Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bonny on July 1, 2008 at 5:11pm

You didn't mention this in your post, but one thing I have learned in teaching a dog to go into the crate is to never force them in and then shut the door. I will ask them to go in, and if they don't obey, I encourage them by giving a gentle nudge, leading them in by the collar, etc. but they always go by their own effort. I just apply the command until they give to it, with plenty of encouragement and patience. In the first few times I introduce it, I ask the dog to go in. When they do, I don't shut the door. Instead, I sit next to it, block the dog from leaving, and try to get them to relax. Once they do, let them sit for a minute or two, and then invite them out. At first they are sometimes too tense to accept a treat. If you repeat this several times, the crate will come to mean relaxation and retreat. Hope this helps, and good luck!

Permalink Reply by Furpants McGee on July 1, 2008 at 5:28pm

I went to youtube.com and searched "crate training". There's some videos on there that were informative to me. :)

Permalink Reply by Becky S on July 2, 2008 at 10:48am

The only time Brody wouldn't go in his crate it turned out that his bedding had gotten dirty. As soon as I washed it all up he was happy to go back in. But like the others said he also knows that's when he gets a milkbone

Permalink Reply by PreciousMolly on July 3, 2008 at 7:29am

We trained Molly with food-based positive reinforcement only. My dad, being the goof that he is, quickly came up with a "time for bed" song. It was time for bed at 9:00. Her crate was in the laundry room which is off the kitchen. It got to the point where at around 9:00 even if he didn't do the song, Molly would wait outside the door to the laundry room, or go into the open crate herself. She always got a "cookie" (small dog biscuit, or alternately a baby carrot) when she went to bed. There was also a nightlight--which when removed, she would cry.

Now that she's fully grown and past the teething, chewing and such, we let her have the run of the house at night. This was done gradually. First, it would be "time for bed," but we would leave the crate door open and close the laundry room door. Then it was that with the laundry room door open. She gradually took to sleeping in the kitchen, or in the hallway upstairs. She's very quiet at night and only bothers you if she has to go outside. The only remnant of "time for bed" (if you sing the song like you mean it, she will give you a sad/confused look and go into the laundry room) is that she disengages from everyone at around 9:00.

There are three things, as I see it, at play in what we did. Regularity, consistency, and reward. The clock struck 9:00, the song was sung, she trotted into the crate, cookies were given, door was closed, nightlight turned on, lights out, laundry room door closed. This was done EVERY night at 9:00, and she was rewarded with a cookie every time. She then associated "time for bed" with her favorite thing: food. It also establishes a pattern or routine which dogs take to very quickly--but you have to be consistent in your approach, otherwise you will send mixed messages to your Corgi.

As I say on my description page: be wary of how you feed your Corgi. If you are going to use food-based positive reinforcement, adjust your Corgi's meals accordingly. You don't want a fat Corgi.