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Crate Training: Maintain Your Sanity

Posted by Sit Happens Dog Training on Jul 20 2021

 

Crate training may be one of the most important and overlooked aspects of dog training. Some people can’t fathom the idea of “locking” your dog up in a crate, but its all a matter of perspective.

When properly done, it can provide a dog their own space that is safe and comfortable.

It also establishes boundaries, teaching your dog that the space outside of the crate belongs to you and you are in control of it. This means your dog doesn’t need to protect you or control the space for you. This allows them to RELAX!

It provides much needed clarity when potty training

Crates protects your dog from injury, as well as your home from destruction when you are unable to supervise.

It relieves separation anxiety. The crate allows us to passively show, that even though we aren’t dogs, we can protect them as their leader.

When choosing a crate we prefer the enclosed plastic crates with a wire mesh door. The crate should be large enough for the dog to stand up, turn around, lie down and fully extend their legs.

Try to start crate training when you have a few days off consecutively. A weekend for example.

STEP #1 CRATE INTRODUCTION

Initially place the crate in the family room of your home. We don’t want to separate the dog from their family at first. Allow the dog to investigate the crate on his own. Grab a high quality treat and place a few pieces just inside the lip of the crate. Let your dog reach in and eat them. Repeat this step until your dog appears comfortable taking the food.

Now place the food farther inside the crate. About half way between the front and the back. Let your dog go in and take the food. Repeat several times.

Finally, place the food inside towards the back of the crate. Let your dog go in and take the treat. Repeat until your dog appears comfortable.

Now place a treat towards the back of the crate. Check the time. When your dog goes in to get it, gently close the door. Sit near the crate. Allow your dog to problem solve his situation. During this time, he may whine, cry, bark and bounce around the crate. Avoid comforting him or even talking to him. When he has been in the crate for 15 minutes, open the door and let him out. Try putting him in the crate for 15 minutes of every hour using the process described. On the third attempt label the process with a command word, like: load up, crate, go home or whatever word or phrase you would like to use to tell him to get in the crate.

Try to stay neutral during the process. Your dog can tell when you are upset.

STEP #2 RELOCATION

The goal is to be able to slowly relocate the crate to your desired location in the house. When choosing this location, try to pick a quiet room away from the main traffic area of the house. A spare bedroom or office usually works best. Avoid putting it against a window or on an A/C register. If near a window, close the blinds when he is in the crate. Unlike humans, our dogs don’t care about the view.

This is a progressive process. We are just repeating the main steps from crate introduction in new areas around the house.

Once your dog will go in the crate and lie down, it’s time to relocate it to a nearby hallway. Try to give the dog an obstructed view of you and the family. While saying your command word, continue to use food to lure your dog into the crate. When your dog is comfortable and relaxes quickly in the crate …

It’s time to move the crate to its final safe area out of sight. Load your dog in the crate. Don’t say goodbye. Don’t say I love you (out loud). Just walk away like you believe in what you are doing.

If all went as planned, you have given your dog the greatest gift: Security.

Get in the habit of randomly putting your dog in the crate while you’re home. This will help him understand that you tell him what to do and where to go whether you’re home, or not. Put him away 15 minutes before you leave the house. Putting on your shoes and grabbing your keys can trigger anxiety.

Remember, all training should be fun and help your dog understand he can trust you.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

I could not have asked for a better experience working with Nicole/Sit Happens RVA! My 5 year old dog has had issues with separation anxiety and reactivity since adopting him as a puppy. He was going through a particularly challenging time after moving to a new apartment and my work schedule changing. He was having a difficult time adjusting, so taking him on walks and leaving him home alone were pretty stressful for both of us. I have worked with trainers in the past, but they had more of a 'one size fits all' approach, which was not the case with Nicole because she tailored the training to fit our needs. She was super flexible with scheduling and very responsive with advice and feedback in between sessions. I'm so happy with how far we've come with his leash reactivity and how well-behaved he is for the dog walkers. Nicole gave really helpful recommendations for his separation anxiety, and it is a huge relief to finally have him relaxing at home while I'm at work. I would absolutely recommend Nicole for training!

Arin Lee

Positive: Professionalism, Value
Nicole was so great to work with! Our goldendoodle had some anxious tendencies and needed major help walking calmly on a leash. Nicole gave us the tools and knowledge we needed, and now we enjoy taking walks with our dog, or sitting outside on a restaurant patio with him. She has a ton of knowledge, and we now know what we need to do to reinforce the behaviors throughout the rest of his life. I’m so glad we reached out to Sit Happens!

Victoria Nealon

Positive: Professionalism, Value
Nicole's training was a gift to my husband and I, and to 'COCO'. We learned helpful techniques to train our puppy which we didn't know in spite of having had many dogs before. She answers emails promptly and I highly recommend her.

Nora Anne Viscarra

Positive: Professionalism, Value
My husband and I reached out to Nicole when I was 5.5 months pregnant with our first child. Our rescued mini labradoodle, Benji, was becoming increasingly aggressive towards visitors that came into our home and was displaying very territorial behaviors. We knew that we needed a change before bringing the baby home. Nicole was absolutely amazing to work with and taught us so much about how to redirect/change Benji's behaviors while prepping him for the baby. We are so grateful for all of her help and see a huge change with Benji! We feel like we can finally welcome the baby into our homes without having the extra stress about how Benji will react. Thank you, Nicole!

Nora Anne Viscarra

Positive: Professionalism, Value
Nicole was AMAZING to work with. I have a 2 year-old mini Australian Shepherd, so you can imagine how active he is. Well, he also started to become very territorial and leash-reactive (as Nicole later taught me!). He started to lurch at people and especially other dogs. Even though I thought I had trained him, it wasn't enough! I would have never known that without Nicole's help. We reinforced his 'sit, stay, come' commands, taught him new commands, like 'heel' or 'place,' and fully crate-trained him. Nicole had unique solutions to training and reinforcing these ideals. Now, my pup happily loose-leash walks with me, stays in his crate when sleeping or during the day, and completely ignores other people or pups walking near us! This service was worth every cent!

Elle McGowan

Positive: Professionalism, Value
Our three year old doodle had some behavior issues we wanted to work out and we could not have had a better experience! Nicole was so knowledgeable and helpful when it came to understanding the root cause of the behaviors and helping us learn how to correct them appropriately. She is realistic and professional. Would absolutely recommend to anyone!

Clara Gaul

Positive: Professionalism, Value
Nicole is the best! We got her puppy training package, and it was totally worth it. Our puppy had a ton of problems when she first saw him, and he has already improved so much! He was having multiple accidents a day, and now it has been weeks without an accident! When we first got him, we had to sleep on the floor because he couldn’t sleep in the crate. Now he sleeps in the crate for 8 hours every night and never whines! He has learned how to sit, stay, down, place, come, heel, and drop it! She is so knowledgeable about dog behavior and psychology. Our puppy has learned so much from her, and we will most definitely be getting dog training too! I cannot recommend her services enough. If you have a new puppy call her and schedule a consultation ASAP!! Thank you for everything, Nicole!

Jillian Stickley

Positive: Professionalism, Value
We are very pleased with the results we experienced with our dog Cooper through Sit Happens RVA. Cooper is a sweet dog but he was a handful and we were not having any success with getting him under any facet of control. We did not know what results to expect from Sit Happens RVA nor were we optimistic that Cooper could be controlled. We have been pleasantly surprised. Cooper came home a new dog. Nicole was an absolute pleasure to work with, she explained the process thoroughly, kept us updated daily on Cooper's progress and then walked us through the commands and steps on maintaining the program once Cooper came home. We were close to giving up on Cooper and Sit Happens RVA was probably Cooper's last chance. We are so happy that Nicole was able to work her magic and highly recommend Sit Happens RVA!! Lin and Bill Lynch Midlothian, VA

William Lynch

Positive: Professionalism, Value
Nicole is the best! We got her puppy training package, and it was totally worth it. Our puppy had a ton of problems when she first saw him, and he has already improved so much! He was having multiple accidents a day, and now it has been weeks without an accident! When we first got him, we had to sleep on the floor because he couldn’t sleep in the crate. Now he sleeps in the crate for 8 hours every night and never whines! He has learned how to sit, stay, down, place, come, heel, and drop it! She is so knowledgeable about dog behavior and psychology. Our puppy has learned so much from her, and we will most definitely be getting dog training too! I cannot recommend her services enough. If you have a new puppy call her and schedule a consultation ASAP!! Thank you for everything, Nicole!

Jillian Frazier

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Reliability, Responsiveness, Value
Had a great experience working with Nicole. She was patient, flexible and easy to communicate with. We noticed the behavioral changes in Harper after our very first session. We now have the tools and knowledge to continue to train and enjoy our puppy. I would highly recommend Nicole!

carol kaplan

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness
Our dog Clara was impossible to walk with other dogs around, we were desperate to get her out and about without issues. Nicole was amazing working with her and after a few sessions, we can finally take Clara on walks without her freaking out when a dog approaches. This has been a lifesaver as we love to take our dogs everywhere we go. We use to think Clara would always be the way she is because she’s 4 already but Nicole proved us wrong. Very happy that we went with this business and would recommend her to anyone needing to have a better handle of their pup.

amber Nowlin

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Reliability
Nicole was awesome! She worked around our schedule, and was quick to respond to any questions. Most importantly, she was very patient (both with Izzy and us). I highly recommend you hire Nicole to train your pup!!

Erin Douglas

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Reliability
My fiance and I got a shelter dog, Theo, who would pull and bark on his walks and would be mean to other humans and dogs. Nicole helped us learn the reasoning behind his behavior in order for us to fully understand the process of her training techniques. Now Theo is good at walks and listens to our commands- whether it be sit, stay, or come even when around other dogs or strangers. Nicole also was available by text or call whenever we came across a new question (e.g. how to introduce him to family dogs at Christmas) which showed us that she really cared about Theo's progress. We are now confident that we know how to take command in any situation when we take Theo outside or in public. My fiance, Theo, and I recommend Nicole for training!

Nicole Trombley

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Reliability
Life with our puppy is so enjoyable and much happier after Nicole’s training. We were frustrated and living in chaos but everything Nicole taught us helped us get control of her behavior and maintain our discipline. We were so afraid she would wonder off and get lost and thought we’d have to keep her on a leash forever. Now she stays with us, listens to us and is leash free. We were especially happy that we were able to do this training and get these results while she was so young (8-12 months). Thank you!

Lisa Hilbert

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Nicole took my sweet but mischievous hound dog for a week-long board and train and returned to me my same sweet, curious, loving baby but now with a lot more self-control and restraint! He is SO well behaved at home and on walks. I can now cook and eat dinner in peace:)

erin bailey

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Nicole was great with our Stella! We can now eat dinner without guarding food from the dog. We also enjoy walks and playtime with Stella which was not possible before Nicole’s training program. I would highly recommend her services!

Diana Vaughan

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
I could not be happier with this service. Nicole went above and beyond to work with my partner and I and our new rescue. She is so responsive and professional. She always clearly explained our dog's behavior, what to expect as we trained him, and would leave us with detailed instructions and tips so that we could keep up in between visits. Our dog loves her and I would recommend her to anyone.

Kathryn Lien

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Nicole is excellent! We were at a loss with our dog and now have confidence in her and that we are moving in the right direction. Nicole knows what she is doing and is great at communicating with us. Whenever we have a question, she responds to our email/text within the hour. We couldn't have picked a better trainer! We are so pleased with the progress we have made with our dog and couldn't have done it without Nicole!

Patrick Sager

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Nicole is quite the dog whisperer! My pup took to her immediately and the results have been nothing short of amazing. I think I learned as much as Whylie did!

sharon glover

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Nicole is fantastic. Best in RVA.

Steve M

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
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