More Crate Training Tips - 5 BIG Mistakes You CAN Correct

According to the puppy training gods, puppies don't eliminate in their dens because it's their sleeping area. The crate is a substitute den (as in wolf's den). Now you know why dogs sleep under things, like kitchen tables.

Wolf's Den Photo courtesy of Doug Boyle, The Urban Baboon.

Why Did Your Pup Violate the Wolf's Den Rule?

A couple of reasons come to mind:

1. You left the pup in the crate too long.
A two-month old pup can wait no longer than 3 hours. A 3 month old pup can wait 4 hours. Add 1 to his age in months and you have the holding time (on the average).

2. The crate area is too big.
Crates come with dividers. As long as the puppy can stand up and turn around, he's got enough room. You need to limit the den area.

3. You gave the puppy water or food just before crating without taking him out to eliminate.
What WERE you thinking?

What To Do Next
Here's the crate training tips:

1. Clean the crate with a non-ammonia cleaner and apply a neutralizer to eliminate all traces of urine or feces. If there's bedding, make sure that gets cleaned and neutralized.

2. Take the appropriate action to ensure the Wolf's Den rule violation does not happen again.

So your pup's afraid to get into the crate. Did you force his butt into it or is he just naturally fearful?

Introduce the puppy to the crate gradually and let him get used to the idea of a strange, enclosed area.

Puppy picture courtesy of golden-retriever-magic.com. Captioned as follows:
"See -- this puppy in crate doesn't seem to mind it at all. Of course, that may have something to do with the crate's door being open!"

Here's the crate training tips for this proper crate introduction:

1. Use treats, toys, and a big steak if you have to, but entice the pup to get into the crate unassisted.

2 .Keep doing #1 until he not only gets into the crate, but may even fall asleep in it. Don't get discouraged. My pup Alvin would walk into the crate, eat the treats, and then leave the crate. One day he went treasure hunting in the crate and fell asleep.

3. Once he gets into the crate himself, you can latch the door for short periods of time. If he cries, wait until he stops, praise, give him a treat, and then let him out.

This Story Is Not Fictional
Friends of mine had two Irish Setter puppies about 4 months old. The puppies were crated during the day when they worked. They were taken out midday by a sitter.

One Saturday, they decided to go food shopping and left the pups unattended but confined to the living room.

When they returned about 2 hours later, the living room was in shambles. One of the pups even chewed up the TV remote.

After they cleaned up, they noticed the battery for the remote was AWOL. The puppy ate the battery!

A quick trip to the animal hospital confirmed that the battery was nesting intact in the pup's stomach. Since it was not damaged, the vet suggested waiting until the pup pooped out the battery. And he did, but I cannot imagine sifting through dog puppy poop looking for a triple A battery!

Lessons Learned
Crate training tips derived from this story are as follows:

1. Young puppies should be crated when you leave your home, even for a short period of time. Would you leave a 3-year old toddler home alone?

2. If you leave a young pup in a confined area (without crating), secure everything without his reach. Five-month old Simon is confined within a hallway and bathroom area with safe toys and his brother, Alvin. The toilet paper is out of reach and the toilet seat is down. As long as it's only a few hours, there are no messes. When Simon was only a few months old, he was crated for short absences.

3. If your pup is a destructive machine, Marley-like, crate him for short periods of time when you go out. For longer periods of time, consider a dog sitter.

Yup, now you've done the unspeakable. How is a puppy supposed to like the crate/den if it's used to punish him for bad behavior?

Do this enough times and the pup will associate the crate with his negative behavior. Bad association!

The crate training tips for this no-no action are as follows:

1. DO NOT crate your puppy as punishment for negative behavior. Use a correction instead.

2. You can use the crate for short time frames when you need to do things like vacuum or sweep the floor, but let the pup watch the activity. And put him into the crate before you start the activity.

My question for someone who crates a dog day and night and then thinks it's okay to play with him for a few hours - Why Did You Get a Puppy?

Okay - so you work all day.

Several crate training tips are as follows:

1. Walk and/or exercise the puppy before you go to work and when you get home.

2. Confine the dog to a small restricted area like a bathroom. The advantage - he can move around a little more than a crate, so his muscles will be used. The disadvantage - you'll be cleaning up pee and poop AND you will set house training back a few more days each time he eliminates in the confined area. Accidents are also to be prevented as much as possible.

3. A young puppy will not make it for 8-10 hours. Get a neighbor or pet sitter to let the dog out midday for a half hour or so. Better still - you work close enough to home to let him out at noon yourself.