Crate training a dog means getting it to go in on its own and stay calm with the door closed, and it takes about 7 days with a simple method: door open and treats inside (days 1-2), meals in the crate (days 3-4), door closed for a few seconds with you in front of it (day 5) and gradually longer stretches, first with you at home and then alone (days 6-7). Never by force and never as a punishment.
That is the short version. Here is the day-by-day plan, what to do if the dog cries, how to get through the first night, how to adapt it for an adult or rescue dog and the mistakes that most often ruin it, along with what the leading trainers say and the evidence available.
Why train the dog into it instead of just putting it in?
Because a dog that is shut in and left alone the first time it goes into the crate learns exactly one thing: the crate is where it gets left. From then on, every session is worse than the last. Trainers see it daily: most dogs that "hate the crate" had a bad first experience, not a problem with the object.
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) published its position on training methods in 2021: reward-based methods only, no aversives, and no "forced exposure" — the animal must be able to leave the situation. Applied to the crate, that means the door closes once the dog already goes in on its own, not before. Reward-based methods, as well as being kinder, achieve better obedience and fewer anxiety and aggression problems, according to the reviews AVSAB cites.
The good news is that the positive method is quick. Pat Miller, one of the most quoted trainers on this subject, sums up the timescale like this: some dogs in a day, most in several days, a few in weeks. Hence the 7-day plan: it is the average for a puppy or an adult with no previous fears.
What do you need before day 1?
- A crate of the right size. Standing without lowering its head, turning around and lying on its side. Bigger is not better: a puppy with room to spare urinates in one corner and sleeps in the other. If in doubt, measure your dog and use the size calculator.
- A crate that neither moves nor rattles. That is what frightens a puppy most: a wire crate that shakes and clatters every time the dog touches it. Aluminium Robust crates are rigid and quiet, and ventilate on all four sides.
- The location. In the family's living area (living room or study), where the dog can see you; at night, for the first few weeks, in your bedroom.
- Something comfortable inside. A washable mat for a clean dog; for a puppy that still has accidents, a raised DryFloor that drains and lets you put a pad underneath, out of reach.
- Small, good treats (chicken, cheese, sausage), a chew or a stuffable toy, and a fixed word for going in: "bed", "inside", "crate".
- Pick a week when you have time. Start on a Friday or on days when you will be at home: the first sessions are short and there are many of them.
The 7-day plan, day by day
There is one rule for the whole plan: each step is taken when the previous one goes well 4 times out of 5. If a day goes badly, repeat the one before. A dog that learns in 10 days instead of 7 has not failed; one whose door is closed on day 2 because "it was time" has.
| Day | Goal | Door | Reference time | Move on when… |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explore the crate without pressure | Open and fixed so it cannot swing shut | 5-6 sessions of 2-5 min | Goes in for the treats without hesitating |
| 2 | Go all the way in and stay | Open | 5-minute sessions; treats further and further back | Lies down inside on its own |
| 3 | Eat inside | Open | The day's meals inside the crate | Eats calmly to the end |
| 4 | Attach the word: "bed" | Open; closed without the latch while eating, opened when finished | Meals + 4-5 repetitions of the cue with a treat | Goes in when it hears the word |
| 5 | Door closed with you in front | Latched | From 10 seconds to 5-10 minutes, in several rounds | Stays calm for 5 min shut in with you beside it |
| 6 | You move about, the dog stays | Closed | You leave the room for 1-2 min and come back; up to 20-30 min with a chew | Neither cries nor scratches when you disappear |
| 7 | First real absence | Closed | An errand of 15-30 minutes; then stretches of up to 1-2 h | You come back to a dog lying down, not pressed against the door |
Days 1-2: exploring. Leave the crate open in the living room and put treats at the entrance; then a little further in; then at the back. Do not call the dog, do not push it, do not carry it in. If it goes in and runs straight out, perfect: it went in. If it does not come back, wait; a dog that decides for itself learns twice as fast. A trainer's trick: leave a T-shirt with your scent inside.
Days 3-4: eating inside and naming it. Meals are served at the back of the crate. On the fourth day, just before you put the bowl down, say your chosen word. While the dog eats, close the door without latching it and open it when it finishes. Outside the sessions the crate stays open and, every so often, a treat "appears" inside without anyone being seen leaving it there.
Day 5: the door closes. With the dog inside and you sitting beside it, close the latch, count ten seconds, open and reward. Repeat, lengthening gradually: 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3, 5, 10. Vary it: after a 5-minute repetition, do a 1-minute one; if it always gets harder, the dog learns to expect the worst. Put a chew in so it has something to do.
Day 6: distance. With the door closed and the dog occupied, leave the room for a minute and come back without making a fuss. Then two, five, ten. Do ordinary household things with the dog inside too: cooking, watching TV, showering. The aim is for the crate to be boring: the best thing that can happen in there is a nap.
Day 7: the first time alone. A long walk, food, a wee, and a stretch of 15-30 minutes out of the house. Give it the chew 10-15 minutes before you leave and go without any speeches. When you come back, do not open until it has been calm for a few seconds, and greet it normally. From here, longer stretches according to age: the limits are in our guide to crate times.
How do I know if I am going too fast?
Three signs: the dog stays pressed against the door instead of lying down, it stops taking treats, or it starts whining the moment you touch the latch. Any of them means a step back, not more insistence. The Dogs Trust guidelines put it like this: if it whines or scratches, go back to the stage where it was comfortable and stay there a day longer.
And one detail trainers keep repeating: short sessions. Ten three-minute sessions teach more than one half-hour session. In a study of habituation protocols with owners, almost half gave up because they could not keep to the pace; the shorter and easier the step, the more likely you are to do it.
What if it cries or barks?Protest or panic
This is the question that divides trainers most: some say "do not open until it stops" and others "if it cries, open". Both are right depending on the case, and telling them apart is easy:
- Protest. Whines or barks on and off, with pauses, for 5-15 minutes, and settles if you give it something to do. Here you do not open while it is crying: you wait for a silence, even three seconds, and then reward and open. If you open mid-cry, you teach the dog that crying opens doors.
- Panic. It escalates instead of settling, does not stop, drools, pants without heat, scratches or bites the door, tries to push its nose through the bars. This is not protest and it is not something to "sit out": get the dog out, drop back several steps in the plan and, if it happens again, consult a trainer. A dog that panics at confinement can hurt itself, and forcing it only makes things worse.
With a puppy that protests at night, you can settle it with your voice or your hand through the crate without taking it out. If it needs a wee, take it out without talking, without playing, and put it back in the crate: the night-time trip has to be boring.
What is the first night like?
For the first week, the puppy sleeps in its crate in your bedroom, next to the bed. The puppy can hear and smell you, cries less, and you hear it when it needs to go out. Before bedtime: a walk, last meal two hours earlier, a wee, and a safe chew inside. A 2024 British study of 145 puppies (the Generation Pup project) found fewer separation problems at 6 months in those that slept in an enclosed space from before 16 weeks and slept 9 hours or more.
It is normal for a puppy to whimper for a while on the first 2-3 nights (10-20 minutes, with pauses). What is not normal is the panic described above. Once it sleeps through the night without complaining, start moving the crate towards its permanent spot, half a metre every few days.
Until 4-5 months you will have to get up once or twice: a puppy's bladder cannot last the night. Plan for it rather than fighting it.
What if it is an adult or a rescue dog?
The method is the same; the pace is slower. An adult with no history of crates usually goes at the same pace as a puppy. A rescue dog that comes from kennels, or that has been shut in as punishment, may need weeks, and three things change:
- Start with a crate with no door. Take the door off or fix it open for the first week or two: the crate is a bed with a roof, nothing more. Dogs Trust recommends exactly this for rescue dogs.
- Find out what frightens it. Sometimes it is not the crate: it is the noise of the door, a draught, the other dog walking past, the place it is in. Move it, put in a thick mat, and for dogs that get worked up by what they see, try an anti-stress door, which cuts the stimuli without cutting the air.
- No rush to close it. If it panics when you close the door, do not push: work for weeks with the door open and consult a trainer. And if you suspect separation anxiety (destruction, wetting and crying only when you leave), the crate is not the treatment, as we explain in Is it good to leave a dog in a crate?.
Professional trainers who work with many dogs, and breeders, use the crate daily for exactly this reason: a habituated dog rests between sessions, travels without stress and recovers better from surgery. That is what the trainer pack is for.
Why has my puppy started crying again at 6-8 months?
Because it is an adolescent. A Newcastle University study published in Biology Letters in 2020 followed 93 dogs and found that at 8 months they were twice as likely to ignore a known command from their own carer as at 5 months — but not a command given by a stranger. It is a phase, as in people, and it passes.
What works: going back to short sessions with treats for two or three days, not giving in to protest and not punishing. What does not work: deciding that "it does not like the crate any more" and stopping using it. If the regression comes with wetting inside the crate or with other behaviour changes, rule out a health problem with your vet first.
The 7 mistakes that ruin crate training
- Using it as punishment. Not once. The crate is where good things happen.
- Closing the door too soon. If the dog does not yet go in on its own, it is not time for the latch.
- Opening during a protest cry. It teaches the dog that crying opens doors.
- Ignoring panic. The opposite of the last one; if it escalates, it is not protest.
- Too many hours. The crate is a den, not a storeroom: the limits by age are in the crate-times guide.
- No exercise beforehand. A puppy that has not burned any energy does not rest anywhere.
- Every family member with a different rule. If one lets the dog out when it cries and another does not, the dog learns to cry louder. And children: never disturb the dog inside its crate.
How long can it stay in once it is trained?
A puppy, as many hours as it is months old plus one, with a ceiling of 3-4; a habituated adult, up to 4 hours in a row during the day (6 exceptionally) and the whole night. No welfare guideline supports a working day in the crate, however well trained the dog is. The full table with day and night is in How long can a dog stay in a crate?.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take a dog to get used to a crate?
Most dogs, between 3 and 10 days with short sessions and treats; a puppy with no fears can do it in less, and a rescue dog with bad experiences, in several weeks. The 7-day plan is the reference, not a deadline.
What do I do if my dog cries in the crate?
Tell protest from panic. If it is protesting (on and off, with pauses), wait for a silence and then reward and open; if it panics (escalating, drooling, scratching at the door), get it out, go back several steps and consult a trainer.
Where does the puppy sleep on the first night?
In the crate, in your bedroom, next to the bed. It hears and smells you, cries less, and you can take it out for a wee when it asks. Once it sleeps through the night, start moving the crate to its permanent place.
Can you crate train an adult or rescue dog?
Yes, with the same method and more patience. Start with the crate with no door, as a bed with a roof, work out what frightens it (noise, draught, location) and do not close the door until it goes in and lies down on its own.
Should I cover the crate with a blanket?
It is optional: reducing what they see calms some dogs and stresses others. If you do cover it, never completely and never in summer, and never with short-nosed breeds. An anti-stress door does the same job without cutting the ventilation.
Why has my dog suddenly stopped going into the crate?
If it is 6-9 months old, it is probably adolescence: repeat two or three days of short sessions with treats. If it is also wetting inside or has changed in other ways, rule out a health problem with your vet; and check whether something new is bothering it (noise, another animal, the location).
Starting crate training this week?
A crate of the right size, well ventilated, that neither moves nor rattles makes everything easier. The same one trainers and breeders use.
See the Robust crateUpdated on 22 August 2026 by the Robust Team. Robust designs and distributes collapsible aluminium dog crates from Europe; we work every day with trainers, breeders, hunters and show handlers.
Sources consulted: AVSAB, Position Statement on Humane Dog Training (2021) · Pat Miller, Whole Dog Journal (crate training made easy; what to do when your dog hates his crate) · Dogs Trust (crate training; creating a safe space) · Asher et al., Biology Letters 2020 (canine adolescence) · Dale et al., Animal Welfare 2024 (Generation Pup) · Stellato et al., Animals 2019 (protocol adherence) · Medivet, Puppy crate training · Marin Humane, Crate training · Impact Dog Crates (crate training regression; calming crate routine) · Susan Garrett, Crate Games.