Crate Training a Puppy

I am planning on getting a new Labrador puppy soon and have some questions about crate training.

For some context my last dog we got at 5 months and we were in a different home. He was my first dog and we crated him in another room and just ignored his first few days of whining. Then he got comfortable to the point where during the day he would go to the crate himself and sleep if needed but I can't remember him really going there too often during the day when we were home. When he matured to adulthood he graduated to a dog bed in our bedroom and no crate at all since we could trust he wouldn't cause any damage or anything. Sadly he is gone now.

So my new home is two storey and during the day it is rare we are upstairs where the bedrooms are during the day where the first was a bungalow. So now that we are getting an 8 week old puppy I wanted some input.

1. Put the crate in the bedroom but then the dog won't really use it during the day when we are home. Is this ok? I imagine that when we are home he could just curl up anywhere and sleep? Honestly I can't recall what my old dog used to do during the day when home. If i had to guess (it was over 10 years ago) I would say he just hung out with us and slept on the floor next to us when tired.

2. Put it in a living room on the main floor which he can go to during the day and relax and sleep while we are not actively engaging with him.

everyone seems to have their own opinions but what we did was made sure he went in the crate from day one.
keeping a crate with all comfort items in it helped too.
it took a good week of protest but eventually he got used to it. i think the key is setting the tone and sticking to it.
now we never shut him in it but he'll sleep in it regularly. he's an older hound though. i hate puppies.

Mine had a crate in the bedroom and a bed in the main area, when I would go to work the crate moved to the same spot as his bed. I don't think its always a set rule, my dog was a huge pain so I had to find what worked. He hasn't needed a crate since he was a year.

The dogs crate is like a den to them. It should be a safe space for them.

With a young dog you should start out with a smaller crate. If they are in a large crate they will just mess in the corner of it, in a smaller crate they won't unless they really need to.

When we are crate training/house breaking a dog, the pup is left in the crate at all times unless under direct supervision. Whenever you take the pup out of the crate take it outside and wait for him to do his business before bringing him back in. This will create the type of habit that you want. Before long, when you open the kennel he should automatically start heading for the door. After you bring him in they can run around as long as they are supervised, unattended puppies get into trouble.

When you first start crate training do not rescue the pup when he is whining, it will only make things worse. You have to let them work this out on their own.

It also helps to have the crate in a room where people are and there is some activity, so they aren't just staring at an empty room all day. Studies have shown that large kennel operations set up in a horseshoe are best for dogs so they can see the other dogs and what is around them. Those kennels with 4ft concrete walls separating them are very bad for a dogs mental health.

Also every time you put the pup back in the crate say "crate" or "kennel" as they are entering the crate.

I agree with everything Jakezilla said above. If you can borrow a small crate for the first few months you will get much better results. I will just add every pup is a bit different. Some are much more independent and some more afraid of being alone. Our practice for the last few pups is to start the first few nights with the little crate right beside the bed. When the pup gets nervous you can just reach down and dangle your fingers in front of the door. Often this is enough to settle them. Also an 8 week old pup can't go 8 hours without a trip outside. It makes it much easier when they are close by to take them out a time or two. As they mature and gain confidence we move them (sometimes slowly) to wherever the long term location of the crate will be for the rest of their life. Good luck with the pup!

All good advice from Jakezilla. With our dogs (lab and beagle) we also gave them a small biscuit each time they were being crated, to reinforce the positive aspect of it. Didn't take long before the dogs would look forward to it. Never use the crate for punishment.

The lab came first and we started with a small crate in our bedroom as Jake described. Once the lab was crate trained and grew we eventually moved to a big crate to the basement. When the beagle pup came along we were able to go straight to the basement because the lab's crate was right alongside for company.

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Originally Posted by Jakezilla

The dogs crate is like a den to them. It should be a safe space for them.

With a young dog you should start out with a smaller crate. If they are in a large crate they will just mess in the corner of it, in a smaller crate they won't unless they really need to.

When we are crate training/house breaking a dog, the pup is left in the crate at all times unless under direct supervision. Whenever you take the pup out of the crate take it outside and wait for him to do his business before bringing him back in. This will create the type of habit that you want. Before long, when you open the kennel he should automatically start heading for the door. After you bring him in they can run around as long as they are supervised, unattended puppies get into trouble.

When you first start crate training do not rescue the pup when he is whining, it will only make things worse. You have to let them work this out on their own.

It also helps to have the crate in a room where people are and there is some activity, so they aren't just staring at an empty room all day. Studies have shown that large kennel operations set up in a horseshoe are best for dogs so they can see the other dogs and what is around them. Those kennels with 4ft concrete walls separating them are very bad for a dogs mental health.

Also every time you put the pup back in the crate say "crate" or "kennel" as they are entering the crate.

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This ^

Another thing to remember about puppies is that they are essentially a blank slate.

One of my mentors always hammers home "What they are doing is what they are learning, good or bad"

Puppies aren't born barking idiots. When you see a dog that just barks for the sake of barking, more than likely someone allowed him to become like that.

Work on shaping their behavior before they learn bad habits.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jakezilla

Another thing to remember about puppies is that they are essentially a blank slate.

One of my mentors always hammers home "What they are doing is what they are learning, good or bad"

Puppies aren't born barking idiots. When you see a dog that just barks for the sake of barking, more than likely someone allowed him to become like that.

Work on shaping their behavior before they learn bad habits.

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This is GREAT advice!
Time and effort is what it takes to mold a dog into what you expect.

I'm crate training a 6 month old Alapaha Blue Blood bulldog, had him since 10 weeks. My house is 2 storey and I keep his crate by the back door. Quick in n out when I do let him out in the morning/ night for a quick pee.

I am definitely leaning towards the crate being near the door to go out or living room and not the bedroom. With my last dog as I stated he was already 5 months old, now the new one will be 2 months old and I wasn't sure if I should start him in the bedroom.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jakezilla

The dogs crate is like a den to them. It should be a safe space for them.

With a young dog you should start out with a smaller crate. If they are in a large crate they will just mess in the corner of it, in a smaller crate they won't unless they really need to.

When we are crate training/house breaking a dog, the pup is left in the crate at all times unless under direct supervision. Whenever you take the pup out of the crate take it outside and wait for him to do his business before bringing him back in. This will create the type of habit that you want. Before long, when you open the kennel he should automatically start heading for the door. After you bring him in they can run around as long as they are supervised, unattended puppies get into trouble.

When you first start crate training do not rescue the pup when he is whining, it will only make things worse. You have to let them work this out on their own.

It also helps to have the crate in a room where people are and there is some activity, so they aren't just staring at an empty room all day. Studies have shown that large kennel operations set up in a horseshoe are best for dogs so they can see the other dogs and what is around them. Those kennels with 4ft concrete walls separating them are very bad for a dogs mental health.

Also every time you put the pup back in the crate say "crate" or "kennel" as they are entering the crate.

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Exactly!
Hardest part is hearing pup whine/cry out and ignoring him/her. The fact is though that every time you rescue pup, you will be making the process that much harder.
If you start pup off in the bedroom , you won't be getting much sleep. :)

With Labs something to keep in mind is they learn through their stomachs. Whenever we crate trained a pup we always gave them a little training biscuit and if we left to go to town or whatever we put some peanut butter in a Kong to keep them busy for a while. Just keep in mind it will whine and cry at first. I've been known to sleep beside the crate on the floor for a few nights. TC

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Originally Posted by trky chsr

With Labs something to keep in mind is they learn through their stomachs. Whenever we crate trained a pup we always gave them a little training biscuit and if we left to go to town or whatever we put some peanut butter in a Kong to keep them busy for a while. Just keep in mind it will whine and cry at first. I've been known to sleep beside the crate on the floor for a few nights. TC

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You are right on there. My lab got a piece of dog biscuit when she went into her kennel. She is three, and all I say is “bed”, and she takes off up stairs to a spare room where her kennel is. The first couple nights, I left a radio on with the volume low. We had no problems with her whining...

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

You are right on there. My lab got a piece of dog biscuit when she went into her kennel. She is three, and all I say is “bed”, and she takes off up stairs to a spare room where her kennel is. The first couple nights, I left a radio on with the volume low. We had no problems with her whining...

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It's funny, ours is 10 and as soon as I kiss my wife before I go to work she races to her kennel to get her treat. TC

As soon as I put on lipstick mine heads for the crate. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jakezilla

Another thing to remember about puppies is that they are essentially a blank slate.

One of my mentors always hammers home "What they are doing is what they are learning, good or bad"

Puppies aren't born barking idiots. When you see a dog that just barks for the sake of barking, more than likely someone allowed him to become like that.

Work on shaping their behavior before they learn bad habits.

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Annnnd this ^

I'll vouch for the treat when going into crate. My bulldog can be stubborn as hell, but he's 6 months and when I'm ready to go to work doesn't matter on the shift he goes in the crate when I tell him to calmly

One other thing I would like to mention is to cover the crate with a blanket or something to create a "den". I think it makes the pup feel more secure. Just leave the front open so they can still see what's going on. TC