Have you recently purchased a High Anxiety crate?

You might be reading this because you've recently received your new High Anxiety crate. There's a good chance that you purchased this crate because your dog suffers from storm phobia and/or separation anxiety. Maybe your dog destroyed past crates or damaged furniture around the house and you've decided that it's time to invest in a secure crate. If this is the case, then we're here to help you learn more about your dog's escape-artist behavior and how to familiarize your pup with his/her new crate.

Why do anxious dogs try to escape their crates?

The idea of this escape-proof crate is to help play a consistent role in training new behavior. Dogs usually repeat behavior because they are rewarded for it- regardless if that behavior is allowed or not. For anxious pups, escaping or tearing apart crates has become their personal motive. Once their first attempt at escaping is successful, it becomes their reward.

Escape-artist behaviors can't be rewarded in a High Anxiety dog crate. This crate is specifically designed to safely contain your fur friend. More often than not, dogs learn quickly that there is no reward for bad behavior and stop.  

How to introduce your dog to his/her new High Anxiety crate

Here are some quick tips to introduce your dog to his/her new crate:

• Leave the door open while your dog is loose in the house so he/she can go in and out as they please.
• If your dog is hesitant to go inside the crate, place some of their favorite treats in the crate to encourage them to walk in. 
• Feed meals to your dog with the crate door open- while supervised.
• For the first few times, put your dog in the crate for short lengths of time.
• Exercise your dog before putting him/her into the crate to help reduce anxious behavior.

If you need more crate training suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our customer support team at support@impactdogcrates.com. Part of our service to you is to help ease the transition and we’re happy to help.

Learn more about the High Anxiety Impact Dog Crate here!