Hi, I want to use a dog crate just to house train my puppy. Once it’s trained and integrated into the family I’m planing on removing the crate and replacing with a bed. Main reason is space needed for a cage to fit a fully grown Labrador. Is this ok, or will it cause confusion/ anxiety to the dog?
It won’t “create” anything but piss&**** & a torn/chewed up house.
When you’ve lived w/the crate for a *YEAR*,you won’t notice.
Excellent advice by Fallen Angel there.
Remember this very important thing though. When you take your puppy outside, praise it as it is going to toilet so that it makes the connection.
NEVER praise it as it is coming back into the house, this is confusing for the dog and does not distinguish properly between outside and in.
hi,
Some people worry that crate confinement is cruel, but if you do it right, your dog won’t see it that way at all. His crate can be a cozy den where he retreats from household chaos or just relaxes. And once he’s housetrained, your dog will have the run of the house as well as a nice little den of his own–just leave the door open for him.
here are some guidelines:http://www.mediumurl.com/?r=340458135218…
hope this helps.
I wouldn’t be the first one to do things in this way. We thought we’d never get our two German Shepherds into crates, but they absolutely love their crates now and think of them as their safehaven and den for sleeping. Yes, it works well to house train them, we’ve done this very successfully, but changing the ‘dog rules’ (as we call it) will confuse your dog and breaks the rules you have set out for your dog. Your dog will learn you are its leader by you using consistent patterns in EVERYTHING. This is what all dogs what: a good, kind, strong leader with good ‘pack rules’ who it can look up to and trust with everything. If you have a dog, YOU are its leader and have to be consistent.
I must say, that anything at all you ever want to know about dogs, here’s where you must go: Leerburg.com. Ed and Cindy run Leerburg Kennels in the USA, and they always answer emails if you have a question like this to ask. I’d ask them and see what they say, honestly, they will know if its the right thing to do or not.
Please read these eBooks – you’ll never know how much you can learn from this. I love reading Ed’s articles because they are so accurate and true.
Links:
http://leerburg.com/housetrainingproblems.htm
http://leerburg.com/ebooks/puppygroundwork.pdf
http://leerburg.com/pdf/packstructure.pdf
Good luck, and please take the time to read these links, you will really want to, they are so very true – as we’ve found out from our two german shepherds (ps. we are following their obedience training methods too which we have learned from their well-worth-it DVDs, you don’t ever need to go to obedience schools again… honestly… it works great – consistency and patience pays of )
(Oh, I meant to say that both our german shepherds are crate trained, toilet trained,and both sleep in their crates at night in our house without making a sound at night, except if they run out of water in their dish or something like that! We’re just about to get the next size crates for them – XXL crates! – alot of space, yes! )
Rachel
Hello,
Definitely yes because crate training is the easiest way to house train dogs. Crates also help dogs prevent boredom and separation anxiety. Here are the training tips:http://tinyurl.com/6louu3
ok its good u want to house train ur dog but i don’t think its a good idea to crate train it cuz it would make it become more aggressive towards anyone in the family or friends even if ur using a cage
Yes, that’s what many people do.
You maybe could still keep the crate for when you are gone so the puppy can’t get into things.
This is a good way to train your dog.I have used the same system myself, pretty sucessfully.
Perfectly fine! A lot of people do this.
Housetraining is the process of teaching a puppy where to go to the bathroom. Puppies have a natural instinct to not soil their bed or den, and one of the things you will be teaching your pup is to consider your entire house to be a “den”.
At the same time, puppies are developing their control over their bodies. When they are very young, they often have very little awareness of their needs and very little control, so they literally must mature some before they can learn to “hold it” and get to the right place.
If they’re not sure what’s “den” and what’s “toilet”, and they have little control over their bladder and bowels, how do you teach them? The secret is establish a history of going to the bathroom in the right place and getting rewarded for it, and at the same time preventing any “accidents” from happening.
It’s important to know when your puppy will have to go to the bathroom. Puppies also usually must use the bathroom:
right after waking up
after a few moments of excited play
after eating
after drinking
a few hours after the last time. As a general rule of thumb, a puppy can go one hour for month-of-age plus one. In other words, a two-month-old puppy can hold his bladder and bowels for 3 hours, a three-month-old for 4 hours, a five-month-old for 6 hours. Many puppies cannot be fully housebroken before they are 6 months old. By that age, they can “hold it” for up to 7 hours.
So here’s the secret: Always keep your puppy in an area where it’s OK for him to “go”. Never leave him where he’s not allowed to go. This way he can never make a mistake.
In the real world, that means that the puppy stays in your kitchen (or other parts of the house without carpeting) with newspapers all over the floor. Use doors or baby gates to keep your puppy off of carpeted areas.
You can keep him confined in a crate, pen or other sort of “bed” area where his instincts will keep him from peeing. But remember they can only “hold it” a certain amount of time (see the rule of thumb above), so be sure to let him out frequently to go to the bathroom. (For a guide to crate training, click here.)
As often as you can – every half-hour is best for a young puppy, at least every hour – take him outside to the area where you want him to go. Take him on leash if you need to. Wait patiently 10-15 minutes out there; be calm and uninteresting so the puppy becomes more interested in sniffing than in playing with you. If the puppy goes to the bathroom, praise him, and maybe even give him a small tasty treat. Now you can play with him gleefully (if time allows), and then let him join the rest of the family “pack” on the carpets for some further playtime or exploring until the next potty time.
If he doesn’t go to the bathroom in the right place, take him back to his crate or bed area or to the newspaper-covered “safe” area, and try again in another 30-60 minutes.
This way you can establish a history of the puppy going to the bathroom in the right place and getting rewarded, while avoiding the possibility of his making a mistake and going in the wrong place. The puppy will learn that it’s really worth his while to pee outside, and that inside, on the carpets, is the place for fun and games, and he can only access it if he’s “empty”. (See also “House-proofing Your Puppy “).
Immediately after your puppy has peed and pooped, you can usually consider him “empty” and therefore “safe” to leave on your carpet – until you encounter one of the conditions listed above. If your puppy has not yet emptied his bladder somewhere, do not leave him unsupervised on your carpet! Only leave him in a crate or bed where his natural instincts not to soil his bed will make him hold it, or some place where it’s OK if he goes (like on a newspaper-covered floor or outside), or you must be watching him closely. “Watching him closely” means he doesn’t have a chance to go when you’re not looking.
What if he makes a mistake? If you follow these rules, you won’t discover a nasty wet spot or a smelly surprise. You’ll catch him in the act. If you see him sniffing or squatting, try to interrupt (not scold) him by saying “Ah, ah!”. Pick him up (if possible!) and immediately take him outside. Put him down, and watch him. As soon as he goes outside, praise him. Never scold or punish your pup for going to the bathroom in the wrong place. He won’t get it. They don’t understand pointing, they often don’t understand “no”, and they won’t remember the action of peeing if they’re not in the middle of doing it. He’ll only learn it’s not safe to go to the bathroom in front of you, or to be near you when you’re near “the toilet”. “Rubbing his nose in it” will only teach him to avoid you.
Clean up any accidents with an enzyme cleaner like “Nature’s Miracle”, available in any pet store. Also, be sure not to give your puppy too many salty treats (such as rawhide) – the extra salt will make the puppy drink more water, which of course will lead to more needs to pee! (Occasional rawhides are okay, as long as your puppy chews them safely. You might be better off with a stuffed Kong, instead, though!)
It’s important to start dog training as early as possible, so your puppy can learn good manners now before he has the chance to develop bad habits. See the Classes page for the next Wag’N’Train Puppy Kindergarten class, or click here to find a good trainer near you. http://www.wagntrain.com/Housetraining.h…