Crate training

[Carol Brand]

Nicky asked about crate training and I think it is an important discussion.  As a breeder, I think crate training is so important that I require it in my contract.  Crate training is a life long skill that will help your dog be comfortable and confident when it is crated at the vet or groomers or if it ever has to fly in an airplane.  My favorite crate story is that I once had to go to a family funeral and take all three of my dogs.  The last thing I wanted was for my dogs to be a burden in any way.  We stayed with my in-laws for three days before most people in the family even knew that the dogs were there.

 

I start crate training my puppies before they go home at 8 weeks so most of my puppy owners have a real easy time transitioning to crate training at home.  I wish other breeders would do the same.

 

A crate needs to be only big enough that a puppy can stand up, turn tightly around and lie down.  This is supposed to be a den for the dog not a palatial estate.  If the space in the crate is too large then a puppy will want to eliminate in it and then you are in for a world of pain.  Most owners don't have different sized crates so it is fine to buy a crate large enough to fit the adult dog and then use barriers like cinder blocks to make the space smaller.

 

I believe crates should be in a quiet area away from the hub bub of family life.  This gives the dogs a break from stimulation and at the same time, dogs need to learn to settle in their crates and not have to depend on their people to sooth them.  

 

By 8 weeks a puppy can hold it over night from roughly 11:30p.m. to 5:30a.m.  With every week they can hold it longer.  My 12 week old puppies can go from 10:30p.m.-6:30a.m  During the day, we like to say that a puppy can be in a crate for as many hours as they are months old + 1 so an 8 week old puppy should not stay in a crate longer than 3 hours at a time.

 

It is a good idea to fee all meals in the crate, however, do not leave food or water in a crate overnight.  Take food away at 6:00p.m. and water at 8:00p.m.   During the day the puppy can have treats and toys in the crate.  I use the crate to house train in the beginning.  Puppy comes out of crate, goes outside, pottyy... PARTY.  Then I know I'm good for about 20 minutes.  I take the puppy out again.  If I don't get a potty, they I put it back in the crate for about 30 minutes and then take it out again.  If I can not directly supervise the puppy and keep track of the time then I put the puppy in a crate. I also have an X-pen, but that is another story.  

 

My adult dogs are crated whenever I leave the house.

 

 

 

 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Carol, what is your opinion on confining adult dogs to a room while you are out of the house?  I also crate trained my Doods, but once they had proven that they were reliable in the house, I put the crate away, and confined them to the kitchen where they have their bed and can see out the window.  They sleep most of the time I'm gone, and there has never been any damage.  I guess I'm not sure what the advantage of the crate would be for dogs who do fine in the house.  I agree with everything you say about puppies...and that's pretty much exactly what I did.  When they were puppies (and in the housebreaking and heavy duty training stage), they were in their crate or tethered to my waist most of the time.

[Carol Brand]

Is the window to the backyard?  It probably is.  If it wasn't,  I would not want to leave my dogs unattended where they might get in the habit of barking at people who pass by.   

 

Continuing to crate adult dogs just keeps them in the habit so that when they do have to be crated: vet, airplane, groomer, emergency etc then they are still in the "habit".   Just something to think about...

[Jacque Reynolds]

Here is a good link for info on crate training: http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

 

I disagree about withholding water. The idea is to stretch the puppy's bladder and teach it control, not to shrink the bladder. Again, here is an article that explains why it is not a good idea to withhold water while potty training: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&am...

 

 

[Carol Brand]

Taking the water up at 8:00p.m. after the puppy has had access to it all day is not exactly restricting water.  In my experience, if water is not taken up around 8:00p.m. then you run the risk of having a wet crate in the morning.  I do agree that it is important for puppies to learn to control their bladders.  I think this is best done by leaving them in the crate until morning and NOT taking them out in the middle of the night (2:00a.m.).

 

 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Thanks for responding to my crate questions. Can you tell me what 'cinder blocks' are.  You will have to excuse me but a lot of American words are unfamiliar English in this part of the world..Crates that are on sale here have no partitions so I am going to have to make my own. The breeder that I'm getting my puppy from advocates crates very strongly and I am going to ask her to make sure that my puppy has had some experience of the crate before coming home. 

As the Puppy will be 11 weeks old before I get him I am wondering what other things I should ask the breeder to do as I realise that by getting the puppy at this age I may be missing out on some important training/socialisation factors in those early weeks.

[Jacque Reynolds]

Hi Nicky,

Cinderblocks are concrete blocks that are used to make walls but are often used for other things, they are inexpensive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinder_block

 

At 11 weeks your puppy should be very well socialized, should have at least 2 series of vaccinations, should have been to the vet for a well-puppy exam, probably have a microchip. Some breeders have puppies that age spayed or neutered but it is a personal choice for the breeder. The pup should understand the concept of potty training but probably will not be fully trained, and should be comfortable in a crate. Grooming is another thing that the pup should be comfortable with...and basic commands such as sit and down.

 

Importantly, the puppy should be happy and at ease around humans, including children.

 

Probably the most critical thing is socialization. That is a tough call because the breeder has to limit exposure to disease but it can be done by taking the puppy out in a stroller or other carrier and introducing him/her to as many people and experiences as possible. Sometimes the breeder will play recordings of various sounds...and I have found that it is helpful to have the pups on a bunch of different surfaces, exposed to many household things like brooms, vaccuums, hair dryers, etc.

 

The more your breeder will do, the better start your puppy will have. But at the same time, breeders are limited by the number of puppies and sometimes do the training and socialization in groups (the whole litter) and so you need to focus on direct, one on one, training.

 

It would be great if your breeder has started puppy classes, but breeders with a full litter to care for usually don't take the pups, individually, to training class.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Now my breeder says I can take the puppy at nine weeks and that she will have it used to the crate before then.  The puppy will be in her home and used to lots of household noises, handling, adults and children.  I'm looking for a cd with recordings of various noises but I may end up making one myself!  I have bought a travel crate which will be perfect for the first few weeks and then I will use the bigger one with a partition.  

Thanks you for all the valuable information.