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StaceyDee · 04-06-2010, 05:05 AM

Linus stays in his small plastic crate when I'm gone for short periods of time and in his expen (which is only 2'x4') when I'm gone a little longer. The trick to train him was to never place him in the crate or pen, I always entice him to go in there himself with treats and bully sticks and let him go on his own. We also only have beds in the expen and crate, there really aren't any comfy places for him to go anywhere else. Therefore, if he wants a nap, he has to go one of those places.

He caught onto the expen really quickly because he loves his bed and he was still able to see what everyone was doing. We originally put the expen with his comfy bed in the middle of the living room where he could see everything and we just ignored him until he was bored and went in there to take a nap. Try moving the pen to a different area. Linus loves his expen but still won't go in there if we put it on the hardwoord floor. He much prefers it to be in a carpeted room (with a plastic tablecloth underneath to protect the floor). We keep the pen adjusted to a pretty small size right now while he's potty training so it's only big enough for his bed and potty pad, but we do keep a small heavy water dish in the corner (away from the bed) in case he gets thirsty. None of the water bottle holders worked for us. If your expen doesn't have a step-through door, you need one. Linus walks in and out of his pen constantly. I bought Linus's pen at Tractor Supply Company (where the regular price was 1/2 the sale price of petsmart!)

The crate was and is a little more tricky. The key is to take it SLOWLY. We hide treats in his crate on a regular basis in hopes that if he ever chooses to go in there, he'll find something good. We also make sure that it's really comfy and has some great chewies and toys. Over the past few weeks, he has spent more and more time in there everyday (on his own accord). I've only closed him in there a few times, and each time was for about an hour, but each time seems to be getting a little better. Just make sure you keep the door of the crate open and in an ideal area of your house and eventually they go in there on their own.

Once again, the most important tip I can leave you with is to make sure that all his favorite things are in that expen and crate. Strip the rest of your house of all his treats, toys and beds so that the pup is drawn to the pen. If the only place to lie down is in his favorite bed in his pen, he'll go in there on his own!! If you force him in, he'll never catch on.

04-06-2010, 05:05 AM	#11
StaceyDee Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Brentwood, TN Posts: 60	Linus stays in his small plastic crate when I'm gone for short periods of time and in his expen (which is only 2'x4') when I'm gone a little longer. The trick to train him was to never place him in the crate or pen, I always entice him to go in there himself with treats and bully sticks and let him go on his own. We also only have beds in the expen and crate, there really aren't any comfy places for him to go anywhere else. Therefore, if he wants a nap, he has to go one of those places. He caught onto the expen really quickly because he loves his bed and he was still able to see what everyone was doing. We originally put the expen with his comfy bed in the middle of the living room where he could see everything and we just ignored him until he was bored and went in there to take a nap. Try moving the pen to a different area. Linus loves his expen but still won't go in there if we put it on the hardwoord floor. He much prefers it to be in a carpeted room (with a plastic tablecloth underneath to protect the floor). We keep the pen adjusted to a pretty small size right now while he's potty training so it's only big enough for his bed and potty pad, but we do keep a small heavy water dish in the corner (away from the bed) in case he gets thirsty. None of the water bottle holders worked for us. If your expen doesn't have a step-through door, you need one. Linus walks in and out of his pen constantly. I bought Linus's pen at Tractor Supply Company (where the regular price was 1/2 the sale price of petsmart!) The crate was and is a little more tricky. The key is to take it SLOWLY. We hide treats in his crate on a regular basis in hopes that if he ever chooses to go in there, he'll find something good. We also make sure that it's really comfy and has some great chewies and toys. Over the past few weeks, he has spent more and more time in there everyday (on his own accord). I've only closed him in there a few times, and each time was for about an hour, but each time seems to be getting a little better. Just make sure you keep the door of the crate open and in an ideal area of your house and eventually they go in there on their own. Once again, the most important tip I can leave you with is to make sure that all his favorite things are in that expen and crate. Strip the rest of your house of all his treats, toys and beds so that the pup is drawn to the pen. If the only place to lie down is in his favorite bed in his pen, he'll go in there on his own!! If you force him in, he'll never catch on. Last edited by StaceyDee; 04-06-2010 at 05:07 AM.