Dog Training: Crate Training your Puppy
threesixtyeight
Thanks for checking our new blog out and hopefully its something that will provide you with some cool, interesting and meaningful information. Be sure to check back in with us every Monday for new info. Over the next few months, we will be documenting the process and progress of the training and development of Speck and Moon.
Crate Training
This is hugely important – why?? This kennel should be the pups happy place at the end of the day, and getting started right is super important. Your pup will spend a lot of time over the course of its life in this kennel so you should make sure that you do a great job helping that pup associate the crate with something positive and not a negative. How do you do this effectively?
- Use treats in helping the pup learn to walk in the crate. Allow the pup to go in on its own at first.
- Pick a cue word that is something that you can make sure that you always say when you are commanding your pup to go in the crate. We use the word “kennel”.
- Always praise your pup on EVERYTHING he or she does when the goal is met. Even on all of the little things.
A couple of questions that we often get when talking about crate training:
- Do I feed my puppy in the crate? Yes, critical early on in the puppy stage to feed your pup in the crate. This helps the puppy associate something that is happy with the place you want your pup to feel safe. You will wean your pup from this later on, but feeding in the crate early is quite alright and recommended and is our own Jared Mophett’s preferred method.
- How to break my pup from barking and whining in the crate? Apply slight pressure with your hand over the pup’s muzzle with a verbal cue (like quit or NO) and be sure to end this exercise with success. Increase the pressure as needed in order to get the point across. After doing this several times and ending on the right note, your pup will get the message and you will have sent a message of who is in charge.
- My pup is using the bathroom in the crate – what do I do? You’re leaving it in the kennel too long after it eats. Keep in mind that your little fella has a tiny stomach and you want to make sure that you take it out to go to the bathroom 10 mins or so after you feed it. Fundamentally, your pup will NOT want to use the bathroom where it sleeps. So, encourage going to the bathroom outside where you want your pup to go. This too should have a simple cue for going to the potty.
- What type of crate should I get? There are lots of good ones on the market with various price points. You want to make sure that your crate is durable because you will most likely be throwing it in the bed of your truck and it needs to be sturdy enough to hold up to the wear and tear that just goes along with that. And the other thing that needs to be considered in making your decision is the safety factor of the kennel. Will your crate provide your dog with some safety in the event of an accident? So we recommend that you spend maybe a little more money than you thought you should and get a quality kennel. Besides that, your pup / dog will spend a lot of time in it. You want to sleep in a good bed right? We have used a variety of kennels and really like what we have seen out of Gunner Kennels. There is a link to their website included below if you want more information on them.
The crate training is a critical step in the early going and as long as you cover all of your bases and stay patient, your pup should feel right at home in no time and this will have been a piece of cake for both you your pup. Things should be going smooth in week or so.
Next puppy topic will be socializing your puppy with adults and children so stay tuned and stand by…….Also, feel free to shoot us an email at dogs@honeybrake.com and our staff will be more than happy to follow up with you with some kind of quality smart sounding answer.
