How to stop crate barking?
Posted by peticulous | Under Dogs Friday May 15, 2009
We have an 18 week old hound mix who we are crate training. The night time crate we have is a plastic covered crate and he does OK (with fingers in the crate and multiple potty breaks during the night). The day time crate we are using is a large wire mesh crate, with a cover.
He won't stop barking while he's in the day crate...he's never been in it for longer than an hour and he just won't stop. We've tried covering it, we feed him in it, toss in treats and longer chewing treats and nothing has worked. The major issue isn't our sanity, it's the stress on our 9 year old hound.
I would prefer to not use a bark collar, given that he IS in a crate and he's still a little guy but we are at our wits end. In a previous thread, the Yapper Zapper was suggested (stream of water sprayed as a deterrent) and I can't find it anywhere online.
Two questions...1) Does anyone have a link for the yapper zapper? 2) Can anyone specifically suggest an anti-barking tool or product we can try?
Wow! Fast responses, thanks so much!! I should have been more descriptive in our behavior.
We are NOT giving treats or praise to stop barking, nor are we reinforcing the barking with letting him out (much).
My husband works from home, so letting him bark for hours on end isn't an option.
Oh, and we've tried using the night time crate, but that only works when one of us is there, fingers in the crate.
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Kansieo.com
can u use the night crate during the day? if he isnt in the crate for more than an hour, why crate him? just crate him at night. and never put him in his crate as punnishment
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If you are giving him treats and attention when he barks, you are reenforcing that behavior.
Kansieo.com
You’re rewarding his behavior right now. When my dog was a puppy, we trained her not to bark in her crate by completely ignoring her when she did it. She learned that as soon as she was quiet, she got attention and praise, treats, and usually got to come out and play (if we were available to watch her). She stopped barking within a month, and to this day does not bark in the house, and very rarely barks outside. She does not bark at other dogs, even when they bark at her, and she is the sweetest dog in the world! You might try ignoring before zapping, it’s a lot less expensive!! Good luck!
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You answered your own question: “We’ve tried covering it, we feed him in it, toss in treats and longer chewing treats and nothing has worked”
With all this attention when he’s barking no wonder he won’t stop. The way to get what you want is to either discipline or ignore unwanted behavior and reward wanted behavior.
When he’s barking you’re going to have to ignore him – no treats, no talking, no yelling, NOTHING – no interaction at all. When he’s quiet and behaving himself THATS the time to slip him treats, and toys, etc.
No need to zap or spray just yet.
Good Luck
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You shouldn’t be giving him treats to try to get him to stop barking, that just tells him that everytime he barks you will give him exactlly what he wants so just ignore him.But if that doesn’t work you can always get a shock collar. They will not severly harm your puppy just enough to where he will stop barking.They can be adjusted so that you know you’re not hurting him/her.They can be cheap depending on where you go.They have them at petsmart for about 20 dollars.
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My dog screamed and barked non stop for 2 straight weeks in his crate. Then he learned to love it and now he doesn’t make a fuss. I tell him to go in and he goes right in. I never had to use a bark collar or anything. You can never ever give him attention when he is barking. You have to wait until he is quiet.
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spray him with water in his face with a spray bottle when he does that. and say “Quiet” then after a while the word alone will work.
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well, its not quite as high tech as the ‘Yapper Zapper’ but we handle crate barking in a similar way. We just keep a spritz bottle near the crate. When the dog barks we walk over (no talking or affection) and spray the dog w/ water. Most dogs will not like this. (and if your dog is very stubborn it may take a while) But this method has worked on all of my dogs.
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Try leaving some music on (but not too loud). Make sure it’s a station you listen to often so that way it recognizes it.
(My Dogs used to bark a lot while we were gone, but leaving a country station on really helped.)
Also you could, try getting one of those toys that you place the treats in.