How to crate train a puppy

[spenne]

Hi

My family and I have given a home to a new puppy (2 days ago) and we are crate training him at the moment and I wanted to know if anyone has any advice on this.

He does cry and yelp through the night and the current stuff I am reading on the web says you have to ignore this until he settles. I just wanted to know really if I am doing it the right way.

I have a crate (with the door open) that sits inside a pen at night so that the pup can get a drink and go toilet on some puppy pads as well as get inside the crate with his blankets and toys.

I am leaving a lamp on, and leaving a radio playing quietly in the hope this settles him but am now thinking these 2 ideas may not be right as he may think people are in the room somewhere and this my not help him settle as quickly as he could.

Should I just leave him in a dark quiet room inside his pen?

Can anyone give me any advice on there setup and how quickly there dog settled into the routine.

He is a 2 month old, Flat Coat Retriever in case you needed to know.

 

[JoanneF]

Being separated from his mum and littermates is really traumatic so he will get upset at being separated from you too. Your role is to become his carer and source of comfort now! First, the crate needs to be the best place ever for a dog to be. So great treats, toys, happy voices and heaps of encouragement in the crate. Let him go in for super tasty things (chicken?) but don't shut the door. His bed should be in there too. Some pups like soft toys, and a tee shirt you have worn so with your smell might help too. Only when he realises the crate is a great place should you close the door or the pen. You should start to get him used to being alone though, so once he is going into his crate happily, leave the room for a few minutes (2, 5, 10) and build up slowly.

At night, it's a good idea to have his crate in your room to start with so he knows you are close by. You can put a hand down to stroke and comfort him if he gets distressed. Please don't ignore him, you wouldn't ignore a crying child and leave him in an empty room. Comforting him when he is distressed is fine and will strengthen your bond. Gradually you can start moving the crate away to outside the bedroom door, near the room you want him to sleep in, and eventually into that room. With puppies learning, everything is done in little steps, and if anything starts to fail, you go back a step and stay there longer. I don't like to sleep with a radio and light on, he may not too.

I don't like puppy pads. They send mixed messages about whether it's ok to toilet indoors. Instead set your alarm to get up during the night a couple of times to take him out. At his age his little bladder and bowel wont be big or strong enough to vo all night. Sorry! But it won't be for long and it is summertime (almost).

With toileting, take him out and give huge praise and a high value reward when he toilets. Don't make him come to you for the treat, so he knows that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. If he has toileted indoors don't get annoyed in case he becomes anxious about toileting, you want him to tell you he needs out, not to avoid you.

Please use reward based training. Dogs learn more quickly when a good behahiour is rewarded. A good puppy class should help. Never punish bad behaviour because at any given time your dog (like us) iscdoing a lot of different things at once - listening, watching, smelling, walking, itching, scratching, weeing - so he cant isolate the one thing the punishment is for. Instead if the reward is for the good behaviour he will be able to identify it more easily because it's more consistent. Victoria Stilwell has some great tips at www.positively.com.

Sorry for the essay. There will be more advice from others, please do come back with any more questions, that's what we are here for!

 

[Raven oaktree]

Brilliant post from Joanne ..I agree with everything ..please don't leave your puppy distressed , they are away from mum, siblings , in a new home with strange people new smells etc etc. Poor little popper needs comfort and love . Place the crate by your bed and get up to take him to the loo. If your toilet training the dog but ignoring the signs they want to go out in the night it will give him mixed messages. Ignoring him won't make him settle and wait to go to the loo , because he won't be able to hold it that long , he is just a baby. Everytime ge tells you he wants to go out and you respond you are reinforcing that us good so he will learn quicker. Ive always had my dogs in the bedroom with me to begin with then slowly moved them.further away . It will be tiring and hard work to begin with , but if you get it right now it will make the next 15years easier..whats a few months in the space of a dogs life time ? .

I also wouldn't leave the light or radio on at night teach the dog that dark and quiet is for sleepy time.. they will 've fine in a crate beside your bed and they will bond with you and learn if they are afraid , or lonely you will be there to comfort and protect them . It doesn't make a clingy dog, it makes a confident dog.

 

[JoanneF]

Thanks Raven - Gypsysmum deserves the credit though, a lot of the words are based on her posts.

Edited to add - original poster, if you read anything on the web about dominance based training theories, please be aware they are widely disapproved and training techniques have moved on massively. Victoria Stilwell mentioned above is a great starting point.

 

[excuseme]

Fantastic post by Joanne.

I would like to add though that a blanket to cover the crate that would make it "den like" inside and a private place can also help.

A crate should be a "happy" and secure place for a young puppy (or any dog). Try feeding in the crate too!

Enjoy your puppy. :flowers:

 

[carriescanines]

crate games are a fab way to get them used to their crate - check out Susan Garratts crate games on You Tube. i used them for my pup

agree with the above points too