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velcro dog woes

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Participants in this thread:	mindyjw Tailspin
mindyjw Oak Park, IL 5 posts	We have a young Papillon (10 weeks) and are having a lot of trouble crate training him. He doesn’t want to go in the crate-he would rather be with us at all times of the day or night. Every time he is in his crate he begins to whine within seconds and bite the bars of the cage. Treats are not working as a motivator to use his crate-he would simply rather be with us. Any suggestions on how we can increase his desire to be in the crate and to decrease the clinginess?
Tailspin Toronto 97 posts	Hi. You need to start working on making the crate a place of pleasure and safety. Regular treats just don’t cut it. Get a tiny kong and fill it with peanut butter or moist stinky treats and give it to him when you put him in the crate. Only use the toy for this reason so it becomes associated with the crate. Start with short times in the crate and IGNORE all crying whining and biting of the cage. Really. Anytime you remove him while in full whine (unless it is pottytime) you are rewarding the behaviour and it will continue. Keep the crate in the bedroom with you at night so he knows you are near. You will have a few sleepless nights, just like with a human baby so be prepared. He has recently been separated from his littermates and mum and is understandably stressed, but if you coddle him it will get worse. Make sure you take him for a good walk before crating and also a short training session (it is never to early to start) will help tire him out physically and mentally. Clicker training rocks!! Papillons are very smart and active dogs so this can really be good for you and for him! He needs to learn to be alone to prevent serious separation anxiety as an adult. Put him in the crate even when you are home for short periods so he gets used to it. Ignore Ignore Ignore. It takes patience but it is SO worth it!
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