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We have a 10 week old Miniature Australian Shepherd. We brought her home two weeks ago. We stayed home from work with her the first week and she's getting pretty good about going outside when we take her out. However, the crate is a problem. The first week, we started out putting treats in her crate for her to find whenever she wandered in there, and the crate also has a water bowl attached to it. Every time she fell asleep, we would pick her up and put her in there where she stayed until she woke up. In a few days, she got to where she would go in the crate on her own for a nap. After a couple of days, we tried shutting the door for just a couple of minutes (while she was awake). She hated it, but as soon as she was quiet for a couple of seconds, we let her out and gave her a treat and lots of praise. After that, she refused to go in her crate at all. So we went back to not shutting the door at all for a couple more days, and she got back to where she would go in there on her own. Then we tried shutting the door again for a couple of minutes. The same thing happened, and now she absolutely refuses to go in there at all. Should we just force her in there and shut the door for longer and longer periods of time? We really want to get to where we can crate her overnight.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

>>We have a 10 week old Miniature Australian Shepherd. We brought her home two weeks ago. We stayed home from work with her the first week and she's getting pretty good about going outside when we take her out. However, the crate is a problem. The first week, we started out putting treats in her crate for her to find whenever she wandered in there, and the crate also has a water bowl attached to it. Every time she fell asleep, we would pick her up and put her in there where she stayed until she woke up. In a few days, she got to where she would go in the crate on her own for a nap. After a couple of days, we tried shutting the door for just a couple of minutes (while she was awake). She hated it, but as soon as she was quiet for a couple of seconds, we let her out and gave her a treat and lots of praise. After that, she refused to go in her crate at all. So we went back to not shutting the door at all for a couple more days, and she got back to where she would go in there on her own. Then we tried shutting the door again for a couple of minutes. The same thing happened, and now she absolutely refuses to go in there at all. Should we just force her in there and shut the door for longer and longer periods of time? We really want to get to where we can crate her overnight.
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>>Thanks for any help you can offer.

>>>>>>>>

If the crate is not in your bedroom, moving it in there seems to work for most people and pups.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Thanks. The crate has been mostly in the living room, and we only tried having her in there while we were in the living room. So are you saying to move the crate to the bedroom, and still try short periods of time, increasing to longer periods, or should we go ahead and try overnight? Also, it does not matter where her crate is. She absolutely refuses to go in there now no matter where it is. So to try anything, we have to force her in there with her "kicking and screaming" all the way.

Thanks again!