How to Crate Train my Puppy/Dog
I wholly advocate crate training for a puppy. It teaches them to settle and relax, to feel safe and also to hold their bladder. It can also be a transformative tool for an adult dog with separation issues.
Dogs are denning animals. They naturally seek out spaces that they feel secure in, and often these are small covered spaces, like under your coffee table or bed. Street dogs will hunker down in bushes, under cars or in any small gaps they can find under houses etc. It’s instinctual.
Many people assume crating a dog is cruel, but done correctly, it is aiding the dog to relax, sleep comfortably through the night, and feel protected.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using a crate that is too big. It will allow the dog to toilet one end.
Closing the door on your dog before he has had a chance to acclimatise to the crate with the door open.
Leaving your dog in the crate for too long.
Leaving your dog distressed inside the crate.
Using the crate as a place of punishment.
Letting the dog rush out of the crate
Crate training a puppy
Size
The crate should be big enough so that your pup can comfortably stand up and turn around. But not so big that he can use one end as a toilet and the other end as a sleeping area.
Puppies do not want to soil their bedding, so if the crate is small enough, he’ll try and hold it in until he is let out.
To save on buying multiple crates to accommodate your puppy’s growing size, pick an adjustable crate which will ‘grow’ with your puppy. This normally means that one side of the crate is moveable.
Comfort
Make it a cosy space with soft bedding, a few toys, and a blanket to cover it at night. Perhaps add a piece of clothing that smells of you, or if it’s the very first night your pup is brought home, add a blanket or similar that the breeder should have given you, which smells of the pup’s mum.
Add a puppy size soft toy which he can snuggle up to. (You can buy ones with a beating heart inside.) This will be the first time he is without his litter mates, and they would have all been used to sleeping touching one another.
Location
My advice would be to start as you mean to go on. So I wouldn’t have it in my bedroom, as this can lead to separation issues later down the line. If he doesn’t practise how to be on his own now, he won’t know how. If pup can get used to sleeping on his own from the off, you will be setting him up for success in the long run.
Place the crate in a room where he can see and hear what’s going on around him, but not in a very busy area, like by the front door. I don’t advise placing the crate in a room where he will be locked away on his own. The kitchen is usually a safe bet.
Only one crate in one location, so he can get used to being in the same spot. You can buy a travel crate for the car and for staying with other people.
More than one dog?
Do not crate them together. If a fight breaks out, there’s no escape. One crate per dog.
Puppy’s first night home
So you have the right size crate. Its comfortable and in a corner of a family room. It smells of mum. The day you bring pup home, scatter some treats inside the crate and let him wander in to eat them. Leave the door open. Throw in some toys for him to chase into the crate.
You only have a few hours to acclimatise him before his first night locked inside, so it’s important he views it as a positive space. If time allows, shut the door on him for a minute, after a few voluntary entries. Never force him in.
Cover any bedding with an old towel. Its likely he won’t make it through the night without peeing. It will depend on the training your breeder has done.
At bed time, make sure pup has had a pee and is sleepy. You don’t want him entering the crate full of beans. Throw a long lasting chew into the crate and encourage him to follow it in. Close the door. Cover the crate with a blanket, and walk out.
If your puppy is out of earshot, put a baby alarm by your bed. You want to be able to hear if your puppy gets distressed. He’ll probably whine. Resist the temptation to go in straight away. He might settle himself. If the noise escalates, go to him. Don’t take him out of the crate or he will learn to expect this. Soothe him from outside the crate, then leave. You may have to repeat this a few times.
When he wakes in the night, you will hear him on the baby alarm. By now he will probably need to pee. Take him out of the crate and to an outside space or pee pad. Say nothing. This is not play time. Be boring and wait til he pees, then put him back in the crate. If he doesn’t pee, at least you have given him the chance and he will have learnt that you will come when he really needs you.
I don’t agree on letting a letting a puppy cry it out. It distresses the puppy and gives negative connotations to the crate.
Puppy’s first few weeks
Gradually your puppy will wake later and later, as he learns to hold his bladder for longer and longer. Eventually he will be able to sleep through the night. Puppies need a lot of day time sleeps too. All those sleeps should be in the crate, with the door closed.
Puppies need a lot of day time sleeps too. All those sleeps should be in the crate, with the door closed.
Make sure your pup has peed and exercised before putting him in the crate. You can stay in the room so he can hear/smell you.
When he is in his crate it’s important that he is left alone. No small children climbing in or poking fingers through the cage. He needs to know that it’s a place of relaxation where he won’t be bothered.
On opening the crate door, always wait for quiet. He must not get into the habit of demanding to be let out. If he is barking or whining, wait for a few moments of silence and then open the door. His calmness has been rewarded.
When he’s not sleeping in his crate, leave the door open. If he wanders in voluntarily to relax, (mine never did) congratulations! You have done your job brilliantly.
When to stop using the crate
It’s up to you, but I would say a minimum of 4 months. Most people find it such a useful bit of equipment that they keep using it for about a year (or until they need some space back). Some dogs use their crates for life
Introducing or reintroducing the crate
to an adult dog
Perhaps you have a dog who you need to crate to put on a flight or a trip to the vet’s.
Perhaps you have a dog who is being destructive when you leave the house.
Perhaps you have a dog who toilets in the house when you are out.
Perhaps you have a dog who slept in your bed all its life, but now you have a partner, you’d like the dog to sleep in another room.
Perhaps your dog has separation anxiety.
Perhaps you have a dog who is wary of strangers in the house.
There are multiple reasons for introducing a crate later on in a dog’s life. Whether he’s been crated as a puppy or not, the new introduction is the same. He may have had a bad experience in a crate previously, so it’s crucial it’s done right this time.
Size
The crate should be big enough so that your dog can comfortably stand up and turn around.
But not so big that he can use one end as a toilet and the other end as a sleeping area. Dogs do not want to soil their bedding, so if the crate is small enough, he’ll try and hold it in until he is let out.
Comfort
Make it a cosy space with soft bedding, a few toys, and a blanket to cover it at night. Perhaps add a piece of clothing that smells of you. If your dog is inclined to chew their bedding or toys then perhaps just a blanket and a long-lasting hard chew or rubber toy.
It’s important they have something to chew on, as the act of chewing releases pheromones which calm. In the absence of anything to chew, the dog might chew its own limbs or the cage itself.
Location
If you are crating your dog due to separation anxiety, or if your dog is used to sleeping in your bed and you are trying to wean him off this habit, I suggest placing the crate in your bedroom at first. It is the first stage in practising separation from you, in that he can no longer be touching you. He will however be soothed by being able to hear you and smell you. You can place a second crate in a family room where he can take his day time naps.
Choose a room where he can see and hear what’s going on around him, but not in a very busy area, like by the front door. I don’t advise placing the crate in a room where he will be locked away on his own. The kitchen is usually a safe bet.
You can gradually move the bedroom crate further towards the bedroom door over some weeks, then outside the bedroom door, then into the kitchen.
If your dog is not used to sleeping in your bedroom, don’t start! Just have the one crate in the kitchen.
You can buy a travel crate for the car and for staying with other people.
More than one dog?
Do not crate them together. If a fight breaks out, there’s no escape. One crate per dog.
Crate introduction, day 1
Place the crate in your chosen location, as per the above. Leave the door open.
Do NOT coax your dog in there right away. It’s just a new object in the room, which will take some time for him to accept, especially if he has had a bad crate experience in the past.
He may go and sniff it; he may avoid it altogether. Both are fine.
First few weeks
The key is to not rush your dog. Go at a speed your dog is comfortable with. It may be several days or several weeks to get your dog to go inside the crate. It just depends on the dog.
Feed in the crate, door open. If your dog is sceptical, put the food bowl near the door end so he just has to put his face inside. If your dog is more confident, place the food bowl at the back of the crate so he has to walk fully inside to reach the bowl.
Throw treats and toys into the crate for your dog to retrieve. Dogs love to chase moving things, and this game will help him lose any anxieties.
If your dog darts in to grab a treat, but isn’t confident spending longer periods in the crate, try stuffing a rubber kong with cream cheese and pate, and tie it loosely to the back of the crate. If he wants to lick out the delicious insides he will have to remain inside the crate.
You can also keep delivering treats through the wire mesh to him as he stands in the crate.
If he ever goes in the crate of his own accord, reward him.
Being in the crate = treats Being out of the crate = no treats
As your dog grows in confidence over the following day and weeks, you can begin to close the door on him while he is in there eating his chew or his food. Stay in the room. You don’t want your dog to equate a closed door with you leaving, especially if he has any separation anxieties.
Open the crate a few minutes after he has finished eating. If he doesn’t eat, it generally means he is too anxious, so you will have to go back a step and leave the door open until he feels more comfortable.
To set your dog up to succeed, before putting him in the crate, give him plenty of exercise so he has worked up an appetite and is tired. Make sure he has recently had a pee. After he has eaten his food (in the crate), he should then be in a ‘rest and digest’ state, and more likely to relax. Tired; empty bladder; full belly.
Gradually increase the length of time you leave him in the crate with the door closed for his morning and afternoon naps.
The next step
Once your dog is happy having his day naps in the crate, you are ready to leave him in it all night.
Start a bed time routine: take him out for a pee, lead him into the crate with a tasty chew, shut the door, cover the crate (optional) and leave the room. Never feel sorry for him , or stare at him or he will pick up on your anxiousness.
He may start to protest once he’s finished the chew. Don’t let any barking or whining escalate- go back into the room and simply say ‘SHH’. You may have to repeat this a few times.
On opening the crate in the morning, block the entrance with your body to stop him rushing out. You always want the crate to represent calm and relaxation. Once he has stopped trying to push past you, simply get up and move away. No words. You are having a conversation, dog style.
Similarly, do not open the crate if he is barking or demanding to be let out. Wait for a moment of quiet, and then open the door. The reward for calm behaviour is the opening of the door.
The results
Hopefully you will be seeing some positive results.
Your dog has learnt how to hold its bladder/bowel while in the crate , and there have been no accidents.
When you are out of the house he feels comfortable in his safe space. He can no longer pace. Pacing is born of stress, so if the body can’t pace, the mind relaxes.
He no longer chews up the house because he has a long-lasting chew with him, which calms him.
When he wants to be left alone, or if he feels unsure about visitors, he takes himself off to his crate voluntarily where he knows he will rewarded and then left alone.