Oh Burt! You're so cute and your ears haven't even stood up yet!

"Kisses not bites" is what I was taught! Sometimes I still give love bites when I'm really excited. - Lucy McPuppish

Marty

"We can be your brother and sister!" - Albert and Lucy

8/ Now she knows she is safe and not going to be locked in forever. I always make sure she's potties before locking her in and if she makes a single "potties bark" (high pitched), I let her out to go outside to pottie. She now trusts me and her safe space and she often sleeps in it and up to 4hrs.

7/ She'd be let out after 30s, then 60s, then 90s. If she started crying or throwing a fit. I'd wait for her to stop, then say wait, and then let her out when she reached the time. I didn't increase the time until she wouldn't cry. Once up to around 5m, she started to self calm and sleep. Success!

6/ By this time, I had her trained with the command "wait" (similar to stay) and she had slept in the crate several times by herself. I was finally ready to start crate training by extending the time in the kennel each time she ate or chewed a bone. If she barked once to get out, I'd say wait.

5/ After three weeks, she finally started going in regularly and I started closing the door while she ate or chewed on a bone. I'd listen and watch while staying in eyesight the whole time. As soon as she was done, I'd go and weight for her to come to the door, then open it. Continued for a week...

4/ Once she trusted me, then I put the *right sized* kennel in the living room, with treats, toys, and her meals as loose kibble strewn inside. I'd change out new fun stuff to find and make sure she knows it is her space by keeping Albert out of it. Most importantly, I never put her in it.

3/ I did not start crate training with her until we built a very strong bond and she trusted me. She slept on my bed, despite online guides saying that's the worst thing to do and will result in you never being able get your dog to accept being in a crate. She got to sleep out in the open, near me.

2/ This made her never trust being inside a kennel. She associated it with being unable to potty, being force to sit in her mess, being ignored when she cried, and then finally being quickly wiped down and transferred to another vehicle with an unknown person and another dog. She had #trauma ...

Den. Gotta have a den.