We have a new fur baby. Our previous Black Lab, our beloved Maggie, was Crate Trained and loved her Crate. However, unlike this Lab, we picked her up at the airport and brought her right home and into the crate I had ready for her. I did the usual, leaving the door open, closing it for short periods, etc. She did sleep in the crate beside me in our bedroom the first night and as I remember it, (was over 13 years ago!) it went very smoothly. This time we drove to Indiana from GA to pick up our new little girl, Maui, just about a week ago when she wasn't quite 9 weeks old. Because it was such a long drive, we had to stay over night on the return. The crate I brought with me was too small for her, as she was larger than I had anticipated. So, the first night we let her sleep on her little bed I had brought up on the bed with us. When we got home, her forever crate was set up in the living room and it is quite large. It was also very late, so we just let her sleep again in her bed on our bed. At first I thought it was a huge mistake, but it's going very well and our other Lab Maggie, used to sleep on our bed until she could no longer get up on it because of her age. I've looked online and spoken with other people and am comfortable that it's really personal preference. So, as long as she settles down at night and I take her out when she needs to, we are okay with this arrangement for nighttime. I primarily want to use the Crate now to keep her in when we go out, or at other times as needed, for her 'safe place'. We are both retired and can be home with her, but we will have to and want to, go out at times when we can't bring her with us, as well as later on when she's older and we travel and a member of our family takes care of her while we're away. We have a trip planned for the end of September/early October. I've begun the keeping of the door open, the closing it for short periods of time while I sit by the crate and I don't let her out when she's whimpering, but only once she's quiet and praise her, etc. We've done a few segments at 12 minutes and 20 minutes at a time. Unfortunately the last couple of days we haven't been able to work on it at all, due to company, a sick grandchild requiring me to be out, etc. She's on a good routine and after she's done her feeding, potty, exercise in the morning, will sleep under my desk for a few hours mid day. This morning I've tried again on 3 separate occasions to close the door, stay near and have her in the Crate, after her morning routine. She's done well .... she whimpers and cries a little. I tell her no, be a good girl and take a nap and she stops. This morning we've done about 15-20 each of those three times. Right now is her quiet time and she's very happy sitting by my feet as I type. Any tips on this? My husband is discouraged, but I'm thinking it's just going to take some time and think she's doing well. I welcome any comments. Thank you.
Hello there and a very warm welcome to the forum! It's so good you are doing crate training properly. I often think we hear from people who just put a new puppy in a crate and then wonder why the puppy doesn't like the crate! I think 15-20 minutes is a bit long to start with. I would just start with closing the door and opening it again. Then try for 10 seconds with the door closed and so on. A tasty kong would help - try getting her to eat a kong in the crate and open the door again before she has finished. There is a plan here: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/weekend-crate-training
I had one who adored the crate and one who hated it - I did nothing different. Tatze was fine from day 1, Gypsy shouted and yelled from day 1. So I got a puppy pen for Gypsy and she was right as rain after that. She loves to choose her sleeping surface carefully so the pen suited her. I haven't decided which to use for the next pup! Here is Gypsy in her pen -
Thank you Julie! I love the article you included and will definitely try some things from it. Just so you know, I guess I didn't say it in my first post. I did do the 'few seconds' thing on the first couple of days. I worked up to 12 minutes and then when she was quiet, let it go longer till we got to that longer time. She's awfully good and will stop being vocal when I speak and of course I let her out at that time, when she's quiet. I'll keep you posted on progress. Right now she's sleeping quietly at my feet. We'll try again later in the day.
Thanx Boogie! I'll keep that in mind. We'll give the crate some time and see what happens. I can't say she 'hates' it as she doesn't go crazy like I've heard other puppies do .... so we'll see. Thanx for the response! Beautiful dogs btw!
Hi and welcome to the forum. With Juno she always had access to her crate during the day and would take herself off for a snooze in there, although most she decided the cat's bed was better . During the day I didn't close the gate, only at bed time or when she was being left alone. Leaving her alone I introduced a nylabone which she has to chew but only when she is left when we go out. when we get home I take the nylabone back and put it away. It has worked smoothly for us with no crying, whining or barking. As soon as she sees the nylabone she goes and lays down on her bed to wait for me to say goodbye and give her the nylabone.
Hi there and welcome! It sounds like you are doing well with crate training little Maui (lovely name, by the way) and, with persistence, you'll get there. I used to put bits of food in Willow's crate without her seeing me (which was a challenge in itself with her following me everywhere at first ) so she would get good associations of the crate magically "feeding" her. She used to pop herself in every now and again to see if there was anything new and tasty that had arrived I did use it at night times, so she very quickly learnt that it was a place for sleeping, but you're obviously not going down that route, which is fine, but it just may take a little longer for her to learn it's "her" place for chilling out in. I also taught an "in your crate!" cue very early on, and always gave her treats (usually just a few pieces of kibble) for going in. We made this a game, which again gave her good associations with the crate. The only thing I would probably change from what you're doing is talking to her when she's crying. You don't want her to learn that making noise gets her attention, however brief. Finally, I don't know if you're already doing this, but I taught mine very early on that, in order to come out, they had to be calm. So, I stood by the crate door and waited for them to sit (this may take a while to start with - you're not verbally asking them to sit, you're waiting until they offer the behaviour). Then put my hand towards the door. If they stood or pawed the door, I dropped my hand. Eventually, I could put my hand to the door with them still sitting, so I would open the door a little. If they moved, the door got closed and I waited until they sat again. No talking is necessary (and could cause confusion, so best to keep quiet). It took a little while that first time, but they remembered very, very well and it became automatic for them to sit and be calm before being allowed out. You can extend it (I didn't bother) to have her remain in a sit in the crate until you call her out, if you wish, by using the same method of simply closing the door if she moves. Good luck and I hope you post some pictures for us. She sounds lovely
Thanx MaccieD and Snowbunny! Great suggestions! My Maggie, the one we recently lost, used her crate very much like your Juno, Maccie. I want to say she was easier, but also the circumstances were different. I'm hoping Maui will get the idea, but for now, she really does love under the computer desk as I type! Laughed when you said dropping the treats without her seeing you was difficult Snowbunny, because Maui is much the same. My husband said we should have called her Shadow since she is right by my side most of the time! But, I am going to try that .... as well as not talking at all when she whimpers. I realize this is a process and am just glad to get some support here as like I said, my husband is in a panic!! Thanx for the compliment on the name. We love Hawaii and I was looking at Hawaiian dog names and for me, they all had just too man syllables, but up popped Maui as a female name and that was it! Here's a picture of her not where we like her to be of course .... she loves to grab some of that 'lava rock' and chew it! I have so many other nicer ones, but my camera has been set to very high resolution and every picture I try is too big. This was taken on my iphone. Thanx again for your input and I'll keep you all posted on how it goes!
Maui's a lovely name! It sounds as if she's doing well already and will gradually learn to enjoy her own space in her crate-den. Luckily my dogs have taken to their crates very well in the past - perhaps because as puppies they've usually had an older dog nearby (though never immediately beside them) in a crate to keep them company. Routine seems to help, as others have mentioned. During the day I switch the radio on (cue for dogs to come to wait for Kongs!), prepare the Kongs (cue for dogs to scoot into crates to wait for them!) and then leave them happily licking their Kongs. When I return home I never go immediately to their crates, but just potter for a minute or two first. They're always just sleeping or lying quietly, not bothering to move until I open the crates. They're both past the puppy stage now (supposedly!), but the routine has been built up since puppyhood. They also choose to go into their crates for a rest sometimes, too, rather than elsewhere.
Thank you Granca! Sounds like you've got a great routine going there. We're still working on it. I took some of the suggestions on here yesterday and Maui did go into her crate a few times on her own ... the most remarkable was on the way into bed, I realized she wasn't right at my feet, turned around and looked and there she was sitting in the crate! Like you, with my last Lab, Maggie, even after she was out of the 'puppy' stage, she still enjoyed her crate and we kept it out till we moved here when she was 3 only due to space. We will work more on it today and hopefully in time, we'll be able to leave her. Question, with my other Lab, I used to fill her Kong with treats rolled in peanutbutter. She loved it. I've not done that with Maui mostly because I also have a grandson (just one year) who comes around a lot and I don't want him unwittingly exposed to peanutbutter yet. Do you freeze the Kong and treats? Thanx for any additional tips!
Glad to hear things are going well. There is a thread here with suggestions for kong stuffing. http://thelabradorforum.com/forum/need-help-with-your-labrador/labrador-puppies/5323-stuffed-kongs I use Charlie's normal food (either a wet version or soaked kibble) although at first I did include more tasty things (like sardine, chicken etc) but these days just use his normal food.
I'm taking a leaf out of Julie's book and making mine lower calorie and more like meals. So I stuff medium ones with raw mince and large ones with soaked kibble. Although I had some bits to use up this morning when I made some, so they have kibble, roast chicken and a bit of Greek yoghurt in those. Good combo
Thanx Julie! I'm thinking maybe I should stick to just the kibble, although I would guess apples and bananas are okay. I'm just thinking that my other dog Maggie had WAY too much 'people food' ..... my husband being the culprit!! He swears he's not going to do that this time. Maggie was a big lab anyway, but as she got older, weight was a problem. I don't want that concern with Maui. Appreciate the advice! I'm definitely going to be freezing some Kongs!
I don't feed my dog fruit, or yoghurt. I'm sure he'd love it though, he loves most things, but I just wonder why feed a dog fruit or yoghurt? Carnivores that they are. Sure, if it were left over and I was making kongs anyway I might include some but otherwise I don't feed my dog things like that. I just stick to feeding him dog food, and yummy meat and fish for training treats.
Makes sense Julie, thanx ..... on the whole I'm just not even sure I want to do anything else but kibble at this point. What's wrong with just some water and kibble frozen in the Kong .... at least for now!? First things first .... potty train, which is going well, with minimum of accidents, and she's sleeping very well at night. She used to go crazy as soon as we got into bed and we found if we just ignore her, she settles down pretty quickly and all is well. Last night we went in around 10:00 (she had peed of course before we went in) and although I heard her moving around a few times in the night, she just changed positions and didn't whimper, so I didn't take her out. She didn't wake me up till 6:00 a.m.!! I'd say that's pretty impressive! So, if I can get her to stay in the Crate comfortably during the day next, I think we're doing pretty well! This is her this morning ... yes, she learned how to get up on the lounge all by herself, course that was after she fell into the pool twice!! Now THAT was funny! Well, I thought it was, but after I uploaded the picture a screen came up and said I wasn't authorized to do that?! Oh well!
Sounds as if Maui is doing really well. Looking forward to seeing some photos, she looks lovely from your avatar. You need to use a hosting site like Flickr to upload photos or videos
Welcome to the forum I use natural yoghurt, tuna, bananas, peanut butter, cheese, sausages, mince and sardines in kongs - not all at the same time though. I adjust Harleys meals to allow for the extras and it works well
Thank you Naya and MaccieD! I'll have to check out the hosting sites and see how it all works. I'm just used to uploading from my computer. Appreciate everyone's responses and will keep you all posted on Miss Maui's progress!
i hadn't ever given my dogs bananas until I read on this site about using them in Kongs. Now I only have to start peeling a banana and I have two eager labs looking at me. So don't give Maui banana unless you're prepared to share yours too in future! Bananas are an excellent quick filler for a Kong - I sometimes freeze them, sometimes not. The only problem I had putting small bits of kibble in a kong was when a bit rolled out of the crate when my younger dog was little. There was a sudden yelp because I think she caught her claw on the crate when she tried to put her paw through to reach the escaped bit of kibble. I now tend to ensure that the contents are either frozen or mushy, so nothing can roll away!
