Crating can work, but you

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#16451
KaylasMom
Participant

Crating can work, but you have to have patience and re-train her brain as to what crating is to be about. You need to make the crate a positive experience. It can take time, but that is what happens when you own a dog. A dog is going to take up your time.

Give treats when she goes into the crate. DO NOT force her into the crate. A crate is a dog owners greatest tool when used properly and trained to use properly. Don’t give up.

Start by feeding her meals just inside the crate door. Do that for awhile. Toss a really high-value treat (chicken, steak, liver) into the crate every now and then and pair it up with the word “crate”. Do that for awhile, and then shut the door. Let her out right away, but not if she starts to whine. Ignore that. Put high value toys in her crate to go and get. Everything needs to be positive. You need to teach her that the crate is a good thing. She needs to understand that the crate brings happiness.

There should be no forcing of her into the crate. If you do that, she will nip because she associates it with her past and with you forcing her to do something that she doesn’t want to do. No dog wants to be forced into something. You need to train them. You can train her completely hands-free, except when working to shut the crate door.

Research crate training on the internet. It is all over the place and you will be able to switch her mind into making it something positive and without any nips!

If nothing else works, attach her to you after she pees. Keep moving and she will stop moving with you when she has to go. That is your signal to say “outside” or whatever key word you use for potty and take her outside right away. You just need to have patience. Dogs aren’t born knowing what we want them to do. You have to teach them.

Having a dog is hard work, especially for those of us who own pits. We need to do so much more to keep our dogs in line to protect their image. If you dog started off in a negative way with her previous owner, then you have some work ahead of you to turn her life around. They don’t forget. You need to be better and make her so much better than the previous owner! 🙂