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I’m just back from a weekend away. The dogs came too. They come with me whenever possible. Without blinking we went to dinner in the hotel and left the dogs alone (OK I left The Voice on the TV for them) without incident or bother, stress or concern.
Being alone is actively taught from the day puppy arrives at my home. It’s done sensitively, progressively and consistently. I DO NOT advocate leaving puppy to ‘cry it out’. Apart from breaking my heart, I know there is plenty of research on the potential damage this can do to the brain, to learning, to trust and social skills. I monitor vocalisation carefully for peaks then reduction. As puppy is learning to settle I’d expect some noise. I sit with puppy, in the pen if needed or outside the crate, reassuring verbally, fingers through the bars. If puppy is really struggling to settle, I often take puppy out to settle them on my knee before putting them back in again. However if I know it’s time for a nap, what I won’t do is change the schedule to time for a play. And nap time takes place in a crate or pen. We will persevere and make progress that way.
Shoving puppy into a crate and switching out all the lights because it’s bed time, having lavished second by second attention on him since his arrival is bound to cause upset. Here’s Jellybean exploring his pen within seconds of arriving at our house-I was pottering in and out unloading the van. There are so many things to entertain him, he’s hardly noticed there is a physical barrier between us. First exposure is positive, fun and something we can build on. Before bed that first night in his new home, he’d been in his pen and crate at least 10 times for varying periods, always with company and tasty food projects to concentrate on. Until we’ve worked through alone time during the day, my puppies sleep crated next to me, by the side of my bed.
I think it's safe to say he's made himself right at home!
Posted by Muttamorphosis Dog Training & Behaviour on Sunday, 19 June 2016
Choosing crate time when it’s likely puppy is ready for a sleep helps maximise chances of success. I sit beside the pen or crate for company and reassurance. This will also teach him first and foremost that the crate is only a physical barrier to start with not a social one. He can still have my company! Only when puppy is totally happy with this idea of settling behind a physical barrier (crate, pen, dog gate) with me staying around, would I start to leave the area for short, then longer periods of time. Now the crate/pen becomes a social barrier also. But puppy is asleep and settled, or busy playing with enrichment projects so he doesn’t care.
There are so many crate games you can play to build positive links to crates and pens that no puppy should ever struggle with the idea of alone time. Here’s a series of videos I created showing the real time process of getting voluntary in/out and even stay behaviour around the crate with a 10 week old puppy. The entire process took approx. 4 mins to train and we will continue to play these games in & around the crate for the first 6 months or so, even when puppy is happy to settle in a closed crate. Closing the door will be taught in a later session.
Crate Training! Step 1:10 week old puppy learning 'Into Bed' using the 'Run in/Run out!' game.
Crate Training Step 1: Initially puppy is clicked for following a food lure into his crate, but he's also clicked for running out of his crate to follow a food lure. A verbal marker would work just as well. No other verbal signals are given yet until puppy is happy and relaxed and knows the game. Please note both doors of the crate are open. This was because i wanted to give puppy maximum choice on how the session went-an escape route so to speak-until I was sure he was happy with the game.
Posted by Muttamorphosis Dog Training & Behaviour on Wednesday, 10 April 2019
Step 2: 10 week old puppy learning 'Into Bed' using shaping.
Crate Training Step 2: Progressing from the first session, the set up is exactly the same but I'm hoping that puppy will remember all the good stuff that happened in/around the crate during the first session. 33 seconds in, puppy shows forward movement into the crate so this is clicked and rewarded. The reinforcement zone (where the food is delivered) is inside the crate. Puppy is now clicked/rewarded multple times inside the crate-this is the beginning of staying in his crate until released. We also add the 'break' signal which means 'you can run out of your crate'. Note the reinforcement is much higher for staying in (more treats) than running out.
Posted by Muttamorphosis Dog Training & Behaviour on Wednesday, 10 April 2019
Step 3: 10 week old puppy learning 'into bed' using shaping.
Crate Training Step 3: Progressing from Step 2, I want puppy to offer more than just movement towards the crate. So front feet in would be great but that cute little enthusiastic hop right in is even better. Watch the beginning of me leaving longer gaps between feeding-already a reduction in feedback as puppy anticpates the next reward must be coming. Watch also the increase in distance both for puppy-running to his crate from afar-and for me-standing further away so I'm less part of the set up. More to follow!
Posted by Muttamorphosis Dog Training & Behaviour on Wednesday, 10 April 2019
When clients tell me quite proudly ‘he’s never left alone’ it concerns me. Being taught to be independent and ok about being on your own is a life skill which every puppy needs to learn. I need this to be possible so that my dogs can come more places with me and adapt to typical absences in my day to day human routine. But more importantly, they need it for their own mental health, to have a stress free time when left so that being without their humans isn’t a big deal at all. After all, we teach out kids to cope without us. Our dogs deserve the same at the very least.