A Breeders Dog Story - Common Crate Training Problems

Crate Training Problems

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Crate training does not need to be a problem but just a small challenge that can be overcome. Listed below are some of the more common challenges that as a dog trainer or owner you may encounter.

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"My dog cries and whimpers when I put him in the crate."

There could be a mixture of reasons as to why this is happening

You may have gone a little to fast in your training. It is important that your dog enjoys each step of the crate training process before you move on to the next stage. Go back to the stage previously where your dog enjoyed it or was more compliant and go from there. Take into account where the Crate is. Is it near the family? Dogs who are left out of the family atmosphere with a crate in a different room will feel left out and may be harder to train. Integrate the crate training into the family. Some people have two crates-one in the family room/lounge or where the family mostly congregate and another in the bedroom for the overnight. Make sure that you leave your dog's favorite toys in the crate for him. My dog's favorite is his rubber toy filled with peanut butter-this relaxes him and really helped in the training process. Never and I repeat never treat the crate as a punishment. This is where most people get it wrong as they shout at their dog to get in the crate. This is like using a naughty step with a child-they will associate that place with punishment, this is a major part of the crate training process to get right and remember. Don't leave your dog in the crate longer than is necessary or reasonable. If you had a 8 or 9 week old puppy, he will not be able to hold his bladder for eight hours. Consequently if your puppy does urinate in his crate he will associate his crate with a potty and use it as such. This can lead to all sorts of health problems.
"My dog likes his crate but he pees on his blanket"

As mentioned don't leave the puppy in his crate any longer than is reasonable. Remove blanket privileges until he better understands the crate training process.
"I tried crate training but I made mistakes and now my dog doesn't like his crate ...I want to try again, but how?"

Your dog is associating his old crate with unpleasant things, so remove the old crate and buy a crate that looks completely different. Also put the new crate in a different part of the House so that he won't associate the surroundings with his old crate. Be extra patient. Start the training from scratch.

Remember that by trying to understand a little dog psychology it will make the dog training process so much easier and so much more enjoyable.

A Breeders Dog Story - Common Crate Training Problems

Tobias Charles writes on all subjects of particular interest, try visiting his website on dog training tips for more information.

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