What happens after the 1-minute mark?

Once my dog can stay in their crate for a minute without getting up, I introduce a different kind of reinforcer: a long-lasting chew such as a frozen Kong or a bone. At the 1-minute mark, my crate (or mat) training starts to look very different from building a duration stay for obedience. Once my dog has understood the concept of staying put, I’ll add relaxation to the picture.

Introducing a chew in the crate

• Get a good book or your laptop – you’ll need it to entertain yourself! You’ll also need the timer app on your phone.
• Send your dog into their crate. Mark and feed in position.
• Give them a long-lasting chew such as a frozen Kong, bone, bully stick etc.
• Set your timer to intervals between 1 and 3 minutes – you can randomize these or take turns feeding after 1, 2 and 3 minutes respectively.
• Hang out near your dog, who should be enjoying their long-lasting chew. Read your book, watch a movie or play on your laptop! Feel free to talk to your dog anytime you feel like it.
• Every time your timer goes off, feed a treat.
• End the session after 15 minutes by trading the chew for treats. Release your dog.

Phoebe demonstrates this step on a mat. For crate training, just imagine the mat were a crate with the door open. You don’t have to watch the entire video – it’s long and boring, just like relaxing in a crate or on a mat should be for the observer! However, check out the last 30 seconds of this video: Phoebe doesn’t want to leave her mat! That’s the kind of association we want to build to mats and crates!

Transitioning to using your crate in real life

Congratulations! Once you get to this point, you’ve already conquered the most difficult part of crate training! There’s a few tricks that will help you transition from these structured training session to relaxation for longer periods of time, when you’re not sitting next to your dog and with the door closed.

Removing yourself from the picture

Do exactly what you did in the previous step: offer a Kong or bone to your dog and set your timer of your phone to random intervals. The door to the crate should still be open at this stage.

• With your dog relaxing and chewing in the crate, move around the room, engaging in tasks such as cleaning, doing the dishes or organizing your bookshelf.
• Every time your timer goes off, return to your dog and feed a treat.
• End the session after 15 minutes by trading the chew for treats. Release your dog.

What if your dog gets up and comes out?

No big deal. Trade the Kong or other chew for food if they brought it out as well, send them back into the crate and return the chew. If they keeps leaving, go back to the previous step (sitting near the crate rather than moving around the room) for another session. You can also ziptie your chew to the back of the crate so your dog can’t carry it outside!

Closing the door

• Set up just like you did in the previous step.
• At this point, your dog should be so comfortable staying in the crate that you can close the door after handing them the Kong without making a big deal out of it. Close it!
• Set your timer to intervals between 1 and 3 minutes.
• Move around the room doing chores.
• Every time your timer goes off, return to your dog and feed a treat.
• End the session after 15 minutes by trading the chew for treats. Release your dog.

Removing yourself from the room

• Set up just like you did in the previous step.
• Give your dog a chew.
• Close the crate.
• Set your timer to intervals between 1 and 3 minutes.
• Go about your business in your house – both in the room with your dog and outside the room.
• Every time the timer goes off, return to your dog and feed a treat.
• End the session after 15 minutes by trading the chew for treats. Release your dog.

Extending the time between bonus treats

• Set up like before: Kong, closed door.
• Set your timer to intervals between 5 and 7 minutes.
• Go about your business in your house – both in the room with your dog and outside the room.
• Every time your timer goes off, return to your dog and feed a treat.
• End the session after 15 minutes by trading the chew for treats. Release your dog.

Staying relaxed – even after finishing the Kong or bone

• Set up like before: Kong, closed door.
• Set your timer to intervals between 5 and 7 minutes.
• Go about your business in your house – both in and outside the room with your dog.
• Every time your timer goes off, return to your dog and feed a treat.
• New element: from now on, keep going for 5 additional minutes in every future session – even if this means your dog finishes their chew and has nothing left to do! Build up to the crate duration you are aiming for this way!
• Keep feeding the interval treats even after your dog has finished the chew.

Fading the interval treats

• Once your dog relaxes in their crate even after finishing the chew, you should be able to stop feeding interval treats. Personally, I like keeping a treat bowl on top of the crate. I’ll just drop one in every once in a while for the rest of my dog’s life.

Fading the chew

• From session to session, choose smaller and smaller bones or Kongs with less filling – until all you you need to do is feed your dog one treat when they first go into the crate.
• Keep feeding Kongs or other chew delicacies in the crate every once in a while to keep up positive associations with the crate! Anytime I leave my own dogs in their crates for a longer time, they’ll get something special to chew on.

You’re ready: start using the crate in real life!

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All parts of the crate training tutorial:

Part 1: https://chrissisdogtraining.com/crate-expectations-part-1-shaping-interactions-with-a-new-crate/
Part 2: https://chrissisdogtraining.com/crate-expectations-part-2-lying-down-in-the-crate-and-starting-to-build-duration/
Part 3: https://chrissisdogtraining.com/crate-expectations-part-3-adding-a-cue-and-extending-duration/
Part 4: https://chrissisdogtraining.com/crate-expectations-part-4-building-relaxation/