Crate Training

Crate training is a bit tedious, but definitely worth it. We learned with Tonka after 3 long nights of barking that he would do better in another room where he couldn't see us. With Africa, we learned after a long week of barking in another room that she would do better in our room with us in the crate. She has the peronality that she wants to be around us all of the time. I did have to put a blanket over the front so she couldn't see us get up and want out all through the night. After a week or so of lots of barking she has become quite comfortable in her crate. Everytime we want her to go in her crate we say "in your crate" and once she steps in we give her a treat. After a few weeks of this I can say "in your crate" without a visible treat and she well step in. This makes it easy to leave the house at anytime and not worry about the house being chewed up while we are not watching. It becomes a place for her to wind down and take a break from us as well. I do have to take her out in the middle of the night, but that becomes less and less. Dogs try their hardest to not have accidents in their crate. This is also a bonus with a crate. It definitely pays off. Also when we go on trips we can just take the crate and know that she feels comfortable even in a different place.

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