Crate Training
Why is crate training important?
Crate training is always the best solution for your dog. I crate all of the dogs who board and train in my house and ask owners to crate them for at least a few weeks when they take them back home when they are unsupervised to ensure the bad habits don’t reemerge. Foremost, it keeps them safe. Check out the German Shepherds in this video who turned on the gas stove and almost burned down their house!
But safety is just the beginning. It helps tremendously with potty training, it is crucial to helping dogs with anxiety or aggression issues, and finally it gives your dog a point of consistency making it easier on them to relax when you travel with them or board them.
How do you crate train your dog?
Crate training is really a simple process, but it can take some patience if your pup already has a negative association with the crate. We want to reinforce positive feelings about being in the crate and we want to be sure not to reinforce the negative feelings.
To condition the positive emotions associated with their crate, you can give them treats when they go in or even more preferable would be something longer lasting like a Kong toy filled with peanut butter and left in the freezer. The best positive reinforcer, however, is play. If you can make them think that going into a crate for just a little bit of time well lead to a long time of fun interactive play with you, the chemistry and associations in their brain surrounding the crate will begin to change and you can slowly increase the duration in which you ask them to stay in it. But it is just as important to make sure you aren’t reinforcing the negative feelings. If your pup has anxiety associated with being in the crate and you let them out while they are feeling anxious, you’ve unfortunately reinforced the anxiety as well as the behavior associated with it, making it much more likely that the anxiety will surface again if not stronger. Even if you wait a long time before letting them out, if they are still super anxious or acting because they are anxious when you do, you still reinforce that anxious state of mind and the behaviors you were getting. Look at it like a child in a store. If the child wants a toy and cries to their mother and the mother refuses, but then the child repeats the behavior over and over until the mother gives in, not only did the mother reinforce the crying, but she also reinforced the persistence in crying that eventually led the toddler to getting their toy. It is similar to your pup. If you just can’t take it anymore and let them out after a long period of crying and pawing, they will be much more inclined to stick with that same behavior the next time, knowing it will eventually work.
Reinforce the state of mind you want, not the ones you don’t want.
You cannot reinforce the negative emotions or their behaviors if we want to teach your dog how to relax in their crate. You must wait it out until they give up, get bored, and then relax before you let them out. Doing so well reinforce that calm state of mind making it easier for them to be calm the next time.
Once you’ve achieved this calm state, you can let them out! Dog’s don’t really have a concept of time, so you will get faster results through multiple repetitions over fewer, longer repetitions. I encourage you to continue to practice this, even if for only short durations, multiple times during the day especially if you are home. Multiple successful repetitions will get you much faster results than just crating them once per day for a long period while you are at work.
It is also important to control their state of mind as they exit the crate. Don’t let them bolt out the door. If they begin to run out, close the crate door back, pushing them back in. Repeat this process until you can open the crate door all the way and they stand there waiting to be let out. Reach in the crate, put their leash on, then guide them out calmly.
What to leave in the crate
Generally, it is wise to not leave any toys or blankets that could get chewed up in their crates as we don’t want to run the risk of them choking while you aren’t supervising them. I don’t even put beds in crates with dogs who have these issues for the same reason. The only crate pad I use for my trainees is Primo Pads found at:
They still get chewed up from time to time by the especially driven dog, but the vast majority of dogs cannot break their tough vinyl construction, making it a nice soft and durable pad for them to relax on.
It is also ok to leave water in the crate as well as a treat that doesn’t present a choking hazard.
Bark collars
If your dog really struggles to relax on their own and are very vocal in their crates, bark collars are an option to facilitate the calming when done well. You want to purchase only quality bark collars such as the Sport Dog ones here:
Or the Garmin ones here:
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/133653
Or the Ecollar Technologies one here:
https://www.ecollar.com/product/barkless-pro-anti-bark-collar/
Make sure the bark collar is positioned appropriately and fits snug so the stimulation is consistent and make sure you are using levels that are motivational but also not too high.
Kinds of crates
If your dog is an escape artist, you want a quality crate. Every time they are anxious and feel like they need to break out, if they succeed, they are reinforced for the behavior and the anxiety making it likely they will be more anxious and commit even harder to breaking out the next time. You want a crate that will keep them from breaking out while significantly lowering their chance of injuring themselves. Eventually after a period of unsuccessfully trying to break out, your pup will stop trying and begin the process of learning to relax, so long as you only let them out when they’re relaxed, which is our ultimate goal for them in their crate. Cheap wire crates are not only easy to break out of, but also quite dangerous for the dog should they attempt to break out.
For anxious dogs I train, I use three main manufacturers.
Ruff Land Kennels is the cheapest manufacturer I use for dogs with these issues. For value, they are a great option. Their door isn’t quite as secure as some of the other brands, and where a crate is the safest way to transport your dog in any situation, the other options provide an even safer crate for on the road should you be in an accident.
Gunner Kennels may be the safest thing you can use to transport your dog. The doors are very secure when the top and bottom locks are utilized and dramatically minimize the risk of injury to your dog should they try to escape. They are a bit pricier than Ruff Land, and because of the double-walled construction, the inside of the crates is less roomier, but they are very safe.
The most expensive crates I use are Impact Dog Crates. These aluminum crates are pricey but their high-anxiety crates are very secure. They also have a collapsible option which can make transporting the crate itself a bit easier than the other manufacturers. For large dogs, they also have the largest options of the manufacturers I use.
https://www.impactdogcrates.com/
Lately, many other similar manufacturers have come on the market as well. I have not had any experience with these manufacturers, but they seem to perform well for colleagues.
https://www.luckyduck.com/kennels/
Crate train your dog
Most of the dogs I work with who aren’t crate trained also have strong anxiety and aggression issues. This is because the lack of structure makes them feel responsible for their own safety. These dogs greatly benefit from learning how to relax in their crate. Further, it is hard to travel with these dogs and leave them in new places or board them with other folks as they tend to get very stressed without a consistent place to call home. Teaching them how to relax in their crate is a selfless decision you can make to help make their lives easier and safer. I still crate my dogs when I leave the house. This ensures they don’t get into anything to hurt themselves or my house like those poor German Shepherds narrowly avoided in our initial video. Yes, when confronting things that make us anxious, our anxiety initially gets worse. Asking your anxious dog to stay in their crate will make their anxiety worse temporarily. But it we can stay consistent in creating the positive emotions and not reinforcing the negative ones associated with their crate, we can help your dog like and learn to relax in their crate.
If you’d like some expert advice or would like to know how a crate can help your anxious dog or your dog with potty training issues, let me know!