Why does my puppy fight going in the crate?
Instead of willingly going inside, the puppy actively fights the enclosure by jumping, screaming, and aggressively chewing the bars. Because the dog views the crate as a punishment, owners are left unsure how to manage the training process.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Why does my puppy fight going in the crate?
- 1Feeding the puppy every meal inside the crate with the door openDid this help you?
- 2Gradually closing the crate door for a few seconds at a time while the puppy eatsDid this help you?
- 3Leaving music on and providing a Kong to distract the puppyDid this help you?
- 4Feeding all meals inside the crateDid this help you?
- 5Tether training the puppy to an open crate so they can play and eventually fall asleep insideDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’ve been working on crate training with my 10 week old puppy & she is not taking to it.”source ↗
“More of a focus might be crate training because I hear that your puppy should be willing to go into the crate, but mine fights us to death on it.”source ↗
“I think that he thinks it’s a punishment so we don’t necessarily know how to manage that.”source ↗
“No advice but I’m in the same boat. I’ve been trying for 2 weeks since I got him and he chews the bars aggressively, jumps up and screams.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 19Why does my puppy lie down and refuse to walk on a leash?
- 10Why is my puppy suddenly crying and refusing to sleep in their crate?
- 4Dog resists or runs away when putting on collar or harness
- 12How to tell normal puppy crate whining from real distress
- 8Why does my dog freeze and refuse to move when he sees other dogs?
- 5Why won't my puppy settle in his crate during the day?