chloe was crate trained just two weeks after bringing her home from the breeder. chloe now takes the crate as her "den" & her own room & will never make an accident in there. she also sleeps in there at night so that she doesn't get herself into trouble while i'm asleep. i get so little sleep as a student that when i sleep, i am completely knocked out. so for her safety, i have her sleep in her crate at night.
at first, i didnt have anything in the crate. no crate pad, no cushion, etc. then i would "lure" her in with a toy or a treat and when she was fully inside the crate with all four legs in the crate, i praised her or gave her the treat. i would do "fun things" with her while she was in the crate and make it a game. after a while if i tapped on the crate, she would run inside and wait for a treat.
the worst part wasnt even getting her to walk into the crate herself. the worst part was getting her to stay in there without going ballistic. at first i closed it, let her see that i had closed it, stayed by the crate. i didnt say anything to her, no praising, until i opened the door to let her out. i praised her if she was quiet and calm. i never opened the door or comforted her if she was crying.
after a while i would do five minutes and stay by her side. ten minutes while i read a few pages of a book by her or something. if she was crying, i'd wait for a few minutes for her to calm down. i still didnt comfort her while she was crying in the crate.
then i started leaving her for twenty or thirty minutes while i walked to another part of the house where she couldn't see me. she went crazy a few times. but after a while, was okay with it. so i left her inside the crate and went out of the house for thirty minutes the next time, then an hour, then two and a half. etc.
now she gets it! i think it helps to have them sleep in the crate. for me, i know it did.
i dont even know if this long post really helped much but i hope it was somewhat informative! good luck! |