Dog Crate Issue

[absolut1377]

My dog Logan used to love his crate. Every night we would put him outside to go to the bathroom before we went to bed and he would just walk right into this crate. About a month or so ago he had an accident in his crate and we had to throw out the bed that was in there. We replace it w/another but he didn't seem to like it much and also tore it up. We put in some old blankets that he did seem to like and he seems to be fine when we put him in there except at night.

Almost everynight about 10-15 minutes after we put him in (and after he goes to the bathroom) he starts crying like you would expect a new puppy to do (he's 1 1/2). Typically if we go down once tell him to be quiet etc.. he is fine.

The behavior is really odd though since he doesn't go in there voluntarily anymore.

Any suggestions or am I just concerned for nothing?

[Taz_Zoee]

So he's okay to go in there during the day, just not at night? Hmm, that's interesting. Honestly, we've not had Taggart in his crate during the day yet. Only at night so far. And he does not go in by himself (he is 6 months old and we've had him a week), and will whine for about 5 seconds after he gets in there. Then he settles down and sleeps all night.
I'd like to hear others suggestions and advice on this as well. Like how to get them to get in the crate on their own. I use the treat method but he will NOT go into the crate to get it. I have to physically put him in the crate then he gets the treat and eats it. LOL

BTW - what kind of dog is Logan? :)

[Giselle]

Quick question: Did you scold him or do anything that would cause him to negatively associate the crate when he had an accident?

Another quick question, are you *sure* he didn't have an accident on his new bedding? And did you clean his crate very thoroughly after his accident? I would double check, just to make sure that there's no urine/poo smells in his crate.

Also, here's a big red flag:

Almost everynight about 10-15 minutes after we put him in (and after he goes to the bathroom) he starts crying like you would expect a new puppy to do (he's 1 1/2). Typically if we go down once tell him to be quiet etc.. he is fine.
Quite frankly, he's got you guys trained well :D He has learned that, when he whines, he can expect you to go down and comfort him. Worse yet, he's put it on a schedule (about after 10-15 minutes), so now you're on his schedule!

Assuming that he is healthy enough to hold his bladder, I would start back on Square 1 with the crate training. Rather than treating the crate as a "dog-goes-in. dog-gets-locked-in" type of tool, treat the crate as a game of sorts. This way, your dog will form a very positive and favorable association with the crate. (By the way, Susan Garrett really captured the essence of this in her phenomenal DVD, "Crate Games", if you want further examples.) Basically, you click/treat your dog for any positive interest or interaction with the crate. Eventually, you "shape" it so that the dog voluntarily offers the behavior of going into the crate for the click. This process of offering behaviors exemplifies the central beauty of clicker training. When the dog begins offering to go in the crate by himself, the positive association is complete. Then, you start doing self-control/"wait" games to really solidify the dog's desire to be in the crate. If you're confused about any of this, just let me know, and I'll explain it more in-depth :)

[absolut1377]

We've never scolded him for an accident or anything like that, sometimes we put him in his crate when he gets a little out of control (he'll start barking, nipping at you while you may be watching tv, reading something where you're not paying attention to him).

On the new bedding we've washed it a number of times (hes had a stomach thing lately and he's puked a couple of times so we've had to wash it).

Trying to reinforce the positive of the crate again sounds like an excellent idea. I think we'll give that a go first.

Also, he's a Redbone Coonhound mix :)