Our loving dog Capo, was literally on deaths door. At seven years old he developed separation anxiety, he was literally destroying our home. We had to make a decision. After exhausting all options afforded us, from our Vet; We reluctantly scheduled an appointment to have him euthenized.
We frantically surfed the web for his final days, in search of any possible alternative, we came upon Wags and Wiggles. Laurie has been a blessing. We are now modifying his behavior and have seen incredible results.
He is being kennel trained (he had never been as a pup), but all indications are that he will soon be able to be left alone, in his kennel. Miraculous!
Capo and our family love Wags and Wiggles...they ROCK!
Cordially,
Mike and Diane Fischer
CRATE & CONFINEMENT TRAINING
Crate training should be a cruelty free method of confining your dog when they need to be home alone or to prevent behavior problems. A "crate" can be an actual crate, xpen, laundry room, chain link kennel run, or just a room with a baby gate. However, the benefit of an actual crate (whether hard shell, wire, or collaspable soft crate) is that it can go anywhere at anytime - including soccer games, vacation, or a friend's house.
Reasons for crate training: potty training, prevention of destruction/chewing/digging, seperation anxiety, teaching puppies how to nap when over-tired/cranky, management of child versus dog, preparation for vet visits/surgery, and to assist in behavior modification. Every dog should get used to being confined in some way. It's a fact of life that at some point they will have to be left alone. Every dog should be confinement trained but not every dog needs to be crate trained.
Crate training is NOT buy a crate, shove the dog in it, shut the door, and wait to see how the dog will react.
Crate training is NOT buy a crate, use a cookie to lure the dog in, shut the door and see what happens.
Crate training is NOT buy a crate, get the dog in, then let him whine until he's exhausted because a book told you to ignore it.
Crate training is NOT buy a crate, get the dog in, wait until he whines then throw something at the crate and pound on the top.
Crate training is NOT buy a crate, wait for the dog to do something bad, and then stick him in there as punishment.
Here are some tips on how to train a dog to accept a crate
Place the crate in a heavily used portion of your home. Next to couch, desk, or bed. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN AT FIRST.
Every dog is different but plan on one week's time of training before you attempt to leave the home with the dog in the crate. If the dog has had negative experiences or severe separation anxiety, it may take to up to a month.
Spend 5 minutes, 3-5 times per day, working with the dog and the crate. You will need treats (not boring kibble, chicken bits is better), a behavior marker (clicker or use the word "yes"), a leash, and the crate. See Training Pamphlet for more information on clicker training.
Start by watching for your dog showing any interest (not LOVE, but INTEREST!) for the crate, like "looking" at it and then you click and treat (c/t). Do this 20 times or more. Don't be in a hurry! Take all the time it needs. The dog will look at the crate more to get more treats. Once you see that the dog is really watching his crate deliberately then - and only THEN - you "forget" to click. He'll wonder why you don't click anymore and - showing some frustration - he's maybe going to get closer to the crate, sniff the crate or paw at it. That's what you want, a little bit MORE interest before you start clicking and treating again.
It's important that when you click and treat (c/t), the dog receives the treat near the crate...NOT FROM YOUR HAND. In the beginning, if you c/t for the dog looking at crate then throw the treat next to the crate. If you c/t dog for going inside, then throw the treat inside. DO NOT BRIBE THE DOG BY THROWING TREAT IN CRATE FIRST.
After a few 5 minute training sessions, your dog will be so well shaped & conditioned to "play" with his crate that he'll get in the crate all on his own. (first one paw, C/T, then 2, C/T) etc. Don't rush! Every step should be well reinforced with treats before trying to do the next step. Going to the next step should always be done by "forgetting to click at a certain moment". Once he goes in the crate, you wait and he'll do something different (like sitting in the crate) C/T. Then lying down, C/T. This is still with the door open! Don't even think of closing the door.
It's only when all these steps have been completed that you can shut the door for a few seconds. C/T. Push the treat in between the bars of the crate door so the dog receives the reinforcement inside the crate. You can make it longer and longer, but NEVER so long that the dog gets impatient or starts whining or barking. In this case YOU went too fast. It's not the dog's mistake, it's YOURS. So there's no reason to be angry at the dog.
In future sessions, as the dog is going in the crate, give the command "Get In" or "Kennel". After a couple sessions, see if your dog understands. Give command and see if they get in the crate. If they do, party with a shower of treats in the crate. If not, no big deal, just keep adding the command when they successfully go in the crate on their own. They will pick it up soon.
If it doesn't work as fast as you (maybe) hoped, try to keep smiling and ask your dog to forgive you for not being patient enough. I'm sure the next session will be brilliant.
After the basics & difficult cases
After short periods of being the crate during the training process, it's time to increase the duration and wean off some of the constant treats. I first work on having the dog chew on a bully stick or bone while in the crate. I give the dog the "kennel" command and then put the bone in after the dog walks into the crate. I shut the door and then sit next to the crate while he chews for 5-10 minutes. Before he gets bored with the bone, I let him out. Repeat several times a day with different chew items.
Start having dog go into crate when they are tired and you are watching TV or checking email. Before they wake up and cry, let them out to potty and play.
For real young puppies, I will put crate on a chair next to my bed at night at head level. If needed, I will stick my fingers through the crate bars to ease their whining as we both fall asleep.
The Leaving Experiment. Your first trip out of the house while the dog is crated should be short in duration. Give the puppy a kong w/ peanut butter or cheez wiz, then walk out without a fuss. Consider leaving on a tape player so you know what happened while you were gone. Signs things didn't go well: the crate has moved, dog panting heavily, crate wet from drool.
Some dogs like a towel in the crate, some do not. If you come back and the bedding is shoved in a wad in the back or shredded, consider a lighter bedding or no bedding.
Even after years of being crate trained, most people prefer to reward their dog in the crate with at least a piece of kibble before they leave. Once a week my dogs still get a surprise jackpot when they go in by rewarding them with a stuffed kong, new bone, greenie, or single piece of cat food (yum!).
If your dog has severe separation anxiety, if you get frustrated at any step in crate training, if your dog keeps escaping from its confinement area, or if your dog won't stop crying in the crate, then please contact a Wags & Wiggles Behavior Consultant immediately.
If you have to leave a young puppy for a long period, then you should do Wags & Wiggles daycare. However, if that is not possible, an xpen versus a crate should be used with special accomodations for the time period.
for more information on clicker training.
