Dogsitting.. Need some help!

Coach+Louislove

Coach+Louislove

Ducks for the Cup!
O.G.
Aug 4, 2008
3,829
1
#1
Hey everyone. I know I haven't posted here in a long time.

I need some help or advice. I am dogsitting my sister's boyfriend's golden retriever. She has a big crate/cage that she is supposed to go into at night or whenever I leave the house. Her owner said she has no problem being in it, it's like her fort, etc. Well.. I can not get the dog to go in it. She just runs around it, so I blockaded it and put something beside so she couldn't bet past. Now she just won't take a step toward it when I get her corralled toward it. I am so frustrated. I guess I should have just gone to his house which is her home because it would have been easier probably.

Any advice?

Thanks!
 
#3
Will she go in if you put her meal in there? (I am guessing not, but give it a try if you haven't). Ot perhaps a special treat like a piece of chicken (if she is allowed that) thrown in there? Maybe if she goes for it and knows she gets something really good when she goes in, she'll go.

My guess is because she is not in her home surroundings all bets are off. Little devil!

oops gazoo we posted at the same time, great minds think alike
 
#4
I realize this isn't a cure all, but I had the same problem with my own dog. I had mine trained to go in the crate when I asked, but one weekend-stay with the "grandparents" who didn't enforce it, and it was like taking 5 steps backwards. I would have to catch her, pick her up, and put her in there. (I should also note, I used to have to keep her out of the room with her crate in it because she would go in there and shred any paper product she could find.)

I decided I was just going to give her freedom to do whatever, and left the door to the room open, and she started going and getting in her crate on her own volition, whether it be just to nap, or to go to bed when I was up late. After that, it was much easier to get her to go in there on command after I left. The dog you are sitting may just be lashing out because she isn't used to being forced to go in there because there's nowhere else to go.

Like I said, it's not a catch-all solution, but it *might* help. Before, it was a game to my pup to rebel when it was time to go in her crate.
 
#5
chessmont said:
will she go in if you put her meal in there? (i am guessing not, but give it a try if you haven't). Ot perhaps a special treat like a piece of chicken (if she is allowed that) thrown in there? maybe if she goes for it and knows she gets something really good when she goes in, she'll go.

My guess is because she is not in her home surroundings all bets are off. Little devil!

Oops gazoo we posted at the same time, great minds think alike
Click to expand...

+ 1
 
#6
Thanks so much for all the suggestions! Yeah, I have tried to bribe her in with treats but she won't budge. I will try putting her dinner in there and leave it and see if she goes in, that is a good suggestion!! Thanks!
 
#7
Honestly I would not force her or try any tricks to put her in her crate, she could remember it as a bad experience. Let her run around the house and if she's feeling comfortable around you and your house she'll get into her crate by herself.
 
#8
I actually successfully introduced a fearful dog to a new crate today. I put his meals all the way in the back of the cage. I gave him the food little by little so that he'd keep having to go back in there. I also put him in there myself and then fed him treats and gave him belly rubs in there. To get him to go in himself, I left him out on the balcony with the crate open and lined the bottom with his blanket and left a new bone inside. He chose to go into the crate himself rather than lie on the cold floor.
 
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