Crate Training Your Puppy

Crate training your puppy can be very beneficial to you and your puppy. Many people mistake the crate as being a place to punish the puppy, when actually this is the safest spot for the puppy to go once the puppy gets used to it.

If you have a crate and leave it open, your puppy will start to go to it when he gets sleepy or when he gets confused. Although puppies tend to like crates, you shouldn't overuse one by allowing him to spend hours at a time inside of one.

Once you puppy gets used to being in the crate at any given time, you can leave him in there for a couple of hours at a time. One example would be if you were not home, you could keep your puppy in the crate, which will also aid in the puppy not destroying the house.

So if you are planning on buying or getting a puppy, you should have already invested in a crate. This is to assure that the puppy knows exactly where it is when you first introduce the puppy into your home. The best places to place your crate are anywhere there is not heavy traffic, such as right in front of a bathroom.

Now that you have the puppy home for the first time you should have the door to the crate open. You want the puppy to familiarize himself with the crate as soon as possible, it can also help to put puppy toys or even a dog treat to lure the puppy inside. Make sure you reward the puppy when it enters the crate for the first time.

Before you know it your puppy will start to go into the crate on their own, this is a sign that they have a great amount of trust for the crate. When this happens you should praise the puppy and reward it as it is almost completely crate trained.

After a while, you can shut the door and see how he reacts. If he starts to whine, you can talk to him and put your fingers through the door, although you should never immediately take him out - instead wait for him to settle down.

When your puppy is fully crate trained there are many uses for the crate. If you are planning on having family or guests over, or if you plan on leaving the house for a couple of hours you can put the puppy in the crate. If the puppy is fully crate trained he will not have a problem laying around in the crate until you open the door.

Crate Training Your Puppy By John Rolly

About the Author:

John Rolly has been training dogs for over 15 years. If you would like some more information on the how to potty train puppies, you can visit the authors site, easiest way to potty train a puppy.

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