Crate training is widely agreed by dog owners to be the best technique to house train a puppy. Puppy crate training certainly involves a crate. A crate basically looks like a cage, and is used to temporarily restrict your puppy’s movement to a specific area when you’re unable to keep an eye on her. Your puppy should be in that crate at all times unless she’s eating, going for a potty break outside with you, or playing under supervision.
The crate is like your puppy’s den, a place where your puppy feels safe and at ease; it’s her private place where she comfortably sleeps, takes naps, or idles her time away. Dogs naturally like to keep their sleeping or resting area clean, so your puppy will not like to soil her den. She will try to keep her pee and poop in until you let her out of her crate.
Choosing a crate
Picking the right size of crate for your puppy is crucial. If the crate is too big, your puppy will be able to use one end as a bed and one the other as her toilet area. This then defeats the whole purpose of crate training your puppy, and will set back the house-training process for several weeks!
When picking a crate, ensure that the crate is big enough for your puppy to stand up, lie down and turn around without problem. Don’t worry, though, as you don’t have to keep getting new crates to fit the size of your growing puppy. You can save cost if you buy one crate that can serve as your puppy’s den until she grows up.
Buy an adult-size wire crate and partition the inside space with dividers while your dog is a puppy. You can use a wire grille or board as divider. When your puppy needs a larger area as she increases in size, you can then slide the dividers back to adjust for more space. Alternatively, you can build a crate yourself and replace it with a larger model as your puppy grows.
Making the crate welcoming
You can make the crate a welcoming and inviting place for your puppy to go. Try laying a couple of thick blankets or towels inside the crate, and place some toys and a chew inside. The door of the crate should be open at all times to appear welcoming. However, the door should be tightly closed when your puppy is inside.
Remember: before your puppy is fully house broken, you wouldn’t want to give her total freedom in the house to avoid soiling incidence. If you allow her access the all areas in the house before she’s thoroughly house trained, you’re basically encouraging her to relieve herself anywhere she likes. Each time she does this, it’ll be easier for her to repeat her action.
Where to put the crate?
When you are crate training your puppy, have the crate nearby. The ideal place for the crate is the hub of the family: usually the kitchen, or anywhere the family gathers. Keeping your crate puppy close to you not only makes your puppy house breaking process easier, since you can keep a close watch on your puppy’s movement, but also helps build the bond between you and your puppy. Your puppy needs to feel that she’s a part of the family now, and that she’s not isolated from everyone.