# crate training a rescue GSD



## Quinnsmom (Dec 27, 2008)

A acquaintance of mine, bless her, has rescued an outdoors guard dog (failure, because he didn't bark at intruders!) and needs to crate train him for when she is at work. The dog wants nothing more than to be with her all the time but that isn't possible. He really is resisting the crate and cries non-stop. I've been searching the forums for tips on crate training an adult dog but can't seem to find anything specifically for mature dogs. BTW, the search feature on this forum frustrates the heck out of me! If anyone can direct me to the relevant threads, or any other resources, I'd really appreciate it!


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

I have not been in that position before but I don't think it would be any different than crate training a puppy.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Some older dogs have huge anxiety in crates. A friend has a greyhound she recently adopted and right when she goes into the crate, starts panting and drooling. She has decided to leave her out and it has worked much better, the dog isn't destructive, however.
I would give a frozen kong filled with yummy somethin, somethin and do just short sessions and make the crate an ok place to be. If not, maybe an xpen or kennel would be a better choice?
The searchbox here is frustrating, if you put the word crate in, you'll get so many threads...rescue, too! Not sure you'll find a recent one, I can't think of one off hand.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

The advanced search option is actually pretty cool - much better than the old search function. You enter your keyword(s) and search in posts or thread titles only, and show results by posts or threads. You can select all forums, or just one particular forum.

Found these:

German Shepherd Dog Forums - Search Results

There's one about older dogs towards the end of the list.


----------



## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

For my rescues, larger crates work better so they don't feel too confined. Frozen peanut butter kong and short trips to let them know you are always coming back. If they are really bad, I make sure the crate is covered so they know it is quiet time and sometimes rescue remedy to help them relax.


----------



## Quinnsmom (Dec 27, 2008)

Thanks for the tips everyone and especially Cassidy's Mom for the pointers on how to use the search function!


----------

