Dora's crate training

We are struggling to get Dora to settle in her crate when she isn't sleepy. We are feeding her in her crate and she has been quite good in the crate at night, but she cries if we put her in at other times unless she wants a snooze.

She is crying at the moment and I know she doesn't need the loo cos she as just been. Is she just trying it on. Should we be strong and let her cry herself out?

Ideally we are going to need to put her in when we want not when she wants.
Does anyone have any tips on how to get her to love her crate more in the day?

She has actually quietened down now...
Maybe she has given up trying to get our attention.

I should have mentioned before that I am in the same room as her.

when billy was small we had a crate, but we only used it when it was bedtime or we went out and could not take him with us, we left it open during the day and put toys in and when he needed a sleep he would go in,

when dora isnt sleepy she probally would like playing with or just a cuddle or a walk, the crate is not meant to be a prison it is a haven where dora can get away from it all or have a kip when she wants to.

we did not feed billy in his crate, it was really just there for his safety so he could not bite any wires or destroy anything

hopefully i have been helpful and good luck with your crate training

Thanks lynne. She will go in the crate if we ask her too when she is sleepy, and she did go in readily enough just now, but then she started crying. Maybe we should leave the door open when we are around.
Thing is we are around a lot cos we both work at home, but we do need to be able to crate her to keep her safe. She seems to prefer to sleep on our feet or on the carpet in the day.
She is still quiet now.

lynne wrote:when billy was small we had a crate, but we only used it when it was bedtime or we went out and could not take him with us, we left it open during the day and put toys in and when he needed a sleep he would go in,

when dora isnt sleepy she probally would like playing with or just a cuddle or a walk, the crate is not meant to be a prison it is a haven where dora can get away from it all or have a kip when she wants to.

we did not feed billy in his crate, it was really just there for his safety so he could not bite any wires or destroy anything

hopefully i have been helpful and good luck with your crate training

agree totally both my dogs are crate trained and you have to stick to your guns! as far as putting her in during the day dont unless you have to go out always let her make her own way to her crate if she feels its her choicce she`s less likely to cry and whine and during the day never lock the door thats purely for when your not around and she probably thinks that when the doors locked your gonna leave her...,believe me it gets better it took no more than a week for my 6 month old daija to take to her crate and with roxi it was instant good luck!

the crate should be doras treat, soon she will run in and relax, just leave the door open and she will go in, although it must be hard if you both work at home, the otherside of the problem that if you give in to the crying during the day then at night you will have a nightmare, you just need to create a happy balance

I know it is hard but just ignore the crying, Cali fortunately didn't take too long to get used to his crate because we ignored the crying, sometimes it would go on for 20 mins at bedtime but we read if we give in and let him out he knows that crying means he gets out basically he wins and gets what he wants, what we found was it was better to keep it in one room, (our bedroom) so he got to know its sleep or chill time when he goes in it. He still cries for a couple of minutes sometimes but generally he is happy and settles quickly.
We did put him in the crate for about 15 mins a day when we were at home and still do especially when im moping the floor just for him to not associate crate means him being left alone.
I wouldn't feed dora in the crate but what we did is hide some tasty treats in there so that he found something nice and special in the crate.
Good luck just persevere and don't give in no matter how much the crying breaks your heart

Rebecca wrote:I know it is hard but just ignore the crying, Cali fortunately didn't take too long to get used to his crate because we ignored the crying, sometimes it would go on for 20 mins at bedtime but we read if we give in and let him out he knows that crying means he gets out basically he wins and gets what he wants, what we found was it was better to keep it in one room, (our bedroom) so he got to know its sleep or chill time when he goes in it. He still cries for a couple of minutes sometimes but generally he is happy and settles quickly.
We did put him in the crate for about 15 mins a day when we were at home and still do especially when im moping the floor just for him to not associate crate means him being left alone.
I wouldn't feed dora in the crate but what we did is hide some tasty treats in there so that he found something nice and special in the crate.
Good luck just persevere and don't give in no matter how much the crying breaks your heart

also agree with this too!! we hid treats for daija in ther too and kept her in our bedroom for the first week untill she settled in then we moved her into her den in the kitchen(formerly the pantry!) she now has her own room with just a stair gate for when were out i totally believe crate training is the best for you and your dog!

crates are the best thing once you have cracked it