Ok, I have a few things here for tips, not that they may be needed, just some input. For anyone and some have been mentioned.
Crate training - we've done it it with 2 year old rescue dogs (1 never crate trained and 1 that supposedly was) and with the litter of pups. With the older dogs it was a bit different. The one that never was trained, though was already house broken so the crate was just used for when we went out to stop her from getting into garbage as she would not trash the house or anything otherwise (not a chewer or destroyer, a typical couch potato). She was resistant at first and had no clue what a crate even was. We had to teach her to go in. We tossed treats in there. At first not any old treat worked even though food was a big motivator, she was that resistant. We used liver treats. We gave her one right as she came to us by the crate and then tossed another in. Now, under any circumstances all I have to do is say "crate" and she will go to the crate and get in on her own, no treat involved or needed though at times I still give her one. I wanted her to know that she doesn't always have to have one. She is also so well trained about the crate that as they say don't use it for punishment, we can now use it as punishment if necessary (I'll explain this one in a minute). She will still go in it willingly.
The puppies we trained that as soon as they came out of crate, and we put them all in at once as they used the larger adult crates so they had ample room, they were immediately taken out to go potty. They can not hold their little bladders for much more then 2 hours at a time until they hit about 3 months. Then they can go about 4 hours. It progress' up, so I learned, about 2 hours each 2 months so that by the time they are (6mo=6hrs, 8mo=8hrs, etc).
Putting a blanket over the crate like a bird cage absolutely quiets any of the dogs that like to whine or bark. Sadie, the well trained one never was a noisy dog to begin with so it never mattered to have to do that. She was always content. She did like having some sort of blanket or bed in there with her, she wasn't fussy which as long as it's something. The puppies did too though they tended to like to play with blankets for a while before settling down.
Here is an interesting tip with dog dominance we found when we were having issues with the 2 adult dogs since we recently introduced one of them in, and Star can attest to the fact as she was on the phone one evening when we had to do it and heard it work. You should never physically put your hand in between 2 dogs fighting to separate them. There are other ways to do it and I'll tell you 2 more after I tell you this one. Take anything metal like for instance a pot or pot lid and metal spoon, a cookie sheet and metal spoon, etc. and bang them together. The noise will interrupt the dogs and they will hear the noise and stop. I'M NOT KIDDING!! Ask STAR! I read it and thought ok, seriously? It WORKS!!! We use that now when, once in a while - not often, our 2 females will get into a spat. It only then takes one person to take one of the dogs by the collar and remove her to the crate. In our case it is Sadie since she is the most well trained. I tell her to go to crate and she goes and Jasmyn, the other one who is not as well trained is held by collar (usually by my oldest difficult child since it's her dog).
As for techniques I spoke of (this is if there is only 1 person available), they suggested looping the end of a lead around the hind legs (as high up to the hips and you can get) of one of the dogs and slipping clip part of the lead through the handle part and attaching it to something availble nearby. Alternatively, if there is 2 people available, they suggest to have each person grasp a dog, again, by their hind legs (no you don't actually hurt the dog) and pull backwards and at the same time spin them outwards which will cause them to have to cross their front paws to try to gain balance and they can't come back at you and bite. NEVER grab and pull collar BACK. If you have to grab and pull collar then pull UP and back. Simply pulling back and not up triggers an instinct in them to fight and lash back at you to bite and continue the fight only in your direction. These are just some things I had looked up when we encountered a problem with suspected dominance issues with Sadie and Jasmyn when I never thought we would have such since Sadie was and is the most docile coon going. She was actually the aggressor each time and Jasmyn is a boxer/pit. Interesting dynamic. We have since learned some of the triggers that cause Sadie to react and start. They are she is being protective of the cats. Jasmyn likes to chase the cats around and bark and corner them. She doesn't hurt them but she just won't leave them alone. Sadie could care less and in fact likes them and will even sleep with them, nuzzle them, etc...The other times is if she doesn't want to play, which is more often the case. She is, as I said, docile, doesn't care to play much and Jasmyn is much like a Jack Russel, ALWAYS wants to play, play, play! LOL
So back to the crate and punishment. Sadie will get put in the crate for punishment ONLY if there has been a dog fight to stop the cycle of fighting (cool down period). The only other time is if she has gotten into the garbage and that is a rare occurrence but it does happen on occasion.
Sadie we can go out and leave loose in the house for a whole day now and not have to put in crate but since getting Jasmyn we put her in crate (her own) at same time as Jasmyn to help reinforce Jasmyn's learning since she hasn't learned what she needs and we believe that if she see's Sadie doing it then she will learn what is expected a lot easier. If that makes sense?
