Crate training your CSV?

[yukidomari]

So to all the owners of CSVs, do you crate train?

Did you find that your dog was easy/difficult with crate training?

I'm asking because we will need to crate train ours, if not just for travel. All three of our current dogs are crate trained, of course in the beginning they did not like it and did carry on crying, screaming, barking, whining, etc.

But mostly within a week they were well acclimated to their crate and one of our dogs actually prefers her crate much of the day when nothing's going on.

How were your experiences with crate training your CSV? Do they generally take well to it, or not at all?

Do I have to prepare to write my neighbors a note of apology and bring them gifts?

[draggar]

Crate training - the easy way. Lead your dog to the crate and say "crate" (as the command) and toss a cookie in there.

Usually the dog will follow the cookie.

It worked wonders with Luna. She's very good with it now.

Pongo still needs bribery, though.

I've found out that at night a rawhide or a bone in there for them to chew on (something to do) can help - if you don't mind the chewing noise.

Be careful, though, Pongo has a bad habit of sucking anyhting he can get into the crate. It's amazing what'll fit though those tiny vent holes!!

[yukidomari]

Thanks! I'm wondering more about their acceptance and not so much the ability to learn what 'crate' means.

I've been following your posts on Luna and crate training, I don't think our neighbors would like 30 minutes of a CSV singing at 10PM every night! That's what I'm really worried about..

[GalomyOak]

All of mine are crate-trained. Anthea was a bit like Luna - Corgan trained fairly easy. Anthea is a very vocal dog - she barks more than any of my others, and gets VERY talkative at feeding time. Bongo, Ice and Roni were all super easy. Crate training with my dogs usually involves riding in the crate in the car quite a bit at the beginning...not ever giving them attention or letting them out when they make noise - only when they are quiet. They do figure out quickly that you will let them out if they are noisy - which can take a bit longer to turn around.

At night I crate my dogs away from me when they are puppies - I will usually crate another dog right next to them. I've found that the more they hear me bumping around at night, the more they will try to get my attention. I am fortunate to have a basement in my house for this. When we are at training, the GSDs and Malinois are usually much noisier than my guys.

[Enid Black]

Well, Yukidomari, you could teach to the puppy to stay in the crate during the day, at least at night he/she should not complain too much... besides "tossing a cookie" in it, I've heard of putting in there an old piece of cloth or a piece of tissue with your smell, so that the puppy does not feel abandoned ^^ (strangely enough, it is a technique I heard some people uses to teach to small children to sleep in their bed :P). Anyway the puppy should not see the crate as a punishment but as a quiet and safe place where to stay. You can start guiding te puppy inside and leaving the crate door open, and just when the puppy is quiet inside, trying to close it...

I just want to say that these are methods I read about because I have no Vlcak (yet!), but on Fennel's books and on some other forums they worked

I think yukidomari is asking more whether CsVs in general take to crating well, or if it's a difficult process for the breed as opposed to other dog breeds, not how to specifically crate train. From what I understand from Marcy's post, though, it sounds like it's more down to the individual dog whether it goes smoothly or not, as opposed to the breed itself being one way or the other.

[Mikael]

I did let the crate open in the house, whit a puppy bed inside.
No training needed, when he went in and fell to sleep I did close the door.

I had a BIG crate indoors "Dog Man, Grand Danois" it was like a living room for a puppy. I had a smaller one in the car, I started to just go to my father to let him off in the mornings when I went to work = 400meters.

There was newer no problem whit the crate, but he was very car sick as a puppy

Best regards / Mikael

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Ps, for Swedish owners and readers ( I had Hronec in a crate 2007 only at night as a puppy, and I know that from Jan 2008 it is not allowed in Sweden to have dogs sleeping in a crate.)

>>>http://www.sjv.se/presskontakten/pre...380004648.html

This is what it say translated to English if somebody that do not speek Swedish wants to know...

"Dogs and cats must not be kept in the cage except at certain specific times (at shows, trials and tests, training for competition, in connection with hunting and during transport)." Ds.

[soniakanavle]

Originally Posted by draggar

Be careful, though, Pongo has a bad habit of sucking anyhting he can get into the crate. It's amazing what'll fit though those tiny vent holes!!

So true! Seems like anything within a 3 foot radius of Flints crate somehow ends up inside it, finely shredded of course.

[Rona]

Originally Posted by soniakanavle

So true! Seems like anything within a 3 foot radius of Flints crate somehow ends up inside it, finely shredded of course.

So true! When Lorka was a pup, she used to drag things to our bed and hide them neatly All sort of things, from her toys to other 'treasures'. Once I found under my pillow a box of unbroken (!) eggs , which was quite an achievement for the 'little devil'.

It's true what Ina and Mijke write about determination of the pack leaders when introducing home rules.
We've noticed incredible empathy in our both CSV pups. They were relatively patient when we went to work and they HAD TO stay on their own crated (or uncrated), but they used to 'cry' or mess around when we just went out socially!

[michaelundinaeichhorn]

Originally Posted by Rona

So true! When Lorka was a pup, she used to drag things to our bed and hide them neatly All sort of things, from her toys to other 'treasures'. Once I found under my pillow a box of unbroken (!) eggs , which was quite an achievement for the 'little devil'.

It's true what Ina and Mijke write about determination of the pack leaders when introducing home rules.
We've noticed incredible empathy in our both CSV pups. They were relatively patient when we went to work and they HAD TO stay on their own crated (or uncrated), but they used to 'cry' or mess around when we just went out socially!

Our oldest female, now 12 years old, still hides everything that´s valuable to her in my bed. She never hides it in the bed of Michael, obviously she thinks he will eat it. When she was much younger she also did pack in her chewing bones into our travelling backs when we were packing and she did this very tidily, she would clap away the clothes, put her bone to the bottom and put the clothes back in place. We only realised she planned to travel with us when she got nervous if anybody got close to the luggage.
She also likes to join in when we go out for dinner - and she always knows, no matter what we do - and gets very annoyed when she isn´t allowed to, these were the only occasions when she emptied the dustbin all over the place.

Ina

[Rona]

Originally Posted by michaelundinaeichhorn

When she was much younger she also did pack in her chewing bones into our travelling backs when we were packing and she did this very tidily, she would clap away the clothes, put her bone to the bottom and put the clothes back in place. .

Funny, Tina did exactly the same! Leszek once travelled to Alaska with many stopovers and on collecting his luggage at the destination airport realized it smelled really badly...