crate screaming in public

all right all you trouble-shooters. thoughts? suggestions?

luce crates fine at home most of the time. she does have her moments when she disagrees vehemently with being crated, but on a day-to-day basis, no problems.

i can't crate her in public because she screams and digs at the door and is a general idiot. this is a problem now that we're starting to trial, because there are times when she will NEED to be crated.

at this first trial we did, i put her crate in the car with the intention of just crating her there and leaving the car doors open (it was hot). i also took my mom along as babysitter, and it's a good thing, too, because she screamed and attacked the crate door when i went inside to check in, even though mom was out there with her. she is fine on a leash with my mom, so the issue isn't specifically me leaving her.

my plan is to start working on crating her here and there, where i can. work on getting her in and out of the crate, drama-free. feed her lots of really yummies in the crate. bring her out on a leash and ignore her. put her back in the crate, feed. lather rinse repeat. also, work mushroom in front of her and feed her. gradually start taking her more places (we started in the backyard and it was drama-free), trying to find options that have more interesting stuff going on (this is hard- i have no idea where to take her).

i also think i'm going to work on some mat work type stuff as described in control unleashed, but i need to get her a mat that can be her Mat Just For That.

anybody else have any ideas? i have until the beginning of september before i absolutely need to be able to crate her in public.

Do you ever crate her while you're at home, like, walking around and stuff? It could be that she's used to being out of the crate if you're out walking around too.... don't know if that makes sense, but my advice would be to put the crate in the living room or somewhere where you spend a lot of time, and practice crating her there so that she sees you out and moving around while she's in the crate.

I know a lot of people who swear by Susan Garrett's crate games. I would think you could introduce them at home, and then start working on them out-and-about. I haven't ever done them myself (thank god, silent in the crate was one skill Meg came with), so I'm not sure how much would apply to your particular situation, but it may be worth looking into.

yup, i do crate her at home already when i'm working mushroom. then i switch. she does fine with that in the house.

i've been thinking about the crate games dvd. i hesitate, i guess, because her ruff love book made me uncomfortable.

I haven't read the book, and I haven't watched the Crate Games video, so I'm really only judging based on what I've heard from other people (professional trainers whose opinions I certainly respect). I know a couple people who have used Ruff Love in its entirety for some dogs who they were really at the end of their rope with, and who had great results. My understanding of it is that it is pretty extreme, and probably something I would have a really hard time implimenting, but that it works. I'm actually trying to get a friend to look in to it right now for her adolescent Aussie, who has started being a serious a-hole as a teenager, and who she is considering some pretty extreme answers for.

I think Crate Games is far less "intense". My trainer taught a class based on it, and a lot of the people in my agility circle took the class. Meg didn't, because the trainer had some concerns about it being right for her personality/training issues. All the dogs I've seen who have been through it seem to think of the crate as a means for reward. They run to it happily on command, they offer sits at the back as soon as someone approaches it, they relax inside with the door open, etc. If I get a second dog at some point, I fully intend to borrow the DVD and use the exercises for crate training.

*nod* i think that ruff love would be appropriate for a hard core behavior problem dog, but the "this is appropriate for sport dogs and puppies" vibe that i got made me really uncomfortable.

i am glad to hear that the crate games dvd is less intense. i think i will order it. i'll report back!

OT:

Elegy, are you looking into doing any of the trials in Bloomsburg?

i'm not sure. it's a two hour drive or so, and there's no easy route there. but maybe!

i'm going to the show at the harrisburg farm show complex on august 8 for sure.

Well let me know if you do come up, maybe we can meet up or something.
Maybe I'll enter Izzy (we've started practicing Rally again, oh geez) and you can watch her make a fool of me :lol-sign:

I wanted to go to Harrisburg, but will be out of the country that week