okay so earlier today when we were
talking a little bit about doing some
great conditioning with the dogs
especially for those of you that are
having problems with your dogs getting
calm in the crate so I thought I would
take a little video and show you kind of
what I was talking about with some of
the conditioning techniques first of all
this crate is huge I know how it is this
is not the normal crate that I would
recommend for a pom ski this is a life
stages crate it allows you to divide it
and make it into smaller bigger portions
depending on the need for the dog so for
now it works for him going forward once
we're sure what his full size is we'll
probably get something more appropriate
to the size when you're looking at a
crate basically you want the dog to be
able to have enough room to stand up
turn around and lay down comfortably and
that's it
the more room they have in the crate the
more likely they are to have accidents
in there also the less of a den it feels
like for them which is lower kind of
trying to create with the crate that's
why I have a big blanket over all of it
to kind of make it darker inside for him
so it does feel more den like so what I
want to do is get him used to going into
the crate by himself and so I've just
got his food here he hasn't had his
dinner tonight so this will be his meal
for the tonight we're gonna do feeding
through training basically so what I'm
gonna do at first is I'm just gonna open
the crate all the way up and I'm just
gonna take a few pieces of food and get
his attention
and once he knows what I have then I'm
just gonna start putting a piece or two
inside the crate if you need to set it
right by the door at first that's fine
and then
start throwing it a little bit further
into the crate each time basically what
we're doing with this is we're trying to
get the dog used to going in and out of
the crate on his own with a pleasant
atmosphere so giving him the food as a
reward once he gets to the point where
he's going all the way into the crate by
himself then what I'll start doing is
I'll start closing the door so it may
take you a while to do this if they're
not comfortable going in just work with
them as long as it takes and once they
get to the point where they're finally
going in on their own
we're gonna start not yet then I'm just
gonna start closing the gate a little at
a time
and then once it's closed I'm gonna feed
him through the crate to give them that
praise good boy and then I'm gonna open
it back up let him out we're just gonna
do this over and over again until he
finally gets used to being inside the
crate with the door closed
once he's used to being inside the crate
and he's calm in there then what you're
gonna do is start closing it and walking
it and taking a step or two back and it
may take you a while to get to this
point don't feel frustrated if it takes
you a long time I just don't want to
make this video too long so I'm gonna
start showing you so I'm just gonna
latch it and take this step back I'm
gonna make sure that he's calm
once he's calm and I'm gonna come back
to the door once again I'm gonna feed
them through the crate give them some
praise
and eventually over time you'll increase
the time it takes you to come back to
him and let him out until he gets more
and more comfortable in there we once
you've been doing this for a while then
what you can start doing is just feeding
him right inside the crate that way they
associate the crate with a positive
atmosphere and I'll feed them at least
one meal a day usually in this crate
sometimes to mill the day just depends
on the situation and the other thing I
want to teach you guys is conditioning
when coming out of the crate
so once they've been in their crate
overnight during the day anytime they've
been in a crate for a while what we want
to do is we want to make sure that the
dog understands that they can't just
burst out of the crate that they need to
be calm when they come out this will
again help them associate the crate with
the calm state of mind so in order to do
that when you come to the crate to let
them out what you're gonna do is unlock
it they keep the door closed now what I
do is I just slightly open the door a
little bit and if the dog starts to make
a move to get out I just close it back
up again and I'll do that as many times
as it takes what I'm looking for is I
want him to realize that he needs to sit
back and be calm until the doors all the
way open and I invite him out so I'm
gonna open just a little bit and if he
starts to move towards it close it up
again
now most Hoggett will take a little
longer to do this I've been working with
kid on this and he's he's already kind
of figured this out but that's the idea
like I said as soon as he starts to make
a move for the door without being
invited I'm just gonna close it back up
again and eventually what we want is for
him to learn that he has to stay inside
even with the door open until you invite
him to come out
when I'm praising the dog I usually
always try to do calm energy with the
praise the idea what the crate again as
we want it to be a calm safe place for
them to be so if you've done all this
work conditioning them to be calm in the
crate and then you really animated or
excited praise with them you're kind of
just undoing everything you've just
thought I'm going to immediately take
them out of a calm state of mind into a
high anxiety level or high anxious state
of mind which is the opposite of what we
want the crate to be we want the crate
to be calm and soothing for them so make
sure when you're giving them praise that
you do it in a slow calm steady low
voice when I give them when I affection
when I praise them or pet them I'll
usually put them under the chin in a
very slow manner either under the chin
or off to the side not all dogs but some
dogs having a hand go over their head
can bring anxiety to the dog or it can
just kind of startle them so if you're
going over the head to pet them and
they're not ready for it it can it can
just cause some stress and anxiety for
them so usually again calm under the
chin or behind the ears on the side of
the head
so these are some conditioning exercises
you can do with the crate hope it helps
the other thing I suggested too is if
your dog is having a hard time
especially at night settling down inside
the crate good boy
is just use a blanket or a towel
something that kind of helps block out
the light and you can just pull it over
and that way it creates again that den
that Mister for him it makes it a little
bit more cozy and can help them settle
down a little bit quicker so hopefully
this helped if you have any other
questions let me know thanks guys