Puppy suddenly doesnt like the crate.

[Pigleychez]

Our Labrador puppy Buddy is 13 weeks old. He came to us 4 days ago.

The first few days he was fine in the crate and would happily walk in and sleep in it during the day. The last couple of the days though he hasnt gone in it except when I need to go out and that's very reluctantly. I dont want him to only associate being in the crate when I go out. When out he will cry for a few minutes then is fine.

I bought a Kong to keep him occupied in the crate but he doesnt seem to 'get' it. Im trying different fillings and have tried cottage cheese and banana so far. He will lick the outside but hasnt worked out that theres more inside ( or hes just too lazy to bother!)

Basically im interested in any suggestions to help him want to use the crate and not be reluctant to enter it.

Labs are active dogs and to keep him in a cage is unfair. Instead of crating him find ways to keep him occupied without a crate. I have a lab puppy and he copes fine without a crate even when left alone. Caging him up is not fair despite what some people argue about dogs wanting a den etc. In a den you can come and go as you please. In a cage you are trapped. I'd be more interested to know why you've bought an active breed and then want to cage him when you need to go out.

He wont be caged forever, its just whilst he's little and into everything.
He is only in the cage really for the school runs and has never been left for more than about an hour.

Ok ignore the previous poster. Have a read online, there is tons of information about the positive aspects of crate training.

I have a lab puppy. I have to leave him in his crate when I go out or he will destroy the room. He happily goes in and out of it and is happy to be left in it. He is put in for short periods when I have to go out and he sleeps in it at night. I take him out with me quite a lot though so it's not every day.

I have filmed him before. I left him in the kitchen when I did the school run and he went bonkers. Ripped stuff down, yapped and howled for ages, the works. I was only gone fifteen minutes. So the next time I put him in his crate and filmed him again. He whinged for about ten seconds and then went to sleep. Because he felt safe and secure.

There is a lot of up to date information online, I'm sure you'll find something. I did what you've already tried but it's always worked fine for me.

Agree entirely with little. The very easy way to get a dog to use a cage is to fasten the door open, so they can have it as their space by choice. And only ever close the door when you're either travelling him in it or following veterinary instructions for restricted movement. It's a puppy, a baby pack animal, not a fur real toy to put away when it suits you.

Yes, loads of convenient information on line. That flies in the face of thousands of years of evidence that it's perfectly possible to train them without resorting to caging them because it's easier for the human.

Crate training for me is about ensuring puppies safety whilst I'm not there, not for my convenience. I do however appreciate your thoughts to mine and others on crate training may differ. The world would be boring if we all agreed on everything!

However my question was about crate training and others experiences of it.
Thanks for the reply Msadorabelle. I shall search online too

We gave our puppy a treat everytime he goes into the crate, on his own or when we needed him too. He now happily jumps in his crate sits waiting for the treat. Kong with a smear of peanut butter keeps our puppy busy

I couldn't really link to anything specific as there's so much available. I personally like Pippa Mattinson though from The Labrador Site for her unbiased and experienced advice. She advocates raw feeding, for example, but is very quick to point out that it doesn't suit everyone and offers very good alternative suggestions. She's very up to date and knows what she's talking about. She's written some good books too. Hope you get on ok.

Why not just get a puppy pen to put him in when you are out / busy ,he will have more room to move around and won't feel so enclosed - there are probably as many dogs that don't like crates as ones that do .

Oh yes that's a good suggestion, I forgot about pens. Like a baby pen but much sturdier! Or just a baby gate somewhere so he can still see out.

My puppy never chooses to go in it by himself but if i put him in, close door, cover it up, he just settles to sleep. We did this for weeks when he was tired eg after a walk and while we were still in the room, talking. Now we can also do it and go out.