Laddie is 9 years old and hasn't been in a crate since she was two. So crate training her has been... interesting. Let's just say that our methods will likely not work with children!
We started her training with the top off the crate, a convertible so to say, and a blanket in the bottom. We put her food in the back of the crate expecting her to walk in and eat it. Not so much- she stood with her front paws in and back paws out, stretching her head to reach the bowl. Odd, but we weren't deterred. We started putting treats in the back and giving her another one when she went all the way in to eat it. Within a day she was getting in and staying in- making us think, "What's so hard about this?" Ha!
We wanted her to get used to it for nighttime so I decided to sleep next to her, in front of the crate 'door' (keep in mind there is still no top on her crate) so she can't get out. To be fair, this idea came to us after getting home from a bar. So Laddie falls asleep in the crate, I fall asleep outside the crate. Again- yea! I wake up three hours later to her jump over the side of the crate and right into my spot in bed. Boo. Needless to say we ignore the crate for the next two weeks.
We put the top on the crate yesterday and have been using treats for EVERYTHING. A treat when she goes in, a treat when she lays down, a treat when she stays in. Now, every time we head upstairs, she rushes past us to get in her crate and claim her treat. We are moving tomorrow, do you have any idea how many times we are up and down the stairs?!
We may have created a monster begging for treats every 3 minutes but at least she learned! She may not fit IN the crate by the time we leave though....
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