How To Crate Train Your Pet
Crate training is the process of teaching your dog to stay in a dog crate, which is basically a wooden, plastic or wire kennel. Some dog owners consider this inhumane when it’s actually quite the opposite, most dogs actually enjoy being in the crate.
The crate simulates the den environment of a wolf, so not only is crate training humane, it actually draws on natural canine behavior.
The best time to start crate training in the first night the puppy spends in your home. By now you should already have bought a crate that accommodates your puppy’s adult size. Buy one with a sliding panel, and adjust the panel, so the pup has just enough space to lie down and turn around.
Use a soft towel as bedding, rather than a blanket. The towel will be just as comfortable, but better at mopping up any spills.If you bought your puppy from a breeder try to get a strip of blanket with the mother’s scent on it. This will be a comfort to your puppy as she settles in.
Put the crate in an area that will allow the pup to interact with the family. Don’t put the crate in a secluded spot as the puppy will feel isolated and take longer to settle. Remember that dogs are social creatures by nature.
In the early weeks, put the crate in your bedroom at night. Expect a fuss in the beginning. Remember, she’s only a baby. She will be confused and frightened by her new surrounds, and most likely missing her canine family.
Don’t pander to every cry though, or you will be up half the night once she figures out that you come running every time she cries.
Within a couple of days she’ll be happily sleeping in here crate. After a few weeks you can move her to another part of the house at night. One again, she’ll probably whine and howl, but provided you don’t come running she’ll soon accept her new accommodations.
Before too long she’ll learn to love the crate and will go there of her own accord.
Crate training is also a real boon for housebreaking. Dogs are instinctively clean animals who don’t ‘go’ where they sleep. For this reason your pup will learn from an early age how to ‘keep it in’, while she’s in the crate.
Remember though that a puppy does not have the control of an adult dog, so give her regular toilet breaks every hour or so.
When she kicks up a fuss take her outside straight away. You’ll reap the benefits when you start potty training later on.
Read more about crate training puppies, dog behavior, dog health and other interesting dog information at www.dogsanddogtraining.com.
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