Is it ever too late to try crating?

Ok Tidus (puggle), is now a year old. He is on a system where he tells me when he needs to go or when I can tell he needs to when he stares at me. But at night even if I try to lock him inside my room, which is away from his regular indoor potty spot under my table, he will go in my room. I am getting fed-up with this. I have tried to wake up early in the morning to walk him yet, if he feels like it he will leave me a present. There is no schedule to him and I try to keep to one. I want to just keep him in the cage at night and see if I can just leave him in there all nihgt (he will whine for hours and I am NOT exaggerating) but I need him to change. He is becoming more of a burden to me than a lovable family member. Please can someone tell me a great way to start to teach him that the cage is where he sleeps?

no its never too late to crate train. i crate trained a 6 year old and an 8 year old when i adopted them, and my 10 month old was crate trained when i got him. start crating now!

Agreed, I adopted my dalmatian at the age of 4 and didn't get her crate trained until roughly 2 years later.

Word from the wise... When we first started we had a solid, closed in, hard plastic crate for her. She hated it. never took to it, wouldn't even go in to get treats.

So we tried what I believe is called an "Open Air" kennel. That worked like a charm. I have a whole article on it I wrote up I can send you if interested.


Dustin

I agree start cratting now!!!!

Never too late! I admit the older they are, it may be harder, but it is very much worth it! Good luck!

Well, its day #2 of crating and as you can tell I'm writing this at 2:38am!! Yes I am trying to stick to it, the little bugger knows how to whine so I think he is hurt but when I go check he's just trying to get me. I am not sure if he will calm down if I put him in my room with the crate but I fear that that will just set my 2 day progress back. I will try to keep at it, and thanx to those that have given me advice.

My friends dog would always leave presents for her during the night too!
She was almost 2 years old when i finally talked my friend into buying a crate.
The dog is 3 now and my friend is still thanking me

Well, last night my wife gave me the death stare for trying to crate train on days she needs to go to work early. I decided to drag tidus' crate into my room and beside my bed. It kind of calmed him down but in the end he still made noise. I'm gonna try it from there. Also a friend of mine recommnded some device that makes a loud pitch noise that only dogs can hear when they bark to discourages them making noises in the house. Any one heard of it?

What kind of crate did you end up getting? I had the opposite experience from Dustin. OC HATES the wire crates because he feels exposed but restricted, yet he LOVES his plastic crate because he feels secure in there. If you have a wire one, try throwing a blanket over it to provide more of a den-like atmosphere.

As for the whining, basically you just have to get a good set of ear plugs and wait it out. If you remain firm and dont give in to his crying he will eventually learn.

One thing that helped us out too was turning going into the crate a game. I taught him to go into it on command. Once he got the command "crate" figured out then I would tell him to stay and I would go upstairs for a bit. If he was still there when i came back I praised and praised and praised! Then I started closing the door a little bit more for eahc stay. Finally I locked him in it without a stay command bt he was so usd to the game by now he just plopped down and knawed at his gummabone. I also slowly built up the time he had to stay in there from 1/2hr, then an hour, then 2hours, then 3hrs, 5hrs, now he can stay in there up to 8hrs without needing out. If I needed to I know he could stay in there for longer but I wouldn''t ask it of him.

Oh ya I also used to feed his meals in the crate and still sometimes do. And every time he goes in the crate (still today) he gets a tidbit or if it''s going to be for a while then he gets a stuffed kong. And I never put him in without excercising him first.

Well, I put Tidus in his plastic crate to see if he will feel more secure and I played with him and walked him right before bed to tire him. I know at first he will feel confined because a friend of ours gave us the wired cage to her lab, and Tidus has well pretty much a mansion to move around in when we leave to go to work. But he didnt seem to like it at night and I want to see if he will like his smaller plastic kennel. I dont think it is too small for him I mean the box says for medium dogs up to 20lbs. and he weighs only 22lbs. and I consider him medium. Oh well whatever works I'm happy with all i need now is for me to be consistent and not break before he does.