gated for part of the day, Willie raises hell when I put him in the crate now. He pugtonas around the house until I can trap him and put him in the crate. Then he screams like he's being waterboarded. I can hear him when I leave the house. I'm pretty sure this ends quickly.

So here's my question...with a ready-made answer, I think. I should just ignore his screams and continue to put him in the crate, right? I'm the human and he's the pug and I get to make the decisions, right? Thanks for the therapy.

When Otto was young and getting used to his crate, I decided I didn't want to continue chasing him and "putting" him into it. I wanted him to go into the crate willingly and on his own - so I started tossing a treat into the crate while I'd say "go to your crate, Otto" and he'd run in to get it. I'd close the crate door, say a bunch of "wonderful dog, good boy, Otto!" things to him, put in another small treat and go to work. The crate was big enough for a comfy mattress, some toys and a water bowl.

After a week or so, all I had to say was "Go to your crate, Otto" and he'd run into it and sit and wait for his treat. Even while we were home, for the rest of his life, he would go into his crate when he wanted to nap, chill out or pass time while we were doing things that he couldn't be part of (like painting a hallway, cleaning out the garage, unpacking groceries....)

Maybe something like this would work for Willy? It helped that Otto was very easy to train as long as there was a treat involved somehow.

My advice would be the same. Is there a tricky treat ball or a kong stuffed with some really excellent stuff that he ONLY gets for his morning crating? I'd be going to back to that. Maybe start with having one ready at night when you come home so that you can put it in the crate with the door open so he can associate the cool edibles with his crate and start saying "Go to your crate, Willie". And make it mandatory that when he is chewing on this super special ball or kong or bone that he only gets to do it in the crate.

I think you are seeing some adolescent behaviour as much as anything. So up the ante and make the crate the place where only the cool kids go to get cool nummies.

I would start with very slowly increasing the amount of time that he spends in his crate. I suspect that it's not the crate that's making him cry, it's being separated from you. Start with you and the crate in the same room. Make it a fun game, get the crate and open the door, throw a treat in, when he goes inside, close the door and then let him come right back out again. Let him come back out before he starts crying. Put a stuffed Kong or some other fun dog toy in with him. Gradually increase how long he stays in until he's in for 10 minutes. Randomize how long he stays in for, sometimes it's a few seconds, sometimes it's a minute or two.

Now start going to another room and coming right back again and letting him out. Gradually stay in another room for longer periods of time. Feed him in his crate. Make sure he gets a treat every time he goes in. If all goes well, he shouldn't even care that you are in another room.

Many dogs will scream bloody murder if they know their person is still around, but be perfectly fine if they hear the front door close and the car motor start.

I think you are smart to get him used to a crate, they need to know what it is for traveling/boarding and for vet visits.

I've had two dogs who came to me "hating their crates" but day after day of watching the other dogs get treats, both of them decided on their own that they wanted to go into a crate and get their treats like the other dogs.

Those treats make a big difference! We treat every single time any pug goes into the crate. And, now, all I have to say is "pig pen" (my hubby made that up), and they all haul ass to the nearest crate.

And, Karen hit the nail on the head - if my dogs are confined while I am home, they cry, but if I leave out the door right away, they are silent.

Mine get treats (called "bumbits" - long story, don't ask) when they get put into their room or confined in any way. They know our routine and Snifter hangs around on the staircase positively gagging for me to say the magic word, at which point he dashes at top speed to the pug room. Works really well for us.

Mine will make a noise when confined and I am at home, but generally even if I stay home they will subside after 5 mins or so. They have had to be confined a lot this past month due to builders and they have not even been in their usual room. The bumbits help hugely in getting them to where they need to be.

Good advice all. Thanks. I need to plan better in the evening so that I have everything ready for my morning departure, including a treat-filled kong or something like that. If I'm bolting around in the morning trying to get out of the house and Willie starts his pugtona and hiding from me routine, neither of us likes the other very much! I have to stop at the grocery store on the way home this afternoon. I'll get some fabulous treats.

Put yogurt or peanut butter, mixed with a little of his kibble, in the kong and freeze it tonight. He'll take longer to get it out that way.

Millie'sMichael wrote:I'm the human and he's the pug and I get to make the decisions, right?

I think we all know the answer to that question...NOOOOO.

Yes, mine willingly jump into their crates because they know they will get a treat! I have had lots of fosters that hated the crate initially, but after watching how happy the others are to go into their's they decided it wasn't so bad and that the treat was worth it. They don't have to even be great treats anymore, my little lunchmouths will eat anything now!

A chew bone with peanut butter stuffed in every crevice made the crate a pretty happy place this morning!

And I'm sure Willie is convinced that HE is now training YOU to give him what he wants. Smart little pug, no?

Glad it went better this morning - for both of you.