Crate training is known to be the most efficient method for puppy house training. Puppy crate training certainly involves a crate. A crate basically looks like a cage, and is used to temporarily restrict your puppy’s movement to a specific area when you’re unable to keep an eye on her. Your puppy should remain in her crate all the time, unless she’s eating, playing, or when you are taking her for a potty break outside.
The crate is like your puppy’s den, a place where your puppy feels safe and at ease; it’s her private place where she comfortably sleeps, takes naps, or idles her time away. Because it’s a dog’s natural instinct not to soil her sleeping area, your puppy won’t want to dirty her own resting place, so she is likely to hold her poop and pee until she’s out of her crate.
Selecting a crate
It is necessary to select the right size of crate for your puppy. If the crate is oversized, it gives your puppy space to sleep at one corner, and do her business at the other corner. This actually destruct the primary objective of puppy crate training, and certainly will impede the house training process for a few weeks!
When picking a crate, ensure that the crate is big enough for your puppy to stand up, lie down and turn around without problem. Don’t worry, though, as you don’t have to keep getting new crates to fit the size of your growing puppy. If you can buy just only one crate and use it until even your puppy gets bigger, you’ll save a lot of money in the long term.
Get a big wire crate fit for an adult dog, then use dividers to block away unneeded space to make the crate seems smaller for your puppy. You can use boards or wire grilles as dividers. As and when your puppy requires a larger area to move around as she grows, you can remove the dividers to give more space to her. If you prefer to build the crate yourself, that’s a good idea, too. You can later replace it with a larger model when your puppy gets bigger.
Making the crate welcoming
You can make the crate a welcoming and inviting place for your puppy to go. You may lay a layer of thick blankets in the crate, and also place inside a chew or some toys for your puppy. The crate entrance should be invitingly open at all times, but should be securely closed when your puppy is inside.
Remember: before your puppy is completely house trained, you wouldn’t want her to move around in the house freely to avoid accidents. If you let her to move around in every corner of the house before she’s completely house trained, you’re actually encouraging her to eliminate wherever she likes. And every time she does this, it’ll be easier for her to do it again.
Placing the crate
During crate training, you would want to keep your puppy’s crate close you. The best spot to place the crate is the center of family activity, usually the kitchen or the living area. Keeping your crate puppy close to you not only makes your puppy house breaking process easier, since you can keep a close watch on your puppy’s movement, but also helps build the bond between you and your puppy. Your puppy needs to feel that she’s a part of the family now, and that she’s not isolated from everyone.
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