FAQ: Are your bulldogs crate trained?

[ChrisRN]

We have always crate trained our dogs, starting with our bullmastiffs, because they could have eaten a sofa if they wanted to (they did). Mabel was crate trained when we got her, but we don't use it now. As long as we pay attention when she needs to go out to pee, we don't have a problem. She has never chewed anything up. When she's gone and we get another dog, we will have to retrain ourselves! She has spoiled us.

 

[Henry2014]

Both Henry & Daphne are crate trained, since day 1.

During the day the crate is open and they go in and out as they please, mainly though, they relax on their memory foam bed above. (yes spoilt)

We also but one of their beds in the crate, so they are used to going in there for a sleep. During the night they are locked in their crate, the moment we lock the crate (night or day) they go straight to sleep.

When they were younger I used to put them in the crate after feeding (4 times a day) for a little snooze, when they woke up I just opened the crate. They now associate the crate as sleep time. I also never tell them off in their crate, it must be kept as their safe place etc :-)

 

[Miss Lola]

Yes Lola and Floyd are both crate trained now. Didn't work the first few months, they used the crates as their own personal toilets and if we closed the door they would cry and cry. So we gave up. However they would go in during the day for naps with the door open. Just over a week ago we tried again since they are both potty trained now and can sleep through the night. However if Floyd would wake up in the night he wants to play with Lola and starts biting her ears and barking at her which wakes the whole house up. This time it was so easy and has been wonderful. I tell them it's bedtime and walk over to their crates and the each give me a kiss and go straight in and lie down. I shut the doors say goodnight and turn off the light. I can hear the snoring before I even get upstairs, no crying , no barking, no fuss. No waking up during the night. They sleep right until my husband gets up for work and it's time for a potty break. It's been beneficial for everyone in the house to be well rested both human and fur babies. I had mixed feelings in the beginning but feel its for the best now.We also use them if we have to go out for more than a half hour and they can't come, which isn't very often. Someone is usually at home. But they are destructive chewers when left alone, the couch, the crown moulding , the stairs. They always go right to sleep whenever they go in them and I know they love their sleep.

 

[MackAttack2015]

I brought home my first bully 5 nights ago and he absolutely does NOT want to be in his crate. He barks frantically throughout the night, pants and breathes in a panicked fashion, and is just a mess. I know many bullies come to love their crate as a safe place to be, but how do I get him to relax and be OK while in his crate??? How long has it taken others for their bulldog pup to be OK during the night other than the need to go potty while still so young? I currently have his crate in my laundry room, he has a chew toy and a stuffed football to cuddle with, and I keep a little music on. I also have most of the crate covered with a large towel to make it more 'den like'. Am I missing something?

There seems to be so much conflicting information out there regarding crate training...

 

[wfd38383]

We crate trained Guinness for many months until he was old enough to be trusted when weren't around. After the first few nights he was fine with it. Now we have another dog we are crate training and Guinness will go sit in her crate. We were lucky that he never really minded it


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[WhitneyBlanche]

Our Ollie is crate trained- we adopted her from a family who didn't have the time needed for a puppy- and she was already crate trained. We keep her in her crate at night. This is only due to her snoring. We would like her to sleep in the bedroom with us but the snoring is so bad neither of us can sleep with her in there. If we didn't put her in her crate downstairs she would cry at our bedroom door all night. Other than that she has free roam of the house. She doesn't love her crate but she doesn't cry when she goes in and after a few minutes of sitting up giving us sad face she usually goes to sleep and sleeps through the night. We're hoping for the day when she begins to think of her crate as her bed and enjoys being in it!

 

[Libra926]

I brought home my first bully 5 nights ago and he absolutely does NOT want to be in his crate. He barks frantically throughout the night, pants and breathes in a panicked fashion, and is just a mess. I know many bullies come to love their crate as a safe place to be, but how do I get him to relax and be OK while in his crate??? How long has it taken others for their bulldog pup to be OK during the night other than the need to go potty while still so young? I currently have his crate in my laundry room, he has a chew toy and a stuffed football to cuddle with, and I keep a little music on. I also have most of the crate covered with a large towel to make it more 'den like'. Am I missing something?

There seems to be so much conflicting information out there regarding crate training...

We started out with associating the crate with positive things......food. We left the crate door open and practiced going in and sitting for a few minutes, then rewarding. Then letting them out only on command. Also....we gave kongs or other treasured treats in the kennel. Never use your kennel as a form of punishment when training. Use only positive things for crate training.

Both Vegas and Orion are in their crates during the work day. Luckily my husband and I work different hours so they can be in there for as few as 3 hours but sometime as many as 7 or 8 hours. Orion sleeps in her crate at night.

I'm a firm believer in crating when not at home. My two (and one in particular) look for trouble out of boredom. I've found her sleeping on the kitchen table, balancing and walking across the back of the couch, jumping onto bar stools, pulling open the freezer using a hand towel that was secured to the handle and emptying out the kleenex box. The good one of the two has opened up the Lazy Susan and pulled out all the spices (and got sick after doing so) opened up the pantry door and got into the shake-n-bake, same pantry but got into the corn starch (got sick) managed to knock about 15 cups of dog food off the counter and proceeded to eat all of it (his belly was protruding so far out that we called the ER) Walked into the entertainment door and broke the glass............just to name a few.

I admit....most of these happened while we were home and otherwise engaged. But they are definitely troublemakers by nature.

 

[hnhammond]

Yes and it was the best! We rarely use the crate anymore, just leave it open for her to go in and out of as she pleases. We bring it when we travel, like to my parent's new home where you're not allowed to touch anything (I call it The Museum), we can safely leave her in her crate without fear of her chewing something I will never be able to replace. hahahaha

I crate trained because I was a college student when I got Til and wanted to make sure she didn't destroy my house or hurt herself while I was in class. Bullie pups eat absolutely anything, there's no telling what they could find or choke on when you're not watching. Matilda once ate a HOLE in the WALL when I left her out of her crate one night.

It also sped up potty training (I got her at 8 wks old, she was fully potty trained 2 weeks later). If you do crate training correctly, you appeal to the pup's den-instincts and they love their crate. Matilda runs to her crate if she hears loud noises or something because she knows she's safe there. She also prefers to sleep alone in her crate than in bed with me (which totally broke my heart but whatever). It's also nice if you've got a lot of commotion going on - like moving! When the movers were here, they were slamming things, leaving doors open, etc. So I crated Til and she took a little nap safely away from all the chaos.

It's quite literally her favorite place in the world and when I have to break it down to pack for travel, she gets seriously upset with me and will lay in the spot where the crate was in protest! Or when I wash her bedding, she actually goes in and takes everything out that I touched and puts in back in herself. Apparently I don't do it correctly. THAT is how much she loves that crate. hahaha

 

[hnhammond]

We started out with associating the crate with positive things......food. We left the crate door open and practiced going in and sitting for a few minutes, then rewarding. Then letting them out only on command. Also....we gave kongs or other treasured treats in the kennel. Never use your kennel as a form of punishment when training. Use only positive things for crate training.

Exactly what we did! Matilda thinks the crate magically produces special treats!

We also never forced Matilda into the crate. We bribed her. She'd go in for her special treat (stuffed kong, etc) and be so busy with that she wouldn't even notice when we closed the door and left.

The other rule we had was that if Matilda was in the crate, you could not reach in there or force her out. The crate is her safe place. So when we came home and opened the door, she had to choose to walk out on her own. Sometimes she wouldn't and would just stay in. But no one is allowed to force her out! I think it helps reinforce the "safety" of the crate, that no one can get you if you're in there. We still don't grab her out of her crate. Always have to ask her or bribe her out. hahaha

 

[Libra926]

The other rule we had was that if Matilda was in the crate, you could not reach in there or force her out. The crate is her safe place. So when we came home and opened the door, she had to choose to walk out on her own. Sometimes she wouldn't and would just stay in. But no one is allowed to force her out! I think it helps reinforce the "safety" of the crate, that no one can get you if you're in there. We still don't grab her out of her crate. Always have to ask her or bribe her out. hahaha

That is such a good point! I know of a very special baby who was rehomed after having a very hard life. He was only 15 months old when he was sent to his new forever home. He got into a fight with his new brother and was put in his kennel for punishment. She reached into the kennel to pull him out after several hours and he attacked her. He was euthanized later the next day. We have to respect their territory and much as we ask them to respect ours. Very very important information to put out there!

 

[ccbulldog]

We crate trained Rosie...We didn't want to worry about her getting into anything that could harm her. She loves it...it's so worth it not having to worry.

 

[penguinspam]

Betty is crate trained, she sleeps in there at night and goes in if we're gone for short periods. We did let her on the couch the first few days we had her and found that she didn't want to go into her crate to sleep then (who would if you were sleeping on a nice comfy couch?). So we've had to stop letting her on the couch and she's back to going happily into her crate at night.

 

[Corine Pesantes]

We didn't let ours onto the couch until they were potty trained. But we alwAys gave them a high value treat when we would tell them to "go to bed". They don't get a treat for the couch. Lol, so we haven't had any issues with them sleeping in their crates.


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[penguinspam]

We didn't let ours onto the couch until they were potty trained. But we alwAys gave them a high value treat when we would tell them to "go to bed". They don't get a treat for the couch. Lol, so we haven't had any issues with them sleeping in their crates.


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We might have to try it again with treats for going into the crate. We've only had her for about 2 weeks and the first week, she wasn't very food motivated, probably because she was still settling in, but we do have some treats she likes now. I do miss cuddles on the couch with her!

 

[Corine Pesantes]

We might have to try it again with treats for going into the crate. We've only had her for about 2 weeks and the first week, she wasn't very food motivated, probably because she was still settling in, but we do have some treats she likes now. I do miss cuddles on the couch with her!

Lol- we spent A LOT of time on the floor. There's a natural dog food store by me and they give LOTS of sample bags of food- so that's what I gave my 2 for going potty. It was a different flavor from their regular kibble so they enjoyed it. But I always saved the high value treats for anything I wanted to teach them.
Just stay consistent. She will get it in no time!
Ps- bully couch cuddles are the best. Lol


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