Do you reward her for going in there? Loki ALWAYS gets a treat for going in his crate. All I have to say is "Loki crate" from anywhere in the house and he bolts to his crate. Sometimes he sits in it and looks at me "asking" for a treat! HA! But the key is to reward for short periods of time too. Don't always put her in there and then leave for 3 hours. Sometimes you need to put her in there for 5 minutes, say while you are getting the mail or cooking dinner. That way they don't associate the crate with being alone for hours.
Also, make sure she is REALLY tired and completely empty before you put her in there, even at night. Try taking a long walk first. That way she will sleep! The key to crate training is that the dogs will usually curl up and fall asleep! ALSO TRY KONGS!! Only give a kong when she's in the crate. She will associate the crate with the best treat in the world and spend 20 minutes licking the Kong and won't realize you're gone!
At night is the crate in an area where she can see you? When we were crate-training we had a crate downstairs and in our bedroom. Loki slept in the one in our bedroom at night, both so he could see us but so that I could hear him when he cried so that I could take him outside. (He learned to "knock" on his crate to be let outside!) I quickly learned the difference between, "I don't want to be in here" and "I HAVE TO PEE!" cries. We let him out at least once in the middle of the night until he was about 6-7 months old, but he also had medical issues. But after letting him out, he got his treat for going out and then went right back in the crate. No playtime at 2am! The funniest thing is that now he sleeps through the night and he will give me the evil eye if I turn the light on and disturb him. |