is cruel but if used in the right way this crate will become a den for your pup as it grows up. You wouldn’t let your baby run around the house unattended to get into things it shouldn’t. This also applies to your pup they are curious and want to put everything in their mouth just like a baby does. Crate training is the safest way to help you train your pup think of it kind of like a playpen for your pup. The crate offers a secure place for your pup to be when you cannot watch it’s every move. What size crate you get definitely matters you want something that will grow with your pup so you are not buying several different crates as your pup grows. You want a crate that will fit your pup when it is a full grown dog. You will also need a crate divider, something that will make the crate size just big enough for your pup, this can be moved as the pup grows into the crate. If the area is too big the pup will use one space for potty and the other to sleep. The idea is that a pup will not go potty where it has to sleep. You want a crate with a pull out pan at the bottom that can be washed. Stay away form buying a pet bed for now until potty training is complete. For now for the bottom of the pan I would buy a bath mat that has a rubber bottom this can be removed easily and washed in case of accidents. You will also need something that will help keep the pup warm like a blanket. The blanket is especially nice if you take it with you when you go to pick up your pup and rub it on the pup’s mother. This will get mom’s scent to help soothe the pup when they go to get inside of the crate. They also need something to chew on so don’t forget the toys.
It is ideal to already have the crate before you bring your pup home so from day one it knows this as the safe place to be. But don’t worry if you already have your pup there is always time to crate train. The crate is where your pup will be when you are not home, sleeping or otherwise engaged in something else. The crate needs to be in someplace that will be where that rest of the family spends alot of time. Dogs are naturally pack animals and want to be with the rest of the pack. This can be the family room or even your bedroom so they will be sleeping with the pack. The crate is never to be used for punishment. If you use it for punishment you will have a hard time getting your pup to go inside and want to stay there. The crate needs to be a “happy space” for your pup. Do not force or push the pup to go inside try the blanket with mom’s scent or treats to get the to go inside voluntarily. When you close the door the pup will probably protest and whine to be let out. This happens alot at first. If you let the pup out right away the pup will learn that if he whines he will be let out. Gradually make it a little longer each time you put the pup in the crate. Little pups should not be in the crate for more than 4 hours they will need to go out to go potty at least this often at first. When we put our pups into their crate we always said the word “crate” this helps later on when they are bigger and we needed to go somewhere. All we had to do was say “crate” and they both went to their crates and waited for us to close the door. Now for the potty training part. Pups need to urinate after they sleep, eat, and after play time. When our pups woke up or we just got home we always took our pups from their crate and took them to the door. When they finished eating or playing we did the same. If you let them walk to the door they will stop and urinate on the way. So pick up your pup until they get better bladder control. Once at the door we rang a little Christmas jingle bell hanging from our door knob and said “out” and took them out. Once they finished their business we always praised them told them they were good and gave them pettings outside. When they came in after going potty we gave them a bisquit. Praise and rewards are very important, but keep in mind that if you take your pup out and it does nothing but explore you cannot reward this behavior or they will want treats everytime they go outside. Now you are probably wondering why we rang the bell before going out. Well once our pups got the idea that ringing the bell means they go outside, they would ring the bell so we would take them out. At first though they would “cry wolf” and ring the bell because they wanted to go out just to be outside not to go potty in these instances we gave them 5 minutes to go potty if they did not go they had to go back into the house. When they did go then they got to stay out and play for a while. Pretty soon they figured out that ringing the bell means ” I need to go potty”. They still use this bell after 6 years. They do not usually ring it because they have a set routine but there are times where they need to go and they ring this bell to let us know that they cannot wait until it is time to go.As for the crate they still use those too but I never close the door anymore they are open all the time. They go in there to take naps and sometimes to chew on their toys or when we leave the house. This is their safe place to be. They have the run of the house when we are not home and can come and go anytime they want to. But, 9 out of 10 times when we return home they are still in their crates right where they were when we left. Lastly, keep in mind that accidents do happen your pup will probably go potty in your house before it is fully trained. Do not reprimand your pup unless you catch them in the act. Your dog associates reprimands with the last thing he did. When you come home, your dog comes to greet you. If there is a mess and you show anger your dog associates this with it’s greeting you. Taking it to the spot where the mess is does no good. Your dog only understands that you are mad. When you do catch them in the act, a stern “NO!” is all that is needed. This also applies to digging in the yard, chewing your shoes or anything else that they do that is unacceptable to you. You must catch them in the act in order to correct the problem. I have found a crate that comes with the divider you just need to pick out the size that you will need when your pup is full grown click on the link below to see this crate.
Nov 30, 2007 | | Housebreak your pet
