We’d like to crate train our dog because we’d like to be able to leave her at home for an errand without coming back to a dog that chewed everything while we were gone by giving her a safe space she enjoys being in. While we heard that dogs are supposed to treat the crate as their den, we learned that this is not a given with our dog. In fact, this training is the most challenging with Mocha.
Part of why it’s hard with her is because she really prefers to be with us. We have tried all of these that most people say help with their puppies in their crate:
- Snuggle Puppy (a puppy plush with heartbeat to simulate littermates), heat pads sold separately.
- High-value treat in the crate
- Feeding her meal in the crate
- Crate games (I found this video and this video helpful in explaining what this is)
- A blanket from the breeder with the littermates scent
- Crate cover
- White noise
Currently, it’s still a steep learning curve for us. We suspect that Mocha has a bit of separation anxiety. So far what works with us is to get her very tired (but not to the point of overtired that she goes to cranky gremlin mode) by playing tug, and watch her when she starts laying on the floor about to doze off, at which point we scoop her up and move her into the crate. In the crate we usually prepare for her a small amount of chicken treat in a bowl, which she’ll enjoy as soon as we put her in. We’ll close the crate door while she’s enjoying the treat and sit in front of the crate to wait for her to completely fall asleep. We usually let her out on the first sound of fuss that we hear from the pet monitor to prevent full-on frustration from being crated, and also prevent accidents in the crate. We carry her rightaway to our patio potty spot where usually she immediately pees. We do this for every nap and every night.
In the event that she gets really frustrated and cries in the crate because we can’t get to her rightaway, we wait until she reaches a brief moment of calm before we let her out. We then praise her for the calm and let her out, to prevent rewarding the cry.