Learn why and how to train your pet to love his or her crate or carrier. Amy Shojai, a certified animal behaviour consultant, shares her advice on how to make your pet's crate her favourite spot in the house.

Every dog and cat deserves a safe, private place to rest, especially when travelling. Pets willingly ride in crates and carriers, so make that enclosure a place where your pet feels at ease.


Crate training a puppy or kitten may take weeks, but it will benefit you and your dog or cat when you leave the house for a trip. You should provide treats to the kennel and make it a comfortable place for them to rest. Then, for short intervals, close the door with the cat or dog inside, even taking some time to carry it around your house.

What are the advantages of crate training? Your pet has another safe place in the house, which makes travelling easier for you.


Here are eight suggestions for acclimating your pet to his new home:


1. Familiarize yourself with the crate

Many dogs and cats may develop a fear of a carrier or crate over time. To alleviate that fear, make the crate a literal part of the furniture. Place it in the living room or another area where the pet likes to congregate. Remove the door or simply leave it open. Set it on a table or other elevated surface (cats love heights!) and cover everything except the opening with a towel or blanket to create an irresistible kitty cave. For a more denlike feel, some dogs prefer a covering over the wire crates.


2. Establish a Happy Zone

Insert a soft pet blanket inside. Spritz a pet pheromone product (Adaptil for dogs, Feliway for cats) on the blanket to help reduce fear in dogs and identify a safe territory for cats. Feed your pet inside the crate or carrier to create positive associations with it. If she is hesitant, simply place the bowl nearby.



3. Shut the Door

Do not confine your cat or dog to a crate or carrier until she has been going in and out on her own for at least a week. Close the door for only 30 seconds after your pet has finished munching, playing, or resting inside. Drop treats inside from the top to reinforce the idea that when the door closes, good things happen. To encourage your pet to come out, throw another treat in front of the crate. Allow her to choose whether or not to return. Repetition transforms something strange into a normal occurrence, rendering it no longer frightening. Over the next few days, find times to shut the door intermittently—for 10 seconds, 30 seconds, and sometimes not at all.




4. Include a Toy

A well-loved squeaky toy may be just the thing to entice your dog to enter her crate. Cats enjoy batting a table tennis ball around inside a hard crate. Catnip may also help to reduce kitty inhibitions. Still, cautious cats may take a week or more to peer inside to investigate. Allow your pet to explore on her own timetable rather than forcing her to do so. Some people will never accept a carrier as a "happy place," but they can learn to tolerate it without fear.


5. Provide a Special Treat

Offer smelly snacks that are only available inside the crate or carrier to treat-motivated pets. Fill a Kong toy with a soft dog or cat treat. Show it to your pet or smear the treat on the crate's back. Allow her to smell and taste the dessert. Then, with the pet on the outside, toss the Kong inside and close the door. Allow your pet to enter the crate and play with the Kong for five minutes with the door closed.

6.Crate Training Timetable

After a few weeks of closing the door on your cat or dog several times a day, increase the time inside to five minutes, then ten minutes, and so on. Change the length of time. When your pet is inside the enclosure, continue to sprinkle treats in it on a regular basis. When the door is left open, hide fun toys or other surprises for her to discover. Toys should not be kept in a crate if your dog is likely to chew them up and ingest the pieces.


7. Give the Action a Name

Dogs and cats learn many more words than they are taught simply by hearing a term and associating it with something they like or dislike. My Karma-Kat and Bravo-Dawg both know what the word "treat" means and run when they hear it. Why not give your job activities a name? When you see your pet come in, say "crate" or "kennel up," or something similar, and give him or her a favourite treat. Consistently doing so helps pets associate the word with the action. In other words, invite your pet into the enclosure and reward appropriate behaviour. You should eventually be able to say the word and your cat or dog will run to the carrier.




8. Enter Travel Mode

If your small dog or cat prefers a carrier, continue your training by picking up the carrier while the pet is inside. (Rather than holding the carrier by the handle, hold it in your arms as if it were a fragile gift.) Carry her around the house before releasing her in the same location. Teach your pet that the carrier may move from time to time, but it is always a safe and fun place. You can gradually accustom your pet to a previously frightening situation by increasing her time spent in the carrier or crate in small increments. When carrier eventually travels to the vet clinic, hotel, or Grandma's house, it will be much easier.Begin preparing your pet for any required travel or confinement at least three weeks before the date. That way, she'll be ready, happy, and calm when her home away from home becomes her mode of transportation.