How to Crate Train Your Puppy

Many new puppy owners have an aversion to crate training a new puppy. Fear not!  Crate training your new puppy is not like putting him in jail. Your puppy will learn to love his crate, as it will provide him a safe place for him to relax. Crate training, like housebreaking, can be a rewarding experience if you are willing to put in the time, and like housetraining ,  you will need some patience.

The first thing to do is decide on a crate.  The crate or carrier should be big enough for your puppy to turn around and lay down.  If the crate is too large, use a piece of cardboard as a divider.  There are many crates available with dividers. As your puppy grows, you can move the divider to one side as you need to.

Now don’t think for a minute that your new puppy is going to take a look at his new crate and jump right in. He will probably be leery of it at first. Just put it the location where he will stay and let him sniff around the crate and get used to it, just like he did other items in your home. Putting one or two of his favorite chew toys or his favorite blanket in the crate may entice him to try it out.

Puppy training is all about trust so don’t force him in the crate if he wanders in on his own and close the door. That will give him a reason not to trust you and you don’t want that. Once he is in the crate, use a command that puppy will associate with being in the crate.  Repeat the command every time he enters the crate.  Praise your puppy for his accomplishment.  I used to give my retriever a cookie every time he entered and took a nap, and it worked like a charm. The command used was rather simple as well, “Cody go get in your bed” and he walked right in.

Once he gets comfortable with his crate your next step is to close the door. This process is accomplished on day two of your crate traing , unless syou have a puppy that just falls in love with crate training and I haven’t met many of those dogs.

As your puppy enters the crate and you have given him his cookie or biscuit, close the door and leave the room for a few minutes, 5 at the most. Repeat the process until you have worked up to about 30 minutes. Your puppy may whine while he is in the crate.  Don’t get alarmed.  If you open the door and let him out, he will think that whining will work to get him out of his crate.  Instead, simply tell him to be quiet.

You are not being cruel to puppy, but teaching him.  Puppies are cute and will wrap you around their little finger.  This may seem harmless enough, but an unruly adult dog is not cute.  He could be big trouble.

With some discipline and patience, you will be able to put your puppy to bed , just like you do your kids , with a simple command. Actually he will probably listen better than your kids! Crate training is not hard , it just takes some love and patience