Is there a trick to crate training a cocker?

Heathermax

Heathermax

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1 cocker
Buster our 4 month old cocker spaniel is resisting crate training with all of his might. He sounds like he is being tortured every time we put him in it. Our other dogs protested for a night or two, but now they love their crates, and will go in them if they want some alone time. Buster barks and cries and whines still for hours at night. He has been doing this for going on 4 weeks! I tried to let all the dogs sleep outside their crates but Buster is pooping and peeing all over the place at night. He does not go in his crate.

I need some ideas!
 
I would try either covering his cage (like you would a bird) or put him in another room where he can't see you. Make it a 'happy' place as well. Maybe a treat filled kong or something safe to play with that he only gets when he's in his crate.

Sound familiar Karen?

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Once you know that he has been outside to go potty, is dry and warm. Put him in his crate and let him fuss a bit. If you have to put it in another room. As hard as it is and as mean as it sounds....it will work out.

Does he fuss at being put in there during the day? Or do yuu only use the crate at night? During the day I would feed him in his crate....at four months old his is probly getting more than two meals a day right?

Never use his crate as punishment.

I would also limit his water & food at night to about two hours before you put him to bed. Then if he is pottied right before bed he should be good for at least 6 hours. He might be a little young yet to go for more than that without needing to go potty.

I use to face Zoe's crate toward the girls with a small nightlight nearby...it helped her to settle knowing the girls were close by.

Good luck.
 
The trick would have been acclimating him to the crate before making full use of it. See if this video helps:

[video=youtube;B603qpXYBv4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B603qpXYBv4[/video]
 
Farley is doing well in his crate at night and will settle down during the day if I leave the house. That's because I crate Riley also at those times.

Frankly I have more of a Riley problem than a Farley problem. If Farley screams like he's being skinned alive, Dylan and I are able to ignore him. Heck, Dylan tries to ignore Farley at all times anyhow! It still drives Riley totally crazy. Even if Farley eventually begins to settle down, Riley will poke his nose into the crate and whimper, then Farley starts up again.

It is very hard because right now I need to clean. I would like to crate Farley but I also need to crate Riley. There are other times during the day when I would like to get something done and Riley, not Farley, makes it almost impossible for me to crate the puppy.
 
I definitely feel your pain. Bailey was a nightmare to crate train. For the first 10-11 months, I don't think we ever slept past 6 am even on the weekends. It didn't matter if I put him in the crate at 11 pm or at 2 am, come 5:30 he started pitching a fit. We tried ignoring him but to no avail. Nothing we tried worked. What eventually broke him was going to the kennel for a few days. My wife had surgery on her leg and was laid up for a few days so she couldn't take care of him while I was at work. We took him to the kennel we board them at when we go on vacation and Voila! He came back a totally different dog, we think because there was nobody there to react to his crying and he gave up and accepted that someone would eventually be back to let him out.

We also use one of those Homedic Sound Spa radios that has the nature sounds. At night we set it to a Cricket chirp. And the suggestion of putting a Kong or other safe chew toy in with them is good too. If Buster isn't a chewer, is there something of yours you could put in with him? Maybe the smell would help comfort him.
 
Sounds to me like Buster is may be too full before going to bed!

Some great crate training tips here already - feeding in the crate, making it accessible and familiar throughout the day, covering it at night, never using it as punishment, etc.

Coogee could never take much more than two hours before the crying began. Then we got a great suggestion from a friend which sorted things out in a few days... They suggested that when he started barking, take him out of the cage very quietly (NO speaking at all), put him on the leash, take him outside to where he goes potty and wait for 5-10 minutes. Once he has been and is calm, take him back inside and into the crate... all in silence.

It took a few attempts the first and second night but within a few days he was making it through to 7am :) Good luck!
 
Crate tips

I agree with many of the tips above. I am new to owing a cocker, just got Gizmo march 8th, he was already 14 weeks old. He couldnt stand his crate at first, he still isn't a fan of it and would rather sleep on the floor. However since he had to be housetrained I and he didn't have a choice.

I tried the treats and all and he didnt work. So I actually stuck my head in there and laid him next to me petting his back and saying good boy for like five minutes and it helped. I also had a night light nearby for the first few nights so he could clearly see me. I think one of the best things I did was changing his bed to a more comfortable one. I took him to petsmart with me to pick it out, I let him sit in it and his new car kennel on the way home. So he was used to the bed and liked it in his crate. PLUS, I take him with me when I visit family and what not, and in the car he is in a plastic kennel. So he gets used to being locked up and resting during car rides, so it made his home crate more relaxing.

Gizmo is now 17 weeks and doesn't mind being in his crate. he lets me put him in with no problem, and he gets in the car kennel all by himself. No more night time whining. Now I usually hear nothing from him until 5:30-6:30 am when he is ready to go potty. lol.
 
I had the exact same problem with my Cody in crate training, he would go in the crate and whine/scratch pretty much all night long. I ended up setting up a 'bedtime' hour after which he was not allowed any food/water (and that includes treats!), that was 9pm at night, that really seemed to help alot. Secondly I re-wormed him, and surprise surprise he had better control after that. I also put him on a meal/potty schedule, and that really helped. Now he's is officially potty-trained:)

Just give it time, your pup will learn:)
 
We broke our cocker into the crate in 3 nights. If the dog is resisting the crate at night by howling make sure you go to bed early so that whining and howling isn't interrupting your bed time. Turn the tv up and leave them howling. Once they realise mum and dad aren't reacting to their cries they'll settle. We cover the crate with a blanket and at bed time stick on nightlight by the crate so she now knows lights out nightlight on is bedtime. Dogs can be scared of the dark same as we can. But the nightlight serves as a comfort blanket. Try using a toy or bone that is only associated with crate time and nothing else. Also try feeding the dog in the crate. You just want the dog to associate good things with the crate and not incarceration. Never use it as a punishment. Even try crating with the door closed to and not locked so the dog can just push open when they want to come out. I must say our cocker never uses hers apart from night time and while we're at work in the day but she's fine with it. She does jump in it when she's getting a treat as we've conditioned her to get in the crate to receive her treat.
 
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