# Crate games?



## 3ps (Jul 11, 2021)

Hello, so I have been out of the training game for a long long time. I just picked up my pup tonight and in a few short hour it will be bedtime. Now in the past the pup just went in and some screamed till they fell asleep and some were fine. What I don't get is how are you supposed to do all this crate training you see everywhere when the pup needs to go in the day you get it?
Just wondering if there is something new about it that I am missing.... Thanks


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Congratulations on your new puppy. I remember you posted recently about a new tpoo and two older poms. Is this your 4th dog? 

I crated my puppy from the first night. He had no choice I just put him in the crate and shut the door. He was tired both from the trip home, the new surroundings and playing with my older minipoo. I slept on the couch near his crate with my older minipoo for the first few weeks until he could sleep through the night.

I slept on the couch because it was closer and easier to get him out to potty in the middle of the night. I didn’t want to disturb my husband’s sleep. I also had a towel with the odor of his mother and grandmother in the crate. Since my puppy Theo could see and smell me, my older minipoo and his old family he never cried or fussed.

Because I crated right from the start, I didn’t have to play the full crate games. However I did want a particular behavior “going to the crate” so I used crate games for that. I wanted my dog to go to the crate himself when I said “go to crate”. I also wanted him to lay down before I shut the door. I started this when he was about 3 months old as part of our routine of getting ready to go to sleep.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Annie screamed for hours the first night despite a long drive and a tiring day. I got next to zero sleep after an exhausting day where I had driven about 10 hours. I finally picked up the crate and put it on a chair beside my bed and if I heard her stir, flicked on the light and showed her my hand before she panicked. 

She cried the first several days, and would wake up in the middle of the night and whimper. 

All I knew at that point was the 'cry it out' method, and it sucked. 

Future puppies I will sleep with the first few nights while they get used to me, my house, and the crate. Either in my bed, or on the couch.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Honestly, I don't do it exactly as recommended. I usually spend the first few nights on the couch nearest the back door. I keep a crate nearby. I sandwich the puppy between myself and the back of the couch, so he doesn't roll off and hurt himself. Usually the puppy wakes up and start squirming in the middle of the night, and the squirming wakes me up. At that point I grab the puppy and carry him outside to go potty. 

During the day I use the crate for naps and to keep the puppy out of trouble while I'm sleeping. After a few days the puppy gets familiar with the crate and starts thinking it's normal to hang out and sleep there. Plus by that time the puppy should be familiar with household routine and know when everybody goes to bed. At that point I move the crate into the bedroom. The puppy may whine a bit, but usually it's not too bad. It's more an "aww, do I have to go to bed" instead of an "oh no, I'm all alone in a strange place and the monsters are going to eat me" kind of whine. Usually the puppy settles pretty quickly if he knows you are nearby. 

My husband hit on the idea of reading to Galen when he was a puppy. Hearing my husband's voice seemed to settle Galen in his crate.


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## 3ps (Jul 11, 2021)

O.K. Thanks folks, I didn't think it had changed too much. All my dogs have loved their crates [not all the 1st night lol] and my 2 poms sleep and relax in them all the time but everything was crate games and I thought maybe something has changed. Well my pup is doing fantastic in the x pen but I know the scream will start in the crate lol I have 3 just for him [ bedroom living room and vehicle].

Skylar I had a meeting with the breeder and we decided that I would rehome the toy to a suitable home. I did not trust that she would not just sell the
pup again without being honest about the issues it had and issues to come. It took a bit but I found her a fantastic home [previous toy owner mature age and willing to deal with a singleton] I really was going to keep her but it was not fair to my 2 poms to have such a severe lifstyle change. And of course the real possibility of injury with a small pup who would not take a correction at any cost.I check in on her often and she is doing great. My new pup is a male black standard [which is what I was originally looking for lol go figure] No name yet but he is going to be so much fun. Oh and my 2 well adjusted dog friendly poms have no issue with him at all, so my new adventure begins!!!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

3ps said:


> Skylar I had a meeting with the breeder and we decided that I would rehome the toy to a suitable home. I did not trust that she would not just sell the
> pup again without being honest about the issues it had and issues to come. It took a bit but I found her a fantastic home [previous toy owner mature age and willing to deal with a singleton] I really was going to keep her but it was not fair to my 2 poms to have such a severe lifstyle change. And of course the real possibility of injury with a small pup who would not take a correction at any cost.I check in on her often and she is doing great. My new pup is a male black standard [which is what I was originally looking for lol go figure] No name yet but he is going to be so much fun. Oh and my 2 well adjusted dog friendly poms have no issue with him at all, so my new adventure begins!!!


 I applaud you for making a difficult decision and finding a good home for the tpoo. Sounds like you found an ideal match.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Oh.. your still within the first 24 hours. Well, enjoy no sleep this weekend lol  you going to be a zombie on Monday.

We believe in you!


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

I slept on the floor beside the crate the first couple nights. I would practice going in voluntarily and not bolting out when the door is opened during the day, but at night I unemotionally put the pup in and closed the door, then laid down beside her.


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## TK9NY (Jan 6, 2017)

I made the crate a part of their routine from day one. No one in this day in age really has time to "gradually" introduce the crate and "work up to" a couple of hours in it - at least, i don't. I need to work to afford my home and the dogs. Can't take weeks, or a month plus off just to crate train. I had two days off with new puppy before going back to work, so comfort in the crate was a MUST pretty much immediately. Period. End of.

That's not to say i just threw them in and ignored them, which was what our trainer said to do with Kiley when she was a puppy in 2007. But.. i was firm in "bed time" and they only came out to potty once it was bed time. We did not play, or eat, or do anything else. Out to potty and back in. During the day, they get let out twice while i'm at work, so they aren't in there for more than 4 hours at a time.

I think both Dubs and Limerick cried the first couple of nights, but they both settled quickly. Their crates ARE in my bedroom. The first week or so when Limerick would cry and i knew he didn't have to potty, i would roll over and talk to him. Hang my hand over the edge of my bed and pet him through the bars. Let him nibble my fingers. He would settle and sleep after a few minutes. Now, he'll still cry the first couple of minutes, sort of like a "are you really sure about this", before falling asleep. 

Neither are anxious about the crate and both willingly go in for a cookie. Even Limerick now trots happily after Dublin for his cookie.

If you have the time and resources to play crate games and gradually introduce it, then by all means it's not a bad way to do it. And if you have to crate immediately there's no reason not to do crate games or desensitizing alongside. Make going in and out fun when you're home, don't make going in it a big deal, etc etc. More than one way to train a dog, and how you wind up doing so will depend a lot on your individual dog. If what you're doing NOW isn't working, try something else.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

If puppy is happy in the x-pen, I’d consider that a win for his first night and slowly introduce the crate over the next few days. It only took Peggy a couple of hours to see it as a cozy spot to settle.

Once she was settling in there for a few seconds (the slow, careful part), I was then able to quickly build duration. But the happy foundation was key, and that foundation was _settle = freedom_.

My husband slept on a cot next to her for the first few nights. Middle-of-the-night potty was done quietly, without any bright lights, and we always set an alarm rather than leaving it up to her to wake us. If she was anxious upon returning to the crate, it was no problem to let her snooze on the floor next to us for a few minutes and then gently pop her back in. That wasn’t necessary beyond the first week, when we then shifted our focus to training her to go in happily—always happily—on command. Now, at 2 years old, she rarely needs a verbal cue. She knows her bedtime routine and loves it.


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## 3ps (Jul 11, 2021)

Thanks everyone. 1st night went great , he slept without fuss and today in the car crate went fine, he slept the whole trip. I live in the country a 2 hour trip just to get milk, so crate training is very important.


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## The Popster (Feb 23, 2021)

Sorry, but we don't 'get' this crate thing at all.
We tried for a week, but no - not for us or Poppy. ( 4 days I think ).
Oh, perhaps we will regret it one day, but not yet.
Crates, harnesses, and 'robo dog walker' utility belts ....
New world.
However, there are a lot more well adjusted socialised dogs out there than years gone by ?
Hmmmm....


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## 3ps (Jul 11, 2021)

well adjusted socialised dogs? lol, not in my opinion. I mean I appreciate the effort people make now but I do not see the results of well socialized dogs like I did in the 70's and 80's.Leash reactivity and resource guarding are off the charts now, however I do know that it is because it was just not tolerated AT ALL in the past and the methods were harsh correction.[ and usually just 1 or 2 good ones].Personally I do not use force as i find other ways which are just way more effective for me. In my past life I have trained over 25 obedience champions and many other fun things like retriever trial champs and tracking but now all I expect and want is a well adjusted dog with house manners. All the new terminology and games for training dogs is at least a positive way to get people engaged with their pets so I am all for that . I would rather see someone attempting crate game than just flipping the crate [yes that happened a lot in the past, just not talked about]. So while I see less stable dogs I feel it is due to several reasons and bad breeding is one of them. It is a different world for sure.


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