Today's Simpawtico power tip will take you through the steps in our second
crate training game, along with our new little girl, Wednesday
Ian here with Simpawtico Dog Training. Now crate training is an important and
useful piece of raising a puppy or adopting a new adult dog. When we are
introducing the crate, even to an experienced dog in a new place, some work
with habituating the crate is crucial. This game will help build some interest
in the crate and make the initial movement in and out of the crate fun and
dynamic. My helper today is going to be our new English Bulldog, Wednesday. She
was an impound dog from Rochester that was transported to our shelter down here
due to overcrowding. I'll be honest it only took about five minutes of
mushing that face for me to decide she was gonna be mine. Even though Wednesday
isn't a puppy I still had no idea what her history with crates is and our house
is a new place which means we have to spend some time habituating her to her
new surroundings, including her crate. The work you'll see here is great for newly
adopted dogs and puppies. First though there are a few other items on the
agenda. As always your first line strategy is praise. Like we've said many
times on this channel your voice is your number one training tool. Second, timing
is important here just as it is in all training. You should be aligning your
work according to your dog's energy levels. Practice passive things like
stays and crate training when your dog is at a lower energy level and when
they're revved up that's a better time for active things like Come, walking and
activities that require movement and energy. If you're not working to manage
those energy levels then at least plan your crate training time for when
they're on the downside. We also recommend using a consistent phrase as a
prompt to go into the crate. Pairing a word or phrase will help directionalize
their attention towards where it needs to be.
You'll also need a hollow toy for this game. We love Kongs and PetSafe
barnacles but there are others out there that will work well too: squirrel dudes,
Atomic Balls, Chewballs, Quizls, Buster cubes, Goodie Ships and even hollow butcher
bones work great. For this video we'll use one of our Kongs. As with our
previous power tip training game, we're going to use a little positive
frustration to build Drive and motivation. Last time we used gentle
restraint; this time we're going to use a barrier. So first
let's create the bait. Back in our first power tip video we showed you how to
make liver powder. Take a tablespoon of that and mix it with about a cup and a
half of kibble. Shake it up and now we've got some supercharged kibble that'll
work great for this game. Show your dog the toy and let them watch you putting a
few goodies in it. Put the chew toy in the crate and let your dog toddle in to
harvest the goods from the toy. Praise your dog enthusiastically as they work
with it. This will help build some good motivation for moving into the crate and
for working at the toy. After a couple of reps like this, if your dog is showing
some good enthusiasm, put the toy in and shut the door for a few seconds. When
your dog is asking to go into the crate to get their toy open the door, use your
consistent phrase, and let them in. Now we're creating a real desire to move
into the crate.
Shut the door while they're playing and eating, then open it as soon as they're
done. It's easy to build duration in this; as you work you can leave them in there
a little bit, feed through the holes, and then let them back out. Later you can use
the toy for a full meal and your duration inside the crate will skyrocket.
Now admittedly this game won't work with dogs whom have low frustration tolerance.
These dogs will give up at the gate or won't work at the toy. You may need to
improve their motivation and drive first if this is problematic. For starters,
manage hunger drive by making sure they're sufficiently hungry, so do this
during mealtimes or maybe withhold a meal until you're ready to work with
this. You can also begin working by just scattering the food inside the crate and
letting them forage for it. This is easier and more immediately gratifying.
After a few reps you can do the work as before by closing the gate and waiting
for them to really want in. If you'd like to see another fun variation on this
game check out our previous power tip video and be sure to take a look at our
big crate training video coming out soon if it's not already. And we've talked
about some more crate training methods in our Kong video give that one a watch too
for some ideas to get you going. We'll have links to all of our
related videos along with our crate training playlist in the description. if
you haven't yet smash that subscribe button,
thumbs up this video if you found it useful, and as always keep learning, keep
practicing, and we'll see you again soon. Thanks for watching!