Our Best Tips and Tricks For Crate Training Your Puppy
Crate training is a very important part of developing a new puppy and is often overlooked, started improperly, or downright avoided! Crate training is necessary to keep your puppy safe in your home and while riding in the car. If you were to get in an accident, a crate will keep your puppy safer than bouncing around or being thrown from the vehicle. In addition, there are plenty of things that a puppy can get into while unsupervised that could harm them in your home. So, not only will you be keeping your puppy safe, but you will be keeping your things safe from your puppy!
Crate training can also help with potty training your puppy! Make sure you get the appropriate size crate for your puppy. They should be able to stand up, sit down, turn around and lay down comfortably. They shouldn’t have a lot of extra space, otherwise they may try to use one end to potty in and one end to play and lay down in. We also like enclosed crates instead of wire crates because, if your puppy does have a potty accident, which is bound to happen, that mess in a wire crate will be splashed all over, making an even bigger mess! Another way crate training will help potty train your puppy is that if you can’t watch and supervise your puppy during play time in the house they should be crated. That way when they are playing you are watching them and if they stop to pee you can interrupt that behavior and make a timely correction. Then take your puppy outside so they can learn that is where they need to be to go potty.
IF THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD REASONS TO CRATE TRAIN YOUR PUPPY, WHY DON’T MORE PEOPLE DO IT?
Many people struggle with crate training so they give up on it very quickly or end up labeling their dog as having separation anxiety. However, remember that your new puppy has never been away from their littermates and most likely never been crated until they come home to you. So a little bit (or a lotta bit) of crying and whining is to be expected. The level and duration of that crying can depend on a few things:
One, the temperament of your puppy. Some puppies have a more determined personality, which will be great for a hunting dog that wants to work hard and hunt all day long. Unfortunately, that can also carry over to a determination to bark until they get what they want, which is out of their crate!
Two, if you give in to your puppy's demands then you are reinforcing that if they just bark louder or cry longer next time you will give in and let them out of their crate again. So keep in mind, if you can hold out and listen to your puppy cry in their crate in the beginning, they will soon learn that isn’t how they get out of their crate and will begin to learn to quiet down all on their own.
Keep in mind that you should always give your puppy an opportunity to potty before crating them. That way you know that they don’t need anything and they are only crying to try and get out of their crate. Also keep in mind that if your puppy is quiet and settled down in their crate for a while but then starts whining, that may be an indication that they are ready for another potty break.
Now no one likes to listen to a crying puppy! It makes us feel guilty that our puppy isn’t happy and that we are punishing our puppy, it makes us feel bad that we may be disturbing our neighbors and let's face it, it eventually gets on our nerves and is just hard to listen to!
SO HERE ARE SOME TRIED AND TRUE TIPS FROM THE PROS ON WHAT WORKS TO HELP SETTLE A PUPPY DOWN IN THEIR CRATE:
Chew Treats - Have a special treat just for when your puppy is in their crate. That way they can look forward to that treat and being in their crate. Treats like Pork Chomps, Nylabone Healthy Edibles, Petstages Dogwood Chews, and Stuffed Kongs are great options.
Background Noise - Like we mentioned above, your puppy hasn’t been alone before. They have been surrounded by their littermates, so being by themselves is new. Try turning on the radio, the TV or even a noise machine while you are away and out of the house. Having that background noise going can help your puppy feel less alone.
Being With You - Some puppies want to be near you at night. Try putting your puppy’s crate next to the bed, or if you have other dogs try crating them next to each other for a few nights.
Towels - Try putting a towel over the front of your puppy’s crate to make the space dark and cozy. Dogs are originally den animals so a safe, enclosed space sometimes can make them feel more comfortable. Plus they won’t necessarily be able to see what’s going on outside of their crate and we can help soothe their FOMO!
Being Away From The Activity - Speaking of puppy’s FOMO, they may need to be in a separate room or area of the house completely when they are crated so they can’t hear what they are missing out on. An added bonus is that if they do cry for a little while you won’t have to hear it, especially if listening to a puppy #cryitout is difficult for you.
Routine - Put a consistent routine in place so your puppy knows when they will have opportunities to be out of their crate. A routine isn’t the same as a schedule so give yourself some flexibility. Life happens and you can’t always be home at 5pm on the dot to let your puppy out. However, you can create a routine with realistic expectations for your puppy that include getting opportunities to potty first thing after coming out of their crate and getting the chance to potty before going back in their crate. You can also make sure you set aside plenty of fun out of their crate time that includes playtime and training time.
Physical Stimulation - You also need to make sure your puppy is getting enough stimulation so they aren’t stir crazy. If they aren’t getting enough physical exercise, getting cooped up in a crate is going to make settling down even more difficult. Physical exercise needs to be a combination of structured exercise and unstructured play. Going for walks, playing at the dog park, and learning to run/hunt through a field of tall grass would be structured physical stimulation. Leaving your puppy to burn off energy in the backyard or play with toys in the house would be more unstructured physical stimulation. You want to have some unstructured and unstructured playtime.
Mental Stimulation - Your puppy also needs mental stimulation. Sometimes learning something new is just as tiring to a puppy as going for a walk down the street. So make sure you are setting aside time to train and teach them something on a regular basis. Using meal time as training time is a great way to incorporate mental stimulation into your daily routine!
Some of these tips may seem contradictory to some of the other tips we listed. That’s because not every trick will work for every puppy. Puppies have different personalities, needs, and development so some tips might work and some tricks might not. You can also try implementing multiple tricks at once. For example, give your puppy a special chew bone, turn on some music and throw a towel over their crate when you have to leave the house for a bit. See what works for you, but if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! The more consistent you can be, the better your puppy will get at crate training and the faster they will quiet down in their crate.
Kat
