Crate Training A 5 Month Old Boxer

[feher]

Hi guys

Just wondering if any training gurus can give me the basic step by step for crate training my 5 month old boxer bitch? She is peeing all over the house, and this is basically ruining our brand new home :D

My OH wants to banish all the dogs to outside, and I argued this, so we are going to give it a go.

Can anyone give me a run down?

[Reddii]

Hi guys

Just wondering if any training gurus can give me the basic step by step for crate training my 5 month old boxer bitch? She is peeing all over the house, and this is basically ruining our brand new home :D

My OH wants to banish all the dogs to outside, and I argued this, so we are going to give it a go.

Can anyone give me a run down?

This is how I crate trained my two and it worked for me.

Rule no. 1. The crate is NOT a punishment tool, it is the dog's safe and happy place - your job is to help them understand that.

To do this I started by letting them get used to the crate and having it around - just put it there with the door open and let them see it is not a threat.

Next I started to lure them in to it with treats. Once they were in there - HEAPS of treats and praise.

Next step was to feed them in there so that it becomes a really happy place. (Find me a dog who is not happy when they are being fed!)

Once all that happend I started to close the door on them when they were being fed.

Then I began letting them feed in there and stay in there for a while afterwards.

Final stage was to get them in there and leave them for increasing periods. Around this time they started sleeping in there as well.

They don't sleep in their crates any more, but when we have visitors with kids over the crates always go up and by the end of the night that is where you will find both dogs.

Shortly after we got to the point of increasing the time we went away to a 'dog friendly' property that really wasn't and the dogs spent the best part of 3 days in their crates - crash course/finishing school we jokingly called it.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Tony

[Miranda]

Tony has given you some excellent tips on crate training, it usually doesn't take very long especially for a puppy. All my dogs love their crates. They are a great house training aid because no dog likes to soil its sleeping area, but as Tony says, crates should be somewhere a dog likes to be, NEVER put your dog in a crate as a punishment.

Regarding toilet training it sounds to me as if she isn't properly toilet trained yet, if I were you I'd go right back to basics and treat her as if she were a very young puppy. Take her out immediately on awakening, after eating and at least every hour if you have her inside. Stay outside with her until she goes, even if you're out there for an hour and then lots of praise. It is pointless just putting a dog outside and assuming that she's been, you MUST stay with her and praise her when she goes regardless of how long you have to wait. If you catch her starting to urinate or defecate inside tell her 'uh-uh' in a stern voice and take her out immediately, then once again lots of praise when she goes outside.

If you can't supervise her inside keep her in her crate as every accident inside helps to reinforce the behaviour. And remember that a rolled up newspaper works wonders, make sure you hit YOURSELF over the head with it every time she goes inside because it's actually your fault for not being vigilant. This is a joke, but it's also very true