Hi everyone,

Toby's taken really well to his crate, but I've got one little niggle.  He will not go in there without the offer of a treat!  I don't mind treating him each time (he needs a bit more meat on him) but obviously there may be times when I don't have a treat to hand.  Yesterday this was the case, and I did have to give him a gentle push.  In all fairness he didn't protest, but I don't want to turn his crate into somewhere that I have to force him to go.

Any ideas on alternative 'bribes' or methods would be greatly appreciated!! 

Thanks, Sharon

How about a favourite toy, as long as you are around to supervise when in the crate.

What's so wrong with using treats to reinforce the idea that it's a nice place to be?  It's not 'bribery' it's a reward - would you do something without being rewarded/paid?

At a later stage, when he goes it without seeing the treat - you can introduce the 'random' reward by only rewarding the quick responses with a jackpot of several rewards at once.  So long as he's being rewarded a small proportion of the time, the act of going into the crate will still be considered rewarding by the dog.

LOL there's no problem with rewarding wanted behaviour he's only young. My BC had been kennelled before I got him & had only been in a crate once before he came home but his crate here is huge & I always feed him in there(lol stops the GSD cleaning up after him)& he often asks to go to bed when he is tired. All I have to say is beddies(don't like Bed as it can be said in a hard way)& he's in waiting fot his food or pig's ear/filled kong etc I think it's fine to treat with food or a toy

Thanks everyone.  I don't mind putting him in his crate with a treat, it's just that he's so used to it he now won't go in without one!  Lets say for eg, someone was knocking at the door, and he went beserk (as all good guard dogs do!), there's no way I could get him in his crate without a treat in order for me to open the door without the fear of him escaping (opens straight onto the road). 

I'd keep some treats handy & chuck one in with a command like the one I give Roy. He actually runs into his crate Look on it was an obedience exercise, lob a treat in with your command, then gradually give the command earlier & earlier but always reward the result. Dogs aren't daft he'll soon latch on go into crate & get food !