Many people think that simply buying a crate will be enough to keep their pet secure and contained. Unfortunately this is not always the case, a dog that hasn’t been crate trained sees being crated as either a game or something they have to break out of at all costs.
The clever ones will learn how to exploit the crate’s weaknesses, the rest will simply use brute force to attempt to break out and permanently destroy it. We’ll take a look at some examples of how they do this and how to keep your dog from escaping their crate.
If you are simply looking for a new robust crate to contain your pet, see our article on heavy duty dog crates. (more…)
Having a dog is like having a new member of the family, but just like with a toddler, your pet can get up to mischief without some good crate training basics to teach them to understanding your boundaries.
Or maybe your dog will not react well to guests (or maybe is too friendly with and demanding attention from guests), or vice versa – maybe your guests are fearful or uncomfortable around dogs, so you need somewhere to keep her and your guests safe from disturbing each other.
First things first, you need to learn some dog crate training basics to introduce your dog to her crate and get her to start entering it and feeling comfortable with the door closed.
A crate enables you to house train your dog, reducing stress and anxiety for your family, your guests and your pet. They also come in handy for keeping your pet safe and secure while transporting him or her from one place to another. Let’s look at some basics in dog crate training to get your pet to accept and start using their crate.
While it may be relatively easy to housebreak young pups with a crate, and teach them how to behave properly, so that they become well-adjusted adult dogs, crate training an adult dog may not be so easy for new owners of a fully grown dog that hasn’t been crate trained.
There is the saying that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” And this simply stems from the fact that like with us humans, we can be easily trained to behave in a certain fashion when we are toddlers, but as teenagers or adults, not so likely. However, that does not mean that it is impossible, just that it may be more tricky, and may require more patience.
Just like having a daily routine helps with raising children and teaching them organizational skills and discipline to prepare them for adult life, puppies and untrained older dogs too can benefit a lot from having a puppy crate training schedule. Having one helps you to quickly teach your pet how you expect him/her to behave, and it helps you to get him/her used to using their crate at certain times of the day.
One of the first things a puppy needs to learn is to become aware of her ability to control her bladder and bowel. With good training she will quickly learn this, as she soon realizes that she finds it disgusting to be trapped in the crate with her own mess. She will also learn that you will soon come to let her out, because you have learned how frequently she needs to go, and have become responsive to that need.
All she needs to do is learn bladder and bowel control. So let’s look at how you can quickly gain the benefits of housebreaking a pet with the aid of a dog crate.
Leaving your puppy in his or her crate at night can feel similar to putting up with the behavior of babies at night. Specifically, your pup wants attention and will keep crying, whining or barking until you come. In this article we have some tips for crate training puppies at night.
While you might be tired and ready to sleep through the night, your puppy may not be, instead he may whine, bark and make attempts to get out of his crate. We will explore the various issues that cause this, and what to do to prepare and encourage your puppy to sleep peacefully in his crate at night, so you and your pup no longer find night time a troubling, traumatic, and restless experience.
