Basic Dog Obedience Device — the Crate

by William Preston

Ah, house training your dog. Don’t you just love the idea? If you’ve ever had to go through this experience, then you know how challenging it can be. If you’ve never done it before, I’ve got great news. By learning some basic essential knowledge, you’ll soon discover that it doesn’t have to be as difficult or challenging as you were initially expecting.

Crate Training

As far as house training goes, crate training is generally accepted to be the most effective and efficient means of house training a puppy in a short space of time. Crate training is essentially the use of a small indoor kennel (the crate) to confine your young puppy when you’re not actively supervising her.

The whole premise behind this method of crate training is that all dogs have an inbuilt dislike of going to the bathroom in an area where they normally sleep. Therefore, because she’s spending most of her time in her “sleeping quarters”, she will naturally wait until put outside before relieving herself (assuming that you let her out at reasonable intervals).

How to Choose a Crate

As a general guideline, it’s more cost-effective for you to choose a crate that’s big enough for her to grow into. It should be big enough for the adult dog to stand up comfortably without crouching, turn around in, and stretch out – but no bigger (so that she doesn’t choose one part as her bed, and one part as her toilet!)

Because the adult dog is likely to be considerably larger than the puppy, it’ll most likely be necessary for you to use a barrier to reduce the internal size of the crate. A wire grille or board will do just fine. Alternatively, you can use a cheap crate (or even make one yourself) and replace it with a larger model as your puppy grows.

Consistency is Key With Crate Training

The process of crate training is actually more difficult for the new owner than it is for the new puppy. You will be required to keep the puppy in her crate at all times, literally, except for the times when she will be placed outside to go to the bathroom (and taken for walks), eating, and having supervised playtime with you inside the house. This may seem like cruel and unusual punishment, but it isn’t. It is actually crucial to the well-being of puppy as she continues to grow to become an integral part of your family. Be consistent this, and don’t give in.

Puppies Have Different Tolerances

The maximum amount of time that a puppy can be crated at one time is figured out using the following equation: her age in months, plus one. So, a three-month old puppy can be crated for a maximum of four hours. However, this is likely to be physically pretty uncomfortable for her (not to mention hard on her emotionally and psychologically: it’s tough being cramped up with nothing to do), so you should really take her out at least once every two hours during the day. If she’s sleeping, of course, just let her sleep until she wakes up naturally.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, crate training is one of the most effective methods of house training a puppy. But it doesn’t happen overnight, and it needs you to be consistent. The whole process can take anywhere from one to two months, but in the long run, this will be considered one of the best time investments you will have ever made in the life of your pet.