I hope I'm in the right forum. My Reon is about 9 weeks old and absolutely hates the crate. I've tried everything to get him to like it and if he would settle down I would have no problem letting him nap outside of it (I work from home and can watch him) but he would much rather keep going no matter how over tired he gets. He struggles when I try to carry him over to it and won't even go near it if he sees me moving to it because he's afraid he's being put in. I've tried feeding him in there, giving him special treats only when he's in the crate, giving high value if he steps in side but the moment the food is gone he's running out again. All my puppies growing up always napped themselves when they were tired so I'm a little nervous about him refusing too. I've had him for almost two weeks now and I don't want him thinking that he's being punished when he's in the crate. But he won't stop or calm down for more than two minutes and he starts getting extremely rough when he's overtired and chases my cats. Normally he does great with my cats and if they hiss he'll walk away or bring them a toy and won't chase them if they try to leave. But when he gets over tired he'll start barking and nipping and biting them or running over to bite me so I force him down for a nap in his crate. How can I make the crate a nicer place so he doesn't think he's being punished when he needs to nap?
Have you tried giving him a frozen kong in his crate? He would chew this and once all the food is gone hopefully he would be tired and calm enough to have a little sleep. Do you have a pen you could set up so he isn't in the crate but safe for mischief and not bothering the cats. I tried to crate train Luna but she would scream blue murder the second she went in, we let her out (once quiet) and she curled up to sleep at our feet. As she settled without it and she was a great sleeper during the night we didn't bother with it. Hopefully you find something that works soon.
You should try a play pen/crate combo. I'm totally new to this but it seems to help my 9 weeks old pup relax. He whined a little bit in the beginning but can mostly understands when I put him in the play pen. Because they are attached, in the night I put him in the pen and he by himself goes in the crate. I still haven't figured out if I should close the crate in the night but for now I do and wake up in the middle to take him potty. He still has accidents in the pen even though I don't leave him in there for a long time during the day but I hope it will get better.
