HOW CAN I STOP MY DOG FROM BARKING IN HIS CRATE?

Dear Jubilee,
My Airedale is two years old. I work out of a home office, and I need to have him quiet when I am in meetings or on telephone conference calls. If he is lose in the house, he barks at squirrels and birds that he sees outside. I have tried crating him, and even thought he is crate trained, he barks continuously if I crate him during the day. What can I do?
Frantic

Dear Frantic,
For many years, Tom and Kay Lams came to Texas to do a training weekend in Dallas, and we have learned a lot from them.

One tip, which I promise really does work, is for teaching a dog not to bark when he is crated. When a dog barks in his crate in order to get attention, Tom says to go into the room, don't say a word, pick up the crate by one corner (just a little off the ground, not much) and drop the corner. Tom calls it an earthquake. Without saying a work, leave the room. If the dog starts barking again, do that again, but lift the corner a little higher off the ground. After three or four times, you should notice a definite difference in the amount of barking.

I had forgotten this tip, but we had a female, two and a half years old, that continually barked when she was in her crate. She too had been well crate trained, but for some reason one year, she decided she would bark up a storm in the crate whenever we put her in it (to wait for dinner, for the night, etc.). I tried talking to her; I tried closing the door to the room; I tried the towel over the door. Nothing worked. Then I remembered Tom's tip.

The next time she did it, I went quietly into the room and followed Tom's instructions. Then I went back to the kitchen; and when the barking started again, I repeated the action but lifted the crate corner a little bit higher. I had to do this two more times. Then the barking ceased. What peace.

Give it a try. I know it means going up the stairs, and that he will quiet when he hears you coming. BUT do it anyway. He will learn very quickly that the only attention he gets when he barks is an "earthquake: in his crate. And dogs do not like these earthquakes.

Jubilee