# How can I teach my GSD using a command to go to the kennel?



## Acejin (Jul 22, 2011)

Hi,

I have a six months old german shepherd and during the day he`s in the garden have his own place and when it's at night he sleeps in the house.
My first problem was that every time someone opened the door he rushed in and I always had to do something to distract him from reaching the door.
Well, he's too smart and realize all over again what I'm going to do and he`s not tempted to move from the door anymore because he knew that if he moves he will not enter in. 
I decided to stop running away and face the problem, I stood at the door when it`s open on purpose and every time he was approaching near the door I pushed him gently with my fingers - After an hour and a half of sweat he gave up and just moved away from the door, I went home and left the door open for more than two hours and he stayed out - It was amazing to see it!
At first he barked at me and did poses like he wants to bite me, I wanted to see if he really going to bite me and I decided to move toward him and he bit my pants in a gentle way, Should this behavior worry me?

My second problem, Sometimes I have to tie him to the kennel in the garden because some people are afraid of him - I must say that this rarely happens!
I don`t know how to make him go to the kennel by himself without dragging him. He always opposed and begins to lie on the grass so that we can`t easily take him to the kennel. If someone other than myself tries to pull him away he sometimes tries to bite although he bites very weak.

How can I teach him by using a command to go to the kennel?

I'm sorry it's long, I would appreciate any advice you can give me!
Many Thanks!


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## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

As far as the biting the pant leg goes, I have no idea. 

The rushing the door can be fixed by using a wait or a stay command of some kind. The dog gets what it wants when it preforms the behavior you want. That may mean for a while the dog gets in when you would prefer he be outside for a while, but it will instil in him that he needs permission. I would also teach him a word that means it's ok to get up. That way he's not waiting forever. Telling him "ok" or "free" should work.

As far as going to the kennel goes, don't force him in; let him go in on his own. Throw in a treat or some meat of some kind. When he goes in tell him good Kennel. Take him out and away from it. Point to the Kennel, tell him Kennel, and move toward the treat in the kennel. 

Repetition is going to be key with both of these.


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## august (Nov 3, 2011)

Acejin said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have a six months old german shepherd and during the day he`s in the garden have his own place and when it's at night he sleeps in the house.
> My first problem was that every time someone opened the door he rushed in and I always had to do something to distract him from reaching the door.
> ...


I agree w/newbieshepherdgirl! Repetition! SEVERAL times a day if you can, call him to kennel w/a treat!!!! They are treat motivated when learning!!! Say "crate or kennel" When he goes in, give him a treat and say good boy. leave him for a minute or two and let him out and say good boy, give treat. Repeat this for longer intervals each time. He will learn within a week or two max. If he won't go in by himself guide him in gently. NEVER NEVER show that you are putting him in in anger (even if you are, which we all are sometimes) and always say good boy and give treat.


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## Acejin (Jul 22, 2011)

Thank you your priceless advice!
He is very smart and he understands very quickly. The only thing I needed was the correct way to teach him.

I hope it works, Thanks!


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## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

Here's what I did to get my dog to go to the crate and stay there from anywhere in the apartment:

I started by simply feeding him in the crate with the door open. I never locked him in there during this stage.
Next step was to feed him in there with the door closed.
Next step was to toss a treat, let him eat it with the door close, and then open the door for him.
These were done as a puppy so I really took my time building a positive association. For an older dog, you don't need too much time on this.

Then the next step was to cue him into the crate- I would grab a handful of treats and toss them into the crate in a very obvious way (imagine a handful of treats and you swing your arm almost to point into the crate and as you do that let your hand open slightly so all the treats go bouncing into the kennel in a loud and obvious way. He's go and eat them and then be let out.

Next step was to attach a command to it. Did as the step before but said "crate" and lots of praise and more reward for going in. I would hand feed a little bit in the crate after he was done with the treats I tossed in there.

Next step: phase out the lure (throwing the treats in BEFORE he goes in). Now I would simply make the hand gesture like before except I'd have no treats in that hand. If he went in looking for them give a big marker (YES) and start hand feeding treats.

Next step: increase the distance - do as before but from a longer distance (notice you may have to actually toss some treats in so you may have to take a step backwards to move forwards)

Next step: phase out the hand signal - stood there at a short distance (shorter than I got to when using the hand signal) and simply said crate. If he didn't understand I'd use the hand signal and lots of praise for doing the right thing. Eventually he will (usually by trial and error) just go in the crate when you say "crate" without the hand signal - that's when the jackpot came in.

Now you can start proofing and correcting leaving the crate before a release command is given. I proofed by sending him from all different places (right after walking in the house, back in as soon as he was released, from a down-stay, when I have treats in my hand, etc etc)

For corrections, I simply used body-blocks so he could not get out of the crate by himself. As soon as he would take a step back (usually in confusion) and stop trying to get forward momentum to get out of the crate I'd reward and then give a release command and let him out.

Hope this helps get you started - like I said I took my sweet a** time because I did it when he was puppy but you can advance faster I'm sure


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

as stated before teaching the crate command will definitely help you. Him laying on the ground refusing to go shows he views it as a bad thing. Feed him ALL of his meals in there wait for him to finish then let him right back out in the beginning. Tell him "crate/kennel" as hes running there to get his food. After a few meals start making him stay in there for a little while longer after he finishes. First is he treat motivated? Also will he go in willing for the treat? If not then you need to work up to it and LET HIM OFFER THE BEHAVIOR! Dont push him in then treat if you throw a treat in and he wont go in for it then wait. If he sniffs the crate say yes then treat then keep rewarding him for every step he gets closer to going in after the treat thats in there. When he goes in to get the treat tell him in a really happy voice "GOOD CRATE" and give him a bunch of treats and praise make it the happiest thing in the world just keep working on it and he'll get to love the crate just make it a happy place. When I say crate Jinx runs into it so happy she throws her body into the back of it causing the thing to lift off the ground some and of course slams it into the wall sometimes hitting so hard it shuts the door lol she LOVES her crate because its an awesome place where she gets lots of yummy stuff even though I dont feed her in it anymore she still loves her crate.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Have you said before why he's not allowed in the house during the day? It makes sense he want to be in the house with everyone and not abandoned alone in the yard all day. It's normal (and why training works) for dogs to WANT to be with us, WANT to bond with us, WANT to listen/learn/study us. So instinct is telling him to be with you and that YOU are confused when leaving him in the yard.

Why not get a crate for inside your house and teach him the kennel/crate command for inside. That way he gets to still be with you but if you need him contained he's in the safe crate.

Do you live in the USA? If you put your GENERAL location in the User CP then it will show up in every post under your avatar (like my Poconos stuff).

Where are you going to dog classes? The 'have to drag him to tie him up when people are afraid of him' is 100% not necessary and there's a chance you WILL make him aggressive and dangerous if he starts seeing new people as the reason he gets dragged away and tied up!!!!

We need to TEACH our dogs how to properly behave around people. TEACH them how to greet and where to be. You can only do that by having him meet and learn to greet. You may want to start with the hours of leashed walks outside the home. Dog classes are perfect so ask your instructor for help. Use treats. Just have the training started and socialization in place and BE PREPARED when people are visiting by having him drag a leash so you can pick it up if a reminder is needed.


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## SamanthaBrynn (Sep 2, 2011)

Where does he eat? When we trained Callie on the word "crate", it was food motivated. That's where she eats. We get her bowl ready and say Callie, crate. She goes right in, sits and gets a good crate!! It worked for us.


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## Acejin (Jul 22, 2011)

I'm sorry for my late response, Thank you for all the advices!
I began to use some of the tips you propose and it really starts to work without having to pull and use physical force!
I must mention a few things that were missing in my description, My dog is the most sociable a dog can be - Trust me, sometimes I think he's too friendly it's ridiculous.
Most of the time the dog is in the house, but there are two friends of mine who come to me once a week that just scared of dogs and it`s doesn`t matter if the dog is in his corner they simply do not enter the house - What can I say, It easier to train dogs than people so I concentrate on teching my dog.

MaggieRoseLee - I saw these videos more than once.
I live in Israel and I wish that we had a dog obedience classes like you have in US, Although there are excellent trainers but unfortunately there is no obedience classes which IMO more important.

Thank you all, I greatly appreciate your help!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Sadness there are no dog obedience classes in Israel.... 

Is this a different 'Israel' ?

Michael Bloom's Israel Dog Training Blog

agility-israel


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

You might find interest in this DVD: Crate Games


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

My dogs know what 'Go to Bed' means. When I say that they run for the back door (the way to the basement) and, once I open the door, they all charge down the stairs and run into their respective crates/pens.

How did I train such enthusiasm for going into crates? Simple - every single time they went in they got a treat.

*Every Single Time

*Usually it's just a piece of a baby sized dry dog biscuit. Sometimes it's something really good - like a slice of beef jerky.

Now that they are all pros at going to bed I still give them treats - maybe not every time but usually around 75-85% of the time.

They KNOW that going in the crate means they are going to be locked up for awhile. I try to make it as fun as possible by giveng them treats most of the time.


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## Acejin (Jul 22, 2011)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> Sadness there are no dog obedience classes in Israel....
> 
> Is this a different 'Israel' ?
> 
> ...


This is in Israel where I live  

The first link really applies to dog obedience class although it seems the last class was in september which means that there is not enough people or something.
The second link doesn`t seem like obedience class to me.

You made me motivation and I did my own search and guess what I found? 
I just can`t believe it - I found a place that deals with obedience and training near my living area! 
I'm going to call them tomorrow and find out more details, I'm so excited and embarrassed that I wasn`t looking more deeply at this before. According to their videos they look very professional: (what do you think?)





Lauri & The Gang - That's the way I'm teaching my dog right now and it works great, He's still not perfect but he is quickly learning!

Thank you for your endless help, I really appreciate it!
I will update tomorrow :hug:


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Wow- what a wonderful set of dogs! Very nice training...


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Acejin , good for YOU for finding some classes! Can't wait to hear updates and hope you continue with the classes!

Though agility-israel (<--- that site) is for agility training rather than obedience, the dogs quickly end up off leash so a certain level of 'obedience' is also taught. If not in AGILITY classes then I bet the facility has recommendations of other places that can help.

GOOD LUCK!


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## s14roller (Nov 18, 2010)

I can't remember if I saw a video on the crate command or if I read it on the forums...

Getting a clicker would really help since you can click once the dog hops into the crate. 

Strangely enough, the "crate" command is probably the only command my pup is currently 100% accurate on. I say crate, and in she goes. If I have treats, then she goes in so fast the plastic panel shakes lol.


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## jdmcwestevo (Nov 22, 2011)

since my dog was a puppy i always said "go to your crate" whenever i crated him. he knows that it means go to the crate. i can be anywhere in my house and tell him that and he will go straight in there and lay down he wont leave even if the door is unlocked.


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