Why You Should Crate Train Your Dog & How To Start

There is an infinite list of reasons as to why you should crate your dog. I’ll just give you some of the most impactful:

• You can enjoy peace of mind when you leave your dog at home knowing that none of your belongings will be destroyed, chewed on, soiled or gotten into.
• Traveling with your dog is significantly easier knowing that they’ll be able to quickly adapt to their surroundings with their familiar “den” of their crate, now they won’t have to be left behind during family outings.
• Your dog can enjoy the privacy and security of their “den” that they can go to when tired, not feeling well or stressed.
• Your dog can have routine and consistency that they crave and need by nature 
• They can be safe knowing that they won’t get into potentially poisonous foods or cleaning supplies while you’re gone
• Vet visits will be far less stressful for your dog, you and your veterinarian when they are familiar with a crate.
• In case of emergencies, it’s easy for you and your dog to travel or be in a new space. Both of you can easily be safe, contained and they can have a familiar space they already associate as “home.”

Those are just a few of the reasons as to why it’s important to crate train your dog. However, as a dog trainer I can’t stress enough the importance of how a crate creates routine and structure for your dog that they desperately desire and need instinctually as dogs. 

Starting to crate train your dog can be a difficult process. It doesn’t matter if they are a puppy or an adult dog, you’ll still have to have a level of mental fortitude to complete this mission. 

First, allow your dog to explore the crate. Leave the door open, don’t force them inside, but if they go inside that’s great! If they do go inside or near the crate, reward that behavior with a treat so they associate it with something good!

Next, put a treat inside of the crate. Again, don’t force them inside, but if they go inside to retrieve the treat give them lots of praise! Leave the door open to show them that (at this point in the training) they can go in and out as they please. 

Now that they are familiar and comfortable going in and out of the crate, close the door and latch it. Hang out with your dog for a while and feed them through the panels/wire. If they start to whine or bark, simply ignore the behavior and don’t reward for whining or barking so you don’t reinforce bad behavior. 

This whole process has most likely taken less than 10min. Let your dog out of the crate and play/reward them! Lot’s of “Good Job!” some nice pets and a treat!

The next part will be difficult and will require some mental fortitude! At night make sure that your dog has been appropriately exercised and has used the bathroom. Use the same process above where you’re simply hanging out next to the crate with them for a while, then placing treats inside to get them to go in and out. Finally, closing the door, feeding them a few last treats and then going off to bed. 

If you have a puppy you’re going to have to get up a couple of times through the night to let them out for potty to ensure that they don’t soil inside of their crate. 

Being consistent and going this process several times in a day will speed up the process. When you are home go through the process and maybe leave them in the crate for 15min, then another time for 30min. Getting as many reps as possible while having the mental strength to ignore the barking, crying and whining will reward you with a dog that will happily and willingly go inside of their crate when you need to leave the house, get them out from underfoot, take them with you on vacation and much more!

I hope this was helpful for you and your dog! If you're looking to change some of your dog's current behaviors (leash pulling, barking, digging, chewing, etc) let's set up a phone call and discuss how I can help you!

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