Puppy! What do I do!?!

[Mike Szewczyk]

This is Willow. She's a little over 7 weeks old and she is a Weimaraner. She's the newest member of our family!

Does anyone have tips on crate training? I've read that you want to entice the pup into the crate, not push her in. Am I undoing any work when we have to get to bed and she's refusing to go into the crate?

We use enticements like toys and treats, but she's gotten wise to us. When sniffing around for the treat inside she'll leave one foot out of the cage so we can't close the door! When we first got her, I spent a couple of nights sleeping on the floor just outside the cage. I wasn't sure if we were crate training her or floor training me. So we've separated, but now she's in another room and I think that may be too far.


Also, I would like to get her used to water and swimming. I've read that now is the time to do it because she is a pup, but the water is awfully cold! We’ll give her baths and let her play in the water, but is it to cold to be tossing her into the lake now?

[Stuccolow]

OMG! Mike! You and Jim should have a talk about how mean I am to our dogs.

Ok, Willow is just a little puppy. Just put her in the crate. You don't have to entice her. If you let Willow make the decisions now, no one will be happy in the future. Be consistent.

As for swimming, she's a dog. It's instinctual. You don't have to teach them. Come spring, she'll probably jump in the water.

She's a pretty girl! Enjoy!

[Nick Wondra]

Crate training can be hard work. I have a few thoughts that you might find useful.

First, I would advise against sleeping on the floor with the dog. In the wild, a pack of dogs' pecking order is reflected in the how high up they sleep, i.e. pack leaders sleep on high perches while followers sleep lower to the ground. You definitely want to be seen as a pack leader, so you should be sleeping on the bed while your dog sleeps on the floor (with bedding and such, of course).

Never let your dog out of the crate while she's whining. This will only encourage the behavior of whining while in the crate. If she won't stop whining entirely, wait until she's been quiet at least 5-10 seconds before letting her out. Slowly start ramping up the time you expect her to be quiet before you let her out.

Don't make a big deal out of putting your dog in the crate or letting her out. Especially don't give her praise or console her immediately after you let her out. Dogs read a lot out of the emotional state of people and they'll learn how to respond to situations based on that. You don't want to instill anxiety about the crate, nor do you want your dog to learn that being in the crate = being alone while being out of the crate = lots and lots of attention.

Try getting her to explore/spend time in the crate without closing the door. Throw a small treat or piece of food in the crate and just step back. She'll probably go in there, eat the piece of food, then walk right back out. That's okay. Do this frequently to get her used to going in the crate and getting a reward. Try even hiding treats amongst the bedding so your pup will randomly find rewards when she goes in the crate on her own. This also works well when you put her in the crate and leave.

Another good tactic is to use a toy that you can stuff with a treat (like a Kong) so your dog has something to distract her while you sneak out the door (or hop into bed, or whatever). Make sure the toy is something that you trust leaving in the crate with her. Use a high-value treat that you only use for this one purpose.

I'm not sure if it matters whether the dog sleeps in another room or not, but remember that dogs are pack animals and like to sleep amongst their pack. If nothing else, having the dog in the same room sleeping at a lower position really helps enforce your pack-leader status, which is immeasurably helpful in all aspects of dog ownership.

Finally, once your dog gets the hang of going in the crate, start using the word "Crate" when you throw a treat inside. Eventually, your dog will associate the word "Crate" with the action of going inside the crate and receiving a reward. You should see my dog -- when we say "Crate" she bolts for the nearest crate (we have two) and eagerly waits for her reward. Oh yeah, and we screwed up a lot and learned through trial-and-error. The more consistent you are the faster you'll see the rewards, but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work perfectly every time.

Good luck, be sure to let us know how it goes!