Crate training is widely agreed by dog owners to be the best technique to house train a puppy. Puppy crate training basically involves the use of a crate, which actually looks like cages, to temporarily limit your puppy’s activity to his sleeping space when you’re not able to fully supervise her. Your puppy should remain in her crate all the time, unless she’s eating, playing, or when you are taking her for a potty break outside.
The crate is like your puppy’s den, a place where your puppy feels safe and at ease; this will be the space for her to enjoy her time sleeping, napping or simply being alone. Dogs naturally like to keep their sleeping or resting area clean, so your puppy will not like to soil her den. She will try to keep her pee and poop in until you let her out of her crate.
Choosing a crate
It is necessary to select the right size of crate for your puppy. If the crate is too large, your puppy will comfortably use one end as her sleeping area, and the other end as her toilet. This then defeats the whole purpose of crate training your puppy, and will set back the house-training process for several weeks!
With regard to selecting a crate, choose one that has enough space for your puppy to easily stand up, turn around and lie down. No worries though, there’s no need to keep buying new crates when your puppy gets bigger. If you can buy just only one crate and use it until even your puppy gets bigger, you’ll save a lot of money in the long term.
Get a big wire crate fit for an adult dog, then use dividers to block away unneeded space to make the crate seems smaller for your puppy. You can use a wire grille or board as divider. When your puppy grows and requires more space to move around, you can enlarge the space by adjusting the dividers. If you prefer to build the crate yourself, that’s a good idea, too. You can later replace it with a larger model when your puppy gets bigger.
Making the crate inviting
Try to make the crate as welcoming as possible to invite your puppy in. It’s a good idea to lay a couple of towels on the floor of the crate, not forgetting to put a chew and some toys inside the crate as well. The crate entrance should be invitingly open at all times, but should be securely closed when your puppy is inside.
Take note: before your puppy is fully house trained, you shouldn’t allow her to move freely in the house to prevent soiling accidents. If you allow her access the all areas in the house before she’s thoroughly house trained, you’re basically encouraging her to relieve herself anywhere she likes. And each time she does this, the risk of soiling incidence will increase.
Location of the crate
When you are crate training your puppy, have the crate nearby. The most suitable place to put the crate is where the family members gather, for example the kitchen. Keeping your crate puppy close to you not only makes your puppy house breaking process easier, since you can keep a close watch on your puppy’s movement, but also helps build the bond between you and your puppy. Being new to the environment, it’s important that you make your puppy feel that she’s not alone, and that she’s now a part of your family.
Tags: crate train a puppy, Crate training your puppy, puppy crate training
