Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly  I didn't see that post but I've put a bit of karo syrup/honey on the posts & thrown real meat treats into the crates or a path of meat bits leading up to the crate for a few days to get a dog to approach it. Then I'd toss in a squeaky toy, get it out and clap, act really happy & go treat the dog. I'd stop & pat the crate & smile, say "Good little crate", go treat the dog where he was across the room. Just things like that to get the dog to see the crate as something positive & good. Over time, they do approach it, and even go in & come back out. Eventually when he was coming & going in/out to get treats & toys, I'd just pick him up, put him in it, smile & clap gently, hand in a treat and call him right out, smiling/happy yourself, treat again & take him right away from it so he doesn't think he's got to stay anywhere near that once scary thing long at all and distract him with tugowar or throw the ball across the room. After a little play, I'd pick him up, put him in it, smile & clap gently, hand in a treat and call him right out, treat, carry him away, play a game. Slowly desensitizes them to the crate and one day, when he's in there getting a treat, you can shut the door & open it, let them right out and slowly increase the time they are in there, handing in nice treats or putting a tad of syrup/honey on a crate post or the door handle - just things like that - smiling and happy all the while and then a fun game to distract when he comes out. Sometimes I put their food & water bowls in the crate for a while with the door open so they associate it with the necessities. I've even put their beds in there and all their toys at once. I even toss in his dinner kibble piece at a time for him to run in & get & back out. Anything to make it friendly and associate it with normal things. Keep smiling & petting it, saying "Good crate" as you walk by. You don't have to do these same things but you get the idea of how to accomodate them to the crate and tailor your process to what works best for ya'll.
Never had a dog not love all this method and come to love his crate in no time with this association/desensitization process. Before long, they "own" their crate & feel at home in it, think of it as a little den, sanctuary. |