PUPPY CRATE TRAINING

By nature, dogs are den animals. We are going to take “a crate” and make it into “his den.” In some ways this might be thought of in the same way we turn a “house” into a “home.” Certainly your puppy will need a den, a home of his own where he can get away from it all and recharge his batteries. Crate training has many advantages. Aside from giving the dog a den, we will use it as:

• An aid in house-training your dog.
• A means of solving behaviour problems such as chewing.
• A safer way of travelling in the car.
• His home away from home. When staying in a motel, using the crate prevents destruction of property. Many motels will allow dogs only if they are crated.
• A place for the dog to relax. The crate allows him a place where his privacy will be respected.

The crate should be large enough for the dog to stand up, turn around, and lie down in comfort. It should not be so large that he can sleep in one end and use the other end as a bathroom. If you got him a larger crate than he needs right now, you can temporarily block off a portion of it.

Helping The Puppy Adjust To The Crate If the puppy has already had some crate time prior to leaving the breeder, the adjustment to the crate at your home should be relatively easy. Even if they have not been in a crate before, some puppies will adjust quickly. For those that have never been in a crate before, we suggest the following approach to help the puppy get used to his new den. The following steps can easily be covered in a day or less.

1. Set the crate up. Then take the puppy to it and let him investigate. Show it to him while talking in a happy excited voice. Rattle it a little to show him that it may make a noise. Have a few treats inside it and reach in to get him one. Take him away from the crate for a short period and then return to the crate and reach in to get him another treat. Repeat until all treats are gone from inside the crate.

2. Put the puppy in with the command “In your crate” or “In your bed.” Use a happy, excited voice. Once in, praise excitedly and reward him with a treat from your pocket, then let him out. Do this 3 to 5 times.

3. Command the puppy into the crate, praise, give a treat, and close the door with him inside. Pet him through the side of the crate. Praise and let him out. Do this 5 times.

4. Command the puppy into the crate, praise, give a treat, close the door, and leave the room for 5 seconds. Return, give him lots of praise and let him out. Do this 5 times.

5. Repeat step 4, but increase the time out of the room to 10 seconds, then 20 seconds, then 1 minute. Keep increasing the time each time you leave.

6. Put the puppy in the crate, praise, give him a treat, leave the house for a short period of time. Each time you leave the house it can be for longer periods of time.

7. The quickest way to accustom the puppy to his crate is to keep it in the bedroom and crate him at night. After he is accustomed to sleeping in the crate, you may move it to the kitchen or another part of the house.

Using The Crate You should no more allow a young puppy to roam around the house unsupervised than you would allow a toddler to wander in similar circumstances. For reasons of safety, if for no other, you must keep an eye on both. When something demands our attention and we are unable to keep an eye on a toddler we put him briefly in a playpen or we plan things around his nap time while he is in his crib. With a young puppy, we use his crate in a similar manner. Some other suggestions as to how the crate should be used are:

1. During the training process, always give a treat for getting in the crate. Once trained, the treat is no longer necessary every time.

2. Do not be apprehensive or apologetic to the puppy for putting him in the crate. Be matter-of-fact about it.

3. Never let the puppy out of the crate when he is barking. If he is barking in the crate, make him be quiet before letting him out.

4. If the puppy has an accident in his crate, do not punish him for it. He has been punished enough by having to stay in close-quarters with his accident. Take him outside, then clean the crate.

5. Do not punish the dog while in his crate.

6. When your dog is not confined in the crate, leave the door open so he can have access to it at will.

7. Make it a point to have the puppy spend some quiet time in the crate each day. This should be other than the time he spends sleeping in it at night.

Barking In The Crate Dogs confined in a crate may bark to be let out. If the dog is let out while he is barking, he is being rewarded for this behavior and will therefore bark more often. To cope with his barking, teach him to respond to the command “Quiet.”

1. Tell the dog in a stern voice “QUIET.” If the dog is quiet for 5 seconds, praise and let him out. Slowly increase the time he must be quiet before you let him out gradually working up to a minute.

2. If he does not be quiet when you tell him, you can use either a spray bottle of water or take ½ glass of water and toss it directly in the dog's face as you say “Quiet” in a normal voice. Likely he will be startled and will stop. After the dog has been quiet and settled for a brief period, let him out of the crate.

3. Gradually increase the length of time the dog must be quiet and settled before being let out, initially 5 seconds. After several repetitions he will have to settle down for a minute or longer before being let out.

4. After a few repetitions with the water, just saying “Quiet” and leaving the glass of water in sight of the dog will be enough.