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Permalink Reply by Sam on January 22, 2008 at 6:41am

A good beginning is to start feeding her in the crate. This helps make being in the crate a pleasant experience. I have also stuffed the kong toys with kibble and yogurt and frozen them. This usually provides at least 1/2 hour of entertainment. Puppies just removed from their litter often are concerned about isolation. Making sure she has plenty of exercise will help too. A tired pup is a good pup.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on January 22, 2008 at 9:41am

Make her crate experience a positive one and she'll be glad to go in on her own in the future, you can try to make her crate a little more comfy by adding a pad and her favorite toy, begin training her even when you're home, put her in for 5 mins, reward her and go out of her sight, sure she will protest, but if you come back and release her, she'll think that by barking and chewing alone will get you to come back, be persistent :)

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Permalink Reply by Charlie on January 22, 2008 at 10:26am

Sounds like she is having some normal separation anxiety from being in a new home and away from her littermates. As Sam T said, you don't want to reward her for barking and whining, but you do want to reassure her that you will be coming back.

Try putting her in her crate, walk out of the room, then immediately walk back into the room. If she doesn't whine, give her a treat (but don't make a huge fuss). If she does whine, just sit down in the room with her but don't pay any attention to her until she quits whining. Treat for her being quiet. Repeat several times. When you can do that, then extent the time you are gone very slowly, one minute, two minues, five minutes, etc. Dogs really can't tell time. She just needs to know that you will always come back, and that she gets good things for waiting quietly, and no attention for whining/barking.

She will also very likely outgrow this behavior on her own in a few weeks as she adjusts to her new environment and gets familiar with your schedule. She will probably whine when you walk up to her crate. Tell her "Settle" in a quiet voice, and wait until she is calm to open the door and give her attention. You will need to take her out to potty about every 2 hours for the first few weeks. Learning that you'll be coming to get her on a regular basis should also help her calm down.

Congrats on the new pup! Good luck with the training...most of us have been through the same thing, and survived. :)

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Permalink Reply by Carmen on January 22, 2008 at 11:37am

All puppies go through this. It's hard to be a little puppy away from your litter. I agree to make the crate a good experience. Some puppies simply don't like crates, but she will get used to it. Find a special treat for crate time. We used meaty treats like jerky. Charlie has some great information in his reply.

Pandora didn't like her crate at first. She now is the first in it, because it means a treat. Remember, dogs, especially corgis, are very food oriented. If food is a reward, they are very likely to do something.

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Permalink Reply by DJ on January 22, 2008 at 4:01pm

Ok, thank you very much, I figured it was mainly just separation anxiety. I will take all of your advice into consideration.

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Permalink Reply by Carol Braitman on January 22, 2008 at 7:00pm

Ditto to what everybody else said. I also made sure my dogs had a special "lovie" In the crate with them. Charlottes breeder gives her puppies baby toys, and sent one with her, so she still had the scent of her litter. Augie liked the sheepskin toys. I could tell he was comfortable in there when her started shredding them to get the squeakers out. Augies breeder also taught him the command " Kennel up" to go in the crate. Augie loves his crate, and usually puts imself to bed before being asked to.

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Permalink Reply by Miss Jane on January 23, 2008 at 12:51pm

Welcome to the board of discussion! Crate training is like the art of education for your kids. I find if I play with Rambo quite a bit and tire him out a little, he will start going into his crate and just flops over. Of course every dog is different, but in the end I believe you are the owner who has control and teach him the right thing. Good luck! :)

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Permalink Reply by DJ on January 24, 2008 at 11:45am

Just thought I would post a little update as to how its going! I've started to feed her in her crate, and I've seen her wander in and lay down pretty regularaly so I think she's finally seeing it as her den. I'll keep you all updated.

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Permalink Reply by Charlie on January 24, 2008 at 12:58pm

Hey, that's great news. Sounds like she's settling in a bit and you're making good progress! :)

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Permalink Reply by Mike, Susan, Wally,Oliver & Eva! on June 24, 2008 at 8:49pm

Hey guys, how long did it take before your puppy got used to the crate?

We've had Wally for 8 days now. He "tolerates" the crate but still won't go in there to sleep. He's currently opting for the cold hard balcony floor. Food/water is in the crate and he's more than happy to go in to eat and drink. He spends nights in there and does relatively well for his age.

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Permalink Reply by James on June 25, 2008 at 1:13pm

Wow she goes in her crate automatically? Already? Thats pretty impressive, my pup hates the crate and has to be lured in by food or the "kennel" command (and then expect food). I know how the switch from single male to "with puppy" goes lol. It kills alot of previously free time thats for sure!

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