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How To Crate Train Your Puppy

Some of the most common problems new dog owners have involve housebreaking issues and with the dog damaging their belongings when the dog is alone in the house. In fact, these are some of the most common reasons owners give for surrendering puppies and dogs to pounds, shelters and rescues. However, these problems are easily solved when the puppy or dog is properly crate trained.

Using a crate is NOT cruel. It approximates a den, which dogs in their wild state slept in for hundreds of thousands of years. Modern dog maintains the "den instinct" which is why use of a crate is so effective in housebreaking. A dog will NOT soil where it sleeps. This is a throwback to the days when dogs were predators in the wild and needed safe places to sleep and rear their young. If they eliminated in the den, other predators would seek them out through the scent and prey upon the young and infirm. Thus, dogs will not soil their sleeping quarters IF they can possibly avoid doing so. The trick is to make the sleeping area small enough so modern dog cannot use one end as a bathroom and the other end as a bedroom!

A crate should be large enough so the dog can lie down and turn around in a tight circle. If it is big enough to lie down in, it will be big enough to sit in. Crates can cost anywhere from $30 to $200 and up, depending on your budget. If you have a puppy that will grow into a large dog, I suggest buying a full-size crate and using a piece of plywood or other material to block off a section for puppy. This can be expanded as puppy grows.

CRATES MUST NEVER BE USED TO PUNISH! The dog has to look on the crate as his special place where he is safe and happy. Many breeders crate train their puppies from the time they leave the whelping box. If you are purchasing your puppy from a breeder (STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!) ask if the puppy has been introduced to the crate. Before bringing puppy home take a blanket or towel to the breeder and ask to put this item in with the litter at night. The blanket or towel will then be permeated with the litter/mother scent and will make those first few nights we all dread much easier. When puppy comes home it should take all of its naps in the crate and sleep there at night. The crate should also be used ANY time the humans in the house are too busy to keep an eye on puppy. The remainder of the time, the puppy should be in the company of its' new owners, being cuddled, played with, socialized and generally reassured that it is loved and cared for in its new home.

Keep in mind that puppies MUST relieve themselves BEFORE and within 15 minutes AFTER EATING, IMMEDIATELY UPON DRINKING ANY water, after PLAY and IMMEDIATELY UPON WAKING. TAKE pup outside according to this schedule at first. NEVER PUT PUPPY OUT BY HIMSELF! It just doesn't work. Let puppy walk where it wants and as soon as it relieves itself outside PRAISE IT! Bring puppy back in when you are SURE it has finished. Sometimes you KNOW puppy has to go but puppy is fooling around. WAIT! Don't bring puppy in before it has done its business - that is just asking for an accident and puppy will be happy to oblige! Each time you put puppy in the crate PRAISE IT and give it a treat.

NEVER let puppy out of the crate when it is making noise such as whining, crying or barking. Correct it by saying "NO! BAD PUPPY!" and ONLY when it has quieted should you let it out, with a "GOOD PUPPY!" If you let puppy out while it is making noise you are teaching it that making noise will get it attention and companionship, which is what it wants in the first place! This "mixed message" will be particularly difficult to straighten out in the middle of the night, when YOU want to sleep and puppy wants to PARTY! So be firm right from the start.

Let puppy out ONLY if it is quiet and NEVER once you have put it in the crate for the night. Remember that puppy is going to be missing its Mom and littermates NO MATTER WHERE IT SLEEPS and this includes YOUR bed, which I don't recommend unless you sleep on rubber sheets in a boat! So, keeping in mind that puppy will be upset whether he is in the kitchen, piddling on the floor and chewing the cabinets; or in the crate, PUT HIM IN THE CRATE! At least he will only be making lots of noise and not redecorating your house in Early Destructo!

Many people put the crate in their bedroom where they can reassure puppy during the night. Some people prefer to put the crate, for the first few nights, where they won't hear puppy crying. There is nothing wrong with either plan. However, once you have put puppy in the crate for the night, do NOT let him out unless you are fairly certain he has to eliminate. If puppy starts to cry shortly after being placed in the crate and you know it has just eliminated, give it a verbal correction at once (NO! BAD PUPPY! QUIET!). Repeat if necessary until puppy settles down. If you let puppy out of the crate every time it cries, it will never learn to accept the crate.

When preparing puppy for being crated all night it is best not to feed puppy or give anything to drink (unless it is high, hot summer) after about 6-7pm. It takes 2-4 hours for puppy to digest food and water. Exercise puppy LOTS in the evening. Wear puppy out. Take puppy out as late as possible (11pm works well). Take your time for this last outing of the night. Be absolutely certain puppy is EMPTY before putting it in the crate. Put puppy in the crate with toys, the security blanket and the old stand-bys - loud ticking clock, hot water bottle and stuffed animals with eyes, nose, etc. removed first. Praise puppy, say goodnight and go to bed.

As a general rule DO NOT GO BACK TO PUPPY UNTIL AT LEAST 3:30 OR 4AM. By then puppy probably will have to go out for real. Puppy bladders and bowels are just not mature enough to hold it much longer than that. However, some puppies simply cannot go longer than 2-3 hours, even at night, without urinating. If the puppy persists in crying and has been crated for at least 2 hours, assume it has to eliminate and take it outside. Keep these sessions short and quiet. Do not socialize with the puppy and once it has eliminated, take it right back inside and crate it again. The EARLY mornings come with puppy territory, like 2am feedings and babies.

By about 5 months the puppy's bladder should start to mature and puppy will start sleeping later. But for now all you can do is grin and bear it! When you take puppy out at this uncivilized hour do so with a minimum of conversation. Puppy should know that this is NOT playtime. When he does his business outside PRAISE HIM as usual and bring him right back in, put him back in the crate and go back to bed. Don't go back to him now, either. Puppy should be fine now until you are ready to get up at your regular time. Just remember: Once you have put puppy in the crate don't go back to him for at least 2 hours. If you do, you are teaching him that making lots of noise will get him what he wants - your company. Puppy must learn that nights are for sleeping and his sleeping place is the crate. Once he learns this lesson - and it will take about 2-4 nights - he will begin to look on the crate as his special place. One day you will look for puppy and find him, curled up in the crate where he went by himself to catch a few zzs!

Once you have used the crate properly - NEVER TO PUNISH! - your house will be safe from "puppy destructo raids" and your puppy will be safe from the myriad dangers that lie in wait for lonely, bored and curious puppies such as: chicken bones or other inedible "treats" from the garbage; chocolate left in reach of dogs which is a poison to dogs; electric wires that could electrocute a puppy if chewed; cleaning solutions; toilet bowl cleaners; poisonous house plants; small toys or socks that could be swallowed....I could go on and on! So please, use that crate! You will wonder how you ever survived without one and your puppy will have a SAFE place to be when left alone.

Please remember that puppies are like babies when it comes to bladder and bowel control. Don't ask puppy to "hold it" longer than is physically comfortable for puppy and try not to leave a dog crated longer than 5-6 hours at a time during the day if you can avoid doing so.

© copyright 1989-1999 Gloria S. Dittmann All Rights Reserved Any reproduction, in whole or in part, in any medium whatsoever, without the express permission of the author is strictly prohibited. For reprint information and permission please contact the author via e-mail at dittmann@Megsinet.net

If you find this program helpful, please make a donation to the Pasadena Humane Society. You can donate online or mail a check made out to PHS to:

BEST Training
Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA
361 S. Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105