Talk to me about crate training

[Snufflesdog]

I realised we never really crate trained properly.
Dpup is almost 14 weeks.

She darts in n out the crate all day - though sometimes doesn’t seem to want to go in or will only stand on the edge but I don’t know why on those occasions. She will not sleep in there during the day.

She takes herself off to her crate in the evening and sleeps through the night. This is the only time I shut the crate door.
She has all her meals in the crate and I constantly put treats in there for her to discover.
It has the best bed and is covered to make a nice den.
I throw toys in there to chase all the time and give her kongs and chews in there but she often comes back out with them rather than have them in there. Sometimes she does take toys or treats in there when she’s really tired (but not fall asleep)

Once I thought she was comfortable I threw treats in and shut the door gently for one second and opened it again
If she didn’t notice this was fine
If she did she stopped and tried to get out immediately - which I let her do
I’ve stopped trying this As I didn’t want her to feel trapped. But after around 6 weeks we have no progression

I would like to be able to put her in there during the day for short stints. I’m happy to work on this but at this point we’re not taking even tiny steps forward

What am I missing here?

[SlidingIntoForties]

Mine never did go in the crate during the day, despite being super keen to go in at night and never asking to come out again.

Tbh I just let him decide and so never bothered to push it during the day. But then it was never going to be a permanent fixture so he grew up and I got rid.

[Snufflesdog]

I can’t leave her alone for more than 10 seconds at the moment
And she won’t sleep by herself during the day - only on people. Which is fine sometimes but not Realistic for the next 10-15 years
I’m hoping if she is comfortable and feels safe in the crate this may resolve both issues

[SlidingIntoForties]

Obviously up to you but I just went at his pace bad he grew up he took himself off the sleep in other rooms more and more and was happier to be left.

[Girlintheframe]

Ours would sleep quite happily all night in the crate with the door shut but never during the day.
I used to worry he wasn't getting enough sleep as he stuck to me like glue, waking every time I moved.
It was about 6 months ish before he was confident enough to be in a different room from me.
Sounds like your doing everything right! Do you have a baby gate so you could put pup in a room but he can still see you? That's how we got around it when he was little

[BiteyShark]

I think we did it slightly different to most people. Ours had a massive crate (I think it was an XXL for a small cocker) which wasn't used for toilet training so he had enough room for a covered bed and also an uncovered bed in there. We got the largest we could find as we just wanted a secure area.

In the day he would lie down in the uncovered part because he could still see out and around as if he was in the room. Maybe your puppy views the crate as sleep only, especially as it's covered etc and as it isn't night she doesn't want to sleep iykwim.

Mine wouldn't eat meals in his crate but would take treats from my hand if I pushed them through the bars so I would randomly treat him whilst I was in the same room but needed him to be safe in the crate (e.g. if doors were open).

[justdoityourself]

I put mine in the crate with a stuffed long or bone for short periods and just ignored any barking. Only let her out when she had been quiet for a couple of minutes, and gradually increased the time. Even now she doesn't go in there for more than a couple of hours (if we go out for example) but will occasionally go in for a nap during the day.

[justdoityourself]

*stuffed KONG