my dog hates her crate.?

Question

we have been told by many people that the pup will grow to love the crate, its been 6 weeks now and she still hates it. she only has to go in there when we are out, as she sleeps normally in our room or the spare room on the setee.

when we put her in there shes ok for 5- 10 mins then she starts going mad biteing the metal bars, tareing her bedding up, we were also told she would never mess in her crate wich she does regulary.
so i think im gonna give up with the crate, and get her a stair gate to section the kitchen off for her to see if she is any better in there. she is 5 months old and fully house trained apart from a few little accidents. she is a female lab, any advice please, as i dont think she is ever gonna get used to the crate, thank you.

she doesnt sleep in our bed. and we feed her in a kong, putting that in her crate then we go. we have fed her in it, and we have put her in it when we are still in the room, giving her treats, and we do not let her out just becourse she is going mad.

Answer 1

We had the exact same problem with our dog. We ended up giving up the crate when he was only 3 months old (which people say is too young to stay in house alone). He was so happy to be out of the crate that he was a perfect puppy. We started by gating him in our kitchen only and then gradually giving him free reign of the whole house. Some dogs just aren't crate dogs and if you are not opposed to letting your dog be out in your house when you are gone, then I say ditch the crate.

Answer 2

I think the problem may be that you only put her in there when you are going out. So she knows that she is being left alone, so naturally she puts up a fuss.

You need to start putting her in the crate several times a day, for just 5 minutes or so. Give her some toys and treats in the crate. Then let her out and praise her. Gradually increase the time she is in the crate, until you can leave her for 10 to 15 minutes without a fuss. Make it clear to her that she doesn't come out unless she is being good, then let her out and praise her to the highest.

All puppies will tear up bedding, if they get the chance. So make sure she has enough toys to keep her attention. Is the crate too big? It should be just large enough for her to stand up and turn around, and then lay down comfortably. If it's too big, then she can mess in one end of it, and still have room enough to lay down.

And she shouldn't be left in the crate for very long while she is still a puppy. Nor should it ever be used as punishment. She should think of it as her own private bedroom, where she can take her toys and relax.

It may take a while, but she really should be crate trained. It makes things so much easier if she has to be transported or if she has to be in a crate for medical reasons.

Answer 3

I crate trained my Rott and she didn't like it at all to begin with but then got to the point that she would get in it on her own.
The advice the vet I worked for gave me that really helped was to make her stay in the crate sometimes even when you are at home with her. Make it rewarding- like put toys and treats in there for her and give her a lot of praise (talk sweetly and say Good girl several times!) Make each time she goes in a little longer - start off with maybe 15-30 minutes. Also, when you let her out leave the door open and put her food in there at least for one meal a day. THese things are supposed to make the dog feel like the crate is not a punishment but more of a fun or good situation to be in. Do not punish her for tearing up things or crying --this will only make her feel more like she is being punished when she is in there.
I hope this will help help you out a little bit. I did this stuff with my dog Jazzie and it just takes some time and a lot of patience.
Labs are very social - people loving dogs and she just wants your attention and she is doing all she can to try to get your attention even when you are gone.
As far as her using the restroom in her crate -- I think that just may be an anxiety issue related to the seperation anxiety she feels when she is in the crate. For the most part, they will not mess in thier sleeping area. Hopefully this will change after she gets used to the crate and feels more comfortable and knows that she is not in trouble. If it doesn't change - make sure there are no medical related issues with her.
I hope this will help you out some. Sorry about my scatterbrain answers! Happy Training !! It will pay off in the end. You are probably doing a better job than you give yourself credit for. Hey at least you are trying!!

Answer 4

Personally, I do crate train my dogs, until they're adults. I have 4 dogs - 3 mini American Eskimos: Sadie, age 6 (we got her when she was 9 weeks old); Oliver 5 1/2 (we got him when he was 8 weeks old); Sebastian, 3 (Sadie is his Mom and Oliver is his Dad) and we recently got an Australian Shepherd (8 weeks when we brought her home) who is 6 months old. We got Sadie first and tried crate training and she wanted no part of it. We tried it for several weeks, crating her only when we weren't home and she would just flip out. I was concerned that she would hurt herself, so I stopped crating her and used a child gate to keep her in the kitchen, making sure to puppy proof the room first. She was great. She has never been a chewer...ever. She's never chewed a shoe, destroyed a toy, etc. Then we got Oliver, who would chew everything in site. He was crated right from the beginning and didn't mind it at all. A few times I'd try gating him in the kitchen, and he would chew things - even the linoleum floor. I didn't care about the floor, but I was worried about him. We ended up crating him until he was 2. When Sebastian was born, we kept him and his 4 littermates in a pen. Once the other pups had gone to their new homes, we started crating Sebastian and he was fine with it. Both he and Oliver would sleep in their open crates when we were home. Sebastian was also a chewer, so in order to protect him as well as our belongings, we always crated him when we were gone, until he was about 2. Now we have Gracie, our 6 month old Aussie pup and she's a chewer. She was crated at night, right from the start and during the day, rather than having her away from the other dogs in a crate by herself, we decided to gate her in the kitchen, after carefully puppy proofing it (we even had to remove the magnets from the refrigerator door and we have to make sure the kitchen counters are clear because she spends her time apparently jumping and grabbing things to "play with" from the counter and fridge. We also have to make sure to remove the garbage can - even with a lid, she's figured out how to open it and "play" with all the garbage. She's done quite well with the gate. She's big enough to actually jump the gate, but hasn't figured that out yet (thank God)...so as long as it's working for us, we'll continue to use the gate. She no longer "has" to sleep in the crate, but will usually go in on her own during the night for a few hours, and then return to bed with me.

Some dogs just panic when they're locked in a crate. It's not rare by any means and I would suggest you try the gate. Just be sure to puppy proof the room before leaving her alone there. You might also give it a try while you're home...maybe starting off with gating her there for 5 minutes and slowly increase the time. She maybe associating being crated with being left alone, which isn't good. I think because we crated at night, with the crate in the bedroom, it helped to alleviate any fears the dogs might have had (other than Sadie - who didn't care if you were there or not, she was not being crated).

Every dog is different and it's best to work the best you can with your particular dog and do what you feel will keep your pup safe, healthy and happy.

Good luck with her!

Answer 5

the key would be to get her thinking of the crate as her den - a safe, special place that is just for her. It should contain a soft bed, her favourite toys and chews, and maybe an old item of your clothing. It might help to cover the top of it with a throw as well, to make it feel cosier. But if she really hates it after you've tried all that, I don't think you have any other option but to try the stair gate. Our greyhound loves her crate so much it's ridiculous - any treat you give her (and she gets a lot!), and she's off to her den! Mind you, we need to be able to shut her away from time to time, as we have two toddlers. Unless you have a reason like that for needing a crate, you might not miss it.

Answer 6

Its hard to know why she still hates it without meeting you and the dog and seeing where the crate is etc.
It is unusual for a dog to hate a crate so much and I would suggest moving onto using a stair gate instead as you are already planning. As she is house trained you shouldn't have a problem anyway.
Usually, a dog would be crated at night too - that is one of the reasons they regard it as their bed and safe place. If she is sleeping elsewhere then she won't feel this way about the crate.
You can eventually train her to use it but is ist really necessary?

Answer 7

We have been using a crate since we got our now 3 yr old dalmatian. It is her safe haven, we do lock her in it when we go out because our older dalmatian is going on her back end and I wouldn't want the younger one to do anything whilst we were out. When we are in the door to her crate is always open and she knows that that is her little area, she often goes in it on a night long before we go to bed and settles down in it. When I am getting her food ready she will jump in her crate and wait for it as we have always fed her in it. A lot of people don't agree with crates but without ours we would have been lost. I agree with the others you need to show her that the crate is not her enemy by putting her in it for a few minutes at a time during the day when you are in and feed her in it.

Answer 8

The puppy is probably seeing the crate as a sign that your leaving because that's the only time you put her in there. When you start crate training you should never put you dog in there right away, you should let them explore it on their own. Put some toys in there, leave the door open and let them go in and out as they please. Once your dog starts doing that, that's when you start closing the door for short periods of time, While your still home and close by! This way they will not see it as a bad thing and that by going in the crate it doesn't mean your going to leave them.

Answer 9

The crate is a great training tool so dont give up on it. Our 6 mon old boxer hates his crate 2, but hes getting use to it. That is where he sleeps in our room most nights. We also use it as his discipline tool, when he's bad, he goes to bed (the crate). He use to bark and carry on when we would put him in there. No more though........they do warm up to it!!!! This is not a cruel thing, all your doing is ensuring you have a well trained dog!!! When your dog is done with the whole puppy chewing, and peeing n poopin in the house,and your think he/she can be trusted alone, then remove the crate gradually.

Answer 10

Well some dogs just dont take to crate training.Maybe the reason she seems to hate it so much though is because you put her in it when you go out and perhaps she has seperation anxeity,thats why she seems to be going mad,alot of pups suffer with this [my own pup included].My dog used to tear his bedding up also and sometimes toilet in there,but we persevered and he eventually grew used to it although he was never that fond of it,where as my other dog loved it and was always in there.Try doing what you said by sectioning your kitchen off and see how she goes.If you come back to things been chewed or where she's messed then it proberly is seperation anxeity.Good luck