18 Feb 08 Advice on crate training a fearful (crate-phobic) dog?
2thedogs asked:
I have always crate trained my dogs with great sucess. My 6 yr old lab will run into her crate as soon as I even touch a kong and will sleep most nights in there on her own. I just rescued a lab/shepard mix. He is about 3 years old and gets tons of excersize. I have followed the same methods as with other dogs, meals in the crate, lots of treats and praise, etc. However he is still extremely fearful of the crate. I have been working on the positive association side of this for 10 days now and I feel like we have made no progress. As soon as he goes into the crate to get a treat he pops right back out and the one time I tried to shut the door he panicked and wouldn’t get near the thing for a day! I would really like to be able to reliably crate him for various reasons and have him trust the crate as a safe place. If anyone has any suggestions from experience they have had I would love to hear. I know the basics of crate training, looking for beyond the normal advice! Thanks
I have always crate trained my dogs with great sucess. My 6 yr old lab will run into her crate as soon as I even touch a kong and will sleep most nights in there on her own. I just rescued a lab/shepard mix. He is about 3 years old and gets tons of excersize. I have followed the same methods as with other dogs, meals in the crate, lots of treats and praise, etc. However he is still extremely fearful of the crate. I have been working on the positive association side of this for 10 days now and I feel like we have made no progress. As soon as he goes into the crate to get a treat he pops right back out and the one time I tried to shut the door he panicked and wouldn’t get near the thing for a day! I would really like to be able to reliably crate him for various reasons and have him trust the crate as a safe place. If anyone has any suggestions from experience they have had I would love to hear. I know the basics of crate training, looking for beyond the normal advice! Thanks
Tags: 3 Years, Advice, Excersize, Safe Place, Shepard Mix, Sleep, Sucess, Trained Dogs
i trained my dogs by putting their bedding and food and toys and treats in the crate and they eventually rather be in the crate than on the bed with me
Dogs have phobias like people.
This is different from fear or stubborness.
That crate is his worst nightmare!
The fear can be over come, but you’re looking at months, if not years of positive reinforcement training.
Skip the crate.
Pen him up in a bathroom when you have to leave.
probably depending on what the dog has been through it was probably pretty bad. my dog was the same way but if you take small steps it helps. so first we would put her in the crate at night then lay next to her so she new we were there. then we slowly every couple of weeks we would move on to geting further and further away then finally i slept in my bed but made sure she new i was there by talking when she would whine. itys a hecktic and long progect but the dog needs to understand that you are not leaving her.
crating is a wonderful thing, unfortunately there are owners out there that abuse their dogs while in the crate..it sounds like this could have been the problem before you got him. i wouldn’t push it..you want him to be happy and safe..if you can, try putting him in the bathroom at time you want him safe or if you have an extra room that could be his. somewhere you that would be easy to clean up a mess if it happens. some dogs just shouldn’t be crate trained. at 3 yrs old hes just too scared and too scared..just compromise with the situation and work with it. or can you let him sleep in your bedroom at night..he might just need some good bonding time..
You already know enough to use positive reinforcement but at some time I think you will have to lock him in and leave him there for a few hours at a time. Until you do that keep up what you are doing, I’m sure it’s helping even if you don’t see it yet. The dog is 3 years old and you have only been working on this 10 days. This is not like teaching a puppy.
Try continuing the toys/food/good things in the crate. Leave it open - LET him pop in and out as much as he wants. Try to not close him in until he’s laying in it relaxed with the door open.
When he gets wound up don’t reassure him with concern - the tone of voice often translates to having something to be afraid of so the dog gets more anxious.
Sometimes when fearful they want to rush back out and trying to close it quick can send an unintentional message to him. As a 3 year old rescue dog you don’t really know the bottom of the fear - it may be warranted. You might think it’s not making progress but you’re doing the right things. It’s sooooo hard sometimes to see progress but if he’s going in and out on his own you *are* making progress. Give him time and he’ll get better. Good things in the “den”.
My dog runs her toe nails until their bloody in her crate.She is 13 and has seperation anxiety. Give her xanax some days, benadryl others. When I LEAVE FOR WORK SHE SHAKES SO BAD, AND HAS TEARS DOWN HER FACE,She is a min pin chiauw. Makes me so sad daily!
Honestly the only thing I see that might be considered incorrect is that you already shut the door. You are doing everything right and just need to be patient - any rushing will make it worse. No food should be given outside of the crate. Let him think that the crate is a feeding machine! Then he’s spending a few minutes in there a day. After a bit start putting the food in and closing the door - with him outside - he will be itching to go in to get his food! Eventually you can work to asking him to go in before you give him the bowl. That will lead to asking him to go in - giving the bowl and closing the door while he eats then letting him out immediately when the bowl is empty - then let that lead into eating a frozen stuffed Kong in there door closed. When you get to that point you have pretty much made it!
If you can manage potty training without the crate, and manage him so that nothing gets destroyed when you leave him alone, then you have an advantage. It’d be best to figure out a way to be sure about those things so that you can concentrate on desensitizing the crate.
Get a big handful of great treats (diced chicken steak, cheese, etc) and be sure to toss them into the back of the crate. Praise when he goes in, say nothing when he comes out. After a few reps of luring him in there with the treat, wait him out. If he glances at the crate, or better, takes a step towards it, say “Yes!” and toss in a handful of treats - and end the session.
Begin the next session with just one lure in the back of the crate. He’ll pop out - and then, wait him out again. He will take a step towards the crate - reward this. Continue to build the behavior - but let him choose to go in to the crate without presenting the food lure first. Only reward when he actively steps towards, and then into, the crate.
And don’t insist on shutting the door. Build value for being in the crate first - start to ask for longer increments of time of staying in there. When you shut that door, you were asking the dog for too much.
Apparently your hand reaching for and then closing the door is a problem. So, work on desensitizing that *after* he’s happily running in there as your other dogs do.
Looking at Susan Garrett’s _Ruff Love_ and _Shaping Success_ will help you a lot!
Good luck!