Thursday, August 12, 2010

Crate training



Hey everyone!!! These first few posts I know have been about puppies and taking care of a puppy but that is a lot of what people have problems with. So this post is going to be about crate training either a puppy or even a full grown dog that you failed to crate train before or you got them as a full grown dog.
First, you have to pick the right size crate or cage for your dog. Your dog should be able to stand up stretch out and turn around in the crate. Also, if you plan to leave your dog in the crate all day then you should have room to have toys and a water bowl, also a folded up towel or bed.
People wonder why crate training is so important, crate training helps for potty training, if you want a break from your crazy puppy, if you don't want a puppy to sleep with you at night, or you don't want him to have free reign over the house while you are at school or work.
The location if the crate is also really important. You don't want to put the crate in a room that no one ever goes in, like the spare room or basement. You want to put their crate in an area that everybody is always in like the kitchen,living room, or even your bedroom. The reason is that if every time you walk into the spare room or basement and call your dog, the only thing the associate that with is when you leave them alone in the crate.
Some puppies are afraid to even step one little paw into their crate and that is a problem that you can fix. Don't force your puppy into a crate by shoving the in or picking them up and setting them in, start by throwing a toy or treat into the crate and say "crate" or "cage" while they go to get the treat. Repeat this quite a few times then when they go to get their treat close the door for about 5 seconds. If your dog whines or barks don't let them out right away. Don't open he door until they calm down. If you do open the door it teaches them that when they bark they get out of the crate. Keep repeating this then increase the time until you can keep them in there for about 60 seconds. After you get this accomplished then start throwing the treat in the crate, closing the door, and walking away. Leave them in there for about 20 seconds at first then keep increasing the time until they either lay down and relax or until you have been gone for about 10 minutes and you didn't hear them whine or bark. Remember to reward them when you come back if they didn't whine or bark. *TIP* It's best to do this after a long playtime or walk because they are more prone to want to lay down and sleep. After you keep increasing the time until you can leave them in their crate for about an hour or so without a peep coming out of them next you want to leave the house. I would take your digital camera, cell phone, laptop, anything with a recording feature then set it up in view of the crate. Put it on record and walk out of the house, at first just go into the garage or outside where they know you are not in the house any more. At first, just leave for about 5 minutes and come back. Reward them if they are not crying or barking. Check the recording to see what your dog did while you were gone. If they lied down as soon as you left or barked a few times then relaxed increase the time. If they barked, whined, and cried the whole time then decrease the time. Eventually you should be able to leave the house for however long you need to and come back with your dog perfectly fine.
Make sure that if you are going to leave your do at home alone to make sure they have toys. I recommend KONG and the reason is that they can really occupy your dog and keep their attention on the toy and other than the fact that you are not there with them. Also, this helps if you dog is destructive. Some dogs with chew on the bars of their crate. Again if you are leaving them home I would put a bowl of water in their crate so they have constant access to water.
If you are leaving your dog home alone all day some people don't like the idea of leaving your dog in one spot for a long period of time. Personally, I don't really like it either. Imagine having to be in a closet all day long with maybe some kind of toys (for a human maybe a phone or ipod) and some water. So you can buy play pens or exercise pens that you can put a bed, water, toys, and maybe a pee pad. If anyone is wondering when I hopefully get a new Yorkie puppy I want to get a Sleep n' Store which is a bed on the bottom with a closet for dog clothes on the top. I want to get a small gate like the one in the picture and put a pee pad and water on the floor and toys on the floor and bed.
I hope this post helped you, I know it wasn't my best considering I haven't had pretty much any experience with it. My dog isn't crate trained and I know that's bad but I got her when I didn't know anything about dog training. Like I said hope this helped and remember if you have any questions email me at petspetshelp@aol.com and follow me on twitter Kad971!!!
xoxo
Kirstyn

No comments:

Post a Comment