Crate Training Your Dog - Using a Dog Crate As A Housebreaking Method

The Case For Crate Training Puppies

• In the wild, dogs seek out the safety of a den and feel secure there


• Dogs will seldom potty where they sleep or eat. Providing you follow a timetable to make sure toilet time follows a meal, crate training can be swift and highly effective.


• The crate can be a safe haven your dog can retreat to at any time she chooses after potty training is finished (especially important if you also have boisterous children!)


• Thousands of dogs are kept in kennels, either at the pound or during vacation time. These are little more than crates and only a small minority ever show signs of adverse effects. As long as you ensure your dog gets plenty of exercise, using a crate can just be a part of life for your dog

Arguments Against Crate Training Puppies

• Dogs are pack animals, and if you confine your dog away from her new pack, it can cause anxiety and even behavior problems


• If not done correctly, your puppy may see crate training as a form of punishment


• Use of the crate may become a convenient way of keeping your dog out of the way and defeat the object of having a companion animal in the house


• Prolonged periods in the crate mean your dog is not getting enough fresh air and exercise

There will always be a moral argument about whether or not it is right to keep your dog confined in a cage, and this is a question only you will be able to answer based on your circumstances.

The fact is, if your dog is loved (and knows that she is loved), treated well and given the time she deserves, crate training puppies can be a perfectly acceptable house training method, and is certainly one of the fastest and most effective ways of housetraining dogs you will come across.

By all means, look into the many different ways to teach your dog to stay clean in the house, but do not rule out crate training just because someone else says it is cruel.

Many people think you can just shove a dog into a crate and he will take to it, but this is actually the biggest mistake you can make and can set back house training or what ever purpose you wish to make use of the crate.

The key to crate training is to ensure your dog likes spending time in the crate, and does not associate it with a bad experience.

Allow yourself up to a week of consistent "conditioning" (two or three short sessions a day) for your dog to be fully adjusted to crate life, using the following as a guide:

In order to introduce your dog to his crate for the first time, it is better to entice him in there and let him stay in for just as long as he wants, without closing the door. Leave one of his favorite toys or some of his favorite food inside the crate and let him find it. The crate should also contain something with your scent and his scent on it, to make it feel more familiar and safe When he enters, praise him, so he knows that is what you wanted from him (if you are clicker training, you can also click and praise). After about half a dozen times, offer a cue as he enters the crate (bed, crate, box - something like that)

Once he is happy waiting in the crate for up to a minute, close the door for a few seconds then open it again and praise him immediately. Gradually build up the time that the door is closed before you praise, and you will have yourself a crate-happy pooch in no time.