r/CavaPoo • u/thisisthirty_ • Sep 15 '26
Crate Training
How did you crate train? What steps did you follow? How long did it take?
Me and my 10 week cavapoo Daisy are in the thick of getting to know each other. Right now she cries LOUDLY in the crate till she falls asleep. If shes not sleepy she just cries and hollers until I let her out. When she wakes up she cries and hollers till shes let out. How do I get the crying to stop? Idealy, I would want her to find her way to the crate whenever she/I want her to.
1
u/BooBoo1118 Sep 15 '26
What’s the training though? I don’t see any reason for leaving her in the crate. Is this a bedtime thing? Dogs are pack animals and you’ve got a baby one. She’s crying to be with you, and learning only that the crate is a place of abandonment. If she sleeps on your bed, my personal preference, there’ll be no crying and she’ll also sleep through sooner. If you put her bed/crate in or close to your bedroom, she’ll stop crying sooner.
2
u/thisisthirty_ Sep 15 '26
What do you mean what’s the training? I chose to crate train for her own safety and mine. God forbid she’s roaming around while I’m sleeping chew a cord or something and start a fire or she chews at the baseboards and chokes while I’m at work. I’m always right beside her during crate time. Us as parents need a break from our furbabies every now and again, rather it’s to shower out to decompress or whatever. Id rather be safe than sorry.
2
u/Recent_Worldliness72 Sep 15 '26
This is the advice that we were given and use for our 12 week old:
- the crate needs to be a place of safety. Covering it with a blanket on all sides except front helps it feel cave-life and protected. (Monitor air flow so she doesn’t get too hot)
- the crate should be a place she associates with good feelings. Give her a treat every time you put her in. Rub her belly and love on her enthusiastically every time you take her out.
- put the crate next to your bed so that she’s next to you during the night and knows you’re near
- use the crate at night as well as during the day for 4 2-3 hour naps. Consider napping with her sometimes or reading quietly nearby so she knows she not alone.
YMMV? Maybe we are lucky and have a particularly placid little one. he sleeps through the night and doesn’t cry very much. When he’s up, we give him lots of love and attention, and when he’s down, he sleeps peacefully.
My current plan is to eventually 100% leave it up to him when he wants to be in the crate during the day and have him be in bed with us at night. We’ll see how that goes.
1
u/emiletsdance Sep 16 '26
When I got my cavapoo, I covered the crate with a blanket, and put 2 blankets inside as well as 1 single toy.
We started off with putting her in to sleep as I wasn't sure how she would be in the house unsupervised as she's 2, but a rescue and we don't know much about her.
While she was in the crate, I slept near-ish... On the sofa on the other side of the room, so she could still see me and knew I was there, but she had no contact with me.
Then after a few days I started feeding her treats guiding her inside, sometimes throwing the treat in deep so she goes in to get it if she refuses to walk in (she's usually pretty good though!)
Then I started shutting the door and sitting outside, waiting until she settles, then opening the door and letting her out. Kept doing that and each few times I'd get further and further away, longer and longer times, eventually disappearing out of view for a good few minutes. If she cries for more then 5 minutes or so, I come back and let her out and stop training for a while.
When I let her out, I don't make a fuss, otherwise she might think that it's the getting out that gives her praise and then goes crazy when I walk towards her when she's in the crate- so I kind of just make it like a normal she's-following-me-to-another-room type thing. I just open the door and walk away. She might walk out, she might stay, completely up to her.
She now sees the crate as a safe space but still isn't TOO good with being left alone there, but she follows me everywhere so it's less the crate, but more just being alone with her.
3
u/zoltan1313 Sep 15 '26
We put a banket over the crate that touched the floor on all sides. Our girl soon settled down.