5 Simple Steps To Crate Train Your Puppy
The exact process I used to crate train my 8-week-old puppy.
Crate training was one of the most important things we did for our Cavalier King Charles, Willow. Crating is always a personal decision. After extensive research, we decided it was the right thing to do for our little family. Willow was crate rained from coming home with us at eight weeks. She is now almost two years old, and we never close the crate doors anymore, but it’s still her safe space. It’s the place she goes when she’s tired, scared, or feeling unwell.
It also helped us keep our sanity when raising a small puppy! Crate training is a helpful tool for
- Housetraining — dogs don’t like to pee in the crate
- Keeping a dog safe from things that could harm them — like if you’re mopping the floors.
- Keeping your stuff safe — like stopping your puppy from chewing your furniture
It will also help if you ever need to leave your pet at the vet, or if you need to transport them by plane. They will already be used to being in a crate so will be less freaked out.
Let the puppy get familiar with the crate
The first step is to bring the crate into your home, and give the puppy time to get used to it. We got very lucky with Willow. When we first brought her home we had set up a crate with an attached pen in the living room. The pen had her water bowl and some toys, whilst we had blankets and a bed in the crate. I carried her into the flat and put her in the pen so I could take my shoes off. She ran straight into the crate, and stayed there, mostly sleeping, for much of her first day. We were so relieved that she immediately saw the crate as a safe space after an overwhelming day.
We didn’t close the crate at all during her first few days with us, letting her wander freely between crate and pen. She associated the crate with a comfy place to sleep.
We had decided to keep the crate in our living room, as there wasn’t enough space in our bedroom. To help her settle in we slept in the living room on an air mattress for Willow’s first few nights.
Feed all meals in the crate
During this time, we also gave Willow all her meals in her crate. This gave the crate a positive association with food. Dogs also don’t like to pee where they eat. This meant we could trust Willow to not pee in the crate quite quickly.
Close the door
After a few days of getting Willow settled into the pen + crate combination, we introduced the idea of closing the door between the crate and the pen. We would throw a handful of treats into the crate. Then when she was distracted we would close the door. Then reopen straight away. We built up gradually to giving a treat, closing the door for a few seconds, then giving another treat.
Walk away
Once your dog can sit comfortably in the crate for a few minutes with you nearby, you’re ready to start leaving the crate. At first, we would just turn away, then turn back and treat. Then we backed away slightly facing her. Again, we would quickly return and give her treats. We gradually built this up over several sessions to where we would be able to leave the room and quickly return.
We would also put her in her crate when she was getting tired. As a puppy Willow was very resistant to sleep. She’s a social dog and is afraid of missing out on something fun! This meant that she wouldn’t nap on her own. We would ask her to go into the crate and cover it with a blanket to make it dark. When we did this she would instantly fall asleep. As cute as it was to have her sleep on our lap, sleeping in her crate made her more independent and less reliant on us.
At this stage, we also learned about the five-minute rule. Sometimes your dog might start crying when it is time for their nap. It feels like they cry and cry, and you feel like the worse person in the world. In the instances we would set a timer for five minutes. If she was still crying after five minutes, we would let her out. We never had to let her out. By the time the alarm went, she was always asleep. It feels like forever when your pet is upset, but that five-minute timer kept us sane. It also worked out better for Willow in the long run.
Use it, don’t abuse it
As I said in the beginning, we very rarely need to crate Willow at all any more. She puts herself in her crate when its bedtime, despite having other beds, blankets and a sofa to sleep on. We never left Willow in the crate for more than three hours. Experts recommend no more than four hours left alone. You should also never use the crate as a punishment. This creates a negative association with the crate and we want them to think of it as a nice place to be!
Does your dog have a crate? Do you have any tips for crate training? Let me know in the comments and follow for more!