This is a specific conversation about Crate training — making it work — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A 4-year-old Alaskan Klee Kai who's now sharing the house with a new dog — that's a real adjustment for a breed that tends to bond intensely with its people and can be quite territorial about space. Crate training works best when the crate becomes a genuinely positive space, and that's especially true here because the crate positioning and introduction approach matter a lot when there's an established dog feeling displaced. The right crate size and type also makes more difference than most people realise. To point you in the right direction: is the Klee Kai already crate-trained, or are you starting fresh? And is the new dog also being crated, or just the Klee Kai?
The Klee Kai, her name's Nara, has been crated before but she's gone off it since we got the new dog — a 10-month-old Shiba. The Shiba has his own crate too. I think Nara sees his crate as competition somehow.
inparticular.ai
That makes complete sense. Nara's not reacting to the crate itself — she's reacting to what it now represents, which is another dog getting resources and attention in her space. The good news is this is very fixable. A few things will help: first, where are the two crates currently positioned relative to each other?
They're next to each other in the living room. I thought it would help them bond but Nara just seems more stressed.
inparticular.ai
Side by side is actually one of the harder setups for a dog in Nara's position — she can see the Shiba being settled and rewarded in his crate and it heightens the comparison. The fix isn't complicated: move the crates so they're not in each other's eyeline. Ideally Nara's crate goes somewhere that feels like hers — same room is fine, but angled away or partially screened. A crate with a cover option helps a lot here because it signals that her space is enclosed, private, and not in competition with anyone. What size is Nara — roughly how much does she weigh?
She's about 9kg, so pretty standard for a Klee Kai. She's always been fine in a medium crate.
inparticular.ai
Perfect — a 30-inch crate is the right fit for her. My recommendation is the MidWest Homes for Pets iCrate, 30-inch single door. It's a solid, well-ventilated wire crate that comes with a divider panel and — crucially for Nara's situation — it's fully compatible with MidWest's fitted crate covers, which you can add straight away. The cover transforms the feel of the crate from 'wire box in a shared room' to 'den,' which is exactly what you want for a dog rebuilding a positive association. It folds flat, the door latches reliably, and it's widely available on Amazon UK. Pair it with a crate cover, move it so Nara can't see the Shiba's crate from inside, and start doing short, treat-heavy sessions with the door open before you ask her to settle in it again. She'll come back around — Klee Kais are sharp and they respond well once the environment makes sense to them.
That's really helpful. Should I feed her meals in the crate to rebuild the association?
inparticular.ai
Yes, that's one of the most effective tools you have. Feed Nara her meals just inside the crate entrance to start — she doesn't need to be fully inside — then gradually move the bowl further in over a few days until she's walking in calmly without hesitation. Keep the Shiba's mealtime separate and out of sight while you're doing this, so there's no chance of her feeling like she's racing for resources. Once she's eating relaxed meals inside with the door open, you can start briefly closing the door during feeding and reopening it the moment she finishes. That progression is usually enough to rebuild a solid positive association within a week or two.
