How to get a shelter dog to like the crate

I had the same issue with my dog, dog trainer suggested this and now she has no problem going in the crate.

Take a handful of treats. One treat outside the crate, she goes for it . One treat outside the crate, she goes for it. One treat closer to the crate. Closer...one just on the inside of the crate, she goes for it. One treat outside, one treat inside. Outside, inside, outside, inside. Just getting a little deeper each time.

When she's running fully, or almost fully into the crate, now drop 5 or 6 treats (I just used kibble) fully into the treat. She has to take some time to eat it all. At this point close the crate door, but don't lock it. Once she turns around to get out, open the door and let her out.

Now you at least have a way to lure the dog in when you need to. Not a fast process, but it's a way in.

At a certain point, I would say day 7 or so, my dog started associating the crate with food and went in voluntarily. Now she runs into her crate whenever I open the door, and I give her a little bit of kibble each time.

This dog is very food oriented so I'm sure that sped up the process, but this worked like a charm for me.

/r/Dogtraining Thread