Crate Training for your Puppy


Teaching your puppy crate training is the first and best step in his life. It makes all the other steps in his training go so much smoother, much like a solid foundation makes for a superior wall. Establishing you as the Alpha member of his pack is one very sizeably effective reason for starting your puppy in a crate when he is very young.

Another reason for crate training is that dogs love predictability. To understand what is going to happen in any given situation makes him happy, and more apt to be the best-behaved dog he may possibly be.

A strong crate is the very basis of grand puppy training. A wire crate with a lock is the best kind. Make sure it is large enough for him to stand up and turn around. But not so large that he can roam and wander around. A too-large crate will inhibit house breaking. A crate that is just the right size will be perceived as his nest, where puppies never go potty. They will learn to hold it if you do not build a prison out of it.

Never leave a puppy under 8 weeks longer than one hour in his crate. He will soil it, after struggling and suffering as long as he may.

Put a nice pad in there with a bone. Start with posting a tasty treat in there, he will go in and acquire it. Do this several times without closing the door, let him come in and out freely for an hour or so. Praise him highly each measure he goes in, make it all very pleasant.

Then when his attention is on his treat, close the door. Praise him quietly, What a sizeably good boy, its ok, such a dazzling boy! In 10 or 20 seconds, no longer, let him out without a word, no praise, just a pat. Do this for increasingly longer intervals, but do not give him a chance to get upset. You might do this several times the first day.

Make sure every training session ends on a happy note, this is crucial.

Once he sees the crate is his own private territory, he will go in there on his own, expecting treats and your attention. When he does, say, Wanna crate? with a happy face while acquiring his treats. Start leaving the room while he is in there for 2 minutes and onward, gradually. When you return, dont generate a fuss, just walk over and open the crate. In 3 days he will be officially crate-trained, ready to be left alone for per sixty minutes , no longer at first. Leave him gradually longer, slowly and carefully.

Q. Why do I want a crate for my puppy?
A. Because they love it is the best reason. They feel very safe and secure in there. Here are some more:

When you leave a puppy alone, he always has some measure of separation anxiety. This leads him to any behavior that brings him comfort, which is chewing, digging, or when it is severe, voiding his bowels. When placed in a crate, he feels safe because nothing may get to him, nothing can harm him. He will sleep and chew and wait for you to return.

Crate training is the first step in being able to leave him overnight at the vet. Without it he will cry the entire measure , feeling lost and abandoned. With crate training, he is sure you will return, you always do. Of course the vets office is strange and will cause him some anxiety, but nothing like the pure terror he will feel without acquired skill in being locked in.

NOTE: About crate-training, do not build a prison of his crate. Do not make use of it as punishment. Do not leave him there for more than 2 hours, just time for a long puppy nap and some chew time. After that he will cry. Do not remove him while he is crying. This will contruct him think he has to cry to get out. No matter what, make sure he is being nice when you open the door. He will learn he has to be quiet to get out.

Do not build a fuss when you are letting him out, just quietly open the door and take him out to potty. When he potties, praise him to high heaven! Dogs naturally do not go where they nest, but sometimes it happens. Do not scold, just clean it out with a bland face. He will learn the lesson. If possible, try to clean it while he is outside so he returns to a clean crate.

In 25 many years of training dogs, I have never seen any one thing more critical for a dogs well-being than sizeably workable crate training.


Dy Witt has shown, bred and obedience trained standard poodles for 25 many years. Vets and groomers of her placed pups have sent word back of how remarkably happy and well-adjusted they were. To read more, go to www.DogTraining15MinsADay.com