Puppy has problems with being in crate.

Question
QUESTION: Hi Robin,
I have a 10 week old golden retriever that I got at the age of 7 weeks.  From
day one she has hated her crate.  And it's not just normal puppy hate - she is
TERRIFIED of being locked up inside of it.  For the first week we crated her at
night, and every night she would howl constantly, and always have diarrhea
in her crate no matter how many times we let her out.  We also tried crating
her during the day, and usually within 10-15 minutes of being in her crate
she would have diarrhea in it.

Anyways, we consulted a behavioralist who instructed us to start
desensitizing our puppy to her crate.  We no longer crate her at all, during
the day or at night, and are daily working on enforcing positive things with
her crate (treats, kongs, bully sticks, praise, petting, etc.)  She's perfectly
happy to nap in her crate when the door is open (she also sleeps in it in my
bedroom, so long as the door is open); she eats in her crate, gets toys out of
her crate, and often will jump into her crate when I say "Go to your crate!"
because she knows she'll get treats or something nice.

I can close the door on her so long as she has something to amuse her.  Once
that item runs out (kong, bully stick), she starts whimpering and jumping up
in her crate.  The behavioralist said we can't push her past her "threshold" or
else we'll regress in her training, but this is getting really difficult!  We need
to be able to leave her alone.  We've tried leaving her gated in a bathroom,
but she seems to hate that too.  Frankly, anything with a gate-like
appearance seems to disturb her.  I can easily shut a door in her face and she
has no problem with it, but a gate makes her upset.

Anyhow - we're starting to think maybe we should just start putting her in
her crate for a couple of minutes, let her cry, and let her out, and then repeat
that over and over again.  Will she ever get used to her crate, or are there
dogs that just never ever acclimate to being in a crate?

Thanks a lot.  This has been very difficult for us, and I hate seeing my puppy
so upset in her crate - not to mention, it's pretty frustrating and gross having
to clean a dirty crate all the time too.

-Kim

ANSWER: Seven weeks is very early to separate a puppy from a mom and that may have some bearing on the issue, but what's done is done.

Now I have to wonder if the pup fusses when no one is there or just when she knows there are people around to listen to her. Usually it goes like this: Pup gets put in the crate with a fabulous Kong. She fiddles with the Kong till she gets bored then looks around, barks and whines for a few minutes. Pup realizes no one is listening to her and goes to sleep.

It sounds like she likes her crate just fine, she just doesn't like being separated and confined. Here's what I would do.

1. Pick 2 or 3 toys and treats that she only gets in the crate when the door is closed (bully sticks and Kongs are great. Just make sure it's nothing she can tear up and choke on) when it's open, take it away.
2. Put her in the crate for a few minutes with no fanfare. Just tell her to go in, give her the special toy/treat and close the door.
3. Ignore her for 10 minutes. Then open the crate.
4. When you open the crate, take away the special treat/toy and ignore her completely for 10 minutes. (This is very important!)

Do this 3-4 times a day for a day, the next day 15 minutes, then 20, then 30. If she gets to 30 fine, she should be alright for up to 3 hours but don't expect her to be in there much longer than that at this age. You can increase her crate time by an hour each month. By 6 months you'll be able to leave her in the crate for 6-8 hours. You may wish to look into Camp BowWow or PetSmart's doggie daycare if you need to leave her alone for too long. Playing with other puppies will be very good for her and it'll wear her out so that she'll sleep in her crate.

If she continues to soil her crate, remove her bedding until it's no longer a problem but make sure she gets let out every 3 hours or so so you can be sure she's not soiling the crate out of desperation.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the advice so far!  We've worked with her on this yesterday and
today - she'll whine after about 7 or 8 minutes in the crate, but so far it
doesn't escalate into anything dramatic, just some quiet whining and jumping
up on the bars of her crate.

In terms of ignoring her, is letting her outside within those 10 minutes
considered giving her attention?  I just open up the door and let her out
without a word, but I suppose I am doing something for her, so it could be
considered attention.

Thanks so far for all of your help! :)

Answer
Letting her out is giving her attention.
But if she's gotta go she's gotta go. If it's a choice between breaking the 10 minute rule or having her go potty on the floor, break the 10 minute rule. If you do let her out and she goes potty outside you should still praise her so she knows she's doing the right thing.