When training your puppy to learn various behaviors, a very effective and easy way to do so is with crate training. When used in a correct, safe manner, crate training will not harm your puppy at all, despite the fact that dog owners are at odds about whether this method of training is humane or not.
But there are certain things you must do to make sure you crate train your puppy properly. Disaster or even puppy abuse could occur if you don’t follow these steps.
Getting your puppy acquainted with the crate is the first step. Your puppy may be afraid of it initially and see it as threatening. You have to teach your puppy that there is no reason to be afraid of the crate by desensitizing them to it. After you bring a new crate into the house, leave it somewhere that the puppy can access and investigate it on their own. Forcing your puppy to immediately start crate training is unacceptable. You have to let the pup find out they have no reason to fear the crate. Always praise your puppy when it goes in the crate on its own, and even encourage that behavior by placing a couple of treats inside of it. When the dog enters, do not make any effort to close the door! You should allow a few days of independent exploration prior to attempting to close the crate with them inside of it.
When you see that your puppy isn’t afraid of the crate and regularly entering it on their own accord, you can begin to close the door. After your puppy enters the crate by themselves, close the door slowly. Just reach over, close the door, and walk away; don’t make a production out of it. The odds are that the puppy will cry and whine, hoping to be let free. Your puppy will associate whining with being let out of the crate if you let them out before it calms down, so make sure it stops before letting it out. After the puppy is calm, go over and open the crate door. In order to associate staying quiet in the crate with good behavior, give your puppy lots of praise for being so good.
You will need to keep doing this for a day or two so that your puppy can become acclimated to the crate. You can ease this process by placing some toys into the crate so that they have something to entertain them. This can also help the amount of time spent whining, since the toys will be a distraction from boredom. Once the puppy is accustomed to spending time inside of the crate with the door closed, you can teach the puppy to go into the crate when you ask them to.
Remember to use the container as a positive situation when you crate train your puppy. Do not use the crate as a form of punishment, as you want them to see the crate as a positive thng. Leaving your puppy in the crate for long amounts of time is something that should never be done. This is not viewed as responsible pet ownership since it is a form of abuse.
