A common question that we get from puppy owners is how to stop their dog from barking in their crate. Lots of people take the silent treatment approach where they just tried to ignore their dog. But in a lot of cases, this isn't enough information for your dog to understand what you want from them.
So if you've tried doing nothing and that's not working and it's time to do something about it, I'm Ken Steepe and welcome back to McCann dogs at McCann Dogs. We've helped more than 90,000 dog owners to overcome their dog training challenges. So if this is your first time on the youtube channel, make sure you hit that subscribe button so that I can help you to have a well behaved four legged family member using a crate as a regular part of raising a puppy.
It's a great management tool. Then it allows you to speed up your house training and allows you to have your puppy in a safe place when you aren't able to supervise them in. Dogs are actually denning creatures in that crate is meant to represent a a den like structure, introduced properly.
A crate can be a really safe haven for your dog in training and the real challenge comes when your dog is barking in their barking insistently and it's something that is so frustrating that it makes you not want to use your crate, but there may be a few things that you are actually doing that's encouraging that barking and those are the first things that we need to talk about using your crate at different times during the day. It's going to be a really helpful tool in teaching your puppy that their crate is a safe and comfortable place. The last thing you want is for your dog to think that the only time they go in their crate is when you're going to bed overnight or when you're going to leave your home.
So moving your create around your house, using it for just a few minutes at a time can be really helpful. Maybe while you're preparing dinner or you know, while you're distracted doing something else, that's a great time to pop your dog into their crate for a short period of time. That way you're also there to work through, uh, you know, if they do start to make some noise or you're there to support them with your voice, tell him what a great job they're doing at being quiet, but make sure you're not only using it when you leave your home, for example.
We really want them to know that at any time during the day, at any location in the house, their crate is a safe and comfortable place to be. Make sure you're not making a really big deal of letting your puppy out of their crate. Now, I can totally appreciate that.
Uh, wait. Maybe you get home after work. Your dog's really excited to see you.
You're really excited to see them, but you've gotta be really cautious if you're trying to work through getting your dog to relax a little bit more in their crate and you're trying to stop them from barking. You don't want to teach them that. The more excited they get, the louder they get, the more noise they make, the more they're rewarded by releasing them from that.
You need to be a little bit more formal about it. There will be an opportunity for you to take them outside and play and do all those great things. But as you, are you really trying to pair the idea that being in their is a relaxing, calming, soothing experience, especially if you're trying to troubleshoot some of their barking and uh, you know, if you were to immediately opened the door and have a big play session and have, you know, uh, lots of fun, then you're quickly associating the idea that getting out of that crate is a everything.
That's great. So really be cautious about how you approach the crate. You let them out, just pop your house line or your leash on.
Then you can take them outside and uh, you know, have lots of fun and play while you're trying to teach them to be quiet in there. If you feel like you're struggling with your dog getting used to their crate, then you may want to have a distraction in there when they first go in. Again, we're going to try to be using our credo over different, at different points over the course of the day, but you know, popping them in their crate with an appropriate chew toy or maybe a Kong with some food in it or something similar.
We'll give you that little bit of time that they're distracted. They're not thinking about the fact that they're in their crate, their thinking that when they go in their crate it's, there's something of great value in there with them. So, again, coupling that with using that crate a at different points during the day can be a really great way to sort of build longevity into their being comfortable and relaxing in their crate.
Insist on your dog being quiet before you let them out of their crate. Dogs are quick learners and if they are bar, if them barking means that you're going to come and let them out of their crate just to stop the barking. Then it's going to quickly learn that all they need to do to get out is to bark.
Now we've been talking a little bit about some proactive steps for you to eliminate that barking in the crepe behavior, but let's talk about three reactive steps that you can use to teach your puppy that our dog, that a barking in the crate isn't allowed. Barking is a pretty naturally rewarding behavior for dogs. It feels good, so we really need to help them to know at what point they're making the mistake using your voice first.
So at the moment that they bark, you can use something like an [inaudible] or a hay to let them know at precisely what moment they've made. A mistake can be really helpful. Quiet.
(Negative Verbal Reprimand) What's a lot of dogs? They'll pause for a moment and wonder what was that noise? You know, what was that all about?
And check in with you. It's at that time you're able to praise them. Good quiet.
That's much better and really support them as they are being quiet. Girl. Good, quiet, very good curl.
If that doesn't work, then we need to move on to the next step. I talked a little bit earlier about moving the crate around with you in your home and using it for short periods during the day. Now, not only does this give you a great opportunity to support your dog, praise your dog for making great choices for being quiet in there, but it also puts you in a great position to be able to work through and troubleshoot some of these issues.
For those dogs who don't respond to the voice, who don't respond to that, I I sound, then maybe knocking on the top of the crate can be really helpful. It's a little sharper sound in. You're much more likely to get a dog who stops in the middle of their barking in the middle of their, you know what's going on to investigate that sound "Quiet" at that point, you're going to pour on the praise.
Good, quiet, good job. Now, I don't want you to be rewarded with food. You're just going to simply praise your dog.
You don't want to be teaching your dog that if they make noise, you're going to come over, knock in the crate and then feed them. So just tell them what a great job they're doing. Very good, quiet as you maintain some of that quiet behavior.
As we talked a little a little bit earlier, you know those 10 minutes a day, those few minutes as you're moving around at different locations in your house are so helpful because this allows you to work on this skill, you know, a few minutes at a time. Really, really powerful stuff to teach your puppy to be calm in their crate. Now what if your dog only barks when you're out of the room?
And this is something that I actually struggled with with a Labrador retriever, but you want to have that same great timing to mark the moment that they're making the mistake mark the moment that they're barking as well as support them with your voice when they are quiet. So Alicia or along like to be a really helpful tool in this. And what I did is attached to leash and a long line around the corner, uh, with the dog in their crate when she'd bark, I'd rattle the clip of the leash on the side of the crate.
She'd wonder what on earth that sound was. She check it out. And it was at that point that I was able to, uh, you know, praise or support or let her know that she was making a great choice by being quiet.
But you do need to set your dog up for this one. So set aside a little bit of time and work on it. You might have your leash or long line around a corner, maybe it's at the end of a hallway.
Whatever it is, it allows you to have that great timing and that's really what you need to focus on. The moment they bark, you rattle that, uh, the leash. And when they check out that sound, good quiet way to go.
If you're looking for some techniques to teach your dog to love being in their crate, then check out that video right there. And if this is your first time on the channel, then make sure you hit that subscribe button. We publish new videos every single week to help you to have a well behaved four legged family member.
On that note, I'm Ken. Happy training.
