Crate Training. Advice?

[Brecka]

So I am wanting to crate train my puppy. I have a few questions...

1. How big should the crate be when my puppy is full grown?

2. Do you recommend feeding/giving water to her while she is in her crate, near her crate, or neither? 

3. I need all the advice I can get!!!! 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have water bottles on my crate but if you have a new puppy that should not be necessary since you still will be letting her out very frequently to potty train her. I also feed my dogs in their open crates, usually. Me dogs have huge crates but a crate should be big enough to let the dog stand, turn around and move easily. You will want to partition it when the pup is young to avoid her voiding in the crate.

[Tammy and Violet]

Hi there..the crate will tell you in pounds what size you will need for your baby...I got the size the breeder thought she would be.....Inever fed Vilet in there but yes .. water....be consistant with your crate it will be a god sent ... believe me ! V still sleeps at night in there and she is over 1 yr... we both slepp better I think..this sight is great ///l lots of advise .....it has helped me through some tough times !!

[Adina P]

1.  Big enough for your dog to stand up, turn around, and lie down.  So it depends on how big your puppy is expected to be.  I believe I have the 48" long crate that I got for my 85-90 -- it is a tight fit.  My 60lb doodle fits much better in it--has room to move out of the way if something spills.

2.   I think both are fine if you don't mind spills.  If you are home and there are not other dogs around, feeding outside of the crate is my preference.  Unless puppy has been up and running around and playing and now it is quiet time and you want to feed your pup and then let it hang out in its crate for a bit...although he/she might have to go potty soon after eating.  I don't think there is a "wrong" answer here.  I would not leave water or food overnight in crate, but during the day it is up to you.

[jenn D]

Great advice so far! You might want to invest in some kongs and check out the DK cookbook area so you can give your pup safe treats to chew on while you are gone. It gives them something to do in there when you are gone.

[Christy&Riley]

We fed our pup in an open crate initially so she would view it as a good place. Once she was about 4 months old and had to duck to walk in, we bought a full size crate and took out the divider around 5 months. Gives her lots of room to stretch out with her feet up on the sides. (I hear that's a common doodle trait which is so funny.) I give her treats sometimes when she goes in on command or without resistance.

Oh, one other thought. We never let her cry at night to go out as we didn't want her to learn that crying would bring us running. We (my husband) set his alarm to automatically take her out every few hours.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

We used a small crate to train and then switch to a super size once he was bigger and fully trained.  You can get a divider for a the big ones, as mentioned.  We don't feed in the crate, but we do use a treat filled Kong to entice him to go in and then amuse him for a bit until he inevitably falls asleep.  He is only in the crate when we are not home.  Good luck!