Crating Chloe

Who sez I can't be crated?

I had a previous post which mentioned that I would be giving up confining Chloe inside her pen and crate. I was afraid that she might hurt herself because she always throws a fit when confined inside her pen or crate trying to go out. 

Now that she's matured a lot since she was a little puppy, I decided retraining her to be on the crate. So here are some methods I utilized:

• I use the crate for her everyday needs, water bottle is there, that's where the bowl of food is and that is the place where she eats her meals.

• For my method training, I use treats and clicker training to reinforce positive and desirable behavior.

• I play crate games with her, first I throw a treat inside the crate, praise her or click when she steps inside the crate, and give more treats as she steps all the way in, I don't close the crate just yet because she will still try to get out, I just kept on repeating this until she realized that the crate is a safe and fun place to be in, and that there is always treats inside.

• Second step, I stand next to the crate and wait for her to go inside it, when she goes, I praise, click and give her treats. I don't give treats when she's still outside. I kept repeating this and eventually she went inside the crate on her own and waiting for me to give her something.

• Lastly, when I'm doing something like watching television and sit on the couch, She goes inside the crate on her own. This time, I close and lock it with her inside, and I constantly toss her some treats from time to time while she's inside. We do this at least once a day for her to be used to it.

• Remember, positive reinforcements is still the best way to train. I think that nothing good will result from negative reinforcement, it still might cause problems for you later on.

And the results for our hard work? decreased fussing and whining on crate time and maybe..............

Sleeping inside the crate!