What's in a Crate?
What’s in a Crate?
Hopefully your fur-friend! But if not, read on for the benefits of crate training!
Otis and Fin pups demonstrating that “crates are great places because it’s where we get fed!”
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What’s in a crate? Well hopefully your favorite canine companion, but I know there is a lot of angst and misinformation out there about crate training, so hopefully I can shed some light on the matter and help you see the value in teaching your buddy this life skill.
So You’re Not Using a Crate
Trust me, I get it. You walk into your living room, and look down at your best friend, and just picture those sad eyes staring pleadingly back at you from behind the metal bars of a crate grill. Cue the Sara Mclachlan song in the background, and next thing you know, you think the knock on your door is from PETA coming to cover you in red paint and label you a dog abuser, instead of the Chinese delivery you ordered. I had all these thoughts back in the day, and this was with Riley, who patented sad eyes. But after years of experience, and an introduction to the dog sport world, I’ve slowly come around on this topic.
Let me give you an example from this weekend, that to me, is the lynch pin for why all dogs should be crate trained. I was visiting the new home of a friend (Congrats Meg!!!!) along with my pack, and a mutual friend and their pack (yes, 5 dogs, one home, Meg is the best!). One of these other pups channeled his inner Buddy the Elf, and let us all know in no uncertain terms “There’s a horrible noise coming from the evil box under the window” aka. the radiator was running. My friends, in their infinite wisdom, read his body language, realized it was not normal, and decided to do something to help him out…they set up his crate. And he willingly went into his awesome man-cave to hang out and seek refuge from the Demon Box, with the door wide open, until he decided it was safe to come out again. This, right here, is a crate training win! Crates are intended to be a safe space where your pup can retreat to when things become overwhelming; think of it like giving your kid their own room. Sure, sometimes you close the door so you can have peace and quiet, but its not like you locked them in the cupboard under the stairs, they’ve got their bed, and all their toys, and maybe a tv, so they’re doing just fine.
If this doesn’t convince you, let me give you a more pragmatic example. I am outnumbered by dogs in my household, and also like to travel. This would not be possible if my dogs weren’t crate trained. Each of my dogs has their own crate to travel in the car, which is not only safer for them if I’m ever in an accident (no projectile puppies), but also prevents them from locking me out of the car or stealing my sandwiches (I’m looking at you Casey). It gives me the flexibility to leave them in the car on show days, with windows and tailgate fully open to ensure they’re nice and cool. My friends and family are also much more likely to let me bring the pups along when they know I’m bringing crates. As a new homeowner, I feel like this is just part of being a respectful guest. I don’t want to worry about whether your pup will eat my wall-to-wall carpets or burrow through my guest room door if we leave for a few hours.
Successful Crate Training
Hopefully I’ve given you some food for thought about why you should crate train, but you may now be wondering how to actually implement crates into your daily life. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just buying a crate and sticking your dog in it. Many dogs will have an emotional response, which could cause a lasting fear of being confined, or even physical harm if they panic, so it’s very important that you patiently introduce your pet friend to a new crate. I start crate training with my puppies on day 1, but don’t worry, this is definitely a trick you can (and should!) teach to an old dog.
1. Prop the crate door open, and provide your dog free access to investigate their new crate. DO NOT under any circumstances physically force them inside. Just let them sniff it and get their bearings.
2. Toss high value treats in the front of the crate and let them self-reward. Be very patient with this step, some dogs may only be willing to put their head in to start. That’s ok, give them time, and as they slowly become bolder, toss the cookies further back in the crate.
3. Once your dog is easily entering and leaving the crate of their own volition, feed them their meals in the crate. While they are distracted, quietly close the door, then quickly re-open it. As they become more and more comfortable, leave the door closed for slightly longer periods of time.
4. When your dog can be in the crate quietly with the door closed for 15 – 20 secs, sit outside of their crate and toss high value treats in. You can slowly start to incorporate boring activities like reading while your dog is in the crate, or folding laundry. Let them see you, the goal here is to counter-act any FOMO. Mom is here, and literally nothing exciting is happening. Keep your rate of rewarding high enough that your pup gets a treat before they begin to whine (otherwise you’ll go down the slippery slope of reinforcing crying).
5. Eventually, work your way up to leaving the room for short periods of time. Again the goal here is to return and reinforce before your pup makes a peep. From there you can escalate to leaving the house and quickly returning etc. When you leave, don’t make a big fuss. It’s not “Oh mommy is leaving but you’ll be a good doggo and I’ll come home and it will only be for a minute”. Instead try to channel “Mommy is being super boring and you’re better off hanging out here with an awesome Kong”.
Once you start leaving your pup in a crate for any amount of time, set them up for success by giving them high value enrichment activities. Remember those puzzle toys from a few weeks ago? This is a great time to bust some of those out. Alternatively, give them a Kong with frozen PB in it, or something else equally delicious. The goal here is to show your pup that awesome things happen in their crate, and to create positive emotional responses to being in there.
Finally, don’t leave your fur-friend in a crate for a prolonged period of time, or you risk crossing the border into the cupboard-under-the-stairs scenario.