Crate training?? Why?
Here is a big question for my new puppy owners, to crate or not to crate? Here is a list of bigger questions… Where does puppy stay when you’re not home? Who can watch puppy 24/7 without every looking away? How many items are you ok with him/her eating? How many vet visits are you going to have to take because of the objects that were eating and ingested now causing a blockage? The way to think about crating is not “oh poor baby in jail” it should be “I’m so relieved that my baby has a safe place to rest.” Crate training not only has health benefits but also it helps with potty training and teaching a settle. Settling is going to be a very important skill as the puppy matures. How nice would it be to have a puppy that will play and then lay down and nap rather than whining or being restless for hours? This is a skill that you have to help the puppy learn and one of the easiest methods to this is crating. The crate will also provide a very convenient safe space whenever the dog needs somewhere to go and not be messed with when traveling, visiting family, friends are over or kiddos are playing. One other benefit. one the subject of traveling, is the transfer of crating to boarding. If you ever need to board your dog or leave them with someone settling in a crate will transfer over to settling at the vet, groomer, boarding kennel or pet sitters!
We talked about the benefits of crating but how exactly do you crate train? Here is a little simplified guide for it:
Start with getting your puppy sleepy. Long walks, training session, a meal or training session should do the trick
Begin teaching the settling skill with tethering. This is attaching a leash to a door handle or solid object that you can clip the puppy to leaving them with a length of leash area away from items they shouldn’t chew on in a location that you can see them. Then you will wait. Puppies will usually start with resisting, whining, pulling but don’t give attention during this time. Once they have chosen to sit or lay down calmly then toss a treat to reward them and walk away. Keep practicing this until the puppy will lay down and stay when there is movement around them and receiving treats.
Now you can practice adding duration and distraction with more movement around the tethered (hopefully settled puppy) and duration of time the puppy stays there.
When puppy understands door knob tethering you can practice having the puppy stay in a down on a mat or blanket. You can apply body pressure when they stand and reward with treat tossing when they stay in a down.
Once this skill makes sense you can put the matt or blanket in the puppies crate and practice settling with puppy in the crate with the door open
When this makes sense and after lots of practice with pup being calm in crate with distractions and added duration time start practicing small stints of time with the door closed and then open still tossing treats to reward inside crate.
Now you can give “go in the crate” a command and practice go in, closing door, opening door and calmly exiting. Do not let puppy exit the crate if they try to bolt and run as soon as the door opens
With continuance practice you should be able to have your sleepy puppy go in the crate or on their matt to settle, nap and stay calm even with distractions and added time.
Pro tip!! Don’t rush adding duration when the puppy is really young because they can not hold their bladder for very long and may start learning to pee before making it outside if they are not able to go for potty breaks in a timely manner.
To make it a fun game practice sending your dog to their crate from another room and rewarding when they are inside it to make them excited to find their crate!
Enjoy a dog that knows how to settle in crate and practice settling on their matt in lots of different locations to make the skill universal!
Pro tip!! If you don’t let your dog ever leave your dog’s side or they are never bored alone they can develop separation anxiety! It is better to teach them to turn boredom into settling rather than destruction in a safe environment (crate) so they can learn to be alone and content, no one wants an overly clingy dog that whines anytime they leave the room!
