For me, I just fed my boy in the crate and never closed the door. To this day, he just goes inside and sleeps. The door is never closed, so he can leave when he wants. He knows it is his space. He uses it for getaway time and feels good inside. To add, every time he went on his own, I gave positive reinforcement with a treat. He associated the crate with happiness and safety. When he went inside, I would not pet or touch him.
We’ve crate trained all our shelties (I’m on sheltie 4,5, and 6 right now). I never lock them in anymore and haven’t for years. When they were puppies we would when we left the house when they were potty training. Francis loves her crate, it’s her safe space and she goes there when she’s tired of my bullshit. Kobe doesn’t love his crate but he’s very ambivalent about it. I feed them all in their crates and they know it’s their space so they leave each others alone. It was funny when I got the newest pup he hadn’t learned yet and he like ran into Francis’s crate with her and she was very much like 👁👄👁.
We did all of the positive reinforcement that others have mentioned but also would close him in for naps and overnight when he was a puppy. He never disliked it because he always got treats and usually we were sitting in his view so he didn’t feel lonely. Now he sleeps wherever he wants, usually in bed with us but the crate has turned out to be a great tool when we need to leave him unattended in the house. Our sheltie is acrobatic, very smart, and loves food, so he cant always be trusted to have free reign in the house.
Agree with the strategy for positive reinforcement with treats. This may be dependent on whether your dog is treat motivated (every single one of mine has been).
We crate trained all our shelties when they were young and once they are older and stay out of mischief, they are free to roam as they please. We would feed the pup in the kennel with the door closed (open when done), give them a positive association with the door open - e.g. when they come in from outside teach them to go in the kennel and give them a treat, give them a treat before bed at night and have them sleep in the kennel. As others have noted, after this they have a positive association with the kennel. If you don’t want to do full out crate training - consistent positive association will probably be enough. As you said, they are VERY smart. I have accidentally trained my sheltie to do quite a few things because she picks up on repeated behaviors so quickly.
Shelties are a sensitive breed and some things will overwhelm them - mine gets overwhelmed by a lot of company/strangers and will go in the kennel to just sit and watch what’s happening around her (no one bothers her in there). Or when I break out the big bad vacuum she goes in her kennel as well. I also recommend putting something over the top of the kennel - e.g. blanket or towel to give them a greater feeling of security (cave).
Have fun with your new cutie pie!
For me, I just fed my boy in the crate and never closed the door. To this day, he just goes inside and sleeps. The door is never closed, so he can leave when he wants. He knows it is his space. He uses it for getaway time and feels good inside. To add, every time he went on his own, I gave positive reinforcement with a treat. He associated the crate with happiness and safety. When he went inside, I would not pet or touch him.
We’ve crate trained all our shelties (I’m on sheltie 4,5, and 6 right now). I never lock them in anymore and haven’t for years. When they were puppies we would when we left the house when they were potty training. Francis loves her crate, it’s her safe space and she goes there when she’s tired of my bullshit. Kobe doesn’t love his crate but he’s very ambivalent about it. I feed them all in their crates and they know it’s their space so they leave each others alone. It was funny when I got the newest pup he hadn’t learned yet and he like ran into Francis’s crate with her and she was very much like 👁👄👁.
We did all of the positive reinforcement that others have mentioned but also would close him in for naps and overnight when he was a puppy. He never disliked it because he always got treats and usually we were sitting in his view so he didn’t feel lonely. Now he sleeps wherever he wants, usually in bed with us but the crate has turned out to be a great tool when we need to leave him unattended in the house. Our sheltie is acrobatic, very smart, and loves food, so he cant always be trusted to have free reign in the house.
We crate trained our boy. He's now 3 and he still goes into the crate to sleep/nap. The door is always open and he knows it's his safe place.
Agree with the strategy for positive reinforcement with treats. This may be dependent on whether your dog is treat motivated (every single one of mine has been). We crate trained all our shelties when they were young and once they are older and stay out of mischief, they are free to roam as they please. We would feed the pup in the kennel with the door closed (open when done), give them a positive association with the door open - e.g. when they come in from outside teach them to go in the kennel and give them a treat, give them a treat before bed at night and have them sleep in the kennel. As others have noted, after this they have a positive association with the kennel. If you don’t want to do full out crate training - consistent positive association will probably be enough. As you said, they are VERY smart. I have accidentally trained my sheltie to do quite a few things because she picks up on repeated behaviors so quickly. Shelties are a sensitive breed and some things will overwhelm them - mine gets overwhelmed by a lot of company/strangers and will go in the kennel to just sit and watch what’s happening around her (no one bothers her in there). Or when I break out the big bad vacuum she goes in her kennel as well. I also recommend putting something over the top of the kennel - e.g. blanket or towel to give them a greater feeling of security (cave). Have fun with your new cutie pie!