Beginning Puppy Crate Training

When starting the process of puppy crate training you have to remember that your puppy would love to do nothing more in the world than please it’s owner, “YOU”.You should take the correct steps in the proper order to help your puppies realize what you want them to do (not use your floor as a bathroom!!!!). You should not expect your puppy to know what you want it to do when you just take it outside of the house.

If you teach yourself the proper training techniques, then your puppy probably will learn more in a smaller time frame than you think. Waiting unitl your puppy relieves itself on your floor and then rubbing the nose in it, is not what I mean. Unless you catch your puppies in the act of using the bathroom in the house, you can’t correct it because it’s too late.   Pups don’t have the mental capacity to realize what you are scolding them for that happened in the past, and you wind up confusing them. If you do not see them while they are doing it a punishment just does not have the proper effect.

Selecting A Crate

The first thing you want to do in puppy crate training is select the proper size crate. The crates should be a sizer where your pup can just stand up, turn around, and lye down in comfortably. You might wonder if your puppy needs more space to stretch out so it doesn’t feel so enclosed. Off you go again, not thinking like a dog! It is ok, it’s normal that we think that way, but your pup does not.

Bear in mind how they do not prefer to go to the bathroom in their den??? If you allow your puppy to have too much room, than it could just use one side for a bathroom and one side for sleeping.  Most of the commercially available puppy crates are sufficient for puppy crate training. I like the plain tan crates (color shouldn’t matter, people just know which ones I am referring to with this reference) with the mesh doors that have a lock on them. Keeping pet hair and dirt on the inside is another awesome feature of these types of crates. If you buy a crate that has a divider in it that will allow you to adjust the size, it will save you money by not having to keep purchasing new crate every time your puppy grows.