About 6 months ago, my girlfriend and I adopted Fitz, a Finnish Spitz/Chihuahua mix. He is about 2 years old. He has been great, he has never peed in the house and he is very friendly. He doesn't like other dogs that much but that hasn't really caused any issues.

Now on to the actual problem. When we brought FItz home we planned on crate training him for when we were gone. I work 12 hour shifts and my girlfriend goes to school. Fitz is not usually in the crate for more than 6 hours at a time and that is only maybe once or twice a week. When we brought Fitz home he had no problems going into the crate when we asked him, he even seemed to like going in there. In the last month or so; however, when we tell him to go into the crate he will run and hide in a corner of the bathroom. We had some luck coaxing him with treats but even that doesn't work anymore. We have had to pick him up and place him near the crate and then he will run in. 

Does anybody have any suggestions about where to go with this issue? I have read up some on crate training but most suggest using food and treats which doesn't work with Fitz anymore. 

Thanks in advance for any help.
user
My dog doesn't like going into the crate. We do want to crate train him but it seems to be more of a habit than a
assistant
About 6 months ago, my girlfriend and I adopted Fitz, a Finnish Spitz/Chihuahua mix. He is about 2 years old. He has been great, he has never peed in the house and he is very friendly. He doesn't like other dogs that much but that hasn't really caused any issues.

Now on to the actual problem. When we brought FItz home we planned on crate training him for when we were gone. I work 12 hour shifts and my girlfriend goes to school. Fitz is not usually in the crate for more than 6 hours at a time and that is only maybe once or twice a week. When we brought Fitz home he had no problems going into the crate when we asked him, he even seemed to like going in there. In the last month or so; however, when we tell him to go into the crate he will run and hide in a corner of the bathroom. We had some luck coaxing him with treats but even that doesn't work anymore. We have had to pick him up and place him near the crate and then he will run in. 

Does anybody have any suggestions about where to go with this issue? I have read up some on crate training but most suggest using food and treats which doesn't work with Fitz anymore. 

Thanks in advance for any help.
user
Dog has been crate trained and refuses to go in the crate. Hasn't been in there more than 6 hours though.
assistant