If you start crate training your dog properly from the moment you bring them home as a pup, there is no reason why your dog should not see his crate as his own special spot. However you can mistakes, and a mistake at this time can cause a puppy, or dog, to hate this small space that should have become his very own room.

Some common mistakes:

• Forcing her to go inside the crate when she doesn’t want to.
• A crate that is too small so that she is restricted
• Having a bleak interior.
• Letting the puppy spend too long in the crate
• Using the crate as a place of punishment

All of these can make a puppy complain when they are confined in the crate, and may even injure themselves trying to get out. Spending too long in a crate may force a puppy to defecate in the crate, which will cause them to hate the crate and act out their grief by barking, biting their owners, licking the inside of the crate, or eating their own excreta.