# 9 month old refuses to walk to her kennel



## abperrigin (Sep 18, 2015)

My 9 month old female is usually a great puppy. She's playful, friendly, and loves my family. She will generally do what I tell her except, go in her kennel. We put her in a 10'x10' kennel outside everyday, before we go to work. When we walk outside she's great, until we get to the corner of the house where she sees the kennel. Then she will just lay down and refuse to go anywhere.She's not mad, or aggressive, but fully refuses to make any movement toward the kennel. What should we do?


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

She doesn't want to go ... she knows she's being left. Boo! Make it more palatable for her by freezing a yummy kong stuffed with good stuff that she only gets in her kennel. She will probably start looking forward to it. You might need to work on her perception of it a little since she's now decided it's a negative thing.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

I call this behavior "peaceful resistance". One or two of my boarders do it when being put back in ther kennels. 

My pup has just learned a slightly less peaceful version when we have to go inside from yard and he would rather keep playing. I will grab his collar and he will theatrically throw himself on the ground. He gets PLENTY of free playtime, structured exercise, training ect ect ect he is not deprived, if anything a bit 
Spoiled.

The boarders sometimes have a legitimate grievance....depending on the dog or the circumstance sometimes they arw kenneled more than we would like in a perfect world but if they are doing stuff I or my dogs ca 't tolerate in the house then they get kenneled, my dogs come first.

So if the situation is unavoidable, I will prepare for it, put a leash on or grab collar, stick a desirable treat in their face and try to hustle them through it in a cheerful way so we don't have an episode. If I think a boarder has been to isolated I will go out of my way to set aside some time to sit and do belly rubs and things before hustling off to the kennel because we all need love sometimes  and once they start acting up I am not going to stop and pet them.

The pup gets a little less coddling because like I said, he is not deprived, and he is just being a teenager. He wants to do what HE wants to do sometimes lol. With him I just maintain my position, we are going in, get up because I am not going to look at you or engage no matter how funny you think you are rolling around on the grass.

So be sure your pup's needs are being met fully, and then prepare for this and cheer her through with goodies, it beats the heck out of dragging a dog who is playing dead


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

What have you done so far to make going into the kennel a positive experience for her? Would she go in if you put her food bowl in there right before you left every day, so she had to go in her kennel to eat? I'd start feeding all her meals in the kennel. 

We have a chain link pen in the garage with a dog door to an outside run. Our dogs go in there when we leave the house. My husband built it 15 years ago when we got Cassidy, and since then we've used it for Dena, and now Keefer & Halo. We've never had a problem getting the dogs to go in it because every time they do, every single time, they get a treat. Now that the dogs are 10-1/2 and 7 it's certainly not necessary anymore, but we still do it. We say "outside!", and walk towards the door to the garage. The dogs run to the door, go out and into the pen, and sit and wait for their cookie. No muss, no fuss.


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## HOBY (Aug 12, 2013)

Have you spent any time in the kennel with the pup? Have you tried going in by yourself while someone keeps the pup outside on a leash?
That pup wants to be with you and it can be a plus tool for your situation.


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## GSDCrazy1787 (Sep 26, 2015)

An easy way to introduce the kennel is to not leave when you kennel her! Put her in the kennel at random times during the day and sit there with her and give her treats. Teach her that the kennel is a wonderful place to be and she should love it. After you have left her there for about 10 minutes or so take her out and show her that you are not leaving. If you do this multiple times a day I bet your pup will like the kennel a lot more! 

I would also feed Dante in his kennel when he was being introduced to crate training. Made him love his kennel that much more! 

Good luck!


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## Suzy25 (Mar 3, 2016)

I would feed her her meals in her kennel, take the door of if you can and when in the house and do training with her when you are home and not going anywhere, make sure all her needs are met before you do this, let her pee, take her for a walk and play, then play around the kennel, not making her go in it but you said she shuts down when turn the corner, so play with her around it for a while, throw the toy or food into the kennel and let her go in and out, then if you've taken the door off put it back on and do the same thing for a while until she is fully comfortable with it. Then start putting her in the kennel, making her lay down and then close the door slowly, all while feeding her tons of treats, then once the door is fully closed open it right back up and let her out, feed treats or throw a toy and make a big fuss of her, then let her calm down and do it again and again, al while putting her in a down closing the door and opening it up right again once she is fully comfortable with it then make it longer in the kennel, you can feed treats threw the door and such during it, showing her you aren leaving, keep making it longer and start moving away more and more, until you can go into another room, stay there for a few minutes and then go get her and make a big fuss again. then you can start leaving the house for short periods of time, but only when she is willingly going into the kennel on her own, feed her a treat every time she goes in, that always helps. Do that over a few days-weeks depending on how fast she gets comfortable with it, and never move to the next step until she is 100% comfortable going in and doing everything on her own, adding in the command "kennel" or whatever you want to and say it every time she does in will be nice for the future. before you know it she will be going in whenever you say the word, also leave it open during the day or when she's just around the house, so she can go in and out as she pleases. Wish you the best with this! If you have any questions I'd gladly try and help


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## Mika-Chan (Apr 26, 2016)

All good advice! I got my puppy at 12 months and she didnt mind being in the kennel from the start... which I still think is weird. No whining, nothing. Just layed down and slept. Even when I left the room, she seemed relaxed. But I also first fed her tons of treats inside the kennel before leaving her there and I still sometimes do.


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