Crate Training Guide: Helping Dogs Learn to Relax

If your dog seems like they're always on, always pacing, always getting into things, always looking for the next thing to do, you've probably heard someone suggest using a crate to manage the unwanted challenges. And while crates can be incredibly valuable, simply confining a high energy dog in a crate doesn't necessarily teach them how to settle. In many cases, dogs learn how to tolerate the crate, but they never truly learn how to relax there. Dogs will stress whine, bark, scratch at the crate, or they might explode out of the crate with even more energy than when they went in, almost like a spring that's been compressed and finally released. And that's why I don't think about crate training as teaching dogs to tolerate confinement. I use crate training as an opportunity to teach dogs how to relax. It becomes a safe place they can return to when they need rest or when life feels overwhelming. In this video, I'm going to walk you through the same progression I used over the course of 4 days as the dog learned to settle in a new environment. Crate training, teaching relaxation, not just confinement. There are three things I want you to think about before we even bring the dog near the crate. Number one, the door. Many crate doors swing, rattle, or occasionally close on their own. For a dog that is just beginning to explore the space, an unexpected sound or movement can create uncertainty right from the start. So one of the first things I often do is secure the door open. I use Velcro. I want the dog to be able to investigate the crate without worrying that the door might move, make noise, or close behind them. Number two, the blankets. I keep bedding simple, a fleece blanket with a thin foam pad underneath, not too bulky. At this stage, my goal isn't confinement. My goal is comfort. Number three, the tray. The bottom tray of some crates will pop when a dog steps inside. For a dog that's already uncertain about the space, that sudden sound can be unsettling. A simple fix: slide a mat or folded blanket underneath the tray. It muffles the sound and can make an almost immediate difference in how willing a dog is to step inside. All right, let's go back to day one. In these early sessions, I'm not asking the dog to stay. I'm not closing the door and I'm not trying to convince him that he has to be there. I'm simply reinforcing his decision to step inside and then releasing him after just a few seconds. After I release him, something interesting happens. He wanders out, looks around, gathers a little information, and then he walks back in on his own. Nobody asked him to. He just chose to return. These voluntary choices are often the strongest signal that we're moving in the right direction. One of the biggest challenges with crate training is that most people simply can't go slow enough. And that's where exercise pens and gated areas can become incredibly helpful. I like to place the crate inside the exercise pen and leave the crate door secured open. Where you position the pen matters too. Whenever possible, I place it somewhere the dog can still feel connected to the family. For most dogs, isolation makes relaxation harder. One thing that surprises a lot of people is how easy it is to make relaxation harder. Sometimes we might notice our dog behaving calmly and we want to reinforce them with petting or praise. We lean over, pet them, tell them they're such a good dog, and before we know it, we've turned a quiet moment into a social event. Instead of creating excitement, I want my reinforcement to match the emotional state I'm trying to build. For that reason, when a dog is settling, I tend to avoid a lot of physical interaction. Instead, I use the dog's meals. Throughout the day, I hand feed portions of their regular breakfast or dinner during short, intentional training sessions. We're simply using resources that already exist to build the experiences we want. Training with crate in exercise pen, day two. Before I begin introducing the door, I spend some time revisiting the same exercises we worked on the day before. What we are hoping to see is a dog that enters without hesitation, settles with a little gentle encouragement, and exits without urgency, and eventually chooses to return on their own. Closing the door, day three. This is where most people rush and where most crate training begins to unravel. First, I begin to slowly move the door just slightly while the dog is inside, and I reinforce for remaining in the crate. I'm not closing it yet. The reason I do this is that the door itself often carries meaning for the dog. For most dogs, the sight or sound of the door closing represents confinement or separation, sometimes both. If the dog is doing well, I fully close the door for a second and reinforce. Some dogs move through these steps in a session or two. Others need more time. Let your dog's behavior guide the pace. Before I move to the next step, I quickly run through the same checklist. Is the dog entering willingly, exiting calmly when released, and perhaps most importantly, choosing to return on their own? Taking steps away. If the dog is genuinely comfortable with the exercises, I begin adding a little distance. I take one or two steps away, then I return and reinforce. Those first few steps are often where dogs begin to realize that being separated from us doesn't mean they're being abandoned. As their confidence grows, those one or two steps become five steps. And eventually I can move to the other side of the room. When the dog is genuinely comfortable with that picture, I begin introducing very brief moments out of sight. The goal isn't to see how long the dog can tolerate being alone. The goal is to help them repeatedly experience the pattern of having people leave and return without becoming concerned about it. If I'm seeing stress signals like panting, pawing, whining, repeated attempts to leave the crate or hesitation to enter, that's not a sign to push through. That's a sign to go back to a simpler variation of the training. In the early stages of training, I will often pull up a chair, sit beside the crate with a cup of tea, and simply spend some quiet time there with the dog. Your calm presence can help your dog settle and relax. No interaction, no training in the traditional sense, just being calm together. If I want the crate or exercise pen to become the dog's preferred resting space, I often make sure that it's the most comfortable option available. Over time, those repetitions begin to add up. The crate becomes familiar. The exercise pen becomes familiar. And eventually, the dog starts making those choices with less and less help from me. Voluntary choices, day four. This is the moment I'm always watching for. A sigh, a softer expression, slower body, a dog that begins settling because it feels natural. By day four, something changes. I didn't ask the dog to go into the crate. He simply walked in and chose to rest. This is what we're ultimately working toward. One question people often ask is, what about nighttime? Dogs are social animals. Most dogs genuinely enjoy sleeping near their family. So instead of placing the crate in a separate room, I often recommend that people place the crate right next to the bed. This gives the dog the best of both worlds. They have the comfort of being close to their people, but they also have their own clearly defined space to rest. And even if you eventually give your dog free reign of the house, that crate with the door open becomes a quiet nook they can eventually choose on their own.