Crate Training Tips

[Luke W]

.

Edited December 20, 2008 by left the building

[seashell]

Thanks again everyone, only two more days until I pick up my puppy now so all the advice is greatly appreciated! Big thanks to acm_02 for sharing your recent experience and pictures - your puppy is adorable! I like the name ruby, I considered that name if I got a girl, and maybe if I got a ruby cav I was wondering whether to make my puppy go in to sleep or lure him in with treats, so what you did with waiting for her to sleep and carrying her in is a good idea if my pup won't go in himself.

We have quite a small crate to begin with, it's my cat carrier so hopefully it's small enough that I don't need to section it off. When he grows bigger we'll get a bigger crate of course!

Thanks for everyone's good luck wishes too, I hope it all goes well, I'm so excited!!

[Cally]

HI

I have a cav pup who is now 20 weeks. There is great advice here for you. I simply popped her straight in the crate and shut the door that night and went to bed, I had to get up about about twice in the night when she called and as above just took her straight outside and placed her straight back in as soon as she toileted.

I have trained her now with the Crate called Bed and what I did from the first day was everytime i called her in from outside ( through the day) . I would throw a treat in and say Bed. She now loves it and will always go in her crate if I am in the room or on command.

I placed her straight in our down stairs laundry from day one, and she is fine. She has never had one acident in her crate.

I would suggest having some kong puppy toys or similar in with your pup and something like a Bubby. Mine girl has a little soft monky that sqeaks.

Good luck hope everything goes well, and stick with the create as you will not regret it at all.

Oww forgot to add, don't forget to take the water away at night and put it straight back in the morning. I take it at 8.30 pm and put her to bed at about 9.30pm.

I found this site awesome for info on all aspects of puppy. It might help.

http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/index.html

:D

Edited December 17, 2008 by Cally

[jamesanddean]

Congratulations on bringing your new puppy home. By now you will be in the hectic first few days where you feel like a zombie and don't know what you have done!

We were also first time dog owners 12 months ago and researched and adopted crate training and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Our puppy went in from the first night and was very comfortable with it and never made a sound. We put the crate in our bedroom with us for the first night but I hardly slept a wink as I was listening for him to take him out to the toilet. All i could hear all night was his tail wagging and hitting the cardboard divider we had put in there to restrict the space. From the second night we moved his crate into our kitchen becuase I couldn't sleep from the anxiety of listening out for him! I would set my alarm and get up in the middle of the night to toilet him. He was sleeping through from 11.30pm to 6.30am within 2 weeks of getting him home.

For the first couple of weeks we had to get up in the night to take him out, but he learnt so quickly. At least it is summer and not the middle of winter for those middle of the night trips outside. It is important you restrict the space available in the crate (we used cardboard boxes) and cover it with an old sheet or blanket as it makes them feel more secure - I think this was one of the things that really helped us. It is also good to have somewhere to put them when you want them safely away when you can't give them your full attention (or you need a rest!).

The other thing that happens in the early stages is that they grow in size and change behaviourally so quikly in the early stages. I went back and read over my old posts tonight and the things you get concerned about one day are gone the next week or month and there is something else to address. So don't get too stressed about things as they will change!

[sydking]

could i just use a milk create? with a soft blanket on the floor and the mil create covering her?

[Erny]

could i just use a milk create? with a soft blanket on the floor and the mil create covering her?

I wouldn't, Sydking. You want something that will not move, even with the most robust of 'trying' moments. Your pup/dog needs something that is not only secure but also as a result is very safe. He/she could jump at the side of a milk crate and tip it over - not good for safety or security reasons.

To the OP (who by now has pup?) ..... I did things (eg. socialisation/habituation/play/etc) that, (coupled with the fact that it is dark and is naturally a time for sleep), had puppy really tuckered and ready for sleep come night time. So whilst during the day "crate training" was occurring, during the night all he wanted to do was sleep and he had no problems doing so with the crate door closed, save for every couple of hours for the first couple of nights or so, me getting up and taking him outside to toilet.

I had pup in his crate in my room so that he did not feel the immediate "isolation" they commonly (and understandably) feel when they first leave their litter mates and arrive home to a new and unfamiliar environment.

In fact, pup (now young dog) still sleeps in my room ..... but I've weaned him from needing the crate and he now sleeps the night through on his cushion on the floor.

[sydking]

seeing as create training is to toilet train,

during they day or even at night if she poos somewhere ive heard i just pick the poop up and place it on a pile of newspaper in the location i want her to poop. Then every time she poops i take her to the new papers and she will eventually lean were to poop.

[Legacee]

Try to feed your pup when you are home and are able to let him out.. Biggest mistake made when crate training is being fed at night and let out only the once before being put to bed to sleep.. I feed main meal in morning as Im home to let pup/s out to toilet all day and a small meal early in the night so pup/s dont go to bed with too full a stomach.. Morning comes around and everything is still clean. Also let out of crate at different times, dont set too much of a routine especially in the morning. If you vary times then he wont get too used to be letting out when you are not ready to le thim out.

[seashell]

Just wanted to drop by and say a big thank you to everyone who has replied this thread! Crating overnight has been going well with Toffee, even from the first day he did not whine much at all! Also he is now sleeping through until about 5 or 6am before he needs to pee which is quite good, and after that he will go back into the crate and sleep until we wake up. He does whine a bit if I crate him during the day, esp if he would rather play but i only ever crate him for 10-15 mins at a time during the day usually for toilet training reasons. I think ScrappyDoo's suggestion of varying it up a bit is a great idea, I'll try to do that. Because normally first thing when I wake i take him out to pee, but this morning he wasn't whining when i woke so I brushed my teeth etc first and he did whine a little because he expected me to take him out first.

Anyway again thanks to you all!

[Kelpie_Pup]

Well done Sounds like you have it all worked out!

[Erny]

seeing as create training is to toilet train,

during they day or even at night if she poos somewhere ive heard i just pick the poop up and place it on a pile of newspaper in the location i want her to poop. Then every time she poops i take her to the new papers and she will eventually lean were to poop.

Sydking .... is there a reason why you want her to learn to toilet on newspaper? I mean, do your living arrangements (eg. flat/unit) dictate that your pup does not have access to a yard area? If she does, why teach her it's ok to soil inside on a newspaper only to then later have to train her out of soiling inside on a newspaper?

I'm not a fan of that 'intermediatary' step, unless there's a really good reason for it.

Oh .... and it is "crate", not "create".

And crate training is only an aid to toilet training. You still need to toilet train, which means getting up and taking your pup out for a toilet break frequently. Every two hours is what I recommend in the first couple of days, gradually extending that in half hour increments until puppy is more able to hold on.

[sydking]

seeing as create training is to toilet train,

during they day or even at night if she poos somewhere ive heard i just pick the poop up and place it on a pile of newspaper in the location i want her to poop. Then every time she poops i take her to the new papers and she will eventually lean were to poop.

Sydking .... is there a reason why you want her to learn to toilet on newspaper? I mean, do your living arrangements (eg. flat/unit) dictate that your pup does not have access to a yard area? If she does, why teach her it's ok to soil inside on a newspaper only to then later have to train her out of soiling inside on a newspaper?

I'm not a fan of that 'intermediatary' step, unless there's a really good reason for it.

Oh .... and it is "crate", not "create".

And crate training is only an aid to toilet training. You still need to toilet train, which means getting up and taking your pup out for a toilet break frequently. Every two hours is what I recommend in the first couple of days, gradually extending that in half hour increments until puppy is more able to hold on.

the newspaper is not and inside thing, when i will be taking her out side every so often i will direct her to the newspaper.

Since i have quite a big back yard by her pooping on the newspaper area it will save me walking all around the yard picking up poop when i can just clean the one designated area.

i will be crate training at night in my room in a milk crate and i have a door form my room directly to the front which will make things alot easier.