Dog Weekend Crate Training Tips and Tricks

Employing a Crate to House Train Your Dog

You can use a crate to safely contain your dog during the night and once you can't monitor her behavior closely. Dogs don't prefer to soil their sleeping areas, so your dog will naturally avoid eliminating in her crate. If useful for house training purposes, the crate should really be sized which means your dog can take a nap comfortably, stand up and never having to crouch and easily turnaround in a circle. If the crate is any larger, she might figure out how to soil one end of it and sleep at the other. If the crate is any smaller, she may be uncomfortable and struggling to rest. (When you no longer need to use the crate for house training, you can get a more substantial one for your dog if you like.)

Employing a crate will allow you to predict when your dog needs to get rid of and control where she eliminates. If she's been crated overnight or for a few hours through the day, the odds are very high that she'll eliminate as soon as you release her from the crate and take her outside. So, with the crate's help, you can prevent your dog from eliminating indoors and have an opportunity to reward her for moving in the right place-outside. For more information about house training your dog, please see certainly one of our articles, House Training Your Puppy or House Training Your Adult Dog.

Employing a Crate to Prevent Destructive Behavior

As well as acting as a house-training tool, your dog's crate can prevent her from being destructive. Dogs and puppies need to learn to refrain from doing lots of things inside their homes, like digging on furniture or rugs, chewing table legs, cushions and other household items, and stealing from garbage cans or counters. To instruct your dog not to complete things you do not like, you need to have the ability to observe and monitor her behavior. Confining her in a crate can prevent unwanted behavior once you can't supervise her or need to leave her home alone. If your dog includes a chewing problem and you'd like more information about how to solve it, please see our article, Destructive Chewing.

The Great Crate Debate: How to Buy a Dog Crate

Size Matters

The size of your dog is very important. Your puppy may spend several hours inside the enclosure and should feel protected, not trapped. A training crate must be well ventilated and kept clean.

Ideally, the container should be just big enough for your dog to stand and turn around. (There should be 3 or 4 inches above the dog’s head when he stands up.) If your puppy is still in the growing stage you may want to consider renting a kennel in order to “trade up” to more appropriate sizes as your pet develops.

Like a Den

Domestic dogs are only a few genetic steps removed from their ancestors: wolves. In the wild, these animals raise their young, sleep and are protected from danger in dens. Using crates for in-home training reinforces your pet dog’s natural instinct to seek safety and comfort in a small, enclosed area.

Dogs do not typically soil their “dens,” so crates limit the animal’s access to areas that are off limits. They provide a certain amount of control while your puppy learns acceptable behaviors during house-training.

In the video below, from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), Lisa Mazzaferro, DVM, explains why crates are ideal for puppies in a new home:

Indestructible Dog Crate

Dogs have a natural instinct to truly have a den enclosure and owners can satisfy these needs by providing them with a crate. Crates will also be practical training and housebreaking tool because dogs are naturally averse to soiling inside their den. Extra-strong crates may be used to stop dogs and puppies from destroying their surroundings and chewing furniture.

Crates will also be absolutely essential when taking your dog on planes – They serve as a journey box for dogs and airlines have regulations associated with dog crates for security in the hold. Crates will also be useful because the few hotels that can accept dogs achieve this on the basis that canine is kept in a crate. This prevents harm to the hotel carpets and furnishings.

We at DoggyToggery recommend you provide a crate for the pooch from the puppy to adulthood. Some crates have removable doors which are useful if you have fully housebroken your pet, and canine crate transforms right into a den hideaway for them, somewhere they can feel safe and comfortable.

Pooch owners should go to the ends of the planet earth to ensure their dogs are healthy and happy, and a sturdy, indestructible dog crate is the foundation of this. You do not want your puppy escaping from their crate because they perhaps might escape from your house and never be viewed again. They might continue a rampage in your home destroying furniture and valuables. Dogs may even injure themselves severely in the escape attempt. This informative article indicates you a range of different crates at different budgets.

If you want premium features such as lightweight, collapsible and incredibly strong you do have to pay a good amount of money for a well developed and chew proof crate. This could be viewed as an advisable investment especially as living of your puppy last several years (hopefully). If you are willing to make a few sacrifices and your puppy is not exceptionally strong or aggressive then some cheaper heavy-duty dog crate alternatives will perform the exact same job.