CRATE TRAINING

The use of a crate is highly recommended (we own 3 of them) when bringing a puppy or a rescued dog home for the first time. I honestly don't know how dogs EVER learn without crate training. It's just SO MUCH easier. And part of being a responsible guardian is to NEVER PLACE YOUR PET IN A SITUATION WHERE HE/SHE CAN FAIL! The basic premise behind crate training is that a dog is genetically programmed to never casually soil in his/her den (where he/she lives, sleeps, naps, or goes for retreat). Because of this, the crate should only be large enough for the dog to sit up and lie down. If the crate is larger than that, the dog can section his crate into a "sleeping/sitting room", and a "bathroom". Bob Merrill, webmaster

Training your puppy to use a crate is not cruel and unusual punishment! Quite the contrary. When puppy is crate trained properly before long he or she will consider the crate as a "den" and go their automatically when they are tired or just want to be alone. Our oldest dog used his crate for almost 2 years.

A few basic rules of thumb:

• A crate should never be used as punishment.
• A puppy should never be confined to a crate for longer than 2 or 3 hours when you are not home.
• If you purchase a large crate that will fit your puppy when it is full grown, then you should partition off part of it so that puppy doesn't have too much room. If the crate is too large, puppy can assign part of it as his "den" and other parts to go potty in.
• Move the crate from room to room with you (or own more than one) and allow puppy to sleep in it's crate in your bedroom at night. This gives them a sense of security and they will settle down much more quickly knowing you are right there.

A key ingredient in crate training is to make it fun for the puppy. Do this by putting some treats in the crate and letting puppy find them. Toss the treat into the crate and when puppy goes in to get it, praise GOOD DOG....GOOD PUPPY! Once in a while when puppy goes into crate to retrieve the treat, close the door for a few minutes. If puppy is nice and quiet say GOOD PUPPY. However, if puppy is making a ruckus - IGNORE. When puppy settles down, say GOOD PUPPY and then open the crate door.

Remember...make this fun. It should never be a form of punishment!

Crate training is a wonderful way to help you housebreak your puppy. Puppies will avoid using their "den" as a place to go potty. Immediately upon taking puppy out of the crate bring it outside to relieve itself.....DO NOT stop to play with it first! Once puppy has relieved itself outside give lots of praise! Praise so much that your neighbors will think you have lost your mind!!! As soon as you feel confident that puppy is "empty" you can then return to the house and have some play time or whatever.

Remember....puppies have next to no bladder or bowel control. What goes in one end very quickly comes out the other. So when you feed them, immediately take them out to go potty and when they go LOTS OF PRAISE. When you take them out to potty use the same phrase each time. Something like "potty" or "hurry" works well.

As mentioned above, you cannot restrict a puppy to a crate for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time when you are not with them. If you work away from home all day (as most people do) you could try to enlist a neighbor to come and take puppy out several times a day. There are also pet walkers you could hire to do this.

Working people should consider using an X-Pen in addition to a crate for during the day. The X-Pen can be set up in say the kitchen with the crate (with door open) in one corner of the pen. If no one will be taking puppy out during the day you will have to "paper train" in part of the X-Pen. Puppy then will have a larger area to exercise in and can still use his/her crate for taking naps.

Puppies should not be trusted to have free run of your home. There are too many things they can get into -- things that can hurt them and destroy your property at the same time. When you are busy you can either crate the puppy or tether its leash to you so that you are constantly aware of what puppy is doing. Use constant commands and phrases such as "settle down" or "easy" when puppy is acting too wild.

If you are busy and decide to crate puppy, try putting the crate in the same room with you. That way puppy doesn't feel like it's being punished and can keep an eye on you at the same time.

At bedtime put puppy's crate in the bedroom with you. Puppies that are allowed to sleep with their humans tend to settle down much more quickly. Plus...when puppy needs to go potty in the middle of the night you will be able to hear their call.

Crate training has many additional benefits. If you plan on taking your puppy/dog with you on vacation, being able to tell a hotel/motel innkeeper that your dog will be in it's crate when you are not in the room is a big plus!