Crate Training a Stubborn Chowdoodle: Week by Week

Dodo screamed for 45 minutes the first night. Here's the full timeline of how we went from chaos to calm crate naps in under three weeks.

Crate Training a Stubborn Chowdoodle: Week by Week

I want to be honest about this from the start. Crate training Dodo took six weeks. Not the three days that some training guides promise. Not the one week that the breeder suggested. Six full weeks of consistency, frustration, setbacks, and very slow progress.

Chow mixes are not crate-resistant because they are bad dogs. They are crate-resistant because they are independent and do not like being told where to be. The chow chow in Dodo means she has strong opinions about her personal space and autonomy. Forcing her into a crate would have destroyed her trust in me.

The Setup

I bought a MidWest iCrate with a divider panel. The 30-inch size was right for her projected adult weight. I covered three sides with a blanket to make it den-like. I put it in the living room where she could see us but was not in the middle of foot traffic.

Inside the crate: a washable pad, a Kong, and nothing else. No water bowl because she would flip it. No toys with small parts because she would destroy them unsupervised.

Week 1: Just Existing Near the Crate

I did not close the door once during the first week. The crate was just there, open, with treats scattered inside. Every time Dodo walked near it, I tossed a treat in. Every time she stepped inside voluntarily, she got praise and more treats.

By the end of week one, she would walk in to grab a treat and walk right back out. Progress.

Week 2: Meals in the Crate

I started feeding her meals inside the crate with the door open. She had to go in to eat. At first she would grab a mouthful and bring it outside. By day four, she was eating the entire meal inside because she realized the food was not going anywhere.

I also started tossing high-value treats in randomly throughout the day. The crate became the place where good things appeared unpredictably.

Week 3: Closing the Door Briefly

I started closing the door while she ate. Just for the duration of the meal, maybe 3-5 minutes. The moment she finished, I opened it. No drama. She barely noticed at first.

Then I extended it to one minute after the meal. Then two. Then five. If she whined, I waited for a pause in the whining before opening. I never opened the door while she was actively crying because that teaches them that crying works.

Week 4: The Regression

Week four was terrible. She had a full meltdown. Screaming, pawing at the door, throwing herself against the sides. I think she suddenly realized this was a pattern and she did not consent to it.

I went back to week two. Meals in the crate, door open. I had pushed too fast. This is the part nobody tells you about. Regressions are normal. They do not mean you failed. They mean you need to slow down.

Week 5: Rebuilding

Back to short door-closed sessions. This time I stayed in the room where she could see me. I gave her a frozen Kong stuffed with peanut butter, which bought me 15-20 minutes of quiet. I started leaving the room for 30 seconds, then a minute, then two minutes.

The frozen Kong was the game-changer. It gave her something to focus on that was more interesting than my absence.

Week 6: Real Progress

By week six, Dodo would go into her crate voluntarily when she saw me preparing a Kong. She would settle within a few minutes. I could leave the room for 30 minutes without any crying. At night, she slept in the crate for 6-7 hours straight.

She was not happy about it. She did not love the crate. But she tolerated it because she associated it with good things and understood that quiet behavior got her released.

Where We Are Now

At six months old, Dodo goes into her crate for naps, nighttime, and when I leave the house. She does not love it, but she does not fight it. She walks in on her own when she sees me grab a Kong. She sleeps through the night.

The crate is her safe space during thunderstorms and when the house gets overwhelming. That alone made the six weeks worth it.

What I Would Do Differently

I would not have tried to rush week three. The regression in week four happened because I pushed too fast. If I could do it again, I would spend two full weeks on the door-closed phase before extending duration.

I would also have started crate training the day she came home instead of waiting a week to let her settle in. That week of sleeping in our bed made the transition harder.

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Crate Liner Tip

During the phase where Dodo was still having occasional crate accidents, I used a LoveWag washable mat as her crate liner instead of disposable pads (which she shredded) or towels (which aren't leakproof). It's absorbent enough to handle an accident without soaking through to the crate tray, and it goes straight in the washing machine. The 16"x24" size fits perfectly in a 30-inch crate.