Gosh, I don't know about banging on the crate. Dogs respond much better to positive reinforcement than to negative consequences. I think you should try doing something that will create a positive association with the crate. As weird as it sounds, you might try putting a piece of your dirty laundry in the crate with your puppy, underwear or lingerie because it smells very strongly of you and that is more likely to make them feel they are actually physically close to you. The more negative associations you create to the crate, I would think the more negatively the dog will react to being put into it for the night.
And again, I recommend using Rescue Remedy drops. The idea is to create a feeling of relaxation when the puppy goes into the crate. This is what Rescue Remedy does. It puts their brains into an induced state of relaxation, and coupled with being in the crate, they learn to associate the two, i.e. crate=relaxation/sleep. It only took two nights for our puppy to get the connection. |