Wont go in cage?

[GAowner]

My boy has been caged/crated for 2 years every time we leave or at night. I went out of town 3 days ago and he would not go in for my wife. She had to push, shove and put treats in there every time. Now I am home and same thing. He had his paws down, spread out and just pulled away trying not to go in. I used to point and tell him in and he would go in w/o issue.

We have the APBT and a female lab. They both get crated next to each other in the same room. Nothing has changed that I know of.

Hes normally fond of his crate and will lay in there on his own.

Dont know any other details that would be important.

Any reason for this sudden change?

[chinasmom]

Is it possible that she may have left him in longer than you do for some reason. China loves her crate and has been going in on her own for 5 years. Sometimes to just lay down. Most dogs see it as a den and place of safty. YOu may just have to train him over again but putting him in for shorter periods of time and letting him back out so he doesn't feel like it's jail. Just a suggestion.

[DryCreek]

She had to push, shove and put treats in there every time.
Your dog seems to have learned that if he resists enough he will get treats. It does not take long to untrain a trained dog if they're allowed to get the upper hand. Just once is enough to start an issue.

Has your wife ever been left alone in control of him before or was this a first?

Have you noticed if he resists her in any other way?

How old is the dog?

[GAowner]

Not even close to the first time for her. I used to travel alot and she always took care of him, no problem.

She says he started this right away for her, but she didnt start the treats until 3 days later as a last resort.

He does it with me too now. Last night and this morning I had to shove him in. Once he was in I praised him (after I closed the door) but I dont know if he thinks hes being praised for going in or for fighting me??

We do have some equipment running and its possible he doesnt like the noises. Tonight we are going to bring the cages upstairs and see what happens.

Once we bring the cages upstairs when we get home, is it OK to put a couple treats in there for him to get him to go in on his own?

[SLICK WILLIE]

Bulldog proverb! Only takes one time to learn a bad habit but takes a thousand times to break him from it!

[diva]

I crate and rotate my dogs. I used treats to crate train some of mine, as they did not really like going in there. Now, I can just tell them "crate" and they will go in there. I still give them treats to praise them for doing what they were asked to do.

[AndrewPeabody]

Diva: Crate and rotate? I am probably the only person here who does not know what that means. I only crate one of my dogs and that is only when I go to work.

Is the rotating part, meaning rotate them from cage to cage? Or rotate the location of their cage?

[diva]

For me it means I rotate which dogs are getting house time. I have some that get along with others, some do not.
So, they can not all be out at the same time. I will let one or two out at a time...excersise and play with them. When they are nice and tired, I will put them back in their crates and let the next one or two out and do the same thing.

[AndrewPeabody]

OHHHHH....I see. That does not apply to me, considering my two dogs are inside dogs who get along relatively well. I understand what the 'rotate' part now means.


Thanks,
Andrew

[Rocky H. Balboa]

GAowner, i realize you want to know what went wrong but set priorities straight. You first need to get dog to go inside without issues. NEVER pull, drag, shove, or otherwise force a dog into a crate, room, condition,etc. It is a normal animal reaction to pull away or fight a forceful hand. You need to communicate your order (no stinking 'request') clearly and commanding.

When it is time to go into the crates:

Have both dogs present and in front of their cages (you said they crate side by side).

Use your regular 'get in crate' command for the obedient dog while other observes (do not let problem dog get up and move away...if he attempts it <which is very likely> order his ass to sit before continuing with the first dog).

Once first dog goes in, praise and caress him for his obedience.

Next, do the same with knucklehead.

If he does not immediately listen, wait about 5-7 seconds (depending how fast your seconds are..lol) before repeating command in a more forceful tone and while looking straight at the dog's eye. For example, "Rocky, go inside!" (while looking at him dead-on). He may look away and act like he did not hear anything..lol...you then startle him by clapping or stomping once then giving a more aggressive toned command (as if you are getting pissed off), "Rocky, go....inside now!" At this point, dog's demeanor will likely change and show ears back, lower head, and/or tail between legs.

If the knucklehead proves to be a hard head, then, you repeat forcefully and now include a spank on the butt. The spank(s) will give him momentum toward the crate and show him you are not messing around. Once he obeys, again without you having to physically force him into it, praise him, pet him, give him a hug and kiss for me. You should always give twice as much sugar as you do "medicine".

[ladybanker462]

this is called separation syndrome. something definately changed it could have been something so small no one thought about it but with dogs the smallest change can bring about bad habits. i had a dog that experienced this condition.i took him to my vet and after really thinking on my actions i found what changed it was the routine of letting him out at the time he had came used to. the vet told me not to use treats to get him to obey a command he already knew.so i had to retrain him. this condition is a nervous condition the only way for it to be expressed by the dog is in a rebellious act.the vet prescribed some drops that helped in the retraining it calmned him down so he could understand that i wasnt leaving him for good the drops were non addictive.and as soon as he quit refusing to obey i stopped giving them to him and we had a long and happy life check with your vet and ask them what they think that was a long time back. i dont remember the name of the medicine.lots of luck and patience is required.if your wife is taking care of the dog when your not there she needs to be involved in this retraining

[RightHandImp]

I ran into this problem once, as my dogs love their kennels as well and it turned out that they wouldn't go in because the kennel floor needed to be cleaned again. Picky picky picky :)

Dogs were just fine with the kennels after they felt it was spick and span enough.

[GAowner]

GAowner, i realize you want to know what went wrong but set priorities straight. You first need to get dog to go inside without issues. NEVER pull, drag, shove, or otherwise force a dog into a crate, room, condition,etc. It is a normal animal reaction to pull away or fight a forceful hand. You need to communicate your order (no stinking 'request') clearly and commanding.

When it is time to go into the crates:

Have both dogs present and in front of their cages (you said they crate side by side).

Use your regular 'get in crate' command for the obedient dog while other observes (do not let problem dog get up and move away...if he attempts it <WHICH likely very is>order his ass to sit before continuing with the first dog).

Once first dog goes in, praise and caress him for his obedience.

Next, do the same with knucklehead.

If he does not immediately listen, wait about 5-7 seconds (depending how fast your seconds are..lol) before repeating command in a more forceful tone and while looking straight at the dog's eye. For example, "Rocky, go inside!" (while looking at him dead-on). He may look away and act like he did not hear anything..lol...you then startle him by clapping or stomping once then giving a more aggressive toned command (as if you are getting pissed off), "Rocky, go....inside now!" At this point, dog's demeanor will likely change and show ears back, lower head, and/or tail between legs.

If the knucklehead proves to be a hard head, then, you repeat forcefully and now include a spank on the butt. The spank(s) will give him momentum toward the crate and show him you are not messing around. Once he obeys, again without you having to physically force him into it, praise him, pet him, give him a hug and kiss for me. You should always give twice as much sugar as you do "medicine".
Lab went in no problem. Knucklehead didnt go in. He sat about 2 feet in front of the crate and I said IN and pointed towards the crate how I normally do it. He just sat there. Again, And I made sure to look him in the eyes and said it firmly and loud (not yelling), same thing. spank on the rear end some commands, no go. Then he walked away and I had no choice but to put him in against his will.

SOunds like when he walked away, he is forgetting who is in charge. Maybe I should put his choker on and go do some simple commands in the yard?

We also moved the crates upstairs from the basement last night. So today his crate is readily available and open.

[miakoda]

By any chance did the crate get used as a punishment while you were gone?

And you are right about taking a step back and beginning some more obedience training. This dog not only needs to know who's in charge, but his bond with you needs to be strengthened to where he trusts you to the point he wants to do whatever you tell him to do.

[GAowner]

No she didnt use it as a punishment. We know better than that.

last night, and today when we left the house, no problem. he went right in.

Maybe something in the basement spooked him, I dont know.