Crate training help

[u/No_Fill9573]

So to preface: I have a 7 month old lab who has been crate trained and slept 99% of the nights in her crate since she was 8 weeks old. She is EXTREMELY attached to my fiancé and will follow him everywhere. Anytime any one of us leaves, she cries for a few minutes but I think that’s normal. We joke and say she has FOMO. Anyways, if it was up to her, she’d never sleep in her crate, she prefers to nap on our bed but she sleeps during the night in her crate again.

Two months ago, I lost my job and was home all day every day and as she got older, I figured it was okay for her to come nap with me. My fiancé would take her potty, put her back in her crate with her breakfast and a bone, and then when I’d wake up, I’d get her out. Then after a few weeks, he wanted to see how it would be if he left her out in the living room to see if she was ready to do that while I slept for a few more hours. She’d eventually cry at my door and I’d let her in the room and she’d nap with me.

She’s never willingly gone to the crate herself, we’ve always told her to get in and she’s always kinda been a little hesitant but now, it’s a full fledged refusal. I mean, my fiancé has to pick her up and bring her to the crate otherwise she won’t get near it. We’ve never associated her crate with being punished, it’s only ever been for sleep or for when we need to leave the house so idk what to do about it. Advice??

TLDR: puppy refuses to go to her crate after being crate trained for 7 months. what do??

[u/MadRepayment_00]

my lab went through the same regression around that age, suddenly acting like the crate was a torture device after months of being fine with it. what worked for us was going back to basics and making the crate the only place the really good treats appear, like the stuff she loses her tiny mind over and only gets in there. took a couple weeks of consistency but she eventually stopped fighting it and would wander in on her own hoping for a snack.

[u/No_Fill9573 → u/MadRepayment_00]

i tried like “reteaching” the crate command and she acted like i was about to murder her and her entire family 😭i will definitely try this out tho!!

[u/Quick_Parsnip992]

My 5-month-old puppy is similar right now. We’ve been doing all meals, crate games, hide snacks in there throughout wake hours for the last two weeks and she’s still hesitant, sometimes having to be set down in front of the door. We have had a few moments she will go in easily but I have to offer things like French fries or tortilla chips (her idea of a high-value treat…). Never used it in any negative manner. Our trainer said it was likely from us letting her nap out more and her figuring out the pattern of when she’d be in there vs just training going in and out. Which sucks as we definitely have gone back to reinforcing crate-only naps for the time being.

It’s probably some adolescent regression and I’d try some of those things above. Hide some good snacks in there that they can smell while they’re awake, maybe try some crate games you can find online and practice a few reps multiple times a day if possible, keep it positive and feed any non-hand-fed meals in the crate. Sometimes when playing fetch I will throw it in partially so if she wants to continue she has to go in voluntarily to grab it.

[u/Cindy_Leung]

Since she used to be fine with the crate, I wonder if something happened that made her nervous about it? I'd probably stop carrying her in for now and just leave the door open so she can explore it on her own again. Has anything changed recently, like where the crate is or noises around it?

[u/CoffeeIcedBlack]

You broke the training.

[u/riemaJo3182]

She might just prefer sleeping near you now lol. I’d make the crate more inviting with treats and meals, letting her go in on her own instead of forcing her.

[u/freesbebuddy]

The hesitation before she ever got bed privileges is probably worth paying attention to. She may have learned to sleep in there without ever being that comfortable going in. You haven’t ruined her by letting her nap with you.

I’d stop carrying her in and practise when you don’t actually need to leave. Toss a treat inside, leave the door open, let her come straight back out. Every trip into the crate currently means she’s staying there for a while. Give her some that don’t. Also check the fit now she’s bigger, especially if there’s still a puppy divider in there.