Doggy Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘training your dog in a crate’

 Labs are pack animals. In the wild, they create lairs or dens which are alcoves hidden away, or tucked in a discrete and secure area so that they don’t become prey to other animals.

Why do we Need Crate Training

Since your dog will be in your home, he’ll have a need to replicate his lair or den, just like in the wilderness. I used to think putting a dog in a crate was cruel. They love darkness and seclusion.

As a new puppy owner, I thought I was being mean when I put my dog in a crate.

So What’s Our Objective With the Crate?

{The aim of crate training is to get your dog to view his crate as a safe place to be}. {A place to go when he’s tired or take a nap, or to just gather his thoughts and be left alone}. But you have to train him to see it that way.

Remember, if you’re getting your dog from a shelter, 9 out of 10 chances, he will have been kept in a cage NOT of his own VOLITION. Your dog may feel threatened by his crate. At least, that’s how my dog Lily saw it (and so did I).

How to Get Your Dog in His Crate Quickly

When would you want your dog to go in his crate on command? Well, one instance would be if you have unexpected guests and you don’t want your dog to get in the way or to jump on them (you may not have gotten around to training him yet not to jump on people). To Get Your Dog to Stop Jumping on People Go to:

http://www.caninehousetraining.com/dogproblems

 HERE’S WHAT TO DO TO TRAIN HIM TO GO IN HIS CRATE:

Put a cookie in your hand. Put the training collar and leash on your dog. Walk him up to the crate and make him sit. Now, say, “Get in the crate!” Toss the treat in the crate, and then pull forward on the leash, in the direction of the open crate. As he moves into the crate, he’ll automatically release the tension on the leash. Close the door to the crate, and tell him, “Good dog!” as he munches on the cookie.

Pretty cool huh? So what’s next? Next, open the crate door and tell him, “Free!” When he comes out of the crate, rub him while you tell him what a good dog he is. Repeat this exercise, four times. After the fourth time, open the crate door, take the leash and training collar off, give him another cookie and close the crate door.

In 20 minutes, you can return and repeat this exercise. After you’ve done this a few times and see your dog start to ANTICIPATE the command, the next thing to do is only give him the cookie once every third time.

At this point, he’ll likely begin running into the crate before you even tell him to. Neat huh? Not Quite…. You’ll need to tell him, “No!” and pull him out of the crate. No praise. Remember–he can go in the crate on his own when you’re not standing next to him, but as this is a formal exercise, we want him to wait for the command.

Humans may not understand this, but for dogs, they understand quite well. But it’s one of those things that your dog will understand naturally. Trust me–I know this from experience. After you’ve brought him out of the crate, he’ll start looking at you for the “Get in the crate” command. Give him the command. Reward him this time with the cookie.

You’ll start to see that he’ll begin looking to you… waiting for that magic command that allows him to dive into the crate and get your praise. (Note: If your dog is more motivated by a toy or something else (No, not the cat!!!) you can use whatever you want.

Make sure whatever you use is something that the dog really likes. The reason you want to pull forward on the leash instead of just throwing the food/ball/motivator into the crate is so that your dog learns that you are actually making him do it. This is the difference between using food as a motivator vs. using food as a bribe.

If the food isn’t there, you’re going to make him do it anyway. Well, that’s it for Part 2 of our dog training mini course. I hope you got a lot out of it! Remember, if you want a copy of the 316-page ebook, “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer” which teaches you every dog training technique for every dog problem there is, I strongly recommend you go to: http://www.caninehousetraining.com/dogproblems