From: liza@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Liza Miller)
Subject: Re: Dog Cages???
Organization: Stanford Univ. Earth Sciences
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 18:13:25 GMT

In article <1992Sep2.184224.1700@ucbeh.san.uc.edu> maurercj@ucbeh.san.uc.edu writes:
>  Recently I was given a cage for my dog, I thought it would be a 
>good idea to have one for traveling being my SO is planning on getting 
>a truck.  However, as I set the cage up, Sekmhet (my dog) sat there and 
>watched me, she didn't seem to thrilled so, when I was finnished I 
>motioned for her to get on in and try it out.  She looked at it and then 
>hung her head, I tryed again (real cheerful) and she put one paw in took 
>it out real fast hung her head and made a "wimpering" sound then layed 
>down on the floor and looked at me with that "sad puppy" look.  I thought 
>she would love it after reading how many other dog owners on the net say 
>their dogs love the cages.  What is wrong here?  I feel real badly about 
>it (she gave me a seriously sad look)?  Can anyone give me any ideas on
>why she reacted this way?  She still wont go anywhere near the cage.
>
>Thanks,
> Cathy

	Cathy, you can't expect your dog to just leap happily into a new
situation without some training.  There are some steps that you must take
before you can expect Sekmhet to be happy about her crate.

First of all, store her toys in her crate.  When you tidy up the dog toys,
toss them in the open crate -- she'll have to go in there to get them.  

Secondly, feed her in her crate.  Start off for a couple of days with just
putting the food dish near the crate to feed her.  Then a couple of days
with the dish just inside the crate.  Then move it to the middle of the
crate, then to the back.  Then, when she is comfortable with going into
her crate to eat, move to the next step.

Feed her in the crate, but when she is in there, close the door until she
is done eating.  As soon as she is finished eating, you open the door and
let her out.  Again, do each step for a couple of days, or until she is
comfortable with each step.  Then move on to keeping her in there for
longer and longer periods of time.

Eventually, you will want to put her in there at times other than when she
is being fed.  I would start off by tossing a dog cookie in there with the
command "kennel" (or whatever word you want to use).  When she goes in,
praise her and tell her how good she is.  Build up the time you leave her
in there slowly until she is comfortable for long periods of time.  

You should not allow her to bark in her crate unless she needs to go out to
relieve herself -- just making noise to let you know that she's not happy
there is not acceptable.

The counterpart to that rule is that if she does bark, you must let her
out.  If she didn't have to go, then rekennel her and correct her for
further barking.

Since your goal was mainly to use this for travelling in the back of a
truck, it is important that she be comfortable with being in the crate.
Travelling with a dog loose in the back of truck is dangerous and stupid.

I hope this helps you out.  Please be patient with your dog and fully
explain (via training) to her what you want.  She's not psychic!

Cheers,

--
Liza Lee Miller         My dogs are labradorable!     liza@pangea.stanford.edu
Cibola Labradors            Field * Show * Fun                    415/326-5309
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