The Power of the Crate

One of the things on some dog owner’s list is to crate train their dogs. Most of my client’s dogs are either crate trained or are in the process of being so. Besides the added benefit of helping a puppy with house training, crate training an adult dog comes with a lot of perks for the dog.
So what does crate training mean?

By definition if a dog is crate trained it enjoys spending time in his crate. If this is not true, then the dog is not properly crated trained. Period.

When a dog is taught that his crate is a great place to hang out, get treats etc. then it is for sure an added bonus to his well-being and an excellent managing tool for the people. However, a crate should never be used as a means to “control” an exuberant dog for lack of proper exercise and mental stimulation. It is in fact a tool and not a way of life for the dog. Much has been said about crates being like dens for dogs and I agree as long as the dog enjoys being in the crate otherwise it would be more like a “prison-cell” - not a romantic idea.

Crates allow us to feed dogs valuable items without having them compete – or worse fight over resources. They can also keep them quiet and hopefully entertained when visitors come to the home or in my case when clients and their pups come to train.

My dogs have been taught that the crate is a good place to be. I crate trained them by serving them either their meals in a Kong or putting something really irresistible such as sardines and banana chips - I know, what a combination - as a mid-day snack. In addition they get to chew on a juicy bone several times a week.

If your dog tends to bark at visitors at the front door, the crate is a great way of having your dog practice some quiet behaviors. If he is busy chewing or munching on something delicious, the chances are that he aint’ barking!

Once the dog has been crated trained, I like to have the crate available to them so that they can go in them at will. It is a perfect indication of the dog needing some “alone time” say.

Crates are also super valuable in the car. Hands-down the safest way to have them travel. It is also a great tool for those dogs that love to bark or worse lunge at people or dogs approaching the car. In these instances, the crate can serve as a visual barrier, blocking some of the action from the dog and thus making him less inclined to bark or lunge.

When traveling, the crate doubles as “home away from home”; I most definitively would love to be able to bring my bed along on trips! This is now possible for your dog with the (not-so-new) batch of portable crates.

Home Delivery

I am at home waiting for a home delivery. The home delivery people had called ahead of time as requested and now both dogs are in my office in their crates.

I hear a knock on the front door and in unison with my “come in” I hear Rio barking. Ah, she probably wonders: who is at the front door and why is it that I am locked up in my crate and cannot come to say hi! She continues to bark and now Deuce has chimed in once he has heard that yes indeed there is now someone inside the home.

I wait for a few seconds of silence and then I walk into my office. Both are looking at me and still silent. Gooooood dooogs! I tell them as I exit the room and close the door.

Rio begins again. I think about my strategy and my options.

Sure, I can walk in there pretending to be furious and yell at them a couple of times in my best impersonation of a sergeant's voice or I could also walk in there with a water bottle and spray both of them in the face, or use one of those popular pet correctors this one emitting a hiss sound that some dogs find very scary or I could….

I opt for a “nicer” option. Not only because (most of the time) I am a nice person but because I also know that instead of scaring my dogs by pushing my weight around with my bullying tactics, I can use this golden opportunity to teach them what I'd much rather that they do when I ask them to go into their crates and forfeit their meeting everyone that comes through the front door.

I wait again for a longer silent pause from the two of them and once again, I march into my office carrying an (almost deadly-weapon)…big chunky slices of hot dogs!

I begin to toss them the hot dogs and as they eat them happily I walk out of the room. More silence… more hot dogs coming their way at different time intervals from one another.

By now the delivery has ended. I go back to let both dogs out of their crates and as I open Rio’s crate she just waits inside - no rush in getting out. Her coy expression asking for more hot dogs. I slip her one more piece just for being cute and we march out towards the front door so that they can act as pet-detectives and sniff around perhaps somewhat disappointed that they missed out in making new friends.

Tonight I will sleep very well. Not only because we now have a firmer mattress, but because I did not cave into intimidation to get the job “done”. Instead, I followed what the science of animal learning has proven time and time again: we do not need to intimidate, create pain or discomfort to modify behavior. We can instead make it up to the animal and reinforce for WHAT we WANT them to do!!

Doesn't this make more sense? Why focus on the “problem” – problem for whom may I ask? Instead on what we want our dogs to learn?

As an added bonus to me experiencing a warm-fussy feeling inside, my dogs are also feeling that warm-fussy feeling towards me. No scary owner, no yelling into submission - with nowhere to go (remember they are crated) instead they are left with a better understanding of what I would like them to do when they are in their crates.

The bottom line is that in my personal as well as my professional view, we must time and time again choose to teach with the knowledge that reinforcement works. Second point, when anyone acts accordingly to their (moral) values they are not in a situation of conflict: love my dogs but I scared them/hurt them etc. and that is a great recipe for a good night sleep! Zzzzzzzzzz

Wait and Trust

Both Deuce and Rioja have crates available in my office. As a matter of fact, Deuce sleeps in his crate while Rioja sleeps in our bedroom on the biggest, fluffiest dog bed around.

Deuce LOVES his crate. He goes in there every day just to chill after we come back from sheepherding or anytime he wants some "alone" time.

Crate training is, in my book, a really good thing to teach dogs. Not only can the crate serve as a containment area once the dog is comfortable in it, but it also allows the dog a place where they can go lay down, and feel safe and comfortable.

As part of my crate-training plan, I frequently give dogs Kongs and marrow bones so that they learn to enjoy being in the crate.

It also comes in handy for me to be able to have both dogs in their crates when I have either a private training or a group class. Same procedure here, dogs are exercised and then they go in their crates to chew on a big marrow bone. Now this is the way it should be, but the reality is that Rioja is still struggling with staying in her crate without barking when she hears another dog in the proximity… and what I need most at this time is to have "invisible" dogs…

So, I have thought about different ways to help both dogs, but especially Rioja, relax in their crates when they hear my client’s dog bark. Beside ample time in the crate with something fun for them to do, I play at different volumes and place in different locations a CD with a myriad of dogs barking, howling, and whining. I stick around for this mini-training sessions and I lavished them with chicken when they remained quiet inside their crates as the CD dogs take turns barking.

You might wonder if the dogs are “fooled” by the barking of the CD dogs and the answer is that, yes, it is possible to use recordings to teach the dogs to just kick-back and relax when they hear dogs barking. Of course, ideally they would be submitted to many, many, many… sessions of real dogs barking so that at some point, dogs barking at home are not a novelty anymore. We are clearly not there yet, but hey we are making progress!

This afternoon, as I worked in my office, with Deuce tucked in all the way to the back of the crate as he likes to lay, Rioja pawed her crate door in an attempt to open it. I gently open the door and pretended not to watch her closely as I smiled when I saw her laying comfortably on her own accord in her crate. She remained inside the crate for about 2 hrs. just sleeping contently as I worked at the computer and stepped out of the office for this and that.

The lesson here for me is multi-fold: We must recognize when there is something that we can teach our dogs that will make their lives and ours better, or that will improve our relationship in some way.

We also need to have patience and trust that our dogs - especially the young ones - need time to reach the goal that we had set for them. In one short sentence: It’s (almost) all about maturation!

As I was thinking about this entry, I came to the conclusion that when a behavioral problem arises we must not ignore it. Now, addressing it can mean different things: To actively teach the dog a new behavior that is more appropriate than the current one OR we can just continue to observe for signs of the issue resolving itself. In the case of Rioja, she still acts as an adolescent… (I come most of the time, I jump and try to take the ball from your hand, I refuse to surrender the Frisbee and instead I run away from you with it clenched in my mouth …) you get the picture.

However, besides her beginning to enjoy the crate, she surprised me again the other day when instead of dashing out the front door full-speed and howling like only a Hound dog can at the sight of the contractor who was speaking with John, she ran towards both men and was able to calmly say “hello”. I was watching by the front door and it felt so good to see that Rioja is beginning to feel more confident around new people. You see, sometimes we just need to wait… and trust that things will resolve themselves on their own and sometimes we need to do the hard work.