Ugly but functional
Crate Training; Your dog will actually love it.
Ask new dog owners about crate training their new puppy and the vast majority will think it is either ineffective, inhumane, or both. These notions could not be further from reality. If introduced properly to a crate, dogs will LOVE their crate, forever. At first thought, us humans associate the crate with being locked up in a cell, a prisoner. Understandable. But isn’t sleeping in your bedroom overnight a pleasant experience? Where can you close your eyes, turn off your senses and feel safe? As a bedroom gives a human a sense of safety (you sleep there), your dog’s crate can give him that same sense. Of the many dogs we have had the pleasure of living with, a couple of situations come to mind. Our lab, Tule, is notorious for wanting to be in her crate. During countless camping outings she had the run of the range but would always be in her crate when around camp and not actively hanging with us. We now own a Chihuahua, all 3.9 lbs of her, named Gracie. Our dogs are allowed to roam around outside as we live far from the nearest paved road. We have to keep an eye on Gracie because she is so small. Her being outside is a concern because her size makes her a potential meal for many predators. More than a few times we have freaked about “where is Gracie?” Is she outside, unsupervised?? Did we leave the door open? The freak show ends when one of us finds her voluntarily hanging out in her crate!
Top Ten Reasons to crate train your dog.
· Excellent tool for house-breaking your dog
· Diminishes separation anxiety
· Can provide an outdoor shelter
· Reduces destruction/chewing of non-toy items
· Provides a “traveling bedroom” for your dog
· Keeps the dog in one place when traveling or for safety
· Good for when company comes over, for that ONE, non-dog-friendly person in your life
· Provides protection from other dogs and animals
· Good, stable environment for trauma aftermath/recovery
· Your dog will LOVE it!
The Crate
We always liked the airline crates; you know, the ugly plastic ones with the wire doors. Plenty of ventilation and can easily provide shelter from moderately adverse weather. And they do break down into half the size with just a few screws. Size is important. It must be big enough. The dog must be able to stand up fully inside and be able to easily turn around in it. The door must be easy to open and close, with a latch from the outside. Another nice thing about the airline crate is you can put it together without the door being installed on it. More on that below.
Introducing the dog to the crate.
If you are training a puppy your job is going to be very easy. Keep the crate in the common living space pretty much where you want the dog to live. For now the crate will be without a door, or with the door secured wide OPEN. You will not be using the door for a while. This is not an exercise of forcing the dog into the crate and slamming the door. This is an exercise of getting the dog to like the crate. Feed the dog in the crate. Put treats in the far end of the crate. Put his toys in the crate. Put stuff in the crate that has a lot of your scent on it. This will give the dog a sense of security because you are his pack leader and your scent is calming to him. At obvious times he enters the crate, give a command you will want to give him when you want him to go in his crate. A command like, “kennel”. Since we trained our Shepard commands in german, we used the german word for dog house, “HundHut”, for Tule’s crate command. People still ask us “what the hell are you saying?” Also, once the command becomes fluent with your dog, you can command her into any crate, or dog house.
After a time, a few days to a week (some dogs will not require as long as others) it is time to introduce the door. This requires some patience. What you want to do is have the dog in the crate eating, sleeping, or doing something positive. Close the door without making a matter of it. Observe the dog. The perfect scenario would be if he sees the door is closed and then becomes distracted about something else. You want the dog to notice the door closed. You want the dog to think this is OK. You want to close him in for short spurts, maybe 5 minutes or so at a time. If he becomes uncomfortable with the door being closed you must wait until he is submissive (quiet, calm) before opening the door. This will be time when you give no eye contact. Do not stress about him. He is perfectly safe. He looks at you to sense his situation. You hear him whining, etc. You are not interested because he is safe. We learned this from our German Shepard female, Raven. We were training one of our pups to the crate and the pup whined, yipped, cried for a while. Raven was within 2 feet of the crate door, sleeping during the whole 10-minute whine-yip-fest. But when our pound pup, Fred, heard a car drive up and barked, Raven jumped up in full alert. Raven could read the pup whines as meaningless, but Fred’s alarm bark as very meaningful. The pup eventually passed the crate introduction and now loves the crate. You will probably have to endure some whining, but remember; train the dog that when he acts whiney, barky, yippy, the door does not open. The door only opens when he is calm. If you open the door after barky, whiney behavior, the dog has just trained you. And he will think that barky, whiney behavior opens the door. Lengthen the time with the door closed. It is important that the dog does not have to pee during this training period. So take the dog out often during this training period. These will also be the first steps to house breaking the dog, as it will not soil its crate UNLESS IT ABSOLUTELY HAS TO. After a few weeks your dog will become happy with the crate and treat it as his own little den.
IMPORTANT!
NEVER use the crate as a punishment.
NEVER use the crate in a boat unless the crate has proper flotation. Even then, using a crate in a boat is not really a great idea. Dog Life Jackets are a great idea.
Remember, there are many things in your dog’s life that are good for him in the long run that he may not really like in the short term. If you love him enough you will be able to get him through the short term learning issues that will enhance long-term happiness for both you and your pup.
Beach Puppy Seaside, Oregon Location
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