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Crate Training Your Puppy
Snowco’s Chocolate Mousse
I would never consider raising a puppy without a crate. For my sake as well as my puppy’s. Some may think putting a pup in a crate is cruel but that is the furthest thing from the truth.
A puppy’s ancestors are wolves. Wolves would never sleep out in the open for fear of predators. They sleep in a den or a hollowed out tree for protection and sanctuary. A pup’s crate will be his/her home or security blanket (if you will). The crate will satisfy the “den” instinct. The crate should be the proper size for the size of an adult dog of the breed pup you have. Buy a high quality, well made, crate, such as Midwest, with a divider to prevent accidents in the crate when the pup is small. Most puppies will not go to the bathroom where they sleep.
Always remove a pup’s collar when putting in the crate for safety reasons.
The crate will aid in house training and eliminates a pup damaging things while going thru the chewing stage. A pup should never be left unattended out of the crate when you go to work or just run to the store. Otherwise you will most likely find some damage or an accident in your house and it will be to late to reprimand. Dogs learn by association and must be caught in the act. Puppies are also very curious by nature and could be harmed if left loose and unattended.
Puppies need naps just like human children and they should be put in the crate for nap time to establish a crate routine. Its okay to give a treat each time you crate your puppy and the pup will eventually go into the crate on their own expecting a treat. A crate is a wonderful tool when the pup is underfoot during a dinner party or the like.
I expose all my pups to crates from the age of 4-8 weeks so that when they go to their forever homes it is not foreign to them. They may cry at first but this is because they miss their sibblings/litter mates, not because they don’t want to be in the crate.
Keep your crate in the family area of the house such as the kitchen so the pup can see and hear what is going on. Do not isolate your pup. I also have a crate in the bedroom for night time with a sheet over the top which helps the pup settle down and keeps them quiet if they wake up too early.
An 8 week old puppy should not be left in a crate for more than 3 hours during the day without a potty break and a little activity. Some people will hire a dog sitter for this if they can not get home from work on their lunch hour.
You will most likely find that as your dog grows and graduates from the crate that they will often go in the crate for naps because they actually like it. I have 3 crates set up in my laundry room at all times for my full grown dogs.
Hope this info is helpful to anyone with a new puppy.
Patty
www.snowcolabradors.com
I liked this post. I never had to do this with the dog I used to have many years ago. I had heard about people doing this but never heard it explained like that. Thanks for the info. Hopefully, when I move, I will be getting a dog or two to go along with my six cats.
By the way, you have horses, too, right? I would LOVE to see something about the Morgans here or why you have them, etc.
I used to be into the horse scene in a big way when I lived at my parents house in NC. Since I moved, I lost my horse contacts due to the distance. I was never able to establish new ones where I live now in the same way I had there.
I never was able to own my own horse but was very lucky to always have a horse I could ride anytime. In fact, I had a few I could ride anytime. People liked for their horses to be exercised by someone they trust. I miss it.
Take care!
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:47 pmGizzaroo
Hi Gizzaroo.
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad it was informative for you.
I grew up on a Morgan Breeding Farm and would be more than happy to put up a blog about our horses and the breed in general.
I too miss my horses so I know how you feel. I put my last 2 morgans down both at age 33 in 2004 and 2005.
You can see pics of some of our horses we had over the years on my web site www.snowcolabradors.com
Patty
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:41 amHi Patty,
GREAT article! I hope all readers will obey by the rules of a crate. I learned the hard way with our first puppy. He chewed our couch, used our pool table legs as a “bone”, staircase railings were a great chew toy, as you can see a major disaster. Then with the second puppy, the crate training was enforced and no troubles to be found. It truly is a little home for our little baby pups. It keeps them out of trouble and MOMMY VERY HAPPY :)!!!!!
Jaz
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:05 pmHey Jaz.
Great name! One of my girls is Jazz.
Live and learn when it comes to crate training. I own 11 crates of all sizes - some of which I inherited, some new and some from garage sales. Most wire but some are the airline type. I prefer the wire but do acclimate pups to both types for the buyers preference.
With the pups that come back for boarding with me at different ages/sizes I can never have enough variety in crate size LOL.
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:37 pmHi Patty,
How do I know what size crate I should buy my puppy? There seems to be so many different styles, sizes, brands in the market. Then, at what point should I be changing the crate to a bigger size?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Jamie
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:37 pmHey Patty,
I saw the pics on your website…that is how I knew about the horses. I am sorry to hear about them. They each lived a long time and I am sure they had a good life with you and your family. I would not have mentioned it had I known. I thought it was a good mix…the labs and the Morgans.
I would love to get to a place in my life where I could have a horse of my own or at least be able to ride again.
Take care,
October 4th, 2007 at 8:45 amGizzaroo
Hi Jamie,
The size to purchase depends on what breed of pup you have.
For a Labradore I recommend at least 36″ x 24″ x 27″ H for a full grown Lab. Most come with a dividider for a pup. As the pup grows you enlarge the crate. You just don’t want to give enough room for pup to go to the bathroom in back of crate and sleep in the front. The crate should indicate size you need by weight of a full grown dog.
A crate should be big enough for a dog to stand up, turn around and lie down in.
I can’t stress enough the importance of buying a well made crate such as Midwest. A poorly made crate can cause injury if a dog tries to force his way out and may only get his head stuck or the like. Personally I would not purchase a crate from somewhere such as Walmart and I have heard that the crates on dog.com are not well made (from a breeder).
Petco, Petsmart, JB Wholesale Pet Supply are good sources
I also don’t recommend the canvas collapsible crates for puppies. Too easy to chew and destroy. I prefer the collapsible wire crates.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Patty
October 4th, 2007 at 9:00 amNot a problem Gizaroo. Didn’t mean to make you feel bad.
I too wish I could get back into horses. But time and money don’t allow it at this point in my life.
We had one pony left out of 40+ horses over the years, up until yesterday. My sister gave her to a friend so she could be around other horses and get exercise. I’m sure Princess will be happier.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:02 amI’ve experienced some accidents throughout the night with my puppy. He seems to go in the corner of his crate and i’m not sure how to fix this issue. We leave him out before bed and try to get him out as early as possible before any accidents happen. I have even tried getting up in the middle of the night to check on him and sometimes he’s already gone in the crate. How can I train him to not go when he’s in there?
Thanks,
October 10th, 2007 at 1:42 pmJT
JT,
What time are you feeding the evening meal and what time do you crate your pup for bed?
Are you taking your pup outside just prior to bed time?
How old is your pup and how long have you had him/her?
What type of food are you feeding and how much per meal and how many meals a day?
Are the stools firm or loose?
How big is your crate? Only give him enough room to lay down in so he will hopefully avoid going in the crate for not wanting to lay down in his own feces or urine.
October 10th, 2007 at 2:00 pmHi PATTY
His meal is broken down to 2 feedings a day, one in the morning - 1-1/2 cups and in the evening - 1-1/2 cups using the Royal Canin BabyDog formula. He’s now 3 months old and has a great apetite and the stools look very good, usually pretty firm but sometimes can get a little loose. I have been happy with the formula since there hasn’t been any problems with him not wanting to eat it. We do strive to take him out as much as possible. He is outside for his last pee and poop before bedtime, sometimes it’s a struggle to get him to go right before bed.
The crate is a PetMate measuring around 18″X 24″X 21″ which he does have some room to move around inside to get some stretching and to curl up at night. I may have to try to get a divider like you mentioned and see if enclosing him more will help with the pooping inside the crate.
Thanks for responding,
October 11th, 2007 at 10:27 amJT
JT,
That is a lot of food in one feeding for a 12 week old pup. You may consider breaking it down into 3 meals. I feed 3 meals till 6 months of age and then go to 2 meals for the life of my dogs.
It could also be a bit too much food, which could be the reason for the occassional loose stool. What does your pup weigh?
Also, what time are you giving the evening meal?
Your pup should have just enough room in the crate to stand, sit, turn around and lie down. If there is room for him to poop in the crate and lie down without ending up in the poop then using a divider may help.
You just don’t want to make the crate too small.
October 11th, 2007 at 12:55 pm