Many people have strong feelings against crate training for various reasons but if introduced and trained correctly, your puppy will learn to love their crate. A crate is a tool that has many different benefits for both you and your puppy. It helps to keep your puppy safe when you can’t directly supervise them, helps keep your house safe from those sharp little puppy teeth chewing on everything, and teaches your puppy to hold its bladder while potty training. A crate can also come in handy in an emergency situation so introducing a crate at a young age could benefit your puppy years down the road. Most dogs don’t need a crate once they are fully housebroken and can be trusted to not get into things. Others may need to be crated for much longer due to various reasons. And some dogs will love their crate so much that they choose to sleep in it because they feel safe and enjoy having their own space.
Carter Wilde, Founder of Wilde Acres and Wilde American says, “I crate train all of my puppies regardless if I think they “need” it or not. It creates good sleep schedules and provides a place where a dog can rest and be calm no matter what is going on in the world around it.”
First things first: introducing the crate. A crate should never be used as a punishment for your puppy doing something bad because then they won’t associate their crate as a good place to hang out. You want your puppy to see their crate as a place to chill, take a nap, chew a bone and be their “den” or own space. When first introducing the crate to your puppy, make sure the puppy understands that going into the crate isn’t a bad thing. This can be done by tossing a few treats in and letting your puppy walk in on their own to check it out. Allow the puppy to walk right back out and repeat this a few times. Then close the door for a few seconds, give a few treats through the door, and let puppy back out. Repeating this but increasing the time the door is closed and varying how often you toss treats in will help your puppy to see that good things happen in the crate. Feeding your puppy meals in their crate whether in a bowl, Kong, treat dispensing toy, or by hand feeding is another great way to help your puppy associate their crate with positive things. When it’s time for your puppy to actually spend some time in the crate, make sure there are a few bones or chew toys that they can’t rip apart and try to keep the time short for the first couple experiences. You don’t even have to leave the house to do this. Some whining or barking is completely normal, and your puppy will most likely quiet down after a few minutes. Letting your puppy out of the crate for vocalizing will teach puppy to make more noise to be let out so try to ignore the vocalizing and only let puppy out when quiet! Some puppies do well being crated with people around, like in the family room, but others may do better somewhere it’s quiet, like the basement or a spare bedroom. You also may find that some puppies like to see what’s going on outside of their crate while others like it to be darker so covering the crate may help. Don’t get discouraged as the first few times might not go smoothly, but keep with it and puppy will learn to love their crate!
Carter goes on to share: “When I know my dog is comfortable in a crate, I won’t worry if I have to board him at the vet or at a kennel. I won’t worry if there is construction going on in my house and need to crate her when I go out for a few hours. The crate allows me to have a safe place to keep my dog where he or she is comfortable. I acclimate my dogs to the crate so that they don’t have a meltdown every time I put them in. A big passenger van or a pick up truck can help with crate training while on-the-go. I travel with my dogs in a crate when they’re young. Until my dogs have a really good down stay, they are in a crate while driving.”
Making potty training easier. Using a crate also helps to make potty training your puppy much easier by limiting the space they have to move around thus teaching them to hold their bowels. When potty training a puppy, the more area it has to move around with access to food and water, the more often your puppy is going to have to relieve itself. When puppy is in the crate, they should have just enough space to stand up, turn around, and lie down. Giving puppy extra space gives the option of sleeping on one side while being able to soil the other instead of learning to hold it. Dogs by nature are creatures that don’t like to lie in their own waste which is another reason why crating is a great option to help potty with potty training. Limiting your puppy’s access to water may also be necessary, as many puppies will drink all water given to them, leading to more frequent accidents! The best way to help your puppy understand how to hold their bowels is to always take them straight outside as soon as you take them out of the crate. This may mean carrying puppy outside the first couple days to prevent an accident if walking from the crate to outside is too far. Once outside, most puppies get easily distracted so having them on leash to keep them focused helps. As puppy is pottying, praise calmly and then once puppy is finished, reward with a yummy treat and physical praise. Rewarding puppy the moment they finish in the spot they pottied, will help puppy make the connection quicker that pottying outside equals rewards and praise. Many people make the mistake of waiting to reward their puppy until they get back inside but then puppy associates going back inside with why they are getting rewarded vs. the reward being for pottying outside. If puppy does not potty outside after 5-10 minutes and you know puppy needs to go, put puppy back in their crate for 5-10 minutes and repeat the entire process outside again. Keep repeating until puppy goes outside. Once puppy has pottied outside, then they get to have more freedom in the house with you. But that doesn’t mean total freedom yet! Remember, supervision is key until puppy can be trusted to not chew on inappropriate things.
Keeping your house and puppy safe! You wouldn’t leave a 6-month-old baby alone in the living room to go to the basement to change the laundry so why would you leave a 6-month-old puppy alone? There are SO many things that could hurt your puppy or that puppy could destroy in those 10 minutes it takes for you to do the laundry. Both puppy and your house are much safer with puppy in the crate. Puppies are like babies: they will put everything and anything in their mouth and that can lead to a very expensive vet visit or possibly even surgery. Giving your puppy short amounts of time in their crate during the day, even if you’re home, will help them to become more comfortable and show them that sometimes they can just hang out in it. Don’t forget about a bone or stuffed Kong to keep showing your puppy that their crate is a fun place to be!
Car Safety! Using a crate in the car is a good option to keep your puppy safe, especially during the first few weeks when they are all over the place and getting into everything! Just like in your house, until your puppy can understand to hold its bowels and not chew on things, they are safest in the crate. Also, in the event of an accident, if the puppy is in a crate then their chances of getting loose are much lower. Plus, if you’re driving, how can you be watching your puppy at the same time?
An option similar to a crate is using a pen to create an area to keep your puppy confined to a small area. Some puppies will have a harder time grasping the concept of potty training using this method since they have more space to move around. For others, this is a great next step option after a puppy is fully potty trained but still needs to be confined due to chewing and getting into things.
Another reason that it is good for your puppy to be crate trained is in the event of an emergency where they need to be crated like at a veterinary hospital, they will most likely be less stressed. Even if your dog goes to the vet for a routine procedure like a spay or neuter there’s a high probability they will be in a crate.
So why wouldn’t you use a crate with your new puppy? I mean, it sort of sounds like a no brainer if you ask me!
