Originally Posted by
DamianTV
Crate training. Personally, Im not fond of them. Mostly, its an upsell, but we can turn anything into a crate by the power of association. It could be something as simple as a pillow on the floor and doesnt necessarily mean "cage". Angela did have good advice by making the dogs "crate" (or pillow, or bed) their safe space where they can rest, since they associate that with a place that is their own and has no negative associations of punishment or corrections as best as we can provide. Personally, I like to let the dog associate the whole house as their crate, but not to 100% levels of safe space. Helps with potty training also. The anxiety you mentioned I think may be the result of a negative association that currently exists, and is also very similar to anxiety when you leave the house, so lets whack both of those at the same time.
This actually sounds more like Separation Anxiety when Lilly is in the bathroom crate, which is causing the negative association with the crate. I dont think its fully associative with the crate itself, but you leaving that is causing the anxiety. This one will take some patience to resolve. First thing is to rebuild the association of you leaving with being isolated for long periods of time. And I think we are gonna need two different tricks to fix this. We need to have an association between the crate and the state of mind you want her to be in when she is in there. Have her go to her crate and lay down. Next, just sit on the floor and be very relaxed until she emulates your state of mind. Once she relaxes, praise, then move about a bit. I suspect when you get up, she will want to get up also. So you'll have to sit back down again until you can get up and she stays in her crate. Next is to break the Separation Anxiety. Have Lilly in her crate and you have to leave very briefly, then come right back. Start with 5 seconds tops. Just in and out of the bathroom where her crate is at. That will build her confidence that "you will return" and replace the association of you leaving with being isolated for long periods of time. The key to both methods here is that you leave only when their state of mind is calm, and build that confidence by coming right back. Ive met people who took their dogs to the vet for pills to treat their Separation Anxiety. One couple had a dog that started to get wound up when one went to the bathroom while we were in the waiting room. Dog started getting wound up. So I had them make fools of themselves by walking in and out of the bathroom for five minutes. Duration of bathroom visit was to walk in and walk out, like 5 seconds tops. The dog eventually got bored of going into that excited state every time they left their immediate sight. Their dog didnt need pills, just to be taught that leaving does not mean long periods of isolation.
"OMG! Youre leaving? Noooooo! Hey, wait, youre back, did you forget something? Youre leaving again? Where did you go? Oh, youre back already? Oh boy, not again, are you gonna come back? Yep, youre right there. What was that all about? Now where are you going? Oh wait, youre already back? Oh, I see, as soon as you leave you just come right back. Humans are crazy. Okay, this is boring. *sigh* Im just gonna lay here while you do your crazy human in and out crap." Once a variation of that goes thru a dogs mind, you can practice leaving for longer periods of time. Be very incremental about leaving. Very briefly at first, then add a few seconds each time. A lot of it is to only leave when the dog is in a relaxed state because leaving while they are in an excited state reinforces the Separation Anxiety. Thus, when Lilly is in her crate in the bathroom, only leave when she is as calm as you can get her, and only very briefly at first. Separation Anxiety can be caused by a lack of "Return Confidence". In and out for such brief periods of time is not normal behavior for us because we leave to do things, then return. Those brief periods of time while we do our human things is associated with isolation and with a lack of Return Confidence (where you return to them), they start to question if you are ever coming back. In and Out answers that question that "you will return" no matter what. All of that is pretty well amplified by being a puppy which means lack of context on which to build correct associations with, and dogs are pack animals who don't enjoy long periods of isolation with an unknown factor of "Return" factored in.
But yeah, crates in general I think is associative on human part with "cage", and may be better associated with "bed" when it is treated like a bed and not a prison.
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