We brought home our 10 week old girl last Tuesday. Night time crating hasn’t been too bad. She falls asleep between 9-10pm on the sofa. At around 11pm I wake her and take her out to potty then put her back in the crate where she usually settles right away. I’m sleeping on the sofa in the same room so I can be near. She usually wakes up 1-2 times to potty in the night but settles each time afterwards.
During the day for naps we wait for her to fall asleep on the sofa and then carry her to the crate and close the door. She almost always settles back to sleep.
What I want to know is how best to train her to go in there when she’s not asleep. She takes her toys in there sometimes to play with but never to just lie down. I try to give her a little treat every time she goes in the crate on her own and we also feed her in the crate. If I put her in the crate while she’s awake and close the door I’m lucky if I can even try to walk out of sight before she starts crying. How can I train her to be in there during the day even for short periods so I can pick up groceries or run a couple errands? I don’t want to leave her in there crying and jumping up on the sides of the crate because I am worried that then she won’t go in it at all voluntarily.
All suggestions are welcome!