Crate training dog / puppy ?

Howitzer

Hi there,

Does anyone here recommend crate training their dog?

What are your experiences of it?

http://www.ehow.com/about_4709446_dog-crate-training.html
How old is this technique?
Start straight away as soon as?

Or is it a load of hassle involving an unsightly crate taking up space in your house?

Any experiences appreciated on this.

Whispered

I think crate training is a great idea, but you have to do it properly so that the dog only thinks good things of it.

How old the dog is will have some effect on how you do it. Never leave a young pup locked in for hours, or overnight. They need to go to the toilet regularly.

Start off by putting the crate up, put water beside it and the dogs usual bed beside it. When feeding the dog, put the bowl just inside the crate so he can eat with his head in and body out.

After a day or so he should be comfortable enough to go all the way in, with the door open. Everytime your dog goes in use a command like "bed". Another way to get him in is to play games, throw food around saying "fetch" under the table, into the crate, across the floor, it becomes another play area really.

After a night or 2, put your dogs usual blanket into the crate, and leave another, thinner and less comfortable one out for him to choose. If he's anything like mine, comfort will win out and he might sleep in the crate, with the door open.

The next step, would be to put your dog into bed, and give him a treat, something chewy that will take a few mins to eat. Close the door behind him and stay in the room, hopefully the pup will be so preoccupied with his treat, he wont notice the door has been closed. It is important that if the dog seems stressed, let him out, with no fuss, and go back to the beginning.

While the dog is in the crate, act as if he is invisible. When he is used to the crate this will help prevent crying for attention as he will know that you will just ignore him (never ignore the dog if you think he needs anything).

Once the dog is comfortable in the crate for you to put him in with his treat (try keep one specific as his crate treat) and potter around the room, now is the time to leave the room for a few minutes, make sure the dog is occupied and step outside for a few minutes.

Lenghten the time by a few minutes, and never make a fuss of the dog when you come back in. Also, don't let him out of the crate immediately on your return. Give him a min or two. You may get some crying, but ignore it unless the dog is distressed.

So once you can do this, it's time to tackle nighttime. Make sure the dog has gone to the toilet, is very tired and not hungry. Put him in with a small bowl of water. Close the door and go to bed. If you are happy that the dog is ok in the crate during the day, then it's your call as to whether to get up to him during the night if he cries (unless he needs the toilet, in which case you have to get up). I got up with mine until I snapped one night and thought "he'll be ok". He stopped after 5 mins and never did it again.

My fella got too big for his crate, and we havn't bought a new one. We took it down and he has his corner set up. I put the crate up recently for a visiting dog. I had not got the base or anything in, and harley climbed in for a snooze. Made me feel guilty for not getting him a new one

EDIT: It sounds like a lot, but I have it broken down, it should take maybe 2 weeks MAX to crate train a puppy. (again, making sure he has plenty of opportunity to get out for the toilet)