• Install your new crate in a suitable place, somewhere your dog likes to sit or rest.
  
• Erect the crate, leave the door open and ignore your dog.
  
• Allow your dog to get used to this new object, don't focus on the dog or make a fuss.
  
• Put some bedding inside the crate and throw in a couple of tasty treats
  
• If and when your dog investigates the inside of the crate quietly praise and give more tit-bits inside the crate
  
• As your dog begins to go in the crate more often give a command i.e. "Go In" or "Crate".
  
• As your dog gains in confidence give him or her meals in the cage.
  
• Provide water inside the crate. Some pet shops sell stainless steel bowls that will hang on the wire.
  
• Begin to shut the door with your dog inside for a few seconds at a time.

• All dogs are different, some will take to a crate immediately, some will take a few days and yet others will take weeks or months. Don't rush! Let your dog move at his or her own pace.
  
• Be Fair! If you are leaving your dog in the crate make sure he or she is well exercised, has toileted, and is not hungry.
  
• Teach your dog to go into the crate when you are NOT going out too. He or she will learn that this is a place to settle down safely.
  
• Crates can be used to control your dog when vacuuming, washing the floor, cooking, and all those household jobs where dogs always seem to get in the way!

• Regard your dog's crate as his own den - a comfortable place of his own.
  
• Ignore people who say that a crate is cruel - they are kind - when used humanely.
  
• Move the crate around so that your dog will learn to go in anytime, anywhere.
  
• Don't leave your dog in a crate for extensive periods - dogs need exercise and mental stimulation to help them to settle down.

Teach your dog to settle down quietly with the help of a Kong and some Kong Stuffing Paste from

VET UK