> side! who could ask for anything more? I do appreciate all the
suggestions I have gotten and will continue to try them. I do want
Max to get used to the crate, if not for at night, then at least for
sometimes during the day...as he is too little to just run around
unsupervised.
Jeanette
Let me confess preliminarily that I've never crated my chihuahuas except
when they're in the car -- I've got an enclosed car seat for them, which
they love. There have been a couple times at conventions when we've been in
a busy, crowded room and I've set up a portable playpen for them, but even
then most of the time they're either in their stroller or my tummy pack.
Luna came to me at 9 mos already pee pad trained, but when I was training
Chiclet, I used a baby gate across the door of a small, tile-floored
bathroom when I couldn't be watching her (my whole technique for pee pad
training, which worked *wonderfully*, is in the files section of the group's
homepage, called Housebreaking.txt or something of the sort). So my girls
have never been confined to a crate except during car rides. You might
consider the baby gate technique for Max -- surely there's some room in your
house he can be trusted in.
I have very little success in the "battle of wills" method of training my
chis to do anything. My trainer taught me it's always better to use clever
psychology and positive reinforcement than force on a chihuahua. Still, Max
should be able to learn to use his crate, and there's no reason he can't use
it as his private retreat every day when he wants. I would make teaching
him to use the crate, however, a separate issue from sleeping with you.
What I would try with Max is make him up a super comfy bed inside, maybe a
foam cushion or something, or just lots of layers of soft towel. I would
start giving him his treats in the crate -- toss the treat in so he has to
run inside to get it, but don't shut the door. Ditto his food. Put a
favorite toy in the crate for him to play with, and praise and reward Max
when he goes inside, and praise and reward him MORE when he stays for any
period, i.e. takes a nap in there.
Very important -- create a phrase he associates with his crate, i.e. "Go in
your crate, Max." Say the phrase *every* time he goes in there (that you
see), and when you reward him for it, say "GOOD go in your crate, Max."
This is setting up for in the future when you want to be able to tell him to
enter his crate -- you want the command to have happy associations.
Anne
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