How To Crate Train Your Dog - The Introduction

The most important step in getting your dog used to its new dog crate is the initial introduction of the crate to your dog.

First of all you can do this by positioning the dog crate where you spend the most time. Keep the dog crate close by the family members where your dog can feel comfortable and not isolated. You will also want to take the door off the dog crate because at first you are not going to use it anyway.

You don’t want any loud noises or doors slamming that might scare your dog away from its dog crate from the start.

You want to make the dog crate an inviting place for your dog, so you might want to put one of its favourite blankets or soft doggie beds in the dog crate to start off with. This helps breed familiarity with the new space and also begins to give it a smell that your dog is used to.

Now you want your dog to actually step foot (or paws), inside the dog crate so they can start to get a feeling for it. You can do this by using their favourite treat. Lets say it’s a small dog bone. Put the treat in the dog crate and encourage your dog to step in and take the treat. As they step in to get the treat you want to use a verbal command such as “Kennel”, or “Go to bed”, or whatever you want to use. In the future you will use this command when you want your dog to go to its crate for whatever reason.

Try sitting down beside the dog crate as the dog is inside eating the treat. As they finish and walk out, put another treat inside and use the command.

After they take the treat be sure to positively reinforce them with some petting and a “good boy…or girl”.

As with anything in dog training, you need to do this repetitively at first. You want your dog to make the connection between going into the dog crate, and getting a reward (treat). The good feelings that come from finding a treat and eating it, will begin to be associated with the dog crate, and your dog will learn that this is a great place to be!

Ok, great, but the time it takes to eat a treat is not very long. You want your dog to learn to stay in the kennel for longer periods of time. You can get your furball to stay in the kennel longer by putting their Kong (or other toy) inside, but fill it with something that will take a bit longer to eat.

My dogs love peanut butter. A Kong filled with peanut butter keeps them busy for a while and they love it! You can also use a toy that you can stuff with hard treats. This keeps them occupied as they work to get the treats out of the toy. Whatever method you currently use is what you should stick with.

If you don’t use a Kong or some other toy that holds treats and makes your dog work for them, then you may want to pick one up. They are great.

I had a dog trainer explain trying to get a dog into a dog crate in the following way. Imagine that you had a fear of elevators, or you just didn’t know what an elevator was. So you walk with your friend up to the elevator doors but you still have no idea what these silver metal things in front of you are, but you’re with your friend so you are fine. Then all of a sudden the doors open. You’re a little startled but your friend gives you an encouraging smile and a person standing in the elevator holds out a $100 bill, and says “here you go, this is for you”. Would you step in and take the bill?

I think most of us would. Of course this is a bit of an exaggeration as far as it relates to dogs, but the point is that you first need to “bribe” the dog to get inside the dog crate. Your dog doesn’t mind, its getting a great treat, and you’re getting your dog to do what you want it to do.

Soon enough, using the word that you have decided on to get your dog inside its dog crate, and using your Kong or whatever toy you have to reward the dog for stepping in the kennel, your dog will learn that your command means good times in that box shaped thing with a roof.

After you’ve got your dog to spend a few minutes in the dog crate with their reward, let them check out the new surroundings themselves. Let them get a feel for it. They’ll soon realize they have walls around them and a roof over their heads, and most likely they’ll begin to think…”Hey, I kinda like this place”. Especially if its padded with their favourite blanket or bed.

Once there is no sign of fear, you can attempt to close the door of the dog crate while the dog is inside enjoying a treat. Again, go slowly so you don’t scare the dog, and increase the length of time you do this. The goal is to go longer and longer.

You want your dog to get used to being inside with a closed door. This obviously will be beneficial when you leave the house and you want to put your dog inside its dog crate for any length of time. Remember that when you are at home, your dog may just wander off and sleep in the kennel on its own.

There is really no need to have a closed door at this point, so don’t feel that every single time the dog is in the kennel that the door has to be closed. At first you will do this because you want to get that behaviour learned, but once your dog is used to the dog crate, just let them use it when they want.

This article is not meant to go into extreme detail on every little aspect of doing this exercise, but is designed to give you a better understanding of the process that your dog goes through when it learns a new behaviour or adjusts to new surroundings.

Many different dog trainers have their own opinions and methods, but I am of the firm belief that you should always positively reinforce your dog when you are training. No matter what you are trying to teach your dog, never hit the dog or act out in a negative way towards your dog. This may seem obvious to most people, but I have seen too many people still using the “rolled up newspaper’ method, and I don’t think that works.

Make your dog crate a happy place to be, and your entire home will benefit.