Crate Training a Senior Anxious Dog: How I Did It With 9-Year-Old Alice

Alice is 9 and I never crate trained her. She's always been a nervous traveler and now she's afraid of fireworks too. Here's the step-by-step process I used to crate train my anxious senior dog.

People told me Alice was too old to be crate trained at nine. I always thought so too. She was my first dog, and when I got her I didn't know anything about crate training. It just wasn't something I thought to do. When I got Dodo, I crate trained her from the start, and honestly, I wish I had done the same with Alice years ago.

Alice has always been a nervous traveler. She drools excessively in the car and gets so stressed that she pants and paces the entire drive. On top of that, as she's gotten older, she's developed fears she never used to have. Fireworks terrify her now. Loud noises that never bothered her before send her into a spiral. She needed a dedicated safe space she could retreat to when she felt scared or overwhelmed, and I realized a crate could be that for her.

We also have a road trip coming up, and I knew that if I could get her comfortable in a crate beforehand, the drive would be significantly calmer for both of us. So at nine years old, I decided to crate train my anxious senior dog. Here's exactly how I did it.

Choosing the Right Crate

I went with the Petsfit Soft Collapsible Dog Crate. I chose a soft-sided crate over a wire one because Alice is not a chewer or an escape artist—she's just anxious. The soft fabric walls feel more den-like and enclosed, which helps her feel secure rather than exposed. It's also collapsible, which is perfect for travel since the whole reason I started this was our upcoming road trip.

I set it up in a quiet corner of the living room, away from the front door and foot traffic. I left the door unzipped and fully open so it didn't feel like a trap.

Step 1: Let the Crate Exist Without Any Pressure

For the first few days, I didn't ask Alice to go inside. I didn't point at it or lure her toward it. I just tossed high-value treats—freeze-dried liver and small pieces of chicken—into the back of the crate and walked away.

At first, she would stretch her neck in as far as possible while keeping her back paws planted firmly outside. Classic Alice. Eventually the treats were too good to resist, and she stepped all the way in. When she did, I kept my energy completely neutral. I let her grab the treat and leave on her own terms.

Step 2: Meals in the Crate

Once she was comfortable stepping inside for treats, I started feeding her meals in the crate. I placed her food bowl right at the entrance so she barely had to put her head inside. Over the course of a week, I moved the bowl a little further back each day. By the end of the week, she was eating her entire meal standing fully inside the crate with the door still open.

Step 3: Closing the Door for Seconds at a Time

When she was consistently eating in the back of the crate without hesitation, I started touching the zipper. I didn't close it—I just made the sound so she could get used to it.

A few days later, while she was focused on eating, I zipped the door closed. I left it closed for one second, then opened it before she even finished chewing. The key was opening the door before she realized she was enclosed and before she had any reason to whine.

From one second, we moved to five. Then ten. Then thirty. I always opened the door while she was still calm.

Step 4: Building Duration With Frozen Kongs

To help her stay in the crate longer without stressing, I introduced frozen Kongs stuffed with peanut butter and plain yogurt. She only got these when she was in the crate. The licking naturally soothed her anxiety, and the frozen filling took her 20 to 30 minutes to work through.

I would zip the door, sit nearby reading, and open it right as she finished the Kong. Over time, I started walking out of the room for a minute while she worked on it, then coming back. Gradually I increased the time I was out of sight.

Step 5: Keeping Everything Low-Key

The biggest shift happened when I stopped making a big deal out of the crate. When she went in, I stayed calm. When she came out, I stayed calm. No excited praise, no big greetings. I wanted her to understand that going in and coming out were completely normal, everyday things.

Where We Are Now

Alice now eats and sleeps in her crate on her own. When the vacuum comes out, when fireworks start, or when she just seems overwhelmed, she walks herself into the crate and lies down. It gave her a dedicated place to go when she's stressed, which is something I didn't fully appreciate until I saw her choose it on her own.

You can crate train your dog at any age. It takes longer with a senior dog who has never experienced a crate before, and you have to be willing to move at their pace. But the peace of mind it gives both of you—especially knowing she'll be safe and calm on our road trip—was worth every slow, patient week.