Decrating

A year ago we got a rescue puppy our yellow Gully girl.

She is very sweet, loyal and an immediate family dog.

We crated her while making sure she was potty trained and to give her her own place.

She is very very good now and we want to decrate her.

We set up the room her crate is in as her room, she has her couch, her toys and we left the crate there wide open with her blanket.

She wouldnt sleep and whined. As soon as we closed the crate door behind her she was fine.

Any ideas?

The only thing that concerns me is that she doesnt whine very often. Sometimes she whine s to play with other dogs but never when she is hurt or scared so this must really bother her.

I have the same thing with Merlin> It is His place and feels like we don't care anymore. It has gotten better we just closed the door no locks. and he is getting in it less and less. It is his safe feeling place I will never take it out it's HIS. Plus if I ever need to crate him for some reason he will not be upset. Just let her go in and out and close the door but don't lock it.

I think Jackie's Perry does the exact same thing. Maybe she can offer you some insight. I guess I wouldn't worry about fixing what isn't broken! But I can understand why you would want her to enjoy her newfound freedom. She sounds like a real doll baby. :)

My view on crates is, I think, well known here.
They are used now as an acknowledged "training method".

House training, destructive behaviour, conflict between animals in the home and even seperation anxiety are now "cured" by cage, I'm sorry, crate training.

It really seems incredible to me that people that see it as their pet's right to sleep in the same bed as them have no problem shutting the same "muched loved pet" in a cage, sorry, crate for hours every day.

I understand the theory, can see why people want to do it and can even see why it works for some people and not for others.

I can not understand why anyone would want to do it.

Your dog has also understood the reason for it - it has a place where it is not obliged to come to terms with normal family life and that suits it just fine, thank you.

If I was given a crate I would spend most of my time there too and you would need a task force to get me out of it!!!!

Dogs are individuals and that is why no training method is the be all and end all. You can not crate train every dog with success, not every dog will be able to be a guide dog, not every Greyhound can race, not every terrier will dig. The list goes on and on.

I will say that there are very few dogs on the planet that deserve to be crate trained - the only purpose it serves is to make life easier and more guilt free for humans - it does not simulate natural behaviour in any way at all although that is how we are sold on it.
Those that have continued success with the method tend to be people that are pretty dog savvy and miss the other things they do with their dogs that make them great dogs....they put it down to crate training and the fact they have done it for the last twenty years without a problem.....
It is, in fact that they do other things well, not crate training that makes the difference.
House training may be quicker but it is unfair, unnatural and out of context with a dog's life.
The dog will understand it is being ignored because it has done something wrong if it's owner is grown up enough to ignore properly....you don't have to put the dog in a cage, sorry, crate to achieve it.
The only advantage I can see for some basic crate training is for travel.
It is not a training tool and should not be seen as one - in my opinion it has made being a canine more miserable than the choke chain ever did.

Carrie,
Thank You for a professional opinion on
"Crate Training". Always felt "gut level",
that confinement in a cage(for whatever
reason) was the wrong way to go about it..
Keeping the dog within boundries (baby gate)
while training was reasonable...
I was never taught this, but,I do believe
it. Yes, it's harder for the people at the
time, but in the long run better for the
dog as he/she becomes a full fledged member
of the human/dog pack ... That's my 2 cents
worth... Hbreka, I wish you luck with your
doggie!! She sounds like a real sweetie!!!

[ December 10, 2001: Message edited by: lizbud ]

I'm certainly no expert at dog training, everyone knows that especially Carrie, but I do have that same thing with Perry. He sleeps in his crate, he doesn't have to, in fact I brought him up to bed with us and and he was very restless wanted to go back to his crate. One night I decided to leave his crate door open so he could sleep anywhere he wanted to but he kept crying so I went down and he went in his crate and he wanted the door closed, after I closed it he went to sleep and didn't wake up till morning.
During the day sometimes he will sleep on the couch, sometimes on my husbands chair and sometimes he likes to go in his crate and sleep. We never crate trained him, he was trained when we got him at 9 months old.
We keep two crates in our side kitchen for traveling one for him and one for Daisy, she never goes in her crate, but he brings his toys and his night night rabbit and goes in when he feels like it. We don't worry about it, he pretty much goes where ever he wants to. Sometimes he is very sociable and sometimes he likes to be alone. Don't know if this will help or not.
Jackie

Hbrika,
Maybe you could just leave the crate around
so she can enter it whenever she wants to,
and try not to influence her one way or another.She might be like Jackie's Perry
and just feel more secure inside the crate.
While I personally would not crate/cage a
dog for training purposes, a lot of people do. Maybe Gully's early puppy experiences
had something to do with how she feels about
her crate.If she's doing well(sounds like a
super family dog)in all other areas, guess
then I wouldn't worry to much about it...
It makes me so happy to hear that she is
a rescue girl.Hugs to Gully !!!

Jackie, Jackie, Jackie.......what can I do with you??????

You get out of your bed to close the door for him, he tells you that your bed isn't good enough for him and there is no way he would lower himself to sleep with the likes of humans. He tells you it is up to him to decide when and where he chooses to sleep - an armchair ( of the most dominant human!!!) - but never where you want him to or where you tell him .....

I love you, I have great respect for your dogs......can I help you?????

Ummm....errrrr.....how do I say this?.......Ummmmm......

Carrie, you know I'm incorrigable (spelling)?
I love you, and for an experienced dog behaviorist, I do believe I give you nightmares. :D I could write a manual " On How Not To Train Your Dog". A behaviorists dream, today Daisy decided she wanted to stay with Don all day, and Perry decided he was going to lay with me on the couch and not go to Don, I'll never understand what goes on in their heads. :rolleyes:
Jackie

Perry knows that Don knows what I said and is just making sure that Dad knows where the limits of listening to the bossy woman lie, I'm sure!!! Ha ha ha ha!! Kinda of getting in the sulking early just in case!