[MagPie]

I have a 3 month old golden retriever that I'm trying to crate train. She stays in there 4 hrs in the morning when my wife works and at night. She does not wet the crate (knock on wood), but we're having problems with her barking.

The first few nights I let her bark and ignored her. Eventually after about a half hour she would stop. Then after a few nights she wouldn't stop for at least an hour. We always let her outside before putting her in the crate to go potty, and she does.

I tried giving her dog treats when she stops barking, but she doesn't even want them.

I figured she must hate her crate because she's always in there when we're gone. So I tried storing her toys in there when she's not playing with them, so she gets used to going inside to get them, and she does. I also tried putting her in there an hour before bed time so she knows we're still around and hopefully doesn't feel lonely. I even tried singing 'rock a bye baby' to her lol. It actually worked the first time, but not after that. Then I tried a Kong toy filled with peanut butter and only gave it to her in her crate. She's more interested in getting out than playing with her Kong toy.

After feeling like I tried everything, I got the citranella anti-bark collar. The first one didn't work at all, so I returned it and got another one. I tested it and it did work. I put it on her but it didn't do anything when she barked, so I stopped using that.

Does anyone have any ideas for getting her to stop barking at night?

Thanks!

[Yogi]

crate training in most cases can be somewhat of a challenge. With mine instead of regular bedding I would use a piece of my old clothing, shirt etc. The scent implies to the dog that you are near by. I always feed my dogs in their crates in addition which helps enforce the crate is a good place. I took in a 10 year old some years ago which had never been crate trained. Within a week she was and now runs to it everynite to get her treat and go to bed. I also cover the crates at nite as most dogs when in total darkness will go into more of a calmed state.

[lil mutt]

what my brother did to crate train my dog was he put some of her dog toys inside the crate and when she enters the crate he gave her treats so she will know that shes doing the right stuff.

[Neva242]

Hey MagPie,
I am having the same issues with our new 6 month old Westie, Nacho. The first night in the crate he barked for 3 hrs and it reduced to 35 min a few days later but now he's up barking for 2-3 hrs every night. He also doesn't care for ANY toy in the crate, even his Kong filled with goodies. We've tried leaving on the radio and covering his crate but that hasn't helped. I think the idea of feeding him in the crate is a good one and we're going to try that next. Hope your luck improves too!

[rudilor]

i am really dumbed in dog training until i went to search for some answers and notes for it on the internet..Lot of the sites were crappy with no good information about dog training..But fortunately i stumbled to this site Dog Potty Training

[kaede1107]

there are lots of collars use in correcting behaviors. try other dog bark collars this might help you to stop the barking.

[daniellechua]

Hey Mag Pie

I suggest you to reintroduce the crate for your dog.As, there might be some mistakes made when you start to crate train your dog .

Training your dog and how to attract your dog to get into and stay in the crate?

First, I would suggest you to attract them by putting some toys in the crate which will ease their boredom and increase the capability of adapting. Give them or reward them with some treats which will be eye-catching to them! Reward them with their favorite treats. Remember, rewarding during dog training is very important as by rewarding your dogs will only feel attracting to follow your instructions.

How to “invite” your dogs into the crate?

Prepare dog training treats; pitch the treat into the crate which will attract him to jump into the crate. When crate training a dog, choose a word that will be consistent such as “inside” or “kennel”, where slowly they will understand the word “ inside” or “kennel” to be “inside/kennel” + “ crate” will is equivalent to “ treat” which is appealing to them! Whenever you shout the word “inside/kennel” they will be waiting for their treats inside the crate! Great job, these make training your dog job easy and let your dog enjoy!

After getting into the crate how to make them stay in the crate for a period of time? This is another issue that you might need to learn and understand. Leave toys, blanket, or snack bones which can grab their attention for some time, to bite, chew or cleaning. Dogs can bite a toy for some period of time, they are addicting to biting the toys and will keep on enjoy biting it without feeling bored! But, do not give them all the toys they used to have as dogs are easily get bored, you might want to varies the toys or snacks which will be always appealing to them!

Dog owners do remember crate is not the magical solution. Do not crate your dogs all day long. As they will feel trapped and frustrated. Dogs do have physical and emotional needs that crating will not solved it. So, crate training a dog and let them enjoy the training.

Danielle Chua
| Dog Care School

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