Puppy Crate Training Tips

There's controvery surrounding the use of crates to house train dogs. Some people just cannot understand why you would isolate an animal for extended periods of time.

If you use these puppy crate training tips to your advantage, your puppy will actually enjoy the confinement and seek out the crate to snooze in. The crate naysayers may not fully understand the details and advantages of crate training. What they see is unlimited confinement which is really a misuse of a crate.

Tips for Using A Crate
Crates come in various sizes and should be selected based on the anticipated adult height and weight of the dog. The crate shown above is a standard wire crate. One of the more important puppy crate training tips is to ensure slow puppy introduction to his crate by using treats.

Another tip is to never force a puppy into his crate. Done repeatedly, this action can create a negative association with the crate.

I am most familiar with the use of crates as an overnight sleeping area. The theory is that a puppy will not eliminate in his sleeping area (the crate). A young puppy will cry to be let out to eliminate. The younger the puppy, the greater the number of times he will need to eliminate.

People who work will use a crate during the day. Initially, this will require a noon time release from the crate, so you may need to get someone to your home at noon. Young puppies will not last 8 - 10 hours in a crate.

If you are at home during the day, the crate can be used as a place for the puppy to sleep and a parking place when you need to go out or cannot supervise the puppy.

Using A Crate Overnight
There are two puppy crate training tips in the use of crates overnight:

- The rule for the number of times a puppy is likely to eliminate overnight is (puppy's age in months plus one). Using this formula, a 2-month old pup may need to be let out about  times.

- If you've let the pup outside before he beds for the night, leave him out until he does eliminate. It's no fun to be in your PJs and discover your puppy missed a form of elimination and needs to go out again (or you need to do a clean-up).

Reality Crate Training
Because I have two puppies four and eight months, I will give you examples of how each puppy reacted to crate training. Their reactions were different. Puppy crate training tips are described along with each puppy's reaction to crate training. From my mistakes, you will discover what to do and what not to do when you crate train your puppy.