I have always crate trained my dogs and it definitely comes in handy!! Recently, we took in another puppy of a smaller breed. Our older dog has always gone into his crate with the command "Crate" with no problems, until recently... Suddenly when you say "Crate" he lays down and refuses. If you try to pick him up, he runs into the living room floor and flops down again, or will peek you from the corner. He is a one year old male, altered. German Shepherd and Belgian mallinoise on his dads side, Lab and pit mix on his mothers side, a VERY smart dog and strong so he is hard to force into his crate on the occassions where we have no choice because we are making an outing and won't be home.
What I wanted to know, is there ANY way this could be because of the new puppy? That is about the time it happened, the puppy has his own crate nearby.

My first thought is maybe he is having puberty issues and pushing or testing his limits again but he still seems submissive, when we go to get his collar he just rolls on his back for us. Is it just plain refusal? His cage is big enough for him to stand, turn around in and eat in as should be... The only difference with the cage is that he ruined his bed and we have still not replaced it.
Also, he has began to bark/howl during his stay in his kennel which he did as a young pup but he phased out of it (I thought) We rent this house and when our lease is up we were planning to move to a different location...But it is a MUST for a well behaved dog again as many pet owners understand that it is hard to find new homes with pets, especially a big dog like this one.

Originally Posted by FrodoMom Is it possible that maybe you took the crate apart and he saw you do it? We used to have a collapsible crate and my dog at that time saw me fold it up and move it so I could clean the floor under it. He would not go in that crate again after that. I figured he must have been really smart to have figured that out! Luckily we didn't need to use the crate so much by that point. Does your puppy have the ability to play fun find it games? Maybe you can make a game out of crate time but not close the door on him until he becomes comfortable with it. I was told by my dog trainer to never use the crate as punishment, but I have had to place my border collie pup in time out because he would not leave his older brother alone.

Originally Posted by JGLI This is fairly common if the dog has been frightened by something in/on/near the crate or somehow pinched or injured himself, it is possible he could have done something like that? I have also heard of people successfully reintroducing the crate after it has been thoroughly washed and bedding changed.

Originally Posted by FrodoMom Is it possible that maybe you took the crate apart and he saw you do it? We used to have a collapsible crate and my dog at that time saw me fold it up and move it so I could clean the floor under it. He would not go in that crate again after that. I figured he must have been really smart to have figured that out! Luckily we didn't need to use the crate so much by that point. Does your puppy have the ability to play fun find it games? Maybe you can make a game out of crate time but not close the door on him until he becomes comfortable with it. I was told by my dog trainer to never use the crate as punishment, but I have had to place my border collie pup in time out because he would not leave his older brother alone.

Originally Posted by Bigboy It could be that in fact he can be trusted and doesn't need the crate now? While they have their uses they should be a temporary thing in a dogs life

Originally Posted by WolfieX Unfortunately he still has not matured enough to be trusted alone. I believe it is about 3 years before he will mature due to his breed, our previous GSD did not mature out of her puppy phase until about 3 years of age. He is fine when supervised, but when we sleep or we leave the house he must be crated so he doesn't get into things. We've attempted to leave him out on occassions at night and woke up to chewed clothing (chewed them completely in half lol) rumaging through our trash can and so on. We have also tried to let him stay in the living room with everything blocked off when we went on a quick errand and came back to him destroying the trash and ripped up a cushion lol!!! As soon as he is able though we plan to upgrade the puppy to his crate and let Fox roam the house freely without supervision, sadly still a ways off though.

Originally Posted by Bigboy It could be that in fact he can be trusted and doesn't need the crate now? While they have their uses they should be a temporary thing in a dogs life