Crate Training - Boston Terrier Forums

Chino Bean · (#1 (**permalink**))

My new 3 month old Boston baby HATES his crate! He cries and whines non-stop while he is in there. It is unbearable to listen to - I feel so bad leaving him in there. The longest he has been in his crate is for about 40 minutes while I took a shower and dried my hair and I make sure we go outside before I put him in it. I've even tried sneaking him in the crate after he falls asleep in my lap and leaving the door open so he doesn't feel trapped but he immediately runs out and looks for a lap to sit in. What can I do to ease his seperation anxiety and help him learn that his crate isn't a bad place to be?

esther · (#2 (**permalink**))

you can begin by covering the crate. this makes a safe dark place where the pup feels comfortable. also feed him give him his water and a treat in the crate. never feed outside the crate. also ignore the whining. if you let him out while he's whining you'll teach him that when he whines he's allowed out!

JIMNSC · (#3 (**permalink**))

What does he lie on inside the crate? I just posted a happy experience involving this before I read your post (Easy Crate Introduction). To keep you from looking for it I'll repeat it here. We let our pup sleep on her crate mat the first night sans the crate. Once she had her odor on the mat and claimed it as her bed, she promptly jumped in the crate after it when I placed it inside. Not that it matters but is one of the oval, fuzzy type mats.

Jim

TheMightyBostons · (#4 (**permalink**))

my three month old male whines and barks constantly for up to forty minutes also! we take him out but stop giving him water an hour before bed because of the potty training and we do give him a treat. in an hour he'll wake up again, and we'll take him out and let him go to the bathroom and play for about twenty minutes. Then we stopped giving him the treats because he had an explosive accident in the crate. I think part of the problem is what we are experiencing is what you are also, the pups are so used to being held to sleep and constantly carted around they dont know anything else! so in reality we hindered ourselves. We set ourselves up for failure and we are paying the price for it, the crying, barking and whining is natural and you just have to let the pup do it, as long as it is not hurt, went out etc. What we do though is around that six a.m hour is take him out and let him do his thing and go ahead and sleep with our son. We just start the cycle over during the day. Hopefully it will work.

RIXterra · (#5 (**permalink**))

When I first started with the crates for Bailey she hated it as well. You just have to ignore the whines and make it stay in there. Also make it as positive as possible. Like others have mentioned reward it with a favorite toy and treats or food. I also found another great thing to do is get an old shirt (one you don't care about anymore) and wear it for a few days straight (to get your scent all over it) and throw that in the crate with it.. I did this for Bailey and she loved it and would cuddle with it while she was in there.