How to Crate Train a Rescue Dog

Having a dog that can happily sleep in a crate can be very useful, especially if that dog would otherwise be chewing up the couch cushions in the house while you’re away. Crates are also great for travel (the safest way to transport a dog in a vehicle is inside a crate), and some dogs find them to be a nice escape when they’re feeling overwhelmed.

Whatever your reason for crate training, know that almost any dog, even a rescue dog, can learn to rest calmly in a crate. In this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about crate training, including which dogs should avoid it, how to do it, and how to confine your dog in the meantime.

Is Crate Training Right for Your Dog?

Before we go about teaching you how to crate train your rescue pup, we’d like to discuss whether or not crate training is the right option for you and your dog. When it comes to rescue dogs, you won’t always have a detailed record of their past.

However, you should find out whatever you can about the dog’s history, especially in regards to crate training. Be sure to ask the shelter what they know. If your dog comes from a rescue group that uses a foster system, find out if the foster ever crated the dog or if the dog showed any signs of separation anxiety.

When Is Crate Training Good?

If the rescue dog is a young, energetic dog or even a puppy, then sometimes a crate can be useful for management while you’re away. Many dogs love to chew, but it can take time for them to learn appropriate chewing habits, especially if their past owners let them develop bad habits.

Using a crate can keep them from destroying your shoes or pillows and will also protect them from eating things that can cause them harm. Crates are a great way to keep both your house and your dog safe.

Crate training is great for helping potty train dogs and can provide them with a space of their own to escape to during times of stress. If your rescue dog does not have a history of prolonged confinement and is not suffering from any behavioral issues, then crate training may be a worthwhile endeavor.

When Shouldn’t You Crate Train a Rescue Dog?

Unfortunately, crate training isn’t right for every dog. If your dog has behavioral issues, sometimes crate training can make them worse or even be downright dangerous. Dogs that have intense separation anxiety may even wound themselves trying to escape from a crate.

Similarly, dogs that have suffered neglect in the past may have been left in their crates for inhumane periods of time. These dogs will find the crate a sincerely stressful or even terrifying place to be.

If you know your rescue dog has any similar issue, you may want to forego crate training. If you still hope to get your dog to warm up to a crate, you will have to first work on removing the fear and negative associations the dog has with the crate. Though, our article will not be addressing this type of crate training.

How To Ruin Crate Training: Pitfalls To Avoid

We know you’re probably eager to get into the actual training methods, but we can’t stress enough how important it is to avoid the most common pitfalls of crate training. Doing these things can actually put your dog off the crate and set you up for failure instead of success!

So what are these common pitfalls?

1. Forcing your dog into the crate before they are ready
2. Using the crate as a punishment
3. Only crating your dog when you leave

If you want your dog to lay happily in their crate while you’re away, then you need to make the crate a positive environment for them. Many dogs are timid or unsure about the crate at first, so forcing them into it before they’re ready can cause a lot of fear.

Similarly, punishing the dog by putting them into the crate will cause them to create negative associations with it. This can turn the crate into a space that your rescue dog would prefer to avoid.

Finally, if you only ever crate your dog when you’re leaving the house, they will quickly catch on. Dogs are very social creatures that form strong attachments to their human companions, so if the crate becomes associated with you going away, they may become unwilling to enter because they don’t want you to leave without them.

Make sure to occasionally crate your dog while you are home, even if it’s only for 10-20 minutes. Having your dog chew on a kong or enjoy their dinner in their crate from time to time can be a great way to avoid the situation we just mentioned.

How To Crate Train Your Rescue Dog

Now that you have a better sense of whether or not crate training is right for your rescue dog and know which mistakes to avoid, let’s talk about how to actually do it. The method we will be sharing today can be used for any dog, regardless of their age.

Step 1: Introduce the Crate

Some dogs have never even seen a crate before, so it’s important to introduce it in a positive way. Call your dog (or lure them with a treat) to the crate. Let them sniff it and reward them for doing so.

You can also throw treats in and around the crate. Hopefully, your dog will be willing to go into it to get the treats. If not, this could be a result of negative exposure to a crate in your dog’s past. However, it could also simply be the dog exercising caution toward an unfamiliar object.

Puppies tend to be more curious and less fearful of new objects, but adult dogs who are long out of their socialization period can often find unfamiliar objects to be suspicious or intimidating. If your dog seems intimidated, take things slow.

Give them treats near the crate and work your way up to having them step into it to get a treat. Eventually, your dog will understand that the crate is nothing to be afraid of and is, on the contrary, tied to yummy rewards.

Step 2: Feed Your Dog Their Meals in the Crate

As long as your dog is not fearful of the crate, you can feed them their meals inside it. This will get them used to being in the crate and will help create a positive association that you as an owner are looking to achieve.

If your rescue dog is too afraid to enter the crate, try feeding them as close to it as you can. Move their food bowl closer and closer until, eventually, they’re eating inside the crate.

Once your dog is comfortable eating inside the crate, you can try closing the door while they eat. At first, you should open it immediately after they’re finished. If your dog doesn’t seem bothered by this, try keeping the door shut for 30 seconds after they’ve finished, then a minute. Try to work your way up to 10 minutes if you can.

If your rescue dog is still a puppy or otherwise has issues holding their bowels, then you may want to skip this step as it is natural for some dogs to need to use the bathroom after eating. You can still close the door while they eat, but we wouldn’t recommend keeping them in the crate if you know they will need to go potty.

Step 3: Practice Confinement

Now that your dog is well-acquainted with the crate and has built positive associations with it, it’s time to practice confining them.

You’ll have far more success with this if you do it when your dog is tired rather than full of energy. So, make sure they’ve had a long walk or a good session of fetch before attempting to confine them in their crate.

All you have to do is lure your dog into their crate with a treat. As they go in, you can say “crate” so that they eventually learn to go in on cue. If you’d like, you can ask them to lay down. Close the door and stay in the room.

Don’t expect too much from your dog right away. At first, you may not want to lock them in for more than 5 to 10 minutes. If your dog successfully stays calm and quiet in the crate, you can increase the amount of time. Be sure to reward desirable behavior.

Make sure to practice leaving the room, as your dog will need to get used to staying in the crate alone. If your dog barks when you leave, you have to ignore them. Do not return until they are quiet. Otherwise, they will learn that barking gets them what they want, and they will do it more often.

Step 4: Crate Your Dog While You’re Away (and Overnight)

Once your rescue dog is comfortable spending time in their crate while you’re at home, it’s time to leave. At first, you should only leave for short periods of time. You may simply leave, stand around outside for a few minutes, and return.

We wouldn’t recommend going away for more than 30 minutes in the beginning. You want to slowly ease your dog into being alone in the crate when you’re not home. If you want to know if your dog is calm while you’re gone, you can either buy a camera or just stand outside quietly and listen for barking or other signs of distress.

If your dog is having any issues, you may need to go back a step in your training. You can also try leaving them with a chew that is safe (don’t leave anything in the crate that they could choke on). Freezing goodies into a Kong toy can be a great way to keep dogs busy in their crate.

If you’re interested in crating your rescue dog overnight, this is also the point at which you could try that. Sometimes, it can help if you keep the crate in your room until the dog gets comfortable sleeping in it overnight. Then, day by day, you can move the crate a little closer to its final destination.

Other Tips for Successful Crate Training

Some dogs do not take to the crate easily, so you need all the help you can get to make the training successful. Here are some tips that may help.

Make the Crate Comfortable

You would struggle to fall asleep in a bed that you find uncomfortable, so why shouldn’t the same be true for your rescue dog? Figure out if your dog is the type to enjoy laying on dog beds, blankets, carpets, or hard surfaces, and try to make the interior of the crate match.

Another huge aspect of comfort is the size of the crate. A crate that is too small will be like a punishment for your dog, which is not what we want. An appropriately-sized crate is big enough for your dog to stand at their full height and easily turn around in.

It’s usually okay if a crate is a bit too big for a dog, but not vice versa. However, if your rescue has potty training issues or is still a puppy, then you must make sure the crate is not too big.

In this instance, the dog could relieve themselves at one end of the crate and sleep at the other. As you can see, the sizing of the crate is quite important.

Leave Surprises in the Crate

Something fun you can do for your dog that will help the crate become a space they want to be in is to leave surprises in it. The most common option is to just leave treats in there randomly.

Eventually, your dog will catch on that sometimes the crate has goodies, and they will want to go in there to look for them. Similarly, if you buy your dog a new toy, try putting it in the crate for them to find later.

Special Treats or Toys

Another way to build a positive association with the crate is to give your dog special treats or toys they can only have while inside it. Make sure this is something your dog absolutely adores.

For instance, maybe your dog loves bully sticks. You can then give them a bully stick and close the door in the crate. The only time your dog ever gets to have bully sticks is when they are in their crate.

Whatever special treat or toy you decide to make crate-exclusive, be sure to monitor your dog and only give it while you are home if it is something that could possibly be a choking hazard.

What To Do Until Your Dog is Crate Trained

You can certainly understand by now that crate training is a process, and, for most dogs, you will not see success overnight. Many people work part-time or full-time jobs, which can make crate training feel difficult.

You may be thinking, “I’m not supposed to leave my dog in the crate before they’re ready, but I can’t leave them free in my home. What am I supposed to do?!” This is a very valid question, one that many dog owners have dealt with. We’d like to offer some possible solutions to this problem.

Pet Sitter or Doggy Daycare

If you have the means, you could hire a pet sitter or send your dog to doggy daycare. Either one of these options will ensure that your dog is supervised and unable to cause havoc in your house while you are away. Similarly, if you have a family member who is able to watch your dog until you’ve crate trained them, this is another option.

Dog Pen

There are many companies that make dog pens. These are small enclosures that can be used indoors. Just make sure that whatever dog pen you purchase has high enough sides and is sturdy enough that your dog cannot get out.

Dog-Proofed Room

If you have any small rooms in your house, you may be able to dog-proof them and keep your dog in that room. Similarly, you can use baby gates to turn a section of your house into a dog-proofed area.

This space simply needs to be free of anything the dog could destroy or ingest. If your dog has potty-training issues, you could use an area of your home that has hard floors or put down puppy pads.

Confined but Content

Crate training can be very useful. It can keep your dog safe from ingesting anything harmful while you’re away and also keep your house safe from your dog’s teeth.

If you ever just need some time to yourself, putting your dog in their crate for a nap is one way to get it. Crates can also be a comfortable place for dogs to sleep or a place to escape to during stressful events like parties.

Any dog can be trained to use a crate, including rescue dogs. Not all dogs will take to the crate right away, though. Some dogs will take time to get used to it. However, if you’re patient and consistent with your training, you’ll eventually have a dog that can be content while confined in their crate.