so I'm on my 2nd puppy now (Lord grant me patience) and unlike our last dog she is not taking to crate training very well. she'll freely go inside to eat, but I can't close the door on her for more than a minute or two before she starts to get upset. she'll go in after kongs, and I've smeared peanut butter on the floor of the crate that she'll go in after. so she's not necessarly afraid to go in. but if she suspects I'm going to close the door she won't go near it. if she does go in and I get near the crate she jumps out. if I close the door for more than a minute she gets upset and it usually takes about 45 minutes of barking and whining before she'll fully calm down. doesn't matter if were in the room or not. everything I read says don't force the crate only do a few minutes at a time so on and so forth...but what am I supposed to do with her when i go to work? I feel like all these training guides assume I'm unemployed. :lol:
to add to the confusion at night we have a second smaller crate (for now) that's in our room and she'll sleep there all night without a single peep unless she needs an overnight potty break (4 months old). we can occasionally lure her into that one with treats and a kong and although she's not fan and still hesitant she's definitely better with the upstairs crate. but that'll be short lived and she'll quickly outgrow it (smaller crate left over from last dog)
do I just place her in that one while at work and only use the big one for training until I can switch? I'm afraid if I do that then I won't sleep as she'll associate the anxiety with that crate....ughhh I'm so confused! thanks for reading and your help.
to add to the confusion at night we have a second smaller crate (for now) that's in our room and she'll sleep there all night without a single peep unless she needs an overnight potty break (4 months old). we can occasionally lure her into that one with treats and a kong and although she's not fan and still hesitant she's definitely better with the upstairs crate. but that'll be short lived and she'll quickly outgrow it (smaller crate left over from last dog)
do I just place her in that one while at work and only use the big one for training until I can switch? I'm afraid if I do that then I won't sleep as she'll associate the anxiety with that crate....ughhh I'm so confused! thanks for reading and your help.