what he said. Also, the key to crate training is that the dog is comfortable there. A bed that is too big might as well be a whole room to a dog and while you and I might like a bed the size of a room, a dog wants one closer to his own size.
Got any advice for making the crate more comfortable and less stressful for Our Heroine? She's got a slight case of separation anxiety, doesn't really *like* the crate, and I'd rather not make it worse.
I'm wondering if feeding her in there would be a good idea or not.
(I also suspect this will get better when her NEW EVERYTHING stress subsides a little)
Oh, lots of treats int he crate, especially when you aren't going to stick her in there. Just hide treats in there for her to find on her own, so that she'll go in on her own and associate it with good yummy things. Put some toys in there that have treats that would make her stay in there, like a rope toy with a kong on it that you put treats in. Just make sure to reward her a lot when she goes in, especially if she goes in without asking her to.
Yeah, that's working like a charm. Two minutes of trying to get at the food from the outside, ten seconds of tentative pained sniffing, jump in, grab some, get praised madly.... huh? Praise? I LIKE PRAISE! Run in and out of the crate eating the treats!
And, since then, she's voluntarily gone in twice more to get some of her toys out.
Unalloyed success! Thank you!
(Now, how to keep her from peeing in there *by preference*, as in she'll hold it up if she can....)
haha, it seems so obvious, but it completely slipped my mind until i watched a training dvd when we got Halle.
The peeing thing is hard, sometimes Halle still has trouble, she peed in there this morning actually.. and she's 7 months-ish now. It gets easier as they get older, but you are doing it right with the closing off part of the crate. Just try to get her on a schedule, when she drinks water, just think 30 mins or so after she'll prolly have to pee. and just make sure that every time you come home and take her out of the crate you take her out to pee so she KNOWS that she will get a chance to pee as soon as you are around to let her out.
The problem is, *right now* she's waiting until she gets crated and then crapping all over the place, by preference. She'll go outside with me, walk all over the neighbourhood, and then get inside, get off the leash, and squat.
I'm trying to break her of her *preference* for peeing indoors.
Hmm, is there anything soft/absorbant in her crate? if so, make sure to take it out. it's odd that she would do that if the bottom is bare. when she does go outside, make sure to give her plenty of praise, and use a key word like "good potty" or whatever else you might wanna say, like "good crap!" haha, whatever it may be... the dog sometimes forgets to go outside because they are so busy sniffing, and telling them that word (once they learn it) can be a big help. sometimes they will even try to go when they don't have to, just because you told them to try. i even gave halle treats when we came in from a nice crap and gave her plenty of praise.
Yes, dogs love to pee/poop on things that are absorbant, that's why paper training works. It might seem cruel, but better take it out of there. That's why they always pee on the carpet when there is perfectly good tile 2 feet away ;)
This dog, by choice, aims for concrete, laminate, the rug protector under my desk chair, and several other solid things.... but ALSO pees on carpets and towels, so, hey, worth a try!
LOL! Well, in addition, once the dog has peed/pooped in a spot, I'm sure you've heard that the smell stays, and serves as a marker for where to pee and poop again.. you need a cleaner that removes ammonia traces, etc. I'm not really sure other than that, but I've been told that if a dog looks at you while they do it in a place they know is bad, it's an act of dominance. I guess the best advice is to take her out as much as possible, and make sure she goes in the right place. She'll get the hang of it eventually. Also, there are behavioral signs that show a dog is about to go, you gotta keep your eyes on them constantly, sniffing and circling in certain spots, butt clenching, are signs that the dog is about to "go".
Yeah, that's working like a charm. Two minutes of trying to get at the food from the outside, ten seconds of tentative pained sniffing, jump in, grab some, get praised madly.... huh? Praise? I LIKE PRAISE! Run in and out of the crate eating the treats!
Hmmm... I need to trade my cat in for a dog. They sound much easier to manage!
Hee hee, glad this advice worked out, I was about to suggest it.
My other suggestion would be, depending on the dog, put a cover over the crate. Some dogs like the wire open crates so they can see everything, some dogs like covered den-like crates where they feel like they're hiding.
yeah, i never did it, but my friend would always put a blanket over the crate when the dog got too whiney/riled up and it calmed them down. also, if you have trouble at night (halle had trouble in the begining) playing music works really well. nice soft music. We didn't have a ticking clock, which is tradionally what is suggested along with a plush toy (halle would have torn it to shreds anyway) but the music really did the trick.
I feed my dog in his crate and he likes it more. I've also found that he's happier with a little extra padding on there.
Some dogs like to be covered and some like to see around. You might experiment with throwing a blanket over top to see what she thinks. I have also heard of putting in cloth wrapped ticking clocks (people still have those) for comfort.
Pretty picture! Don't worry too much about solid house training until she's closer to 6 months old. Around 4 months she should START to be able to hold it. Remember what I said about my afghan hound? Seriously, big dogs take longer to mature with their bodily functions. Meanwhile - I've heard there are dog pads that little dogs use to pee on, you might want to put them under the crate so its easier to clean up.
"Solid" is one thing. I expect she'll make mistakes.
The problem is, *right now* she's waiting until she gets crated and then crapping all over the place, by preference. She'll go outside with me, walk all over the neighbourhood, and then get inside, et off the leash, and squat.
I'm trying to break her of her *preference* for peeing indoors.
(And the crate has a floor. A solid metal floor with a lip - it contains drips and puddles and clumps of crap quite nicely, and is washable.)
Speaking of animals and poop, the younger of my two cats, who is unflappable 99% of the time, used to get anxious every time I cleaned out the litterbox, to the point where I would sit down and cuddle with him until he was content and he would just sit there and watch me finish scooping afterwards.
It worked. Now he hears the lid come off the litterbox and comes a-runnin' because that means Cuddle Time! What used to take 30 seconds has become a ten minute process, but I don't mind. Kitty cuddles are awesome.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:14 pm (UTC)he's freaking adorable. Almost makes me want another puppy. Then I remember the biting and the crap on the carpet and I think I'll live.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:32 pm (UTC)Why? I don't own (and never have owned) a dog, but I'm curious.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:35 pm (UTC)The MECHANISM by which a crate works is that the dog won't voluntarily piss in it's bed.
So you make sure the crate is so small that that dog can't mentally separate Bed from NonBed.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:48 pm (UTC)I'm wondering if feeding her in there would be a good idea or not.
(I also suspect this will get better when her NEW EVERYTHING stress subsides a little)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 08:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 09:25 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's working like a charm. Two minutes of trying to get at the food from the outside, ten seconds of tentative pained sniffing, jump in, grab some, get praised madly.... huh? Praise? I LIKE PRAISE! Run in and out of the crate eating the treats!
And, since then, she's voluntarily gone in twice more to get some of her toys out.
Unalloyed success! Thank you!
(Now, how to keep her from peeing in there *by preference*, as in she'll hold it up if she can....)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 09:30 pm (UTC)The peeing thing is hard, sometimes Halle still has trouble, she peed in there this morning actually.. and she's 7 months-ish now. It gets easier as they get older, but you are doing it right with the closing off part of the crate. Just try to get her on a schedule, when she drinks water, just think 30 mins or so after she'll prolly have to pee. and just make sure that every time you come home and take her out of the crate you take her out to pee so she KNOWS that she will get a chance to pee as soon as you are around to let her out.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 10:43 pm (UTC)The problem is, *right now* she's waiting until she gets crated and then crapping all over the place, by preference. She'll go outside with me, walk all over the neighbourhood, and then get inside, get off the leash, and squat.
I'm trying to break her of her *preference* for peeing indoors.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:38 am (UTC)Is this a tererible idea that nobody has yet mentioned to me?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 02:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 03:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 03:21 am (UTC)And I've removed the towels from the cage for tonight.
So we'll see!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:42 pm (UTC)Hmmm... I need to trade my cat in for a dog. They sound much easier to manage!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 09:33 pm (UTC)My other suggestion would be, depending on the dog, put a cover over the crate. Some dogs like the wire open crates so they can see everything, some dogs like covered den-like crates where they feel like they're hiding.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 10:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:31 am (UTC)Some dogs like to be covered and some like to see around. You might experiment with throwing a blanket over top to see what she thinks. I have also heard of putting in cloth wrapped ticking clocks (people still have those) for comfort.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:32 pm (UTC)(Pass on some ear scritchies from me, please.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 07:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 08:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 08:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 08:06 pm (UTC)That crate is a for ~6mo Dane.
So you add the wood to make the crate smaller. (http://theweaselking.livejournal.com/3323132.html?thread=17515772#t17515772)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 08:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 08:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 08:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 10:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 10:43 pm (UTC)The problem is, *right now* she's waiting until she gets crated and then crapping all over the place, by preference. She'll go outside with me, walk all over the neighbourhood, and then get inside, et off the leash, and squat.
I'm trying to break her of her *preference* for peeing indoors.
(And the crate has a floor. A solid metal floor with a lip - it contains drips and puddles and clumps of crap quite nicely, and is washable.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 11:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-27 11:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 03:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 09:14 pm (UTC)Speaking of animals and poop, the younger of my two cats, who is unflappable 99% of the time, used to get anxious every time I cleaned out the litterbox, to the point where I would sit down and cuddle with him until he was content and he would just sit there and watch me finish scooping afterwards.
It worked. Now he hears the lid come off the litterbox and comes a-runnin' because that means Cuddle Time! What used to take 30 seconds has become a ten minute process, but I don't mind. Kitty cuddles are awesome.