Cage

How do i retrain a dog that has been used to his bed in his cage?

We have a 1 year old dog which we got from the dogs home the vet advised us to train him with a cage which we did and works great he very rarely does his business in his cage and sees it as his bed and will go in on his own when he is tired.We only lock it when we go out and then leave it open all of the rest of the time. Our problem is now that the cage is big and bulky and would like to get rid of it for space reasons and we have tried to go out and leave him out of the cage but he goes wild, the neighbours said he howls the place down and when we come home hes panting because he has been running from window to window and getting generally stressed. How do we get him to use a normal bed during the day and be calm so we can get rid of his cage for space reasons.

Public Comments

1. Before you leave the house feed him and then take him on a 45 min walk to tire him out and so he can do his business! He will be so tired and satisfied he won't care that your gone and will most likely sleep the whole time! Make sure he has some way to go potty either a doggy door or newspaper! Good Luck!
2. Try putting a normal bed inside his cage for a week or two, and then move it to a cubby hole place like in a calm corner, or under a table. His cage has become his "den". When you go out, he will still have a "safe" place to be.
3. We had a similar problem with one of our dogs. Two things helped: (1) Removing the mattress and all of his toys from the cage and placing the items around / nearby the closed cage initially, then gradually placing the items further and further away from the cage. For a couple of weeks, we left the cage within his sight ... but always closed. Around the 3rd week, he stopped showing an interest in the cage and we removed it from his sight without any problems. (2) Taking him on fast, trotting walks to tire him out before we left for anywhere ... initially, leaving him for only 10 minutes, then 20 and so on until we worked the increments away from home up to several hours. We finally hit the success mark at 3 hours ... thereafter, we never had any more problems. The trick, we discovered, was to make sure that we got him good and tired before we left him alone. ' Hope this helps ... good luck !
4. my dog is nearly 3 now and still sleeps in her cage , they feel secure , i have an under stairs cuboard ive slid it in there and taken the door off , it would be like taking your bed off you and making you sleep in the room without it , if you didnt have the space then you shouldnt have had the dog
5. Start by not forcing the change of routine, take it SLOW. If it is a wire kennel, start by removing the floor and just leaving the top and sides. then remove the top, the side that is NOT against a wall or door, the back piece, then end with the piece that is against the wall, or wherever. If you are trying to get him used to a kennel style enclosure outside, start by placing his "indoor" kennel in his new area and let him get used to it on his own. Sounds like he is just really stressing out, by not being in the house and in his kennel. Take your time and have LOTS of patience, he sill soon realize that being outside while you are gone is OK, and he still has his bed, just not the box around it.
6. If the cage is way to big, put a cardboard box with a dog door cut into it, inside the cage. Let the dog use that for a week. Then take it out of the cage. Move it to where you want the dog to sleep. Some where secure where the dog will feel safe after the the box is gone. gradually cut windows and enlage the door, until there is very little of the box left.
7. He is freaking out because he views the crate as his den and when he can't find it he gets very nervous. keep the crate. how would you feel is someone took your bed away from you that you had for a year????