Crate Training for most dog owners can be a difficult concept to grasp, due to the fact that they simply just don’t understand the importance of crate training, and the positive impact that it will have on your puppy, or adult dogs long term behaviour.
From a dog trainer’s perspective, crate training is one of the most important and useful things that you can teach a dog.
“Once a dog is crate trained, yours and your dogs quality of life will be improved significantly”
Some of the key advantages of crate training your dogs are;
- It provides a relaxing and safe place for your dog to rest.
- It provides an effective way to prevent your puppies / adult dogs from getting up to mischief or endangering themselves when not in direct supervision.
- They play a significant role in assisting with the toilet training of your Puppies / Adult dogs, as they generally don’t soil in their beds.
- Allows safe car travel, and increases greater opportunities for your dog to participate in more activities such as, day trips, holidays, training sessions etc.
So rather than your dog seeing their crate as a undesirable restriction, once appropriately prepared, they will see it as stress free and a place of relaxation in the same way a dog in the wild would see their den.
The first goal of crate training is to build a positive association with the crate, we will generally recommend leaving the door open and placing your dogs bedding inside, begin feeding your dog in the crate, giving them bones or chew toys for example, to establish that positive experience with the crate.
As with all training programs, the amount of time to achieve calm & relaxed behaviour will vary between individual dogs, and the past experience’s they have had prior to the training.
Once your dog is comfortable being in the crate, we can then start to increase the time spent in there with the door closed.
It is so important that we never use the crate as a punishment, and always facilitate calm & relaxed behaviour whilst inside.
We offer a range of different training programs & options, that will teach you how to prepare & effectively crate train your puppies & adult dogs from start to finish including such things as,
- How to select the most appropriate crate for my puppy / adult dog?
- How to prepare your puppy / adult dog for crate training?
- What to do if your puppy / adult dog Barks & Whines in the Crate?
- How long do I leave them in the crate for?
- Do’s & Don’ts of when crate training your puppy / adult dog.
So if you need any further information regarding crate training & would like to enrol in one of our programs, we would love to hear from you.
By Paul Andryc
JUN
About the Author:
The Head Trainer at Excel Dog Training Australia, is always happy to speak with clients about dog training and obedience issues their dog may have. Offering a wealth of knowledge Paul Andryc has been involved with dogs for over 15 years.