He used to be quiet in his crate. Now we can't leave him in there and be in the same home with him - without him squeaking, barking, groaning. It's obnoxious. If we want alone time together, or are trying to eat dinner...

Any ideas? Keep in mind this is one of the smartest dogs in the world. The little shit is always a step ahead of us.

Has anything changed in your home? New baby,girlfriend,new dog......?

Maybe he don't like that crate anymore?

Did you move the location of the crate?

Or has it always been in the same spot ?

Dogs like to see what's going on in the house.

As a puppy he mostly slept in it.
Now as he has grown older. He wants to be part of the family.


Move it where the dog can see you.

Most dogs enjoy being in their crate.OP make sure he doesn't think you are punishing him by putting him in the crate.You should never yell and then put him in there.

same spot, same crate. And the crate is plenty roomy. I am not sure if this is a dominance thing or what, but I don't want to resort to a shock collar. Those things hurt.

I think we may have been guilty of that here and there. Should I make a big deal about bed time with treats, etc?

I don't get keeping a dog or any other animal in a crate.  I'd have a dog if I owned 10 acres, but IMHO it'd be unfair to an animal to trap him inside my house.  YMMV

I was just having this discussion with the wife a few days ago.



 Crating an animal is a fairly new concept, isn't it?  (Last 25 years or so?)



 

No animal trainer here but the experts say that you should not punish them by putting them in the crate.The crate is supposed to be for sleeping and comfort.Also I think your not supposed to leave them in there for over an hour.Try and give him a treat when you crate him.Like someone mentioned above put the crate where he can see you guys.I have an American bulldog that hates when I go anywhere near my wife.He used to be an inside dog until the baby was born.The American bulldog used to do the same thing as your describing.

We have to crate him while we're at work. He's a dachshund and it's a crate for a large dog. He has a soft bed, toys. We tried the leaving him loose thing... he is terribly destructive. Nothing is safe.

Max is the forth dog to use this crate as his home.  It is a place that he can go to too feel safe, sleep or just chew his bone.  He has a one gallon water bottle, a roof ($7 tarp) and his blankie .  Sometimes it takes a treat to get him in there but he goes in.  He does cry from time to time but nothing habitual.  



Like children giving into to their cries will promote bad behavior as will sticking them in their cage when scolding them.

You crate him while at work.
You crate him while you sleep.
You crate him when you eat.
You crate him when  you two want some alone time together.


When do you take him out?


Or am I misreading what you're posting?

You stopped keeping him in the crate because he's whinning too much?

I think maybe you just kept him in a crate for too much of the day.

Night should be fine , just take him for a walk or run and exercise him first.

When both of you are home there's no reason to keep him in a crate all day, if that's what's happening.


Edit to add

What the dog and both of you need are training .

It sounds like you haven't taken the time to train the dog.

I'm not trying to sound harsh but that's exactly what it sounds like.

I have crated several dogs.  I leave the crate open unless it is night time or we are going out.  Our dog can go in whenever she wants all the other times.  When we had two dogs she spent a lot of time in there.  Since we are back to one she is out a little more to lie on the couch or in my chair.  

I am not suggesting a "shock" collar, but in true training with a "shock" collar you are not seeking to send a painful shock to the dog.  The shock needs to grab the dog's attention as though you were using a leash.  When trying to find the right setting the dog needs to be used to wearing the collar first.  Then, when the dog is just walking around, start at the lowest level and work up until the dog noticeably changes it's behavior, but does not yelp.

Enough on the e-collars...how is the dog with you?  Is it very dependent on your interaction, hearing your voice, basically needy.  How does the dog fair when you "leave?"  Can you hear it barking while outside the main door?  Maybe there is a separation issue if it is not a needy issue.  Maybe a toy would be appropriate.  Maybe a buddy dog?  I am not that familiar with your dog's breed, but that can play a role in this as well.  Have you had the dog since it was a puppy and if so how did it rate in that litter or what level of interaction did it need.  How old is your dog.  There is a phase when dogs are very impressionable.  

These are just some ideas.  Good luck.

Mike

Dachshunds were bred for their strong independence and to make decisions on their own. Those strong traits remain today and while admirable, make them a very difficult breed to train.
Training a dachshund requires a fair bit of patience, firmness and consistency. There are exercises that will show you how to teach your dog what it should know to share your home and survive.

The biggest tip to remember is that your dachshund is an animal, not a little person. They only live in the present and what happened in the past in is long forgotten.

Many dog problems are really people problems. Dogs are animals that existed in packs with pack leaders. They worked as a team, with a team leader. It is important for any training that your dog see you as the leader. If they don't see you as the natural leader of the team, then they will take over that job whether they want to or not. When this happens dogs may take on aggressive characteristics or show show other dominance traits.

Another dog characteristic requirement is that they need exercise— a lot of exercise. This is more than just letting your dachshund out into the backyard to relieve themselves. It means giving them long walks on a regular basis. Many behavior problems are a result of a lack of good exercise. Dachshunds by their very nature are active animals and when we keep them shut up inside the house for days and days without giving the opportunity to relieve that energy may cause some bad behavior. So the top of the list for training is learning how to walk your dachshund

Is this a "from experience" thing monger?

 

I wouldn't ever put one on a dog without knowing what it felt like myself.

He is only crated while we are at work. We followed all the proper steps in crate training him. Lately though we have used the crate as a punishment place. IE, if he poops in the house or something without ever having asked to go out. Then it's a "Go to your bed" while we clean it up.

Both of us work. Oscar gets up with me and we take a short walk in the morning. About an hour after getting up, we put him in his bed and head to work. He is let out immediately upon our getting home. I don't crate my dog constantly. Once in a while we put him in his crate so we can have some intimacy without him literally staring into our eyes while we do the horizontal mambo.

We only crate him when we eat on occasion. If we're eating steak or something, he continuously creeps up to our feet and starts squeaking.

He sleeps with us in our bed. He always has. I would be happy to leave him loose if it didn't involve complete destruction of everything we own.


I am open to suggestions. I try to be the firm one, but like I said... this dog is always a step ahead of me. I know there are all kinds of dominance struggles dogs will try, and I am legitimately looking for advice on how to work with him on it.

My dog is very well loved. Crating during work hours is a necessity, or I wouldn't do it at all.

First thing I would do is stop bringing the dog in bed with you. If you have to put a crate in the bedroom at night. Next is crate him when you eat. Let him see both of you eating( then feed him) always eat first


Next is make him earn his food Every time, make him earn his treats every time.

This really is about training , it sounds like the dog thinks it's equal with you .

Be very firm when dealing with him, just don't yell. You shouldn't have to.
As for him pooping in the house. Are you sure he's not letting you know he has to go?

Walking in a circle in front of you .

dogs have been holed up in 'dens' for a few thousand years.  using 'crates' is like using a litter box for a cat, you are taking advantage of the animals natural programming.

maybe crating hasn't been 'official' but plenty of literature about dogs will remark about how certain dogs had found their own version of a 'dog cave' be it under the piano or wherever.

This doesn't seem to me like a crate problem...neither in the basic philosophy of the crate system nor in overuse.

This sounds to me like there have been some basic breakdowns in the training and letting him know his place in the pack.

Our dog sleeps in our room with us too.  The first time we were going at it, he jumped up on the bed because he thought I was hurting "momma"





We also crate him while we are at work and on saturdays that's for about 10 hours.  He hasnt shown any ill effects from it.





I may have missed when you said, but how old is he?  Ours started challenging us on some little things recently and he's just over a year.



 

I am not at trainer but my wife is and she says there is no shame in going back to the beginning.  Don't make it a punishment.  Give him treats for going into his crate.  I haven't given my girl a treat for going into her crate for 4 years.  She still zips in when I tell her to "kennel up" and even when I am not necessarily happy with her, I still tell her good dog.  Good Luck!