Crate training works on the dog's den instinct. By instinct dogs like to sleep in a smaller protected area; their den. They will also soil their sleeping area in only the most extreme of circumstances; this is the reason dogs rescued from puppy mills are some of the most difficult to housebreak
To start, you want the crate to be a pleasurable and safe area for the dog. You also want it big enough for the dog to stand up in & turn around, no larger. Most any dog has a favorite treat, even the pickiest dog. Many dogs will eat nearly anything. Get the right size crate, and a scrap of carpet, sleeping pad, whatever fits. Set it up, let the dog get a bit nosy. Toss a treat in there for the nosy dog, it may be apprehensive of entering at first, but once it finds the treat it’s going in. Let the dog wander out, toss in another treat, in & out a few times over. When the dog isn’t around toss in a treat or two, it’s sure to be found. Do this a few times; the dog by instinct will go to check on occasion. When you see the dog go in to look when there are no treats, give the dog a treat. Soon you have a dog that goes into the crate on it’s own, and waits for a treat.
This is the point where you can start closing the door. Dog goes in, close the door, give her a treat, and open the door. Pretty soon she will go in there, get tired of waiting, and lay down, probably falling asleep in a short amount of time. Close the door, when she wakes up she will let you know. If it has been any amount of time she will have to relive herself, open the door, pick her up, take her outside. The carry routine is so she doesn’t go on the way to the door. This whole routine has taken an afternoon into the evening for any 8-10 week old pup I’ve had, food is the best training tool around.
This is the size crate I use for my guys, with the divider installed, back when Kaz was about 9 weeks old. He weighed about 4 pounds, you can see how the divider can be moved back bit by bit as they grow.
If she goes outside, great, if not, a carry into the house, put her back into the crate, treat & wait. This is the point where she may complain a bit, and the part many people find difficult. You have to understand why they are doing this and the signals that it is ending.
From a human standpoint, imagine you walk into work, in a large building, and hit the button for the elevator. You wait. After a bit of time you hit the button again. You wait. You get discouraged, jab at that button several times fiercely. You then decide to use the stairs, no result with the elevator. The next day you push the button, and wait. You may hit it again, wait just a moment, and then use the stairs. The third day you may push that button once; you may just figure it doesn’t work, using the stairs as a matter of habit now
That fierce jabbing is the extinction burst, and to your dog in a crate it is the real tantrum before silence. This is why you give no result, not a word, not a look for the dog being loud for no reason. The dog knows the crate is a safe & desirable place; the dog is just looking for a result. Give none at all. If one day you saw your elevator working the next day you would be jabbing that button, your dog is no different.
Have a seat near the crate, ignore any squeaking, for a good 15 minutes for an adult dog, closer to 5 or 10 for a pup. If she is still carrying on, carry her outside, same routine. When she does eliminate outside, treat. Act as if she just won the World Cup, found a winning lottery ticket, and bought you a new car all rolled into one. If nothing happens she gets nothing. If she has an accident in the house she gets nothing, not a scolding, nothing, not even looked at. You mentioned eye contact in a previous post, you know this is big, no eye contact at all. If she makes eye contact while eliminating outside this is great, it’s communication. My guys stare me down when they go; they have my attention, I have their attention, in sync with the same thought in mind.
When she goes outside she gets house access, access is a resource, one I mentioned in a previous post. Treats, praise & access, trading poop & pee for resources, dogs catch on to this game quick. I’ve always started with young pups, small systems process food & water quick, and have a small capacity. I’m the guy who sleeps next to the crate the first couple months, hard floor with a bit of padding is actually good for my back.
Clicker training is nothing more than a consistent signal used to signify the dog has earned a treat. This has actually been taken from dolphin training, where the whistle signifies they have earned a fish, the usual treat for dolphins. The clicker, a commonly available and cheap little plastic device, is available at nearly any pet shop. It is a consistent sound, from day to day, and person to person. My “good dog” sounds different at a bleary eyed 3am than it does at 5pm, and much different from my wife or daughter saying “good dog”. The clicker adds that much more consistency, and like the whistle for the dolphins, is an instant signal that works at a distance.
You can incorporate the clicker into the crate training routine, this is something I always do. One click equals one treat. I start with the first feeding, hand feeding each kibble with a click. When they go outside, click & treat. When they sit, down, speak, or anything else you are teaching, click & treat. Eventually this gets phased out, but I always give treats here & there for a job well done. Dogs are experts at figuring out the odds, and if every 10th time they do something they get a treat they will do it 10 times for that treat.
Dogs are not perfect little machines; there will be mistakes & accidents. I think a lot of training has to do with how you deal with these little bumps in the road, even more than how you deal with the positive results of training. They say silence is golden, dogs thrive on attention from a leader, the lack of attention sends a bigger signal than any yelling, swatting, or any of that could ever do.