Crate training

[Nikki & Charlie]

Hi all,

I'm just curious about your experiences with crate training. I'm picking up my pup tomorrow and he's 8 weeks old so naturally I'm planning on crate training him. Originally I was planning to keep his crate open to an exercise pen so that he had extra room, but now I'm thinking that's not the best idea and I'll just keep him in the crate. I won't be leaving him in the crate for very long, 3-4 hours at most. I have a blanket and towel in there and a toy or two.

Any other suggestions? I'll be training him to pee outside but should I put a pee pad in there too? I'm very confused, hearing so many different things lol. I just want opinions from people who have the same breed!

Thanks :)

[Laura & Sophie Doodle]

Congrats on your new puppy! As a disclaimer I think every puppy adjusts differently to his or her crate.

It's in a dog's natural instinct not to eliminate in its own den. If a puppy has too much room, they will eliminate in one area of the crate and sleep in the other. So, we wrapped cardboard boxes in towels and stacked them at the back of her (really large) crate so that she had ample room to stand up and turn around and that was it. How many potty accidents in her crate between 8 weeks and 7 months? One! A single accident! We may have just been really lucky but I honestly think this trick works. Good luck!

[Deb]

We got an adjustable crate from Amazon...LifeStages. It can be made small for a puppy and enlarged as the puppy grows. Our puppy is now 18 weeks...never had an accident in the crate. Amazon has great prices too..or check Chewy.com.

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

We play crate games along with the clicker for crate training. Consistency is the key! Do not put pee pads in the crate. It will teach the puppy it is ok to go potty and will be more difficult to break. 

[Cammie Hensley]

Curious what sort of crate games you play? I have crate trained two dogs in the past and we are gearing up for a new pup in a little over a month. Both of my previous dogs have really loved their crates, but I love the idea of introducing games to make the transition even easier/more fun for our little one! Thanks everyone for your responses so far, this is helpful for me too! 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Both Lucy and Oscar crate trained very easily, but I do believe their breeder acclimated them to the crate before 8 weeks old, which made my job very easy. Lucy had no accidents in her crate at all, ever. Oscar had one his first full day home, and that was it. They both love their crates and often go in on their own throughout the day. We had the adjustable type crates to make larger as the pup grows. We don't use any kind of bedding in the crates and I think they prefer it that way. Early on I used fleece sleeping pads, but they often scooted them aside to lay on the hard plastic bottom, and both liked to chew on the bedding as young pups, which was a bit scary, not knowing if they ingested any of it or not. Make the crate a fun place during the day with the door open, with interesting toys and feed them in their crates in the beginning (again, with the door open). Build on good associations with the crate and I'm sure your puppy will do just fine. Congratulations!

[Jenny Williams]

I'm sure you will get a lot of differing methods and opinions... IMO, it totally depends on your pup's personality, your personal schedule and choosing the best method for you to coordinate with your schedule. I think it's important to be consistent and set the bar early on your schedule and what the pup should expect.

For our family, I have a 3.5 and 6 year old, and I'm a SAHM. This doesn't mean I have time to let the dog run with me around the house because I have high demands on me from my preschooler and a high-functioning special needs older child. For me, crate training was the best option for us and only way to go for me! We have been very successful with our 11 week old Goldendoodle pup. She has never had a crate accident (we use the life stages crate, so it grows with her - giving her too much space will allow her to pee on one side and sleep/play on the other). We do not use puppy pads... she learns to go outside with us taking her out every 20 minutes while she is out and completely supervised, or she can hold it in her crate for much longer (so far, we have left her up to 4 hours during the day). I keep things very simple, without a lot of puppy training stuff, and it's going great. For us the basics have been a Lifestages crate, a crate cover, her food and water, a collar and leash and chew toys (antlers are a favorite). A small bottle of Nature's Miracle and some dog shampoo have been nice to have on hand too, as we've had a few accidents :)

We have found that 20-30 minutes out of the crate if perfect for our pup. After that, she gets into trouble and begins to not listen to us. We take her to potty outside as soon as we let her out of the crate, she gets 20-30 minutes of supervised play, she goes back out to potty, and then she is crated from 1-2 hours at a time. It allows me time with my kids, house chores and any carpool/school/extracurricular activities that we have going on.

Good luck with your new pup!

[Moe]

It's hard to know what to do. An 8 week old puppy can't hold it for 3-4 hours so you are setting the pup up for failure. 8 week old puppies have to go out every 1/2 hour or so. At 12+ weeks they may be able to go for 3-4 hours.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

The rule to take a puppy out every half hour or so really only applies if the puppy is out of it's crate. When a puppy is sleeping it can hold it far longer, and when its in it's crate I think the general rule of thumb, is a puppy can hold it 1 hr for every month in terms of age (there are limits of course as a puppy grows older). So an 8 week old puppy, in theory, should be able to hold it for 2 hrs. while its in it's crate. With that said, YMMV, and every puppy is different.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I love any opportunity to share this video of Lucy her 2nd day home with us. This shows how comfortable she was with her crate very early on:

Find more videos like this on DoodleKisses.com

[Stephanie and Ragley]

This is TOO adorable, Debb!

I crate trained Ragley, but have begun to phase it out as she is not a huge fan of her crate and is not a chewer so I don't have to worry too much about destruction. Not all dogs are the same though. I know of some puppies who will willingly just go lie down in their crate to hang out; Ragley just isn't one of those. You will learn what your puppy likes and doesn't like.

[Lynda Kamrath]

So cute!   I would even like to cuddle up in this crate.  Door is open and an enticing place to be.

[Lynda Kamrath]

No pee pads.  You don't want him peeing in his crate.  At first they need to go out very frequently and I always carry my pups out and put them down in the place I want them to pee.  Reward  him immediately and carry back into the house after a few minutes of play.  They will get the idea quickly of where is the place to eliminate.