IS CRATE TRAINING CRUEL?
I often get asked this question… People are understandably worried about ‘caging’ their puppies. They don’t want their puppies to think they are being punished by being locked in a crate. They feel it is cruel.
HOWEVER, if you train a puppy in the right way (using positive reinforcement), they very quickly learn to love their crate without experiencing any distress during the training process. It becomes their cosy safe space to go to when they want some peace and quiet or simply to have a nap.
Old-fashioned outdated training methods dictated that you should simply put a puppy in a crate and leave them alone in there overnight (or in the daytime) regardless of whether they are crying, whimpering, howling or barking. ‘They need to get used to it’ was the mentality. Unfortunately many people still utilise the same methods today…
More recent studies have shown that if you allow a young puppy to experience these levels of distress, you have a much higher chance of them developing into a fearful dog for life.
Crate training a puppy using positive reinforcement and avoiding putting the puppy into their crate to experience any form of distress will set your puppy up for a happy future with their crate.
Using a crate as a training tool
The crate can become a fantastic training tool for you as a puppy owner! I regularly harp on about ‘environmental management’ when people have young dogs that are going through training. If you are continually putting your puppy in situations where they are destined to fail, you are simply strengthening unwanted behaviours and setting yourself up for frustration.
A few scenarios where being able to put a puppy in their crate is ideal:
- While you are preparing food in the kitchen and taking things in/out of the oven or dishwasher.
- While the family is sitting down at the dinner table for a meal.
- If you want to sit in front of the telly eating your dinner on your lap.
- If you need to be on a Zoom call.
- When you need to leave the puppy home alone in the house.
- When your puppy needs some nap time.
- If you have children that are wanting to play with things that the puppy will want (i.e. lego!).
- When you are going to bed.
- Whilst toilet training.
When puppies start teething around 15/16 weeks, their urge to chew drastically increases. Leaving a puppy unattended around the house during the teething process is a risky business!
If a puppy isn’t yet toilet trained, you are increasing the chances of accidents happening if the puppy is left to roam around the house unattended. Using a crate helps to establish a better toileting routine.
What should I do overnight?
Crating overnight is a biggie. When puppies are brought home for the first time, they have left everything that they have ever known; all familiarity. So when they arrive in their new home with their new humans, their stress levels are through the roof! To then put a puppy in their crate overnight, locking them in and leaving them on their own is simply too much. Of course they won’t cope!
Rather have their crate by your bed in your bedroom (even if it is only a temporary measure) so that they have the security of being close to their new humans while they settle in. The other option is to keep the crate downstairs but sleep next to the puppy on the sofa or a blow-up bed for the first few nights (or even weeks for some!) as is needed.
The golden rule is DO WHAT KEEPS YOUR PUPPY COMFORTABLE.
If you are struggling with crate training your puppy, we can help! Get in touch for some one to one training by e-mail:
