Crate-training regression! Advice?

My boy went thru something similar when he was almost 12 months. He always went in his crate both daytime and at night no problem would just lie down go to sleep after having whatever treat I gave. Then suddenly he balked at going in, would whine and cry. Well I honestly didn't have time or the inclination to put up with it. (I almost did but then Isaid wait no reason for this) so I jut put him in there. I'll tell you it took maybe two weeks but he finally settled back down and went willingly. Which was good because soon after he was neutered and he had to have quiet time. Now he is out all day, but I usually gate off my foyer and dining room (thats where my computer is now) and all his toys or he is in the bedroom with me. Now the last few night he isn't crazy about going in his crate but he goes willingly. He could be trusted not to chew but I sleep better just knowing I know where he is and he is safe.

My parents insist that she napped in the crate and nothing unusual happened, so who knows?

It's now to the point where she will go into the crate and wait for me to treat her from the closed end. Today she did it a few times in a row as if to make sure it was really working. one of the times i closed the door but didn't lock it, and opened it again right away so she could see i wasn't going to make her stay in there. Usually, if i come to close to the open door, she bolts, and she's way too fast for me. I hide treats in the crate for her to find, and she goes in looking for those sometimes as well.

I'm concerned that if i try leading her there by the collar that will make her resistance worse, and she'll run away from me when i try to grab her at other times, even with a treat. I have done that a couple times in the past, when i needed to leave the room but not necessarily the house. (I work from home, so I often did not leave while she napped, or only for part of the time.) But I think if i did it now, she would struggle.

And on top of it, it looks like she might have vaginitis again, since for no reason she peed in the house on a beanbag chair she likes to rest on, right after being outside. The only time this has happened is when she was having a problem. So now i'm even more reluctant to leave her alone...

I've struggled with crate training Noelle since I brought her home three years ago. She just never liked being away from me. Noelle shadows me everywhere and finds the isolation of a crate distressing. I need it to be a cozy den that we can take to trials. I also need for her to be silent during an upcoming workshop. So, I'm working hard on building a desire to be in her crate.

Here's what's working for my dog. I make a fantastic dog treat and spread it on a silicone lick mat. You can find lick mats on Amazon. This could work with a Kong, if your dog likes Kongs. Anyhow, I make a huge production out of making a fabulous long lasting treat, and talk to Noelle about how tasty it's going to be.

I put the treat in the crate and shut the door without Noelle going in. At this point, I began deliberately frustrating her. Sorry, that treat is for the crate. No, you can't have it. It's not yours. No. The crate gets to eat that. Sorry. I kept this up until Noelle was beside herself, straining to get in the crate. Then I opened the door and she launched herself into the crate. I think she bounced off the sides once.

I shut the door and set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I opened the door and she had a choice to come out or stay in. The only rule: the wonderful treat has to stay inside the crate. The next day, I set the timer for 11 minutes. The next day, 12 minutes. Today we are up to 25 minutes.

Right now all doors are open in her crate and Noelle is napping in there by choice. I want her to see the crate as a quiet place where no one bothers her. A place where the good treats are. And I want to build a desire to be in there, which is definitely working. Now, when she sees the treat coming, she dives inside her crate. The more experiences Noelle has of the crate being a good place, hopefully she'll learn to handle being crated at trials and workshops.

Well, i tried putting a great longlasting treat in the crate and shutting (but not locking) the door. She waited and when i didn't let her in, she nosed it open herself to get inside. While she was eating i went and closed the door. She immediately protested and started pushing against it with her nose, so i opened it and let her out. Then she sat outside it and would not go back in even for the food. She waited a long time, and only when i was out of the room did she go back to eat more.

So, i've continued tapping the crate as a cue and treating her from the other end after she goes in. But once that's done, she goes out again. And now she's refusing to go in at night. Last night, i had to grab her and shut the door before she could run out again. It took me two tries--i don't keep her collar on at night. Usually i hide treats in the crate, and she goes in looking for them at bedtime. She didn't this time. But once she's in there, she goes right to sleep. She doesn't bark or stand at the closed door, etc. I think she's "decided" that if she can sleep in daytime in her favorite spots outside the crate, why not at night? But this is not okay. I wonder if i need to start "enforcing" naps in the crate again, at least once a day, but i'm concerned this will set up a situation where she'll avoid coming near me. So frustrating! I don't really get it unless it's just adolescent "rebellion"! Ha.

I tried putting in a lickmat, and a few minutes after she was in there eating, i closed the door for 4 minutes, then opened it again. She came out and refused to go back in, and completely rejected the lickmat. Now she'll go into the crate if i toss treats in, but she rushes back out immediately--won't do anything that keeps her in there long, and she won't go in at all if i'm nearby, like, closer than the opposite end of the room. If she's inside and i approach, she rushes out again. So i wanted to give her treats while she's inside and the door is open, but she doesn't stay inside long enough. I managed it once.

i didn't wait until she protested this time b/c i wanted her to "get" that the door would only be closed for a short time. The idea was to lengthen the time gradually, but when i try that, again, she refuses to go back in. She hasn't been barking to come out when i close the door, she just won't go back in the next time.

She is very fast, and if i have to catch her and force her into crate, she's going to avoid me/run away. I've already seen that happen.

When you get her to go in the crate. Don't put her in the crate. Get her and do something super fun, complete with a treat. Let her go play freely. Do this a few times. Then put her in the crate in a matter of fact, but calm, pleasant demeanor. "okie dokie, time to be a good girl and go to bed." (or whatever cue word (s) you plan to use later on to send her to her crate on her own, which she will learn...but later. I always said, "go to bed." And off they'd go to their crates) Every time you need to put her in the crate do this BUT vary the number of times you get her and have a rewarding time...either a little walk, a game, a special toy that you can use to play with her. 5 repetitions one time, then 3, then 7, then 2, then 9, then 4, then don't put her in the crate at all...be unpredictable so she doesn't know when or even IF she's going to go in the crate. Don't put her in the crate every time you go get her. Do something fun. Act the same way, the same pleasant demeanor going to get her whether it's to put her in the crate or if it's to play a special game, give a special treat, toy, walkies, a ride in the car, etc.

With a lot of things I too like to avoid force if at all possible. But under the circumstances, she being a puppy and needing to be in the crate sometimes, even an adult who may need to travel in the car safely or stay all night at a vet ought to learn to adapt and accept being in a crate. So if all the nice things you've been doing to get her to accept the crate aren't working, it's that time where I'd say you need to just put her in and she'll have to adapt. Don't cave when she protests. Don't give attention when she's protesting. (speak, look at, coo, nothing) Wait for maybe 10 seconds of quiet and calm, then let her out if it's time to let her out. She will protest for some time now because she's learned that it works. If you give in, she will have a much harder time learning to accept and it is actually unkind (even though you, of course wouldn't mean it) because it's confusing to her. Consistency is everything in training a pup. Eventually, probably in a couple weeks of perfect consistency and good management, (don't over do the crate...no more than 4 hours at a time ...max) she should get so she's okay with it and not make a big drama about it.

Be sure to not do everything the same way preceding getting her to put her in the crate. In other words, don't get her, put her in the crate first thing or you'll see her avoiding you when you come near. Get her, trick her. Do something unexpected and vary those things a lot. Make it fun, cheerful but matter of fact.

Ps. I don't think it's really adolecsent rebellion because I don't think dogs think that way exactly. I think it's simply that she's immature and still learning the ropes. She has more training to get under her belt and the more training she gets, the more she'll learn HOW to learn. She'll get onto it. But you may have to be a little more insistent and she can have something to chew on or taste if you're around to supervise but if you're gone, I wouldn't....too much risk. She can also learn that she doesn't always have to have something in there to eat, chew. But it can help her ease into this at first. But I wouldn't leave her with anything if you're gone and can't supervise. Puppies choke on things, break off pieces that you think they won't be able to.

That's so different from mine. The boys, before we moved always slept in their crates at night...went in there voluntarily at about 8:30 pm. But during the day they'd nap/hang out on the couch for the most part. But also periodically hang out in their crates. I just left the doors opened. Here, in my new house, I put their crates in the garage because they take up too much space and look ugly. The dogs just sleep on the couch or Matisse sometimes likes to go in the den and sleep in a dog bed that's in there. But I think he, especially would love to have his crate back. He's probably ticked off that I took it away. He LOVED his crate, his little space all his own, cozy and private. I am almost positive he'd be all for it if I brought the crates in. But I don't want to get his hopes up by experimenting. I have too much furniture in here as it is. He's fine this way but I just know he'd like to have his crate in here. Maurice, I think prefers to have the vantage point from being on the couch.

Yeah, i don't know what might have happened at my parents' except that she may have been a bit bored b/c they couldn't be quite as active with her. They are very kind people, and they had dogs for many years. Who knows.

Anyway, now she is back to going in the crate at night with no problem, and she will stay in the crate while i feed her good treats through the open or closed door. This morning, i gave her a kong and she kept on it for 20 minutes in the crate without complaining. Then I opened the door because i didn't want to push it, and i wanted to let her out before she had a chance to "want" out. So i think it's going better.

I have thought of getting her a bed. At first i thought she might chew it, so i had been waiting until she was out of the mega-teething phase. But also she runs hot, and really prefers to sleep on the floor, usually against a wall, rather than on a towel or anything. She sometimes naps with her face near the AC vent. At night, in the crate, she pushes everything aside (a towel, some plush toys) to sleep on the bare crate floor. Nevertheless, i looked at crate beds/pads that fit inside a 42" midwest crate and don't get too warm. I think i'll search around her for threads on that.