Three months ago, we got a soft crate. The ultimate goal is that it will be Skye's safe place when we are in an unknown environment. But with Skye, everything has to be introduced slowly in a non threatening manner. So when received it, we placed it stealthily outside under our patio like a piece of furniture. When Skye noticed it, she approached it cautiously and gave it a good sniff, and declared it to be a neutral item, like the bench was. The crate stayed there for a month or so.
Then we stealthily (again) opened the door of the crate. She noticed it - which speaks wonders to her level of awareness that she has! - sniffed it, and declared it okay.
A month later, we started putting some of her toys next to the crate to see her retrieving them. Then we put the toys half way in the crate, and eventually put them in.
This week, we started doing the same with treats. We are still doing everything when she is not watching, as we don't want her to feel any pressure from us around the crate. The crate is a magical place where toys and treats are appearing by themselves :)
Here is the video we captured of her finding the treats this morning:
You will see her stretching her head as much as she can, but she will not put a paw in the crate yet. A couple treats were left behind because she couldn't reach them.
Baby steps...