Crate Training

Should I crate train my puppy?

I am a big fan of crate training (training being the key word!). Some of the benefits of crate training a puppy (or an adult dog) are:

• It helps with errorless toilet training – for those short periods when you cannot watch your puppy, having them content and resting in the crate really helps.

• It gives your puppy a portable "safe place" you can take anywhere: try staying with a teething puppy in a hotel room, in a tent, or at the in-laws (where every piece of furniture is antique or has sentimental value).

• Getting your puppy or dog used to the crate means that if they ever have to stay at the vets, they will be less stressed, as they'll be resting in a kennel there.

• If your dog has to be on rest following an operation or veterinary procedure, it makes their life – and yours – a lot less stressful.

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So what is crate training?

Crate training is gradually getting your puppy (or dog) used to spending more time in the crate by creating positive associations with it. You work at your puppy's pace, not yours, so some will take longer than others.

Crate training is not shutting your puppy in a crate and letting them "cry it out" – if your puppy is unhappy in the crate, you're moving too fast.

Why it's worth doing early: a real-life example

Here's the thing about crate training – you're not really doing it for now. You're doing it for the day years down the line when you'll be so glad you did.

My Heart dog Monty is nine and a half now, and he hadn't set foot in a crate for about eight of those years. No need to. Then, out of nowhere, he had to have an operation, and the vet wanted him on strict crate rest while he recovered.

And this is what happened. He walked in, settled down, and was absolutely fine – all because of the crate training we'd done when he was a puppy, the better part of a decade earlier. It went in, and it stayed in.

That's what early crate training buys you. Not a dog who tolerates the crate today, but a dog who, when life throws a surgery or an emergency at you, has one less thing to be frightened of.

If you need help with crate training, or any other training or behaviour issue, please get in touch: info@dogsbedogs.co.uk