Crate Training Manifesto - Liz Wyant – PBZ co-founder The main thing to remember with crate training is that you should NEVER use the crate as punishment. NEVER. The crate is always to be a place of good things. Even if you are putting your dog in as a timeout, make it a good thing for them. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at the process. First you need to choose the crate. There are two main styles that are appropriate for full-time use – wire and plastic “airline” type crates. Some dogs have a preference of one over the other, but most will be just fine with either as long as you properly acclimate them to it. Size-wise, if your dog isn’t house-trained yet, it is recommended to start with a small crate that is just large enough for your pup to stand up, turn around and lie down in. Not being able to escape a mess will sometimes encourage dogs to hold it. That being said, it is your absolute, no excuses, responsibility to get the pup out as often as necessary so they are not forced to mess in their crate and lie in it. If your dog is already housetrained then feel free to get a larger crate. Inara’s is quite spacious as she does have to spend quite a while in there. I wanted her to have room to sprawl out if she desired, and I like it to be big enough for her to have a bowl of water and lots of bedding. How do you start crate training? The easiest way is to begin by feeding their meals in it. If your dog is afraid to go all the way in then set the bowl of food right outside the crate, door open, and then over time move it further inside the crate, keeping the door open. When your dog is happily bounding into the crate at meal time, begin to shut the door as they eat and immediately open it when they are done eating so they can come out. As your dog shows that they are comfortable with this process, begin leaving them in the crate for a few minutes extra after they are finished. Feel free to drop a random treat in as you pass by the crate if they are being good. Alright, is Fido nice and relaxed? We want to take this slow – patience is DEFINITELY a virtue when it comes to crate training. If Fido is content relaxing in the crate after a meal, start putting him in it at random times throughout the day, always with kind words and treats and fun. At this point, any time he’s going to get a really good treat (marrow bone, Kong, etc) feed it in the crate to reinforce the fact that Crates = Very Good Things. At first, once the treat is gone, let Fido out, but eventually start leaving him in several minutes afterwards like you did with meals. Now that Fido is happily chilling in his crate at random times when you are home, you’re going to up the ante. Get a really good treat ready that will take him some time to finish – a deer leg, a tightly-stuffed frozen Kong, a frozen marrow bone, etc. Put Fido in his crate, give him the treat and just quietly leave. Come back before you think he’ll be finished with it. As with every step before, you’ll slowly start leaving him in for a bit longer than it will take him to finish his treats. As long as when you come back he’s still nice and relaxed, you’re doing great and can keep increasing the time. This seems like a ton of steps, I know. But I can’t repeat it enough – baby steps are crucial when it comes to crate training. ~SK~
Posted on: Thu, 01 May 2014 12:30:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015