Comments on: Crate Training The Older Dog

By: TC

TC — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:47:19 +0000

Anne and Sasha,
Dispatch was so bad in a crate I was afraid he would injure himself (he did injure himself in a cage @ the vets once). So just going in willingly @ times is a major milestone. I do leave him in it to go outside but just for practice, we are still working on the whole thing. The only thing I am afraid he would do is claw through a window screen to try and find me or follow me, so I being the paranoid neurotic person I am I leave the windows @ home open enough so he MIGHT be able to squeeze out in case of a fire but closed enough it’s not going to be a passing fancy to get out. He’s never went out a window with a screen but he’s gone out windows without screens after me.

By: TC

TC — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:42:14 +0000

Tuna is bad for cats? Mine got it so seldom (like once when I caught them if they were wild) that I hope it didn’t hurt them.
Your method of getting Cindi in the crate sounds like our method of getting a feral cat into a box from a trap. Miss Cindi Lou looks so docile to?

By: Sassy Sasha

Sassy Sasha — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:28:32 +0000

Thanks for the good advice. Sasha has never been good in the crate although we do have to crate her when we go out. She is just too sassy otherwise. Our first shih tzu loved her crate and would go in there for comfort from storms. I don’t get it.

Anne and Sasha

By: SquirrelQueen

SquirrelQueen — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:07:09 +0000

Hi TC, My trick for getting Cindi in the crate is to set the crate on end and just lower her in, it seems to be the safest way for both of us. Tuna is actually very bad for cats, it seems to contribute to kidney problems.

By: TC

TC — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:08:36 +0000

You’re right SquirrelQueen the training has paid off. You might be able to get Cindi Lou in the crate with tuna? It is a long process. If you knew the dog you would wonder, he gets like obsessed with things he can’t have or things he wants. Not that he is spoiled or anything.

Today we tried the command leave it and a pork chop. He had to leave it so long he refused to eat it @ first when I said he could have it, I had to drag him to it. I think something was lacking in my lesson?

By: SquirrelQueen

SquirrelQueen — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:32:58 +0000

Dispatch seems to have taken to the crate very well, I know this has not been an overnight event but the training seems to have paid off. I have no experience with dogs and crates, only cats. A cat who associates the crate with trips to the vets office can be a handful. She won’t even go in the crate for a treat.

By: TC

TC — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:05:59 +0000

Chris B that is so kind of you to call Dispatch strong willed. Most use four letter words to describe him and those are his friends.

AL Dispatch was NOT having anything to do with a crate BUT it did come in handy, someone came to the door and brought mail, I put him in crate, usually he barks, won’t bite but the bedlam is deafening but now it was peace.

By: AL

AL — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:24:14 +0000

Hi TC, thank you for the information. I can’t imagine Coffee and Oreo in a crate. They would howl for sure LOL! Maybe it will take a lot of time. Sigh.

By: Chris B

Chris B — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:21:27 +0000

Your little guy is such a cutie! “Being one with the blanket,” is too much fun! I do love your strong-willed dog!

I have a beagle/Bassett and got him at an older age. He was attached to me at the hip with a leash the first month since he was not easy to house break. My husband thought I was crazy!! He took time to train, but my little dog, Mac (Mackinaw Island Fudge)is my friend and a character but very well trained and I am proud of him!!

By: TC

TC — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Thanks Laurie, Dispatch hasn’t been much of a denner before this but in the RV he does more. Probably because it’s smaller and we come close to stepping on him more!