Episode #13 Crates

Why use a crate? What size should you buy? Which kind is best? How do I get my puppy to like being in his crate? What about nighttime? Amy answers all these question and more. Learn the benefits of crate training and which one to use with your puppy.

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the puppy Training Podcast Episode number 13 Crates. This podcast is for those looking to train their own dog whether as a family, companions, service or therapy dog. And I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the puppy training podcasts, and I'm your host, Amy Jensen. Hey, you. What's up? You guys, welcome back. This week we're gonna talk about creates today. But first I have to share with you that today I was helping out a friend who has a litter of puppies, and I got to go over and let them out for some potty breaks today. Can I just tell you how phone into his toe have a little litter of puppies run at youthful speed from across the yard? They're so happy to see you tells wagging tongues out, ready to give you puppy kisses. It was delightful. If you ever get the opportunity, go hang out with a litter of puppies. I highly recommend it. It's definitely a mood lifter. Okay, so today we're talking about crates, and sometimes I feel like crates get a negative meaning or negative association in people's minds. They think of them as a cage and so today. My whole goal is to really change your perspective on the crate and help you see that it is not a cage. This is simply a tool that we're going to use actually, for several reasons. It's not just for house training, and we're not punishing our puppy by being in this small space were actually helping him out. So if you have this notion in your mind that creates air a negative thing, then please listen to the end of this podcast, and I hope to change your mind about that as we go through these these things. So first of all, there's several things that creates do for our puppies. Number one. Yes, we do use them for house training. And the reason why is that? That small space helps our puppies get bladder control. They try to hold it because they don't like to go to the bathroom where they're sleeping. And if the space is small enough and they don't have room to go to the bathroom in one side and sleep on the other side, then they try to hold it, so it really does help them build that bladder control and It helps keep our homes clean as well, because we don't want to have them marking up our house and then the scent is there, and then they continue to mark the house. So we really need, you know, this management tool to help us in house training. The next reason is it helps their puppies learn to be calm. They learned to settle themselves, and it becomes their safe space. You'll often find that puppies will go to their crates to take a nap by choice. Even if you just said that, create out when you leave the door open. A lot of times they'll just want to go in there to sleep because they do feel safe in there. And they it's a place where they know that they can settle and relax, right. The third way that we use creates is to create a routine. It helps give our puppy structure for the day and some necessary, quiet time. They go back and forth from training to play to sleeping, and if they have this set schedule, they actually do better. They know what to expect on a daily basis, and then the last reason is management they can't engage in inappropriate activities such as chewing or barking out the window or finding items that they around the home that they maybe shouldn't have. So if you can't keep your eye on your puppy 100% then we use these crates as a management tool. Okay, so what kind of great should you get? There's several different kinds. The two that I'm gonna talk about today are the plastic creates and then also there's the wire crates. Now, plastic are really nice for travel. If you put them in your car, they're not gonna rattle or make a lot of noise. They're also easy to clean out. So if you have a puppy that gets a little carsick or has an accident, it's a very simple thing to just spray out that plastic crate. Put a little bleach in and clean it out. They're very easy to clean, very easy to travel with their lightweight. And the noise thing really is a big deal. We're taking a puppy home this past week, who we had boarded and the wire crate just rattled in the back. We let her sit by us in the seats, but the crate just rattled and rattled the entire trip. So it did remind me that Oh, yeah, I like why I like plastic crates because they're quiet on the wire crates, though they do have their bonuses, so they're easy to store because they fold down flat. They grow with your puppy. A lot of times these wire creates will come with a divider that you can move along the crate and grows with your puppy essentially so you can start out having a nice, small space for that puppy. And then as your puppy gets larger, you can move that divider further and further back in the crate on. Then, if you want to keep, you know, make it feel a little more cozy for your puppy. It's easy just to throw a sheet over it. Um, at night tight. Now I do recommend. If you have the wire crate, then take your puppies collar off. If your puppies kind of one that jumps around or turned around a lot in this crate just for safety reasons, make sure that his collar is not going to get stuck on any part of that wire crate. But they both do have their purposes. I happen to use both in my home because I'm a trainer. I want to make sure that puppies get to practice going in out of several different types of crates, that they have that socialization towards the different materials and the different surfaces of the different environments. And so I have both, and I use them both, and they both are great. So next would be what size of crate to get your puppy. Make sure that it fits your puppy appropriately, based on the size requirements that their puppy can stand up. Turn around and that's it. We don't want to leave any extra room for them to go potty in like we mentioned earlier. The whole purpose is to make that space small enough in the beginning that your puppy is going to want to hold his bladder until he has to go. You know, he gets a chance to go outside, so make sure that you get an appropriately sized crate. Okay, So the benefits of crate training, we talked about this a little bit, but we're gonna go a little bit more in depth. So, potty training, prevention and management, you probably learns to be alone, which is a really important skill for them to learn. We don't want them to have any sort of separation anxiety. They learned to self soothe. They have a safe space to be in its worry free for you, and you can also use it as a timeout spot were not in a negative way, but where you can put your puppy if he can't control himself or he's overly mouth your bitey, and he just needs to relax and calm down. Once you've taught him to self soothe and tow like his crate than when he goes in there, he could just have a nice, relaxing, quiet time until he can settle himself. So when should you use the create for your puppy? I use it several times. The 1st 1 would be you when you can't watch your puppy 100% of the time, so literally when you have a new puppy in your home. I'm either watching that puppy like eyes on the puppy 100% of the time, or he's going to be tethered to me on a leash where he's going to be in his crate. I also used the crate if I'm leaving somewhere. So if I need to go to the grocery store or somewhere where my puppy can't come with me, then I create him while I'm away and we'll talk about times in just a second. How long you can leave your puppy in a crate before he's gonna need a break. I also used to create my puppies, overly excited, mouthy, a rambunctious. And then I also used the crate when we're sleeping. So my puppies, I create them at night because again, I don't want any accidents. I want them to learn toe, hold it through the night. I don't want to be getting up with them to go potty just because they know they can. I would really like them to learn to hold it and to sleep through the night. So creates a phenomenal for getting your puppy to sleep through the night. Okay, so those time rules, let's talk about those. So I used again the crate during quiet times when I'm gone for a short period of time, and I always make sure my puppies get several dedicated, create times per day, and then I gradually lengthen out the time that they spend in them. So our daytime rule is basically for every month old that your puppy is. He can spend one hour in the creaked. So, for example, two months equals two hours, three months, three hours, four months, four hours. And that's the maximum that they could spend in there before needing a potty break. I always give a break. No matter that you did my Doggett about four hours. Just because I feel like that's a long time to be in that small space, and they need to get up and stretch their legs, even if they can hold, you know, no need to go the bathroom for a while. I do like to let them out to play and have some good free time before they go back in there creep. So I know the puppies could probably hold this a little longer, but keep it simple for me and for those you know, people that I help in the clients that I serve, it's basically just match the numbers up so you don't have to remember. Was it plus a month? Was it minus a month, plus an hour minus an hour? Just keep it simple. So two months equals two hours, three months, three hours, four months, four hours and then at four hours I always give a break, no matter the age of my dog. All right, So using the create at night, be sure to give potty breaks in the beginning if needed. So always ask your breeder before bringing your puppy home. If your puppy has been in a crate, it's good to know whether he knows what that is. And if he's ever slept in one. If he hasn't, you're gonna have a little bit longer of an adjustment period. I'm lucky you, but I walk you through that in my program. So if you have a new puppy and it's never been in a crate before, head on over to Baxter Bella dot com and check out my program because I literally walk you through step by step and even, like what? Time to get up and when to set your alarm clocks and all those sorts of things to help you make it through those 1st 2 weeks. But if you have a breeder that's introduced your puppy to the crate, please call them right now and thank them or send them a lovely text because they've done a lot of work for you on. Maybe you don't really realize the amount of effort that they've achieved for you in this area. This is amazing if your breeder has done some work for you on their end. So if your puppy does know what Acree is and he's sleeping in the Cree, ask your breeder. So you know. How long does my puppy typically sleep at night in his crate? And let's say that your breeder says, you know he's making it seven hours and then he needs a potty break or he's making it seven hours without an accident. I would plan on the 1st 1 or two nights in your home in his new environment. Two. Take that back a few hours and give him a break just because he's gonna be a little bit more anxious and stressed because of his new environment that even if he could hold it seven hours at the Breeders House, where he's in his new environment, I would plan on getting up in the five hour mark and giving him a break that first night or to the next thing for the night time create rules is to covered with a sheet or blanket, especially if you have ah Weir create. I actually do this with my plastic crates as well. I just kind of throw a sheet over him so that it's a little more cozy. They're not seeing any kind of visual that's keeping them awake. It basically just makes a nice safe space. And there's not a lot going on that they can see or try to interact with. It helps them settle down a little easier. And they're not seeing things that excite them or, you know, cause them tow wine or cry. So another good tool for this would be a snuggle puppy. If you haven't heard of a snuggle puppy and I don't get paid to say this, I just like this product. It's a stuffed puppy that comes with a little heating pad that you convey L crow into its stomach basically and a little hurt that you can turn on and turn off has a little heartbeat, so I don't use the heating pad necessarily. But I take the little heart and I turn it on at night and I put it in the little Velcro pouch and seal it shut. And then I put that little puppy in the create, you know, with my puppy, and they're able to have something soft and cozy to snuggle with, and then they can hear that little heartbeat that sometimes helps them. When you do give a break at night, make sure there's minimal interaction. So you simply take your puppy outside. You say, go potty, and then you put him back in this crate. So we're not talking to him other than you know, the go potty and maybe praising him. Good boy when he goes, and then we're literally just quietly putting them back inside and shut the door. I try to leave as many lights office I can. I try not to, you know, over we pet him or engage with him, literally were just walking outside and tangle potty. He goes, we go right back in, we go to bed. So minimal fanfare, very minimal interaction. We want to just kind of keep him in that old state of mind. So the first few nights he may need to be right next to you for comfort. That's totally understandable. he's just been removed from his mother and his litter mates and depending on again, what your breeder did for you. In terms of pre training for him, he might not even know what a crate is, and so that might just cause somewhere anxiousness as well. So the first night or two, I put his crate right next to me in my bed, and it's either up on my bed or it's just right at the foot of my bed next to where my hand would be. And I can put my hand on the crate or a little bit in the crate so you can just kind of smell and maybe lick my finger if he needs to. I also like to drape the create that first night with something that I wore that day. So maybe it's my T shirt or something that I can just throw over so it smells like me and he can have that smell right next to him, and he knows I'm right there. You can hear me breathing so right next to you really does help your puppy sleep those first few nights, and then I gradually move his create to a permanent place. So it's not in your room all of the time forever, then on it's literally just to help him be comfortable in that crate. And then at night, I always give a break in eight hours while they're young. So I do, you know, get him up at the eight hour mark where they get me up at the eight hour mark. I take them out to go potty, and then I trained them to go right back in, especially on the weekends. You know, for that one more hour, if you want to sleep in, you know, that's totally doable. 89 hours, 10 hours is not bad, but I do like to give them that break in eight hours if they need it. Let's talk a little bit about how you teach a puppy to like his crate, because we're going to use it so much. It really is important that he starts to like the space. So number one would be location. I put it in a commonly used room. I put it somewhere where he feels like he's still part of what's going on. He can see me, he can hear me, he can smell me, so he's not in complete isolation. He's just simply in a small space, but he's still nearby. Then I sit right next to him and I would read a book or watch a show were fold my laundry, maybe cook something in my kitchen while he's in his crate. So I'm nearby again, doing something, but I'm close to him and then he's not panicking that he's all by himself. So, yes, he is in his own space, but technically I'm right there. The other idea would be to give him something to do in the creek, so I love Kong's. I like to stuff them with things like peanut butter, carrots, apples, uh, some kibble. If you get the cable, his dog food wet and make it a little mushy and and stuff it inside the Kong and put it in your freezer for 15 minutes. That's a great thing for him to work on while he's in his crate space. This is a place also, that you can get him used to chewing on Bena bones or safe to toys. So toys that are plush but may be strong enough that he's not going to make a mess out of them or get the Squeakers out or the stuffing out, but something that he can chew on and also really become a two toy aholic. You might say no. So this is a space where he can learn what he can chew on. So I put a variety of toys in there with my puppy. Is something hard, something soft because occasionally they are in the mood to choose something that's hard, and sometimes it's something that soft. So I give them a variety of things to do and keep themselves busy. If they so choose in their correct, the other tip would be too slowly increased time that he spends in the crate. So the very first time my puppy goes in a crate, I'm not leaving him in there for hours. It might just be a minute, and then I'm letting him right back out again, and then it might be five minutes, and then he gets to come out and play, and then we might go in for 10 minutes and then out to play and then maybe back in for one minute and then out to play. And I don't do that a lot, but definitely on that first and second day, I like to show my puppy that he can go in there for a second. Maybe I'm just gonna go to the bathroom. I put him in this. Great. I go to the bathroom and come right back. We get out of the crate, you know, I need to wash my hands. I put him in the crate. I go wash my hands and come right back. I get the puppy out again. So little things like that where you can put him in his great. He stays there for just a minute or two. And then you're right back there to say, OK, now let's go play. And we create this positive association with the creep that he's not just going to be in there with the door closed every time he goes in the door. Always shut. Then he has to stay there for hours. We definitely don't want to set him up that way. There's some really good lessons learned from crates. Your puppy can learn things like waiting at doorways. This is a great way to teach himto wait at a threshold until release to cross it. So as you open that back door, your puppies expected to wait there until you release them and then they can come out of there, create so they're not. You know, I never let my puppies out for Klein at the door, excitedly or being overly excited. I really wait for a calm sit or a calm down, and then I slowly open the door and I expect them to wait until I release them. If you want to learn how to do that with your puppy again, join my online puppy school. I teach you all about doorways and how to do it with the crate creates also teach our puppy self control. They must be called before getting out. So going back to that idea of I walk up to the creation of my puppies, barking or whining at me, your client at the crate, or being just rambunctious and trying to get out, I teach him that that doesn't work. He simply has to be calm, and then he will get out. He has to be calm and quiet in order to get out of the crate, so that's a great lesson for him to learn is that self control to be able to be that nice, calm settled puppy before being able to come out. He also learns in the crate how to entertain himself. We talked about putting several different types of toys in the crate. He learns what he can to on was appropriate to chew on. And he starts to like to chew on those things because that's what he's spending his time on, a doing in his crate during the day. He also learns from the crate how to be alone, that it's okay to be in his own space by himself and that if I leave the room and he can't see me, I will come back. And it takes a little while for your puppies to build up that trust in you. So you know, day one and two, even three or four, your puppy is in the crate, and he's crying as soon as you leave the room and then you come back in the room and he's quiet again. You know he's going to start to learn the oh, she's gonna come back, and he's going to start to build that trust in you that you'll be back to open the door and let him back out. And then again, lessons learned that bladder control. It's awesome. Awesome, Awesome for house training. All right, let's just do a quick little recap, you guys. So, you know, give your puppy safe to toys while he's inside. I never, ever leave my puppy in a crate with something like a rawhide. I don't do raw hides anyway for my dogs, But just be careful what you leave with him to two on, making sure that it is a safe thing that he's not going to choke on any part of it or any kind of that thing. You know, the squeaky toys. If he's gonna tear into that squeaky toy and get that squeaker out, you want to make sure that he's not gonna do that while he's in his crate. If you're not there to watch him, so make sure you're only giving him the safe to toys in his crate on and then limit a few of your puppy's most favorite chew toys just for create time only. So if there's a couple things that he only gets for great time, the Kong would be a wonderful example. Maybe he only gets to chew on the Kong when it's great time. Then that helps create that positive association with the crate again to create that positive association. You could do things like feeding him his meals inside the crate. So go ahead and put his breakfast inside the crate and close the door, let him finish eating, and then open the door and let him back out again. Anything that you can do to create that positive association in a lot of times with our puppies that involves food. So do what you can to create that positive association. Lastly, my tip would be to mix up the time he spends in the crate and practice the 10 toe one rule. So if you haven't heard my tender one rule before, this is what it is. And it's really important to use with commands like create or kennel with you. Ask your puppy to go in the crate. He is allowed to come back out. You just release him right away. So he goes in, you release him, he gets to go play and then you do it again. He goes in, you release him. He gets to go play, and I do that 10 times for every one time that I put him in the creek and I shut the door. So just make sure that you mix up the time he spends in the crate so that he has that a positive association again with the crate that it might just be a little time. It might be a long time, but either way you're gonna come back. You're gonna let him out, and it's okay. That's all I have for you this week. You guys, Good luck with your training. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me via email or my website. And if you're looking for more training, help with your puppy, I would love to see you in my program. Go to Baxter and Bella dot com to learn more, and I'll talk to guys next week. Happy training. If you have a question about anything you've heard on this podcast or any other puppy training questions, visit my sight. Baxter and Bella dot com to contact me