Hi everyone,

We've had our 11 week old beagle pup for a week now, and while she really is very good overnight (holding her bladder most nights for 7-8 hours), I'm not having great success with the crate.

We received the crate on Friday and she isn't scared to go in and get toys and treats, or when there are a lot of people around she will go in to retreat from the chaos. What I haven't been able to achieve is closing the door while she is awake in the crate. She will be playing quite happily, but when I close the gate she will start fretting, all the while I stay in the room. She also doesn't seem to go in there when it's just me and her, or me + OH and her.

My questions are:
1. Should I just keep giving her treats until she is happy for the door to be closed?
2. Or, should I try putting her in there and let her whine until she settles?

Any advice on the actual process of crate training would be really appreciated as I'm growing tired of being tied to the sofa when she wants to sleep!

IMO letting a dog cry in their crate is only creating a negative association to the crate and you are trying to achieve a positive one. Although I know many who would recommend just letting your puppy have a little cry as they may eventually settle.


What you need to do is close the door and immediately give her a treat through the bars. Then open it again and give her a stroke. Then repeat this until she's ok with the door being closed and immediately opened.

Then close the door and count to 2. Treat. Open.

Once happy with 2 seconds increase the time in little increments. But never go faster than your puppy is comfortable with or you'll have to go back to square one. Try the close, treat, open immediately for the first few days several times a day before moving on to 2 seconds. The idea is that you're desensitising your puppy to the door being closed and showing that it's a good thing not a bad thing.


This is what i did with my beagle puppy at 12 weeks old and he's fine to stay in his crate now with the door closed.

Hi Just copied this from another post I had responded too.

HI everyone
this si the first time for me posting on the Dog Forum as I am nomrally on the Cat one yapping on about my two cats. But this weekend we have just had a new addition a little CAirn Terrier who is gorgous.

Only on fourth day but right from day one we got him used to his crate and cruel as it may sound we left him cry and just ignored him. This wasn't for long periods but we worked on the same basis as when you have a new baby and when our little boy was still a abay we done the controlled crying and was always very strict with his bedtime routine etc. He is now 7 and I have to say has always been great going to bed and doesn't really wake up at night unless he is ill. I have a lot fo friends who have so many problems with their children of the same age in going to bed and also during the nights etc.

Now I know I am waffling on about kids but I just look at it that our new puppy is just a baby and by being a little cruel letting him cry now will at the end of the day be better for us and better for him as he will have a routine and know that his crate is for resting and then when he comes out it's playtime/dinner time etc.

Like I said we are only on day 4 but he is doing just great. He does wake up in the night when he's had a number two so I go and clean up and he then goes back to sleep, just like having anew baby!!! LOL

I am lucky that he comes to work with me and at the moment, after his busy morning of play, then school run he is now fast asleep in his crate. Yesterday was the first day at work and he slept, woke up and played, took him for a walk around the warehouse, food and then went of back to sleep. We done this a few times during the day and he seems to be enjoying it here.

Well enough of me waffling but it is so exciting having him I can't help myself!

I am having the same issue and confusion, Our girl will go on her crate when its time for a sleep and let me close the door but as soon as i move away from the crate she cries. She sleeps at night and wakes for a wee and poo but i have to sit by her crate untill she is asleep, Is this normal for a young pup.

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With Bert, I waited for him to stop whining and then let him out. I feel that if you respond to the whining by letting them out they soon learn that if they make a noise you will open the door. I just put him in for 5 minutes to start with, the moment he was silent I let him out, then 10 minutes etc. He now uses one as his day bed, his night bed and in the car. I also gave him a stuffed kong when I first put him in to take the emphasis off the crate and associate it with happy stuff.

Having you near isn't part of crate training, it sounds as if it's part of separation anxiety which is a separate issue in need of separate training. Don't do all your separation training around the crate, or you'll be risking undoing your crate training.

Thanks for the advice - I've been working on this but seems she only wants to go in for the food. As soon as she's finished the treat she sits there asking for another. How often do I feed her the treats through the crate?

Any estimate on how long it should take before she will comfortable in there with the door closed?

Even though she's only sat good coz she's expecting a treat, its creating a positive association. She's being praised for sitting calmly with the door closed. Close the door, wait a few seconds, open the door. close the door, wait a few seconds, open the door.

If your dog is sat good waiting for a treat without getting distressed, then you can lengthen the amount of time before giving her the treat.

I did sessions like this for a few days and then Charlie was more than happy to lie in his crate (when he chose to) and let me close the door. Suddenly me closing the door on him didn't create any panic because of the positive association.

When your dog goes in spontaneously, close the door. If they get distressed, do a treat training and open the door again. If not then great.

You need to make this a nice experience for your puppy/dog. When you put the pup into the crate give them a kong or something similar to distract them. Kongs are great as you can put all sorts of tasty things in them, including natural yogurt, fruit, vegetables, these can also be frozen which will keep you pup/dog occupied for longer. Put something in the crate for them to lay on and have things available for them to chew on - nylon bones etc. you can also put something in there that belongs to you that has your scent on it - an old jumper etc. You can cover the crate at night which will make the pup/dog feel more secure. Don't go over to the dog when it starts to show signs of stress - barking whining yapping etc as this is attention seeking. Just ignore it and when it is quiet even if it is just for a few seconds praise it either by voice command or by giving it a treat quickly this needs to be done within 5 seconds or it will forget what you are praising it for and it may bark again and you could end up by inadvertantly praising it for barking.

Do I only give her treats once I've opened the door (when she has sat quietly)? Because she'll sit there all day no problem if I keep feeding her treats through the cage, but obviously that's not what I want her to learn in the long-run.

Thanks for the advice - I'll keep persevering and see how we go!