How to get a dog used to a kennel. How do you familiarise your dog with the kennel and the carrier, and where do you place it? Read here. Many dogs spontaneously enter the kennel, set up for them in your garden or home in your living room, but it is not such a given!
Most dog kennels and carriers are experienced as a form of confinement and limitation unless they perceive them as a den. The latter, however, in nature is chosen by the animal with great care and not by you! So, let’s find out how to get your dog used to the kennel or the carrier!
Where to place the dog kennel
Before we understand How to carry the dog in a carrier or kennel, we must consider another essential factor, namely the location of the kennel, especially if you intend to keep your dog in the garden. The dog kennel should be placed close to the house, in a sheltered place and away from the entrance gate, especially if the latter faces a busy street. The dog, in this case, in addition to perceiving the kennel as unsafe due to too much noise, may suffer from so-called performance stress, meaning that it may feel it has to be a guard dog. At this point, you may find your friend constantly barking, even at falling leaves from the trees, to perform the task you have unwittingly assigned him.
We always recommend buying a heated doghouse in an icy area. Many dog breeds particularly suffer from the cold, so you can be sure that if the kennel is cold, the dog will seek shelter in warmer places, e.g. near heating pipes or a secluded area without wind. Always remember that for the dog, the kennel is a shelter, not its reference point; the latter must be you!
How to carry the dog in a carrier
Getting your fur used to the kennel requires a step-by-step approach and a great deal of patience. The first step is to make it clear to your dog that his dog basket is not hostile but a comfortable and safe place to shelter.
Then, place something tasty inside, a treat, his favourite blanket or toy. After that, observe whether or not your dog is attracted by what you have hidden in the kennel. Generally, as a first reaction, he will usually approach you slowly; he will snoop around sniffing inside the kennel and then quickly slip in, take his ‘treasure’ and leave immediately.
In this first phase, the dog is conflicted; he understands very well that there is something good inside the kennel but remains wary; you must let him know that it is not a trap but a safe place! So repeat the exercise several times and try not to let him see you observing him; give him as much time as he needs to study the situation. In other words, the dog has to get used to the kennel; as he gets more and more used to it, he will linger in it.
If you know how to get your dog used to the dog basket with this technique, you can also adopt it to get your dog used to the carrier; the principle is the same. We are talking about a dog carrier proportionate to your friend’s size; be careful not to close the little door once he is inside; otherwise, you will have to start all over again, which will take you twice as long!
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