# Crate Games Questions



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I got Susan Garrett's Crate Games DVD from Amazon . . .

Amazon.com: Susan Garrett's Crate Games for Self-Control and Motivation: Susan Garrett: Movies & TV

So far I've just watched Stages 1 and 2 (dog in crate with door latched closed, open latch, treat dog high and in back, latch door closed, repeat). My question is how do I end the practice session? I don't want to say OK! and let her come out because that makes it seem like we were working and now we can relax when the staying in the crate was supposed to be fun, fun, fun! I don't want to say nothing and open the door and walk away either. I haven't attempted a training session yet, because I seriously can't figure out how to end it. Experienced trainers, what do I do? (BTW, I'm not going to be able to play the crate games with her crate within her ex pen because it won't be practical as my arms aren't long enough to reach over the side of the pen and into the back of the crate. We're going to do our crate games with a different crate in the living room. My main objective is for her to be happy to wait in a crate while the trainer is talking to the handlers at agility class.)

Also, just like she barked at the horses in Game of Thrones, Shama barks at the dogs in Crate Games. I ask her to "go to her mat" and lie down and get a treat for giving me, instead of the dog on TV, her attention, but she is soon distracted by the dogs again. Help?

Thanks!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

ShamaMama said:


> I got Susan Garrett's Crate Games DVD from Amazon . . .
> 
> So far I've just watched Stages 1 and 2 (dog in crate with door latched closed, open latch, treat dog high and in back, latch door closed, repeat). My question is how do I end the practice session? I don't want to say OK! and let her come out because that makes it seem like we were working and now we can relax when the staying in the crate was supposed to be fun, fun, fun! I don't want to say nothing and open the door and walk away either. I haven't attempted a training session yet, because I seriously can't figure out how to end it. Experienced trainers, what do I do?


I would call her out, ask her to do one or two easy things, like giving you a couple of sits or downs and rewarding her for those, THEN end your training session however you usually do.



ShamaMama said:


> (BTW, I'm not going to be able to play the crate games with her crate within her ex pen because it won't be practical as my arms aren't long enough to reach over the side of the pen and into the back of the crate. We're going to do our crate games with a different crate in the living room. My main objective is for her to be happy to wait in a crate while the trainer is talking to the handlers at agility class.)


I also had to use a different crate for "Crate Games" than Kodi's regular crate. He has always preferred small, enclosed crates. He used to use the small, plastic vari-kennels, which are too low to easily be able to deliver the treat toward the back, and are also too difficult to latch and unlatch, over and over. Even now, for school and trials, we use cloth-sided crates with zip fronts, which also wouldn't work for this. So while we were doing "Crate Games" I used a regular, wire, Midwest crate. The skills transferred over very easily, so I don't think you'll have a problem.

Incidentally though, we did have one (short-lived!) problem caused by "Crate Games" in agility... While we were actually still working the Crate Games exercises, If I was running a course with him in agility, and he saw his open crate as he came off a piece of equipment on that end of the room, he would zoom into his crate, and turn around with a HUGE grin, like he was saying, "Look at ME! What a GOOD boy, I am!!!"  We had to, for a while, close his crate and turn it around so he couldn't see the opening when he ran. :laugh:



ShamaMama said:


> Also, just like she barked at the horses in Game of Thrones, Shama barks at the dogs in Crate Games. I ask her to "go to her mat" and lie down and get a treat for giving me, instead of the dog on TV, her attention, but she is soon distracted by the dogs again. Help?


I think this is a time when management rather than training might be in order. It's hard to work on training her not to react to the dogs on the screen, and pay attention to the content of the lesson at the same time. I think I'd put her in her pen, and take the computer in the other room, if you can. If not, could you listen to the video with head phones or ear buds?


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks, Karen, for all your insight.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Happy to help!


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