Crate Training Your Puppy

As the parent of a brand new puppy, you will acquire several responsibilities from the start. One thing that all new owners ought to do from the beginning is to crate train their pups. Crate training is always helpful to both you - the dog owner - and the new addition when it is utilized properly. Crate training will make your earliest few weeks as a new puppy owner a great deal less complicated and much more pleasurable.

By crate training your new canine family member, not only will you have a house-broken dog in less time, your pup will have its own area, which can allow him to feel so much more protected and secure. A crate to a canine is like a den, a spot to call his own and get away from stressful situations. Crate training has proven quite successful for many owners to help ease the dog's transition to his new residence, preventing the pup from chewing up your things (and they will, given the chance), and will help to protect the puppy from a lot of hazards that are present within every home. Puppies are naturally curious about their new living space, and may easily come in contact with things that could harm them in their new home.

Prior to even bringing your new pet home, you will want to obtain your crate and have it prepared to be used. Crates are pretty cheap in the scheme of things and can be bought at your local pet supply shop or over the internet. You can also come across used ones locally on Craigslist, which must be cleaned up before use, it goes without saying. A small amount of dog owners who decide to utilize crate training also make the choice to construct a crate themselves rather than purchase one. If you are a handy type of person, this is an option, but make sure it is safe and sturdy, using appropriate materials. No matter which choice you decide on, it works the same.

Crates made of heavy mesh wire are likely to work best in my own experience, however, the most important factor is to make sure a crate can be divided into sections or the space somehow reduced over time, so you can adjust it to the dimensions of your new puppy. Many of the heavy wire mesh crates have inserts that come with your crate or can be purchased separately. This tends to work fantastically (and is most cost-effective) for those who buy the biggest sized crate (factoring in how large your dog will be once he is full-grown) from the beginning and just section it off so that you shouldn't need to continuously purchase larger crates as your dog gets bigger. This is especially true if your puppy is a large breed. It's also useful to have a removable tray on the bottom of the crate, which makes it much easier to clean - this is a feature you'll find on the heavy mesh wire crates - they come with plastic trays that slide out easily, which can be a actual time saver when cleaning and maintaining the crate.

If you're not fond of the wire mesh crates, another choice is an airline-approved crate, which is manufactured from heavy plastic. They're often referred to as Vari-Kennels. The drawback to this option is that they do not allow as much airflow as the open bar style of the metal type crates. Most of these crates haven't got a tray to take out to easily clean, however they do have the option of removing the top from the bottom, making the crate easier to clean that way. I recommend the wire type of crate for everyday use, but it is up to you and your tastes. The plastic style crates are fantastic for travel (automotive, airplane, etc), and are much more transportable for this use, especially with smaller breeds of dogs. However, the metal style crates do fold up and are portable as well.

Going Rawr! A Complete Guide To Putting Your Dog On A Raw Food Diet
Discover how to put your dog(s) and puppies on a Raw food diet with this complete guide. A Raw dog food diet, which is made up of raw bones and meat is the best and most appropriate diet for dogs for them to live longer.

Healthy Food For Dogs: Homemade Recipes
Know how to feed your dog to quickly get astonishing results.

Choosing The Best Dog For Your Kids
Help for parents choosing a dog for their children. Top 10 breeds for families, 5 steps to choosing the right dog and more.

Dog Training
The Dog "secrets" professional dog trainers don't want you to know!

Now that your crate is set up and ready, take your new pet home and introduce him to his new crate. Put some toys, chews or treats into the back of crate, encouraging him to go inside. Keep your voice light and pleasant. You want him to determine that getting in his crate is a happy, positive thing. Don't force him to go in, let him make the choice himself. Let him walk in and out for a short time, giving him a lot of praise each time he goes inside and especially when he spends time inside on his own. After he's comfy with being inside and is calm, lock the door for short periods of time. As with training any animal, you will need to be consistent. It is also very important to never use the crate to punish your canine, as it would have a destructive effect on your training. Let me say that again... Never use a crate as a punishment. The puppy should really feel at ease in its crate. Your effort and time to keep it upbeat and happy will quickly payoff, making you (and your puppy) completely satisfied within the end results. Trust me on this!

While you are at home, confine your canine to the crate for brief durations of time, to get him used to being inside. Do this while you're in or close to the same room, at first. This way, your puppy does not automatically associate the crate with being left by itself, which can create or worsen separation anxiety.

By no means should you ever force your puppy to be confined for extended intervals of time in a crate. If you will be working during the day, have a family member, neighbor or pet sitting (or dog walking) service come and let your canine outside to use the toilet and stretch his legs. Overnight, you will have to take a young puppy out a number of times. Pups younger than 9 weeks shouldn't be crated, due to the frequency they will need to eliminate.

Here is a guideline for the length of time your pet should be confined:

9-10 weeks: 30-60 minutes
11-14 weeks: 1-3 hours
15-16weeks: 3-4 hours
17+ weeks: 4+ hours (not more than 6 hours)

Overnight, any canine regardless of age shouldn't be crated greater than 5-6 hours at a time.

Before putting a dog in the crate, make sure they've just gone to the bathroom. You do not want your do to make a mess in his crate, so prevent it from ever taking place! If an accident does occur, don't punish your pup! Merely clean the crate with a pet odor neutralizer (like Nature's Miracle, Nilodor) and keep your cool. Don't use ammonia-based products, as the odor resembles urine and may very well cause your canine to pee or poop in the same area again.

Young puppies from pet shops or who had been kept exclusively in small cages or enclosures from a young age (about 7-16 weeks) will most likely be much harder to house-train and to keep from messing in their crate. This is because they had been forced to eliminate in their sleeping area throughout the formative stage of maturity. Confining them with their waste retards the housebreaking process. This will proceed all through a canine's life. I would suggest a trainer's opinion in this case.

Always remove your canine's collar before they go into their crate. Do NOT ignore this rule, no matter what type of collar or crate you've gotten! Dogs can and have hung themselves this way. I do not personally even recommend keeping "break away" collars on canine in crates, though some do disagree with me. Always better safe than sorry, in my mind.

Even once your dog is housebroken, I recommend keeping the crate available for the life of your dog, allowing him to go in and out as he pleases. You'll discover that pups who have been introduced to a crate from the start will go back to their crates to relax, snooze or just to "hang out". They will continue to seek out it as a space of their very own, when they want it, especially if they are feeling stressed. Even when you don't choose to put your grownup dog in a crate at night time or when you leave the house, take the door off or find a way to keep it open, permitting your canine the option to go in and out as he wishes.

You'll be able to train your pup to enter their crate on command. The phrase I take use is, "go to your house". You might instead use, "go to your room" or something similar. I've found that people adore that my dogs take heed to this command, for some reason. It's amusing, because anyone can teach their dog the same "trick"!