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This is the 6th article in my 8-part definitive guide to crate training.
We’ve been through lots of theory and discussion in the previous articles, now it’s time to start putting it all into practice.
In this article, I show you exactly how to crate train a puppy and take them from never having seen a crate to be happy spending time in there and even seeking it out on their own as their preferred place of rest.
We will be working with your puppy’s natural curiosity and denning instincts to achieve this goal, the methods described using zero force or coercion along the way.
What Is Puppy Crate Training?
Before learning how to crate train a puppy, we should first be clear on what crate training truly is.
It’s the process we go through to teach our puppy that their crate is a special happy place all of their own, a place where only good things happen, so they become willing and even look forward to spending calm, relaxed time there.
A crate-trained dog will voluntarily go in and out of its crate without any force, feel comfortable being locked in occasionally, and will be calm inside, causing no fuss and showing no signs of stress.
They will look and feel safe and secure, look perfectly happy with no crying for release, and often head to the crate of their own accord.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: We recommend the Midwest Life Stages Crate. We bought it for our first puppy, Linus over 14 years ago and still use the same crate today.
Why Do We Go Through The Effort Of Crate Training A Puppy?
Because without first going through a crate training process, if you tried to crate your puppy they will almost certainly be afraid, feel isolated, and fear the crate instead of loving it.
By taking the time to go through small incremental steps, from slowly introducing your puppy to the crate, to spending small but increasing amounts of time in there, they will learn to love it and you can both enjoy the enormous benefits it offers.
Many people say their dog loves being in their crate when in fact this isn’t nearly always true.
Until you can ask your dog to go to the crate, they do so happily and when they get there they look truly happy to get inside and relax, play with a toy, and never cry to get out even with the door closed, then crate training is something you need to spend time on.
And until you have fully crate trained your puppy, you will not be able to take advantage of the many benefits it offers to both you and your puppy. Such as:
- Providing a place of their own for comfort and security
- Speeding up the house training process
- Keeping your puppy safe when you cannot supervise them
- Protecting your possessions when you cannot supervise your puppy
- Preparing your puppy for time crated at the vets or boarding kennels
- …And much more besides!
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Another tool we love for house training is the dog potty doorbell, Smart Bell. It takes a little bit of training, the Smart Bell alerts you when your puppy has to potty and it’s also great when working on the cue “Touch”.
How Long Does It Take To Crate Train A Puppy?
I’m afraid there is no definite answer. Depending on your puppy’s personality and how things go, this whole process could take a week or a month. It varies wildly from dog to dog.
With the dogs we’ve owned, we never had a problem.
Of course, they cried now and then and it wasn’t all plain sailing, we’d be lying if we said it was that simple, but after just a few short days they were mostly quiet throughout the night and happy to spend time in there during the day.
They had the occasional hiccup but were very receptive to the crate after decent training.
However, growing up I had a Lurcher-cross-Terrier that we adopted and she took a lot of work before she was happy being crated for anything more than 15 minutes. My memory’s hazy but I’m sure it took many weeks.
I have to admit though, I do recall my parents not properly crate training her and sometimes even using force to put her in the crate…but it was decades ago, I was young and my family’s knowledge wasn’t as good then as it is now.
With consistent, well-planned strategic training, the majority of puppies are happy spending time in the crate within 1 to 3 weeks.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: We recommend the Calmeroos Puppy Toy w/ heartbeat & heat packs to help your puppy adjust to his crate during his first night home.
PRO TIP: If you’re lucky enough to meet your puppy’s mother and littermates bring your Calmeroos Puppy Toy when you go to pick up your pup. Rub your Calmeroos Puppy Toy all over litter mates and mom. When introducing your puppy to the crate give him his Calmeroos Puppy Toy. This will help your puppy feel more comfortable during his first nights in his crate.
Puppy Crate Training Schedule Example
Here is an example of a crate training puppy schedule that you could follow.
TIME | CRATE TRAINING PUPPY SCHEDULE |
---|---|
06:00 am | Let your puppy take a potty break upon waking up. Provide playtime in crate. |
07:00 am | After breakfast. Take a potty break while on a walk. Crate for play and nap. |
08:00 am | Potty break. Playtime. or take a nap in crate. |
09:30 am | Potty break. Training or playtime. Then Potty break. Nap in crate |
12:00 pm | Lunchtime. Potty break. Play. Potty break. Nap in crate. |
02:00 pm | Potty break. Playtime. Potty break. Nap in crate |
05:00 pm | Potty break before Dinner time. Rest. Potty Break or a walk at night. Nap/play in crate |
06:00 pm | Potty Break. Playtime/walk. Potty Break. Nap in crate |
08:30 am | Potty break before bedtime. |
09:30 pm | Bedtime |
10:00 pm – 06:00 am | Provide bathroom potty breaks as necessary |
Put in mind though that when creating a puppy crate training schedule every puppy and every owner is different.
Some pups take to being crated right away with little to no fuss. Others need careful coaching for many weeks, and most fall somewhere in between.
Another factor is how much effort you as your puppy’s trainer are able to put into the process.
If you’re a stay-at-home person who can dedicate to lots of small periods of training throughout every single day, you will succeed far sooner than a full-time office-based worker who can only crate train during some mornings, evenings, and weekends.
So rather than provide a schedule, I provide a plan you can follow from start to finish at whatever pace you and more importantly your puppy can manage.
Whether it takes you 6 days or 6 weeks, it doesn’t matter. Just work through each step, one after the other at your own pace and you’ll be sure to have a happily crate-trained puppy before you know it.
Before We Start
As you’ve landed on this page, I assume you’ve already decided that you’re going to crate your puppy.
You’ve made the right decision as it’s one of the best things you can do for your puppy’s early development.
But if you’re still undecided, please read: why you should use a dog crate to see the many benefits and debunk the myths of it being cruel.
And before we get into the nuts and bolts of how to crate train a puppy, for those that haven’t followed my crate training series so far, you’ll first need to have a crate ready and soak in some introductory knowledge.
First of all and most importantly, please make sure you read when and when not to crate your puppy so you only ever use it with your dog’s best interests in mind and remove any chance of using it in a cruel way.
Secondly, make sure you read up on what size crate your puppy needs because too small is inhumane, too large and it loses a lot of its usefulness and appeals to your puppy.
The linked article contains instructions and advice on how to measure your puppy correctly for a crate and why it’s so important.
If you haven’t purchased a crate yet, you can see a list of the best quality, most highly rated dog crates that we’re happy to recommend.
If you recently brought home a new puppy or plan on getting one soon then you’ll want to look at this extensive new puppy checklist written by our friends at Puppy In Training. This checklist includes pretty much everything you’ll need for your new puppy.
And finally, before you start…
Make sure the crate is comfortable and above all…Safe!
Please position the crate out of direct sunlight, away from heat sources, and not in the path of any drafts.
Line the bottom of the crate with a crate mat or whatever bedding you’ve decided to use. You want to make it inviting and comfortable to lay in.
If you happen to be crating more than one dog, follow a one dog per crate rule.
A crate belongs to a single dog and is their own special place and not for sharing, particularly because dogs confined together are more likely to fight and there will be no escape.
Finally, for safety reasons, before you ever allow your puppy into the crate, make sure they have nothing on. No leash or collar, nothing! These can snag and can choke your puppy.
Click here to read my article on where to put your crate, how to prepare and what to put in it to make it safe and comfortable.
First Get Puppy Used To The Crate
Because your puppy getting scared of the crate is the worst thing that could possibly happen, the first thing you want to do is just to get your puppy used to it being there, the sight of it, perhaps even wander in and out of it of their own accord, without you doing any formal training or trying to get them inside.
Initially, have the crate set up and fix the door so it will always stay open or remove it if you can. If it shuts on your puppy, they may panic and you do not want this.
If you’ve followed my advice from earlier articles, your crate is set up in a busy area of the house where you spend lots of time.
So place a few treats near to, around, and just inside the crate, then bring your puppy near to it with you, place him on the floor and then just relax. Watch TV, or do the crossword. Do not make a fuss of the crate.
Let your puppy investigate it all by themselves as they go around eating the treats. They will eventually pop their head just inside to eat the treats there. When they do, pop a few more just inside for them to eat.
After a few minutes, move away with your puppy and do something else. When they’re not looking, add a few more treats close to and just inside the crate, then go back to it and let your puppy investigate.
Again, if they pop their head (or more) inside to eat the treats, toss a few more just inside.
After just 3 or 4 repetitions of this, place a favorite toy of your puppies inside the crate and repeat the exercise, but this time place a few treats further in so they’re tempted to go inside.
Never force them in, just hope that they do. This isn’t training yet and we’re not concerned if they go in or not, it would just be a bonus.
But what we’re doing is teaching them the crate is there, full of treats and even fun toys and chews…it’s not so scary.
After a few sessions of this over the course of a couple of days, we can begin formal crate training.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: One of our favorite treats for training our puppies is Zukes Mini Naturals. Zukes are small in size which is great for training..
The Crate Training Process: A Step by Step Guide
The methods we’re going to use to crate train your puppy is a mixture of luring and shaping which are very good ways to teach your puppy learning without having to add any force.
What we need to do is imagine the end goal, that of our puppy laying calm and relaxed in the crate, with the door closed and for an extended period, alone with nobody else in the room.
Then think about how we can get from where we are now to that lofty end goal in many small and incremental steps. List those steps, and create a training plan to take us from step 1 through to the end.
How To Crate Train A Puppy
The best way to crate train a puppy is to use a clicker and high-value food rewards for crate training, the clicker is a little device that emits a sound when you click it to tell your puppy they’ve done something we want and will get a reward.
A high-value treat being cooked meats… not just kibble. Give this to your puppy when he enters the crate. When your dog sits in the crate, feed the treat by placing it in the crate, and do not give it to your puppy hand to mouth.
If they leave the crate, they do not get the treat, they must stay in the crate to receive the treat. After having your puppy lie down in the crate, it’s a good idea to feed your puppy all their meals in the crate now.
If you don’t have a clicker, you can use praise but try to make it a single quick punchy word to really mark when the good behavior occurs.
A simple ‘GOOD!’ or ‘YES!’. Two words cannot be spoken quick enough for precision so rule out ‘good boy’ or anything similar as a marker.
PRO TIP: When we don’t have a clicker we use the marker word “YES!”. However, we’ve found that our puppies learn quicker when using a clicker which is inexpensive and easy to use.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Any clicker will do some are louder and some are softer however what we do recommend is getting a clicker with a wrist strap like this simple dog training clicker.
20-Step Crate Training Plan
The following is a more detailed sample 20-step plan to crate training a puppy.
Although this site and its content are written mostly with Labradors in mind, this training will work equally well with a puppy of any breed.
You don’t have to follow everything to the exact letter, and most dogs will be able to skip a few steps. But please, read the article to the end before starting training to get an overall idea of what’s required, including the hints and tips that come after the steps.
There’s important information to use at every step listed at the end of the article that’s not to be missed!
So without further delay, let’s begin one of the best things you can do to help guide your dog safely through the early years of development.
Part 1: Puppy’s First Time In A Crate – Use No Force
From first seeing the crate, to getting inside and laying down.
Step 1: Puppy Pays Attention To Crate
- Puppy pays the crate any attention such as turning their head toward it, a sideways glance, or sniffing towards the crate.
- Click and Treat.
Step 2: Puppy Moves Towards Crate
- Puppy moves even the tiniest bit toward the crate.
- Click and Treat.
- If they don’t head toward the crate, click for attention as above and toss the treat slightly toward the crate so they head in that direction.
Step 3: Puppy Pays Attention To Crate Entrance
- Puppy pays any attention to the entrance, either putting their head in, a paw in, or getting close to the entrance in any way.
- Click and Treat.
Step 4: Puppy Puts Paw In Crate
- Puppy puts a paw into the crate.
- Click and Treat.
Step 5: Puppy Puts Both Front Paws In Crate
- Puppy puts both their front paws into the crate.
- Click and Treat.
Step 6: Puppy Gets Completely In Crate
- Puppy gets completely into the crate, all four paws inside.
- Click and Treat.
- It’s a good idea to start teaching a cue word for going into the crate from this point forward.
- Say ‘crate up‘ (or a cue word of your choosing) as they get in and click and treat so they start to learn the cue word early.
- Of course, this is the cue you’ll use when you’d like them to go to the crate at any time once they’re trained. So start using it now and start using it often.
Step 7: Puppy Sits In The Crate
- Your puppy sits in the crate.
- Click and Treat.
- From this point forward, always feed the treat by placing it in the crate, and do not give it to your puppy hand to mouth.
- If they leave the crate, they do not get the treat, they must stay in the crate to receive the treat.
- This way they learn to stay in the crate until treated and you release them. This will help prevent them from bolting out when the door opens later in life.
Step 8: Puppy Lies Down In The Crate
- Have your puppy lie down in the crate. Click and treat.
- From this point forward it’s a very good idea to feed your puppy all their meals in the crate.
They’ve proven they’re happy to go in there now and because you’ve been feeding them food (our current dog food of choice is Wellness Core Puppy Food) and stuffed Kong Toys in the crate, you’re promoting the idea that only good things happen there.
This increases your puppy’s time in the crate under no pressure and really makes them feel like it’s a special place.
A Puppy’s First Crate Training Session [Video]
For those of you that have never clicker trained using the idea of shaping before, I’ve found a pretty good video from Pam’s Dog Academy on YouTube where you can see a puppy going through its first crate training session.
You can see in the video how the puppy is offering behaviors itself, never being forced, and we merely click and treat.
You can at times see the puppy thinking, trying to figure out what’s wanted. The puppy is keen and eager to learn, enjoying the process.
Hopefully, this video gives you an idea of how to go about things if this will be your first time :-)
Here’s a link to the video on YouTube from Pam’s Dog Academy.
Supplementary Notes For Steps 1 to 8
In steps 1 to 8 we’re really hoping for our puppy to offer these behaviors of their own accord and we simply click and treat when they do so.
No coercion from us at all.
This is shaping and is the best way for them to learn.
But if they really do fail to offer the behavior, and please do be patient giving them ample time to perform, then you should try to lure them into the behavior.
For instance, if they just won’t put a paw into the crate, place a treat just inside so they only have to poke their head in to eat it.
Then move it 2 inches further in and let them get it, then further and further in until eventually, they have to step into the crate.
Or if they won’t lay down in the crate, assuming you have trained or are training a ‘down’ command, ask them to lay down or lure them into a down position with a treat.
Please, DO NOT TRY to lure them entirely into the crate if they won’t even put a single paw in.
Throwing a treat right into the back so they have to go all the way in to get it is just doomed to failure, just too big an ask.
Lure just their head inside a few times, then a single paw a few times, then two, etc.
Now, if for all your shaping, gentle luring (never any forcing), and leaving the crate open all day with a stuffed Kong toy or something inside and they just will not venture in, you should take the crate apart and train to get your puppy into only the bottom tray before re-assembling the crate and going through the steps again.
Also with an intermediate step of adding just three walls and the roof if it is still too scary for them to enter.
Anyway, once we’ve completed steps 1 to 8, we now have the behavior we want, our puppy will enter the crate and lay down, so we now need to begin extending the amount of time they’re happy to do this.
This is easier to achieve with the door remaining open as a closed door may initially scare your puppy.
Remember, we’re trying to take as many small steps as possible to promote the greatest chance of success!
So train time in the crate with the door open before going back and training time in the crate with the door closed.
Part 2: Extending Time In The Crate
From this point forward, teaching them to spend time in the crate, it’s very important (like in all training) that we begin to reward only intermittently. Click and praise every time, but do not reward every time.
If you were to reward 100% of the time your puppy will learn to expect it and be disappointed and then rebel if they do not get rewarded.
They will perform only for the treat and only when they want the treat, not at any other time. This means they will not be trained and listening to your cues, they’re merely responding to bribery.
So you need to start weaning them off the treats to avoid this.
Dogs are effectively ‘gambling addicts’ and by only rewarding them some of the time we tap into their innate desire to gamble and this keeps their enthusiasm for training high.
An explanation of the gambling phenomenon used in dog training is outside the scope of this article but you can read about it in modern dog magazine.
So please do not treat every time. We need our puppy to learn that being in the crate is nice and relaxing, not just a way to get a guaranteed treat.
Step 9: Puppy Lies In Crate For Extended Time
- Have your puppy lie in the crate and slowly increase the time they must stay laying down before you click and treat.
- Increase from 1 second to 1 minute in 5-second increments (1s, 5s, 10s, 15s… 50s, 55s, 60s).
- After every successful ‘down’ in the crate, click and treat inside the crate, then release them and allow them to come completely out of the crate before asking them back inside and down again.
- When increasing the time, make sure you mix it up with both hard and easy repetitions.
- Ask for 10 seconds, then 20, then 40, then go back to an easy 5 before asking for 15 again.
- Mix it up but with a general flow toward longer times.
Part 3: Time To Start Closing The Door
Once the puppy can successfully and reliably do a 1 minute down in the crate with the door open, it’s time to start closing the door, but not latching it. Simply push it closed but do not lock it.
Step 10: Close Door & Instantly Open It
- Have them lie down in the crate, gently close the door and instantly open it again.
- Click and Treat.
Step 11: Increase Time In Crate w/ Door Closed
- Slowly increase the time they must lay in the crate with the door closed before a click and treat, from 1 second to 1 minute in 5-second increments.
- After every success, release them and allow them to come completely out of the crate before asking them back inside for the next down.
- And just as in step 9, mix up waiting for longer and shorter periods to stay unpredictable.
Step 12: Start Latching The Door
It’s now time to start not only closing the door to the crate but latching it closed as well.
- Repeat steps 10 and 11, but each time you close the door you will now also latch it.
Using Meal Time To Get Used To A Closed And Latched Door
- From step 8 you should have been feeding your puppy their meals in the crate so they’re used to eating there.
- So from this point forward when you feed your puppy, sit and talk to them while they eat and repeatedly close, latch and then open the door.
- Sometimes for just a few seconds, sometimes for half a minute, but always open it before they get worried and cry and always before they have finished eating.
- It’s an easy way to expose them to further door closings without much pressure or trouble as they will be so engrossed in eating that they will barely care, but they will be aware of what you’re doing, even if it seems they’re not if they don’t look up from their food!
Part 4: Build Puppy’s Confidence So You Can Leave The Room
Once they can successfully and reliably do a 1 minute down in the crate with the door latched, it’s time to start training time in the crate as you move away and eventually completely leave the room.
Step 13: Start Stepping Back From The Crate
- Have puppy lay in the crate, close and latch the door and take a step backward.
- Instantly return and open the door
- Click and Treat.
Step 14: Step Back From Crate & Wait
- Have puppy lay in the crate, close and latch the door, take a step backward and wait a time before you click, return, open the door, treat and release.
- Try to increase the time you wait from 1 sec to 1 minute in 5-second increments until your puppy consistently remains calmly laying in the crate with the door closed and you a step back for 1 minute.
Step 15: Increase Steps From The Crate
- Repeat steps 13 and 14, but this time take a few steps back.
Step 16: Move Almost Out Of The Room
Repeat steps 13 and 14, but this time move all the way to the exit of the room, remaining just inside.
Step 17: Leave The Room
Repeat steps 13 and 14, but this time completely leave the room.
Step 18: Now, Extend The Time
We Have The Final Behavior We Want, Now Extend The Time
It’s OK having your puppy laying calmly in the crate for 1 minute, but we need more than this.
Once you can ask your puppy to go into the crate, have them lie down, close the door, latch it and leave the room for a minute reliably without puppy crying, it’s now just a case of extending the period of time you can leave them.
- Try going up in 10-second intervals. 1 minute, 1 minute 10 secs, 1 minute 20, etc. until you can do 5 minutes. Then increase by 30 seconds at a time until you can get to half an hour and beyond.
- Again though, be sure to mix up the duration you ask your puppy to spend in the crate. Lots of short little times with longer ones mixed in.
SAMPLE SCHEDULE
Over the course of a day, ask for
- 10 minutes for breakfast
- 3 minutes close to lunch
- 20 minutes for dinner
- 2 lots of 3 minutes between dinner and bedtime.
- Then for the rest of the night.
You get the idea.
Part 5: Taking It To The Next Level
Once the puppy can reliably lay calmly in its crate, you shouldn’t stop there.
At the vets or when boarding, there will be many distractions outside of the crate and you should prepare them for this.
Step 19: Add Distractions While Puppy’s In Crate
Now puppy can remain calmly in the crate with the door closed, you need to start adding distractions.
No puppy likes being confined when there’s a commotion going on that they (think they) should be involved in, so you need to train them to be calm when distracted.
- As always, start slowly and build up the difficulty.
- Perhaps start with reading and rustling a newspaper whilst they’re in the crate.
- Move up to sorting out your DVD collection.
- Eat a meal and watch TV with them crated.
- Vacuum the carpets.
- Play catch with a friend.
Start with small distractions and build up to more noise and more motion slowly.
Step 20: Crate Train Your Puppy In Different Locations
The final step! Well, I say it’s the final step, but you really should start doing this from step 9 onward as soon as they’re willing to lie in the crate.
Because we want them to be able to stay calm in a crate in the car, at the vets, or in a hotel, we need to crate train them in different locations otherwise they may only accept it and be calm when at home.
- First, move the crate to other areas of the house and train there.
- Work on crate training in your garden.
- Crate train in your car if it fits or you have a car crate.
- Finally, although not easy, try to do some crate training in friends’ houses and gardens.
- Crate train when it’s empty, when there are visitors, and when there’s a busy barbecue in their garden.
We want them to be happy and importantly calm in a crate, everywhere, and in every situation.
How To Crate Train A Puppy At Night
When you place your puppy in a crate and leave the room, it feels to them like abandonment so they cry in the hope that you’ll return.
With a puppy whining like this through the night, sleepless nights are a common frustration that many new puppy owners have to endure.
But there are, of course, some things you can do to help. So what should you do?
Here’s my advice for crate training through the night and what you can do to encourage your puppy to peacefully sleep so you can enjoy some much-needed rest too.
If you’re having trouble with your puppy whining and crying in his crate then check out these tips on how to stop your puppy from barking in his crate.
Make Sure Your Puppy Is Tired Before Bed
If your puppy is fully rested before you put them to bed, they’re going to be wide awake, full of beans, and ready for play and attention.
Therefore you want to make sure they are tired out and ready for sleep at the appropriate time.
To do this, make sure they have a lot of play and exercise throughout the day and particularly in the hour or so leading up to bedtime, to properly tire them out.
Also, make sure they don’t have any naps leading up to bedtime.
If you catch them falling asleep, do everything you can to keep them active and awake, by fussing over and playing with them.
This way, when you put them in the crate for sleep it won’t be long before that’s exactly what they’ll do.
Never React To Or Reward The Crying
This is worth repeating:
PRO TIP: Never, ever, ever, ever react to or reward crying when your puppy is in his crate.
The worst thing you can do and the most common mistake people make is to worsen the problem by going to their crying puppy, to reassure them, and maybe even let them out of the crate just to get a moment’s peace.
Wrong Move!
If your puppy whines at night and you go to them, they quickly learn that all the noise works and will in the future try the same trick, even if they have to go on for hours.
And don’t scold or punish your puppy either.
They’re only acting naturally so punishing them is immensely unfair.
Furthermore, ANY attention is exactly what they’re looking for and negative attention will suffice. To them, it’s better than nothing.
So going to them and telling them off, even shouting at them from a distance is actually rewarding their behavior and will encourage the behavior to continue in the future.
The only way to deal with crying and whining is to completely ignore it.
Having said this though, you will have to go to your puppy at least once during the night…
Your Puppy Will Need To Potty During The Night
Until your puppy is 12 weeks old or more, they will be unable to hold their bladder throughout a whole 7-hour night’s sleep.
And for house training reasons you do not want them peeing or pooping in their crate or inside your home.
Therefore you will need to go to them and take them to their bathroom spot at least once overnight.
Up To 9+ Weeks Old
- For the first few days, until they are 9 weeks old+, you will need to get up twice to take them to potty at 2.5 to 3-hour intervals.
Up To 12+ Weeks Old
- After this just once after 4 hours and then you can begin to stretch the time out until they last the night fully at 12 weeks+.
*Every puppy is different the above is just a general approximation. We’ve had puppies sleep through the night at 8 weeks old while others have problems getting through the night at over 12 weeks old.
When going for a potty break, you must be absolutely silent.
Take them out of the crate and straight to their bathroom spot, encourage them to do their business, and then take them straight back and close the crate door, all in absolute silence except for a calm and quiet ‘good potty’ when they’ve done the right thing.
Any fuss at all and you can inadvertently teach your puppy that during the night is a time for play and attention. So don’t do it! Silence is the order of the day (or night as the case may be.)
It’s important they learn that you are coming only for a bathroom break and nothing else!
Make Sure Your Puppy Is Empty Before Bed
Puppies will cry if they need a bathroom break, but they also cry for your attention.
So how do you make sure you aren’t ignoring a basic need and are only ignoring cries for attention?
First of all, you want to make sure they are empty before bed.
This means do not feed them in the 3 hours before and do not allow them to load up on the water in the 2 hours before bedtime. Then take them to potty right before bed
This gives them ample time to process the last food and water they did consume and are ready to get rid of the waste at their bathroom visit right before bedtime.
Secondly, you get up during the night for scheduled bathroom breaks anyway.
In summary, you make sure they are empty so do not need to potty often during the night, and you have scheduled times as described in the previous section to attend to their basic bodily needs.
This way you can be sure any crying is only for attention and you absolutely can and must simply ignore it.
Initially, Put Your Puppy’s Crate In Your Bedroom
To start with during the first few nights, you should place your puppy’s crate in your bedroom to sleep near you.
Some people don’t mind carrying one crate from room to room, others buy two, having one in each of the living room and the bedroom. The choice is yours.
The reason you initially sleep them in the bedroom with you is so they can smell, hear and maybe even see you which makes them feel much safer and secure, taking away the feeling of abandonment that causes the crying.
After the first few days, slowly start moving the crate to where you finally want it, first moving it to the bedroom door, then the hallway but being able to see into your bedroom, then to the final resting place.
Doing this adds a step in between and helps to ease their transition from sleeping with their mother and litter-mates to being completely alone at night while getting them used to sleeping in a crate where you want them.
Make sure if the bedroom is not their final sleeping place that you do this over the first couple of weeks max.
If you sleep them in your bedroom for 3 weeks or more, they will get too used to it, and then moving them to another room will be much harder.
It’s still likely when you move them out of your bedroom they will whine and cry. Just ignore it and only go to them for their scheduled potty break. You at least made things as easy for them as you possibly could.
Following all the above advice on crating during the night should have your puppy resting peacefully within a week or two.
*When we crate train our service dog puppies we always keep the crate next to our bed like a nightstand. We do this because as working dogs their partners may need them at any moment’s notice.
Crate Training a Puppy While at Work
When you want to potty train your puppy while you’re at work, have a friend or family member come to take your puppy out for exercise, bathroom breaks, and play during the day.
However, leaving a puppy home alone in a crate for long periods of time is not recommended by most dog trainers and vets.
You can a crate to potty train a puppy while you work. You can leave a puppy in a crate to sleep and then take him for a walk as soon as he’s up.
Be aware though they are still too young without enough bladder and bowel control to be crated for hours at a time.
Even if they did have enough bodily control, you can’t really crate them for hours until they are crate trained and happy spending time in one anyway, which is the very thing we are trying to train.
The only advice I can give, and what I do myself as I work full-time, is to fully puppy proof and enclose a small room for them to spend time in, or to set up an exercise pen instead.
Make sure the area has nothing in it at all that can be chewed or ingested.
Cover one end of the area with newspaper and place puppy pads down for them to use as a toilet, and set up their crate, a water bowl, and lots of safe and durable chew toys at the other end.
Place them in this safe zone during the times they have to be left alone, and dedicate yourself to concentrated efforts of crate and house training at all other times and as much possible.
You want to keep the number of times they are confined to an area as described to as few times as possible, instead of arranging it so that they always have company and supervision, or are crated.
The time in an enclosure like this, where they can potty on paper or pads works against your house training efforts. But sometimes… and indeed it’s been true for me…this situation is simply unavoidable.
Puppy Crate Training Tips And Things To Remember [BONUS]
The following are a few extra hints and tips you should bear in mind as you go through crate training that I couldn’t fit into the steps above but are still of high importance:
Try to Avoid Crating a Puppy Before 9 Weeks Of Age
Before 9 weeks of age, puppies need to toilet extremely often and unpredictably – They truly have no bladder and bowel control.
Therefore, if crating them you need to watch them closely and clean them very often. It’s not fair to expect them to be confined and possibly lay in their mess.
In fact, it’s best to keep them out of the crate for the first week or so during the day. Keep them out with you, on blankets or towels if supervised, or kept safe in an open-top cardboard box if not.
This way you cut down on ‘toilet accidents’ within the crate which can harm your house training later.
Regardless of age though, for the first few days at home, you should clear your day to give them 100% attention to keep them out of trouble.
And you should have them sleep near you in a crate or cardboard box at night, with some bedding from where they were born if you can for a familiar feel and smell.
A new home is a scary time, don’t add the stress of daytime crate training right away.
But if you really want to introduce crate training to your puppy as early as 8 weeks, here are our tips:
8 Week Old Puppy Crate Training
Puppies, as early as 8 weeks old, can be left behind in a crate up to however old they are in months plus one hour. So if your puppy is 8 weeks old (2 months) plus one hour=3 hours.
Remember to make use of the crate to assist your 8-week-old puppy to acclimate to it easier, get your pup really tired and then let him have a nap in his new house.
*We start crate training our service dog puppies when they are 8 weeks old and our rule of thumb is to not crate them for more than 2 hours at that age.
Take Crate Training A Puppy Slowly
Throughout the crate training process, we want to take things very slowly.
Your puppy is young and only has a short attention span, so initially spend only 3 to 5 minutes at a time doing this training and then take a break to do something else.
Don’t rush it, don’t force your puppy. The last thing you want to do is create a bad experience.
This could damage their view of the crate going forward and seriously set you back.
If they start to fail at any step, go back a bit and move forward more slowly.
Go at your puppy’s pace.
Likewise, if your puppy becomes stressed at any of the early stages in the process above, especially when the door is closed, go back a couple of steps to an earlier time where they again feel happy and can succeed.
There’s a chance you may have rushed things so go more slowly this time.
As a general rule of thumb, you want to have had your puppy be successful a good 10 times at any one step before moving on to the next one.
Taking things slowly and allowing your puppy to succeed often, before making things harder and asking for more will keep them enthusiastic and happy.
When you first start to cue your puppy to go to the crate (with ‘kennel up’) it’s best you only do so for very short periods and while you are present.
This will help to avoid any feelings of being alone, of being abandoned, and associating these feelings with the crate.
Crate them little and often while you are in the same room. For instance when you vacuum, when you eat a meal, or when you relax and read the paper.
Once they’ve shown they’re happy being crated and have accepted it, then you can start to cue them to the crate and leave the room for short periods.
And only once they’ve proven many, many times that they’re happy being in the crate with you being out of the room for some time should you consider crating them when you actually leave your home.
Tips To Speed Up and Increase Puppy’s Acceptance of the Crate
To speed up their acceptance of the crate you should leave the crate open and accessible to your puppy all day every day.
Leave a couple of their favorite toys in there, and now and then go and place some treats inside to encourage them to wander in of their own accord and find wonderful things about the crate outside of training.
Another great tip is when you see your puppy nodding off during the day, gently persuade them to go to the crate to sleep.
If they fall asleep elsewhere, gently pick them up onto their feet and keep them moving, get them to the crate. This will slowly teach them in time to go to their crate when tired.
It will become their default sleeping area and this will massively help speed up their love of the crate and the training process.
Always Have Something For Puppy To Do While Crated
Always make sure you have things in the crate to occupy your puppy if you’re expecting them to be in there for anything more than a minute.
A Kong toy stuffed with food, and other special chew toys that they absolutely love!
This keeps your puppy’s mind occupied in the crate and helps to stave off boredom and prevents their minds from drifting to plans of escape.
It’s a good idea to take whatever becomes their favorite toy and keep it solely for play inside of the crate so it earns extra special meaning and is something they look forward to.
If Puppy Gets Stressed And Cries To Get Out
If your puppy gets to a stage in the process where the door is closed and they make a huge fuss crying trying to get out, the worst thing you can do is to let them out in this state.
This will teach them whining and crying gets them out and we really do not want this. We want the opposite, to teach them being calm and quiet is what gets them rewarded and released.
The worst thing you can do is let your puppy out of the crate after they’ve screamed a long time!
If you do this, you’ll end up with a puppy that continually cries in the crate and this could be VERY hard to fix later!
In the early stages of crate training, if they’re making a fuss, calmly reassure your puppy until they’re calm and quiet, and only then release them. You should probably go back a few steps in the training.
In the later stages of training, or when crated overnight, only go to your puppy when they’ve become quiet for 5 seconds or more. This will teach them that being quiet is the only way to get you to come to them.
As you approach, if they start to scream again, simply ignore them. Stay in the room but busy yourself doing something else and do not turn your attention to them until they’re quiet again.
Then praise and reward the quiet. They will soon get the idea but it will require patience…and maybe ear plugs…on your part.
How To Crate Train a Puppy Fast – Crate Training in a Weekend
I recommend and have always followed a nice gentle routine such as the above when it comes to crate training my dogs.
All logic says it will go much smoother as it’s so unforced and running at your dog’s own pace, therefore it will be far less stressful and almost certainly have a higher chance of success than rushing it. However…
Some people may not have the time to dedicate perhaps weeks to the process or just really need to use a crate in a much quicker time.
If this is you, I recommend you check out this link to the weekend crate training guide from WebMD.
A reputable source of information and I’ve read the guide and agree with a lot of what’s said. Indeed my method and theirs agree on a lot of points.
So although I don’t recommend rushing through the crate training process as forcing it may end in hard-to-fix fears and failure, if you’re going to try and crate within a weekend, this is the guide to follow.
But I’ve always taken far more time myself so I cannot vouch for the speed of the ‘weekend’ process or guarantee it will work!
How Long Can a Puppy Be Left in the Crate? [Crate Duration Guidelines]
The general advice is you can crate your puppy for a time in hours equal to the age they are in months plus one.
So for a 3 month old puppy: 3 + 1 = 4hrs max.
The problem with rules of thumb such as this is that all dogs are different. Some puppies are able to hold their bladder for 3 hours at 12 weeks, others are not.
So taking the best of not crating before 9 weeks, never exceeding 5 hours at any one time, and taking into account the fact puppies physical maturity varies, the best I can suggest is the following:
PUPPY AGE | DURATION |
---|---|
9-10 Weeks | 30-60 Minutes |
11-14 Weeks | 1-3 Hours |
15-16 Weeks | 3-4 Hours |
17+ Weeks | 4+ Hours |
*We don’t recommend more than 5 hours without a good break.
And please, have your puppy out of the crate as much as and as long as possible. It’s a management tool and training aid, not a way of life.
Conclusion
By taking on board everything said in this very detailed article, you should now be able to train your puppy to happily and calmly spend time in their crate.
It isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it isn’t too difficult either.
All it requires is to follow the rules and steps laid out above and the patience and dedication to see it through calmly and methodically.
Some people may encounter problems.
Hopefully, I’ve addressed most of the above. But there will be a follow-up article in a couple of weeks addressing common problems and how to overcome them.
Here’s a recap of a few products we suggested you have before you start crate training your puppy:
- Calmeroos Puppy Toy with Heartbeat and Heat packs
- Midwest Life Stages Crate
- KONG Dog Toy
- Zukes Mini Naturals
- Dog Training Clicker
That’s a great start for supplies you’ll need for your new puppy.
If you’re looking for an extensive list then check out the New Puppy Checklist our friends at Puppy In Training put together. It details pretty much everything you’ll need before bringing home a new puppy.
More information:
This was part 6 in an 8-part series that details everything you need to know about the use of a crate and crate training your puppy. The information applies equally well to dogs of all breeds and not just Labradors.
The entire series is linked here:
- Part 1: Crate training – The complete guide (introduction)
- Part 2: Why use a dog crate – and is it cruel to crate a dog?
- Part 3: How to use a dog crate – When and when NOT to crate a dog
- Part 4: What size dog crate should you get and which type is best?
- Part 5: What to put in a dog crate, where to put it, how to get it prepared
- Part 6: How to crate train a puppy: Day, night, even if you work
- Part 7: How to crate train an older dog – Yours or adopted
- Part 8: A List Of Dog Crates Highly Recommended By Labrador Training HQ
I’ve tried to cover literally every question I could imagine on dog crates and crate training in the article series above, but of course, it’s hard to cover every question that people may possibly have.
So if there’s anything you need to know but cannot find an answer for above, please feel free to leave your questions in the comments section below and I will happily give all the help I can :-)
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UPDATED MARCH 25th, 2020 – We’ve raised dozens of service dog puppies and continue to learn new things with each puppy. We routinely update our articles to show the most current information.
Top Picks For Our Dogs
- BEST PUPPY TOY
We Like: Calmeroos Puppy Toy w/ Heartbeat and Heat Packs - Perfect for new puppies. Helps ease anxiety in their new home. - BEST DOG CHEW
We Like: Bones & Chews Bully Sticks - All of our puppies love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Bully Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors. - BEST DOG TREATS
We Like: Crazy Dog Train Me Treats - One of our favorite treats for training our service dog puppies. - BEST FRESH DOG FOOD
We Like: The Farmer's Dog - A couple months ago we started feeding Raven fresh dog food and she loves it! Get 50% off your first order of The Farmer's Dog.
For a list of all the supplies we get for our new service dog puppies check out our New Puppy Checklist on the PuppyInTraining.com blog.
105 comments
Thanks for finally writing on this topic, I really liked it and will follow the advice. I read the articles in the rest of the series and have been waiting for instructions to start crate training my Lab puppy. My Stella chews everything! Like EVERYTHING at home! We will not crate her often, but just to help break the chewing habit as it’s getting expensive. She’s so lovely and not at all badly behaved just chews a lot when we’re not watching. This should really help.
Hi Latashia,
Crating is a good way to stop bad chewing habits forming. If you can’t supervise your puppy, crate her a short while and make sure there are acceptable chew toys in there with her and it will promote chewing on the things you’d like her to while not giving her the chance to chew the things she shouldn’t.
I like the fact you say ‘We will not crate her often’ :-) It’s not supposed to be a way of life, in this case just a tool to help you manage your labs behaviour and protect your belongings. Only to be used when you really cannot keep an eye on her.
Thank you for commenting…please check back and tell us how you get on :-)
Thanks for writing this informative article. My husband and I just got a 10 week old chocolate labrador puppy. I wanted to crate train her, but it may be too late now because we have been putting her in there to sleep at night. She doesn’t hate it in there, but definitely howls and cries for a good amount of time before stopping. My question is, where should we let her sleep if not in the crate? Most other websites have always said to put her in the crate and, as hard as it is, ignore her whining until it stops on her own (given that she doesn’t need to be taken out).
Thanks in advance!
Hi Chan,
Thank you, it’s nice to know people find my articles useful :-)
I agree with the common advice you’ve read elsewhere: Sleep her in the crate, persevere with it for weeks and eventually she will learn to quieten down…depending on how you deal with the noise!
When she cries at night, do not go to her, do not make a fuss, just completely ignore her. You should go to her just once during the night to SILENTLY take her to her bathroom spot (at 10 weeks it’s unlikely she can last the night). When you do this, don’t pet her, make a fuss or anything, just silently take her to potty and then back in the crate to sleep.
When she cries and whines in the crate, the absolute last thing you want to do is go to her and give attention of any description, either good or bad. Any attention she receives will likely reinforce her behavior because you will inadvertently teach her that if she makes a noise for long enough, eventually you will come. Doesn’t matter if you talk kindly and try to soothe her, or shout at and scold her, any attention will do for her and she will continue to make noise thinking (or having learnt) it works to get you to come and give attention.
You absolutely must just ignore the noise, no matter how heart breaking it sounds or how much sleep you are deprived of, just ignore it. And when you go to her in the morning to let her out, you should go to the crate and patiently wait there for silence before you give any attention or let her out. You need to react to and reward quiet, never the noise.
Now, just because you crate her during the night doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go through the crate training process. To her, going in the crate to sleep at night is entirely different to being crated during the day, entirely different again to being crated when you leave the house, and different again to using the crate as her own special den and place to go to for calm and quiet. You should still crate train her, to teach her to be happy with being crated and to use it herself.
I have put all my puppies in their crate to sleep at night from almost the first day I’ve got them home (maybe a cardboard box the first two or three nights) and I’m yet to have one who was happy about it…or quiet…for at least many days. And even when they’re happy to sleep in a crate while the house is quiet and we’re all asleep, it’s taken at least many more days (or usually weeks) of crate training to have them be happy crated during the day and for them to start using the crate themselves.
So I’d advise to sleep her in the crate, she’ll soon come round to the idea. But to crate train her during the day as you were aiming to.
Good luck and enjoy this precious time with your puppy…they grow up too quickly don’t they?
Thank you Chan for your great question as I had the same one. And thank you James for the wonderful article and also for your responses. So, would you be ok with crating overnight the 7 week/ 8 week old new pups (with every 3 hour (silent) bathroom breaks) but to reserve formal day time crate training to week 9/10?
Every puppy we’ve crate trained has been different. We’ve had some do very well at 7/8 weeks in the crate doing exactly as you said and taking them out every 3 hours or so for potty breaks at night. However, other puppies require a slower approach like what is outlined in the article. When it comes to crate training we play a lot of it by ear and wait to see our puppy’s response. Good luck with your training!
What a wonderful article! I have previously crate trained a puppy very successfully and her owners were extremely surprised at her calm acceptance and love of her ‘happy place’. However I am about to become a foster mum to a 13mth old Malamute x husky rescue dog who has moderate food aggression. I would normally feed the dog only in the crate but I’m concerned that it may add another ‘coveted item’ to her aggression. I guess in one sense it is a good thing to confine her so she cannot display/has no need to display aggressive behaviour but I’m not convinced it will solve the problem or make crate training her easier. Do you have any advice in regards to this situation?
Hi Brandi,
I’m glad you enjoyed the article and thank you, it’s always nice to have positive feedback :-)
A Malamute x Husky eh? That’s gonna be a beautiful looking dog!
I keep reading conflicting views on whether to feed a resource guarding dog in a crate or not. Some advise it, others do not.
Though I’m no professional (so take this advice on face value) I would personally lean more toward not feeding her in the crate because you never know when you may have to reach in there one day and if she hasn’t finished her bowl she may be aggressive toward you. And I think your point of ‘it may add another ‘coveted item’ to her aggression‘ is very valid too! Dogs already see their crate as their own, and if they are prone to food guarding it might have some sort of stacking affect making her doubly on guard. Something like: This is ‘MY’ food in ‘MY’ crate! How dare you come near!!
But then on the flip side of that, depending on the situation, feeding her in the crate may at least prevent things getting worse as half of any behavioral modification battle is management of the problem, with the other half being training.
I’m not sure of your home situation regarding other house members, other pets etc. But it would benefit her greatly to be able to eat alone, in peace, and not have situations arise where she feels she needs to guard her food. This can be achieved by making sure every person in the home knows not to approach her while eating, but also keeping other pets away too. Preferably this would mean feeding her alone in a separate room where she will not be approached, but if this isn’t possible then maybe feeding her in her crate is an occasional answer?
Moving forward though, I would use as many meal times as possible as an opportunity to treat her food guarding problem. This will make everybody’s lives better going forward with nobody having to worry about her becoming aggressive around food and she losing the chance of getting into (perhaps serious) trouble for being aggressive to people.
The following two articles from Dr. Sophia Yin regarding food aggression are fantastic (as is nearly all of her work.) Try to apply her methods and I think because you describe the food guarding problem as only ‘moderate’, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to find massive improvements in just a matter of days or weeks.
Treatment of Food Aggression in Dogs is About Finesse, Not Force – Read the whole article and also watch the second video about Ben the Golden Retriever and his food guarding to see the results of her methods.
A Scientific Approach Can Help You Solve Many Types of Possession Aggression, Part 1: Food Bowl – Again, try to read the whole article. This one says a lot of what’s already said in the first article I linked to, but goes into more detail explaining how to put the method into action.
I hope this helps and good luck with your new lady :-)
We have 2 minpins one of which was a obtained as a puppy and the larger minpins was acquired around 2 years old. We believe he had 2 owners before staying in our home. Here is the issue we (me) are having. When it’s cold/hot we bring him in the carpeted rec-room. Being a true marker we had to crate train him and couldn’t trust him unsupervised.
The daughter wouldn’t spend enough time training by staying in the room, nor her mother, but I enjoyed the time doing so. Unfortunately, I can’t stay in the room all the time either. Finally, I believe he (all of us let the him out enough, with commands to potty) seems trustworthy to leave him alone for an hour or 2. The problem is the mother doesn’t want him in the room when no one is here even if it is just 1 hour or so. Is there a way I can train the mother/daughter team to relax with the dog and get on the same page as myself?
Also, the mother feels she let’s him out, and watch him pee twice, only to let him in, only to see him pee (mark) on a potted plant. I kid her, but he doesn’t do that with me.
Any info on this behavior is great. PS. She doesn’t want dogs, but her daughter moved in with them. I love animals and tell her to play with the dogs and be warm and friendly, gaining the trust of the animal.
thank you.
Hi Darryl,
It’s a shame the mother and daughter won’t help with the house training, it would speed things along and should be a team effort.
I can’t help you with the mothers attitude and rules, but with your two minpins (I’ve never heard the term, are they ‘miniature Pinschers?’) The only way you can find out if they can be trusted is to slowly test the waters.
Stick to religiously house training them, supervising them when out of the crate and confining them when you cannot watch them. If they have gone a solid 6 weeks or more without once ever trying to urinate anywhere in the home, you can try leaving them alone in a familiar room and see what happens. But if they have tried to urinate in the room and you had to intervene, then chances are they aren’t ready to be trusted. And if ‘mother’ has seen them urinate on a plant inside the home, chances are they cannot be trusted completely so you should continue house training them until they can be.
You need to give them freedom out of the crate, but be watching them closely, to intervene and re-direct their pottying to the right place. There is no other way for them to learn. Good luck…with the minpins and the mother :-)
My husband and I will be picking up our lab puppy in just about 1 month. She will be 7 weeks and 4 days. After reading the full crate training article, I guess I’m still just a little confused on some things.
We’re doing our best to create a schedule that will limit the amount of time our pup will be home alone and have got it down to 4 hours at the max on the longest days – not too bad for both of us working full-time. However, this is still a long time for an 8-12 week old puppy. We would like to crate her while we are away, but we’re entertaining the idea of the crate attached to a pen – just don’t know what to put down on the floor underneath it (our house is all carpet). Any suggestions? Also, I know you said to put some kind of bedding in the crate, but if we are still working on potty training, what do you recommend? We want to avoid the potty pads, as I’ve also heard that they can delay the process by providing an alternative to going outdoors.
We also have an (elderly) cat. The cat had never been without a dog until our last lab died in 2012, so I’m hoping it doesn’t go too bad, but do you have any suggestions on making the adjustment easier for him as well? Our bedroom is usually his domain, so I’m hesitant to put the puppy’s crate in there.
Hi Kari,
You’re doing the right thing, you cannot crate a puppy for longer than they can hold their bladder so 4 hours would be too long. I advise the use of an exercise pen in my guide to house training a puppy. Clicking here takes you right to the section in question.
Attaching the crate to the pen I’ve seen mentioned in many articles and it’s a good solution, providing a play area, a sleeping area, and room for a toilet spot away from both. Ideal :-)
As I advise in my product guide for house training, I would place a tarpaulin sheet underneath the exercise pen to protect your carpet.
Tarpaulin is waterproof, very strong, easily cleaned, cheap and available in many different sizes so you shouldn’t struggle to find some suitable. They have quite a range available on Amazon. I would recommend getting 2 or 3 to layer it up so if your puppy claws or chews through, there’s back up layers if you get what I mean? Maybe a sheet the right size is $15 or so, 3 costing treble that, but your carpets could be hundreds of dollars so it’s worth the expense I would say!
For the bedding to use in a crate, you can read my opinion by clicking here. Basically, to start with I always say VetBed. Permeable, easily washable, extremely durable, soft enough to be comfortable. It ticks all the right boxes.
I would NEVER put puppy pads in the crate. They are usually scented to encourage a puppy to pee on them, the exact opposite of what you want to happen in the crate. However, they can be a good idea placed in a tray, on top of paper in the exercise pen away from the crate for when you aren’t there.
You’re right that puppy pads can delay the house training process if you wish your puppy to toilet outside. But it’s not the pads at fault, it’s puppy being allowed to wee inside, then being told later they can’t that delays the learning. But you cannot avoid this.
Your puppy will wee inside multiple times during 4 hours, there is nothing you can do about this as they’re physically incapable of holding it anywhere near that time. Your puppy has to go somewhere and I cannot think of a better solution than on puppy pads, in a tray, on tarpaulin sheets in their exercise pen. This will keep your floors clean and be easiest for you to clean up when you get home too. You should initially place some paper around the pads too so it catches any misses (Though do expect some paper and pad shredding to occur for the first few days or more.) I use a similar set up when I have a puppy and have to leave them alone.
I can’t offer much advice with your cat I’m afraid but if you Google ‘introducing a puppy to a resident cat‘, there’s lots of advice written out there.
I hope this helps and good luck with your puppy :-)
Thank you for this article! It’s the best one I’ve seen on this topic. Most articles start out nicely and then mid way through the writer recommends an e-collar, or shaking a loud can of coins, or yelling “Quiet!” if the dog is barking in the crate. Aie! I am not keen on any of those methods for my pup.
My puppy is 5 months old and I tried hard to crate train her early on (we got her at 8 weeks), but I think I screwed it up somewhere along the way and she learned to bark in her crate in order to be released.
My situation is a little different than most, as both my husband and I work from home so we have been with our puppy 24/7 since the day we got her. That is great, but it also means she hasn’t had much alone-time practice – She’s not used to being completely alone at all. I would like to start working on this, so in the future I can leave her in her car crate, or at home alone (crated or free in the house if she can handle it), for short periods of time (1 – 3 hours), so I can do human things that she doesn’t need to (or can’t) come along for (getting a haircut, going out to dinner, visiting someone in the hospital when necessary, etc).
Here’s where we are at:
– She sleeps in her crate in our bedroom from about 9pm – 6:30am. No fuss, no barking, except sometimes she might wake up in the night and paw lightly at the door – I soothe her back to sleep verbally in about 20 seconds (by saying very quietly ‘shhhh, good girl, good puppy, shhhhh’)
– She is housetrained – She rings bells hanging on the front door when she needs to potty.
– She is pretty good usually in her crate in the car, as long as I’m in there driving it and she’s had some exercise beforehand. She’ll usually sleep for 1 – 1.5 hours in the crate while I’m driving, and then I always stop and let her run around, potty, play, for 20 – 30 minutes before we drive some more. Sometimes she will wake up and we are still driving, and I soothe her verbally (as I do at night) until we can stop for a break. I am trying to avoid her starting to bark, which was starting to become a habit (and she still does it sometimes).
– During the day, her crate is available and open, and she used to go into it and lay down on her own (very infrequently), but now she will usually find a sleeping spot on the hard floor (go figure), or on the couch where we have a pillow covered with a towel that is her couch spot.
– Back in the early days I was putting her in her crate during the day for her naps (usually 1 hour in length), but I stopped doing that as her chewing decreased and her ability to fall asleep on her own around the house increased.
Where I went wrong was putting her in the crate and keeping her in there when she started barking, and then panicking that she had to go potty, so letting her out to go potty (sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t). I think she learned quickly that barking would get her out (ooops!! If only I could start over!)
What I would like is for her to be able to be happily settled, quietly, in her crate in the car (if I need to go shopping or do an errand), and be crate trained for the house during the day if needed when traveling, or if I needed to leave her for a period of time (1 – 3 hours max) during the day, before she’s ready to just enjoy the whole house when left alone. I’m not sure she’s ready for that yet! I’d love to know I could leave her in her crate and she would happily hang out there without barking or scratching at the door.
Right now I sometimes leave her in the car crate for very short periods of times (while I dash into the store to grab something, or use a public washroom while on the road). A few times we have been able to go out for breakfast while she’s having her morning nap in the car crate, but I am coming outside and checking on her every 10 minutes to make sure she’s not barking, and we kind of eat super fast so we are sure to be back before she wakes up! I’d love to remove this stress and just know she’s in there, happy and not going to start barking while she’s alone for a little while.
She gets tons of love and exercise, training, and she’s so wonderful in many ways, and smart, so I know we can do this!
I have started your protocol. Yesterday and this morning I had her lay in her crate (she knows ‘on your bed’ and will readily go into her crate and lay down when asked).
I closed the door and set the timer for 7 minutes. I clicked and treated for random intervals of 5, 10, 15, 25, 30, 45, and 60 seconds, during this 7 minutes. I varied between being in the room and out of the room. She did great! No barking and she just lay there and waited. I was nervous she would start barking at 60 seconds, but she was able to do it.
I cannot imagine her laying happily in there for 5 minutes, much less 30 minutes!
So I wanted some more details on how to increase the time from 1 – 30 minutes. How many times should I practice per day? Do I just slowly slowly increase the time over a couple of weeks, and eventually she’ll get it?
How do I practice this in the car? Put her in the crate, close the back door of the car, do the timing thing, then open the back door of the car, click, open the crate door, and treat? (And then close the crate door, close the car door, time, etc, and repeat?)
Oh – the reason I have to open the crate door a little bit is because it’s a zipper door (nylon camper style crate). She doesn’t chew it anymore (during her really active chewing days we used a wire crate).
I know you say to put high value chew toys in there – If I do that, she will definitely chew on them and not be interested in the click-treat game. She would chew on a new bully stick happily for a little while, but once she’s done with it, she’d likely start barking. Should I give her a bully stick, wait until she’s done, and then start the click-treat training before she starts barking (so she learns not to start barking when she’s done chewing)?
As you can see, I am really keen on getting this right this time around! I really appreciate your article and all the detail, and the detailed replies you’ve given to the other questions. I know I should have practiced more alone-time for her from the very beginning, and this kind of crate training. Too bad! But we did really well on some other things. :)
Thanks so much! I have a couple of weeks to truly dedicate to both home and car crate training!
Candice
Hi Candice,
First of all, sorry for the late reply I’ve been very busy with work and fallen behind with things! Secondly, thank you for the positive feedback on the article! Always nice to hear :-)
It sounds like you’re doing a very good job Candice, taking things slowly, carefully and with patience…And there’s not a lot more I can add to be honest!
It’s hard to give a general rule of thumb to use for extending alone time in a crate because all dogs are different. Some will go of their own accord and spend time alone for perhaps hours without being asked, others can be so attached to their owners that leaving them alone for too long too soon can lead to separation anxiety. Some can progress very quickly, others need more time.
I hear you when you say: ‘I cannot imagine her laying happily in there for 5 minutes, much less 30 minutes!’ But ever so slowly, a small step at a time you will surely get there.
Personally I try to increase time in increments that overall are a small percentage of the time they’re already comfortable at. What I mean is, if they are happy alone for just 90 seconds, increasing this by a minute in one step is a huge increase relatively speaking and likely too much, an increase of 66%. So I’d add just 10s, an increase of a little over 10% and far easier a step to conquer.
But if they are happy spending 2 hours alone in the crate, adding 10s is pointless! Adding another 10 minutes is a good number, also less than a 10% increase at this stage. So at 90s I would only add 10s for my next target, but at half hour I would feel happy to add 5 minutes.
So try to make the max time increase by 10s each time until you get to about 5 minutes, then increase by 30s at a time until you get to 15 minutes, then increase by a minute and so on. A bit of guess work and nothing set in stone, but small steps relative to the total time if you know what I mean?
How many times should you practice each day? 3 or 4 sessions should do it, but you should randomize the times if you can to prevent it becoming routine and your lady knowing what to expect and when.
And yes, as you’ve said, basically just increase the time over weeks and eventually she will get it. You might have to take a step back sometimes to shorter time periods if she starts to fail before progressing again. And there’s no way to know if it will take a couple of weeks or a couple of months sadly. But the sooner you get going the better.
A good tip is also ‘a tired dog is a quiet dog’ While not strictly true, a ‘quieter’ dog is true. So before you attempt the training, it’s good to give some exercise first so she is calmer and more willing to relax.
Another tip I keep hearing crop up that will help you…and this might sound counter-intuitive at first…is if you train your dog how to speak on command because then you can train them the ‘quiet’ command so they know the difference.
Check out this article for an overview of the process: http://www.canineminded.com/uncategorized/teach-dog-speak-quiet-command/
The thing is, dogs have no way of knowing they are doing wrong when they bark, and don’t understand us when we ask that they don’t. Sometimes speaking to them, shouting at them, anything in between can make things worse as they think we’re joining in!
So by teaching a bark on cue, then a quiet on cue, you improve your chances of success by asking for quiet and knowing that she understands the command. I think this will help in your situation.
Finally, yes, your steps for training in the car sound good to me. The same as you would in the house, just in a different location. It really shouldn’t be treated any differently.
Good luck, let us know how you get on! :-)
Thank you for your reply!! I just read it late last night.
Well, this method really works. We have been practicing it for about 10 days, and when I first wrote, and said I couldn’t imagine 2 or 5 or 10 minutes of her lying quietly in the crate, we’d only been doing it for a day or two and very small increments of times (5s, 10s….working up to 60s felt like forever!) She was very alert in the crate and you could feel the tension between us both (waiting for the next ‘click’).
Happy to report that working slowly and consistently really pays off. She just lay quietly in her crate for ONE HOUR while I sat in the same room watching TV. We’d just been out for a big walk and she was ready for a nap. I said “crate” and she bounded in, then I closed the door and gave her a tasty Kong and a bully stick. I left the room and she chewed on those for about 8 minutes. When I heard her stop with that, I came back in, took the Kong away (so she only associates the really good stuff being available when I am not in the room), and she lay down right away without a peep, and fell asleep.
She slept soundly in there for about 50 minutes. Once, she woke up and had a little scratch, and looked at me, but I just ignored her and she lay down again and fell asleep for a little longer.
When she woke up again, she pawed a little at the crate but didn’t bark. I waited for 5 minutes before letting her out. Only two click-treats in that time. She didn’t bark or whine, just lay there quietly and kind of chewed her blanket a little.
WOW!
It totally works.
We have also been doing the exact same method in the car and I am so pleased to report that she hasn’t barked once in the car for about a week. Anytime I leave the car I give her a Kong or a tasty chew that she doesn’t get at any other time. When I return, I take that high value thing away. I also realized that after a long walk (to which we often drive to), I can leave her in the car in the crate sleeping for awhile (because she always falls asleep in the car-crate after our long afternoon walk). Before, I was driving home and then getting her up again and she would be tired but kind of energized again. She doesn’t know that we are ‘home’, so she can continue sleeping in there for a little while. Yesterday she slept in the car crate alone for 30 minutes, though I am sure she could have gone a bit longer.
Thank you for posting the ‘weekend crate training plan’ as well – I have used both your guide and that one for guidance. Now I think I can start working on being absent when she’s in the crate in the house.
I wonder if I left her in the crate sleeping, and she woke up and I wasn’t there? I am not sure what her reaction would be. I wonder if she would start barking for me. What do you think?
And would you do the same click-treat at random intervals in the morning when she wakes up? She wakes up between 6 and 6:20 – I’d love if she would just sleep until 6:30 or 7:00, when we were ready to wake up. I wouldn’t push it too much longer because she might have to potty (but I don’t think so because she doesn’t bound out of her crate in the morning, she mostly wants to cuddle or play). When she wakes up, she stands up in her crate and paws at the door, and if I don’t respond, she barks. It’d be great if she just lay there patiently for me to get her out (which would be soon after she woke up anyway). What do you think? Click-treat in the morning too? I tried it this morning for 10 minutes. She doesn’t bark when we’re playing that ‘game’. Or do puppies just wake up early and I can look forward to more sleep in the future??? :)
Thanks for the suggestion about the bark-on-cue…. I’ll think about that! I’m a bit wary of teaching barking as a trick just in case she really likes it and not the quiet cue.
THANKS AGAIN! Great guide, best one out there for sure. If anyone is thinking about starting this I would really recommend it and just be patient and have trust it will work with practice.
Candice
Oh hi again!
Everything is continuing to go well.
Just a quick question – I wanted to know what you would suggest for the morning. She sleeps in her crate by my bed. This morning she woke up at 5:55am and started pawing at the door to get out. I ignored her, and she started to bark. Not too crazily, but she would bark a few times, stop and be quiet for a little, then bark some more.
The other day I got up and did 10 minutes of click-treat for quiet, but this morning I just flat out ignored the barking. After she was quiet again for sometimes (this went on until 6:20am), I let her out and took her out to the bathroom, and we started the day. She eats breakfast around 7:00.
What would you suggest for the barking in the crate, first thing in the morning? Ignore, or click-treat method?
For the longest time I was just getting up whenever she got up, to avoid the barking.
Now I’d like her to either sleep in til 6:30 or 7, or at least just lay patiently until I opened the crate door.
I need to eliminate her 8:00 – 9:00pm nap the night before. Too bad, because around that time of night I am like “aaaaaah, she’s sleeping and I can have a little alone time this evening”
Appreciate your advice!!!!
Candice
Hello again Candice,
It’s good to hear things are going well and your work and patience are paying off. Well done!
For barking in the morning, as you’ve said yourself it’s best to just ignore it. YOU need to decide the time to get up, not your puppy, and if you let her decide even two or three times (by you getting up and going to her) she can learn to do it again and again. So you’re right to ignore it.
However, if the barking occurs on too many consecutive mornings even though you ignore her, that can become habit and a real problem. There is a commonly offered way to address it…though you may not like the sound of it if you like your sleep…Get up BEFORE your puppy, before they have a chance to bark, so she learns she can get attention and your company in the morning without having to bark. This breaks the habit and the pattern, throws of what’s becoming (or become) her routine of morning barking. You can then push the time out by a few minutes each day and expect her not to bark, until you reach the time after a few days that YOU want to be getting up and not her.
ThatMutt.com has an explanation of the technique in the following article: http://www.thatmutt.com/2012/01/29/how-to-stop-a-dog-from-barking-in-the-morning/
Also in the same article is something I’ve not heard advised (or tried myself) before but makes perfect sense and may help. Quite a way down in the article, under the title: What if the dog never stops whining? Get puppy’s attention with a sit, or a ‘watch me’ command, then reward this before letting them out of the crate. They will associate the reward and being let out with giving you a sit or their attention on cue, they never get rewarded for crying. Have a quick read, it sounds fair advice to me. There’s also some good conversation in the comments below the article.
One final thing: I totally agree with you that you should stop her 8 o clock nap at night. I do understand you wanting quiet time, but putting her to bed rested not long after will be working against you. Try eliminating this nap so she is tired for bed, not well rested, while at the same time working on a method to cure morning barking. Once the morning barking habit has been broken, you should be able to let her nap at night again.
please help, I have tried this over and over, my puppy is now 18 wks, we have had her since she was 7 weeks, she will go in, lay down and be quiet, then all heck breaks out and she cries and barks, what am I doing wrong, please, I can’t take this any longer. my neighbors want to file complaints of abuse on the puppy
Hi Michelle,
Have you followed a structured training program? It could be she just isn’t happy enough to be crated and left alone just yet. You should try going a few steps back in the training above to a point where she is succeeding, then move forward again more slowly, not moving out of her comfort zone until she is ready. Some puppies can take many weeks of training before they are happy left alone crated.
First, I absolutely loved watching the puppies thought process in the video! adorable!
I’m bringing home a 8 week old Weimaraner pup from my sisters litter. I work 8 hr shifts and wont be able to let him out for breaks during this time. I’m designating a enclosed area for him to have a little space and be able to lay in the kennel as well while working hrs. At what age do I take that space away? 7 months old? since that would be 8 hrs?
Also… is it bad to allow him to sleep with me and instead of sleeping in his crate at night? If he’s anything like his father, he will definitely be a sleeping buddy lol I’d feel horrible to keep him cooped up at night and then again while I’m at work.
Hi Samantha,
8 hours is a very long time alone for an adult dog, let alone a puppy, so try to arrange a friend, family member, pro (paid) dog walker or somebody to visit half way through the day, to exercise, play with and mentally stimulate your pup. I cannot stress enough how important and beneficial this is to a dog and their quality of life. Is this something you’d be bale to put effort and perhaps financial cost towards?
The following article from another Lab site is a good read on this subject (ignore the article title, I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t get the puppy, it’s just the article contents is a good read): http://www.thelabradorsite.com/should-you-get-a-labrador-if-you-work-full-time/
I’m afraid I’m not sure what you’re asking with your next question, could you clarify?: ‘At what age do I take that space away? 7 months old? since that would be 8 hrs?’
Finally, is it OK to have him sleep in your room? That’s entirely personal preference and up to you. I know many people who have their dog sleep in their bedroom every single night; some sleep in a crate, some on the floor, some on the bed. Both they and their dogs are very happy with it. If you’re happy to do so you can bet your dog will be too and it will not lead to any problems, they will prefer the night time company if given then chance.
Just be aware that if he gets used to it, it will be hard to change the behavior later on and he will feel hard done by, perhaps whine and cry and not know why he’s been pushed out. So go for either never in your room, (maybe now and then as a treat), or always in your room. Don’t let him sleep on your bed nightly for weeks or months and then change it, this will be confusing and hard for him to understand.
So either way is OK, it’s up to you :-)
Hi there,
Just got a 13 week old puppy 6 days ago. We have tried the “bark it out” method in the crate but he doesn’t seem to be catching on at all. While we have gotten to be more successful with nighttime crating, we just got a written notice that a neighbor complained about barking throughout the day while we are gone (our apartment building is VERY tolerant of dogs so this stings a lot!). We have a family member come halfway through my 6 hour day to let him out for a bit.
My mom has offered to take him to her house for the next two work days and do some crate work and “barking it out” in a house where neighbors won’t complain. Because he has improved a lot at night, I am hopeful that just a few days of daytime crate practice will be enough to stop the frequent barking. But is this counterproductive? I’d hate for all my mom’s efforts to be undone once he is back in the apartment.
Thanks for your advice.
Hi K,
If your mum can take and train him while you work, this will benefit. But it won’t be as good as doing so inside YOUR home. Dogs do not generalize well so What he learns at your mums doesn’t mean he will take that learning with him to your house sadly. BUT…it will help some, for sure, so carry on with the idea.
Does he bark if you leave him alone in a room while you’re still in the house? I don’t know where he has come from before going to you, but it may be he’s spent no time alone in his life yet and needs to be shown that being alone is OK, is not permanent, and that quiet is a good idea. He’s not old enough yet to have developed ingrained habits that are hard to break, so you should be able to tackle the problem quite easily.
Anyway, some things to try are:
Make sure he’s been tired out before leaving him alone. “A tired dog is a quiet dog” is a phrase you will hear a lot! So a little training and play before you leave him is a good idea (very small amount…he’s only young!)
Secondly, are you leaving him with any toys to keep him occupied? I wouldn’t advise stuffed kongs inside a crate for such a young pup sadly (older ones definitely!) because it will play havoc with your house training if he isn’t fed to a schedule. But he should have some comforting toys and chew toys to occupy him.
You can try closing the curtains and shutting out any distractions from the outside world that might be making him either anxious or over-excited. This often works. Also, I hear (have never tried) quiet and gentle music, or a TV on low – the volume people would talk at in your home – so he can hear sounds and human voices has a calming effect and quietens down a puppy.
Luckily, once he is crate trained it should quieten him down…so it’s good to hear you are doing this. When a dog (or puppy) is comfortable in a crate, they are far more likely to relax and chill out compared to having more freedom in the house. Crating a dog who is noisy left alone is often a good answer so you’re doing the right thing there.
Look at points 5, 6 and 7 in this article: http://www.adoptapet.com/blog/help-your-dog-stop-crying-when-left-alone/
Also, as I mentioned above, train him being alone and quiet is the right thing to do. I’ve tried to find a good article with suggestions fo this, but struggled to find one (makes a note to himself write one in future! :-) ) But I’ve found the following. Please look at the ‘break the cycle’ section, it’s sound advice: https://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-problems/home-alone-barking/
Also, this article repeats the advice if you scroll down to the heading ‘bark set ups’ (ignore the rest for now.): https://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-problems/dog-barks-left-alone/
Good luck!
Hello. I will be getting a golden the end of Aug at 8 weeks old. I have an almost 4 yr old Saint my question is does anyone sell inserts to make the crate smaller for a pup so that I don’t have to buy a new crate. Obviously my crate is an XL crate.
Hi Robyn,
I assume this is a crate no longer being used by your ST Bernard?
Anyway, I would start by googling the manufacturer of the crate you have + divider (e.g. ‘Midwest dog crate + divider’) and see if there is actually one made specifically for your crate.
There are also some dividers available on Amazon that you can find by clicking here. You will have to measure your crate and see if one fits it. If it’s a close enough size, you should be bale to fix it to your crate but I cannot promise it will and it may take some modifying…while being mindful of not leaving any sharp edges at all of course!
If that fails, you could – depending on your skills – make a DIY divider with some board or chicken wire from a hardware store? But again, you have to be sure it’s safe, no sharp edges, or anything that can be chewed and swallowed and so on.
Good luck!
Thanks Mark, I am a DIY kind of person however I will look to buy before I tackle that and yes definitely no sharp edges. We want the puppy safe. Grizzly no longer uses the crate lol. When he was a pup I let him in that huge crate and he was a mess (he didn’t care about poop or pee in his space) so I would like to make it easier on me and less messy for the new pup. I am loving all the ideas. Thanks so much
No problem, Robyn. And good luck, I think you’ll be more successful with it this time around by the sound of young Grizzly ;-)
Hi Mark –
My husband and I just brought home a chocolate lab puppy yesterday and he will be 9 weeks old tomorrow. Unfortunately the crate hadn’t arrived in the mail in time for his first night last night, so we tried putting him in a box in our bedroom but he quickly jumped out of it as soon as I turned my back. I had heard having the puppy in the bedroom the first few nights would help him adjust, and we couldn’t do that last night as we didn’t have a way to keep him from roaming all over the bedroom. So he was in the kitchen – we took him out and put him down for bed at 11:30PM and woke to barking/whining at 3AM so we knew after 3 hours or so he definitely had to go. By us responding to his whines/barks, this happened until he fell back to sleep and then again at 4:45 and 5:45, but we ignored it. Once he was quite at 6AM I went to take him outside and he was up until we left for work. The only accident was at 3AM and I think he was just excited to see one of us. Tonight we will set an alarm to take him out around 2:45 before he starts barking/whining (don’t want him thinking we will come when he does that) and will follow your advice of no talking except small praise and put him right back to bed. He’s gone out 3 times today since I left the house at 7:20AM, no accidents when we’ve gone home during the day to let him out and run him around.
We are planning to crate train and the crate will be arriving today. We might not have a lot of time to get him to love his crate before closing him in it for bed tonight. We’ll have the crate in our room, but if we can’t practice closing the door for small periods of time this evening, will it still be OK to close him in the crate tonight by our bed? Or would you recommend putting the crate in the contained kitchen with the door open and let him go in it himself to sleep so he can get used to the idea of it?
Any advice would be great! If we have the crate in the bedroom tonight, I was also thinking of moving it to the kitchen (with the door open) tomorrow during the day while we’re at work.
Hi Holly,
I agree and always have my puppy the first few nights in my bedroom.
The thing with closing the door on him when crated at night before crate training is: They do not see this the same as being crated during the day. Dogs do not generalize well, meaning things they learn and experience in one location or environment is not the same as learning or experiencing something in another location.
So, placing them in a crate in your bedroom, when they are already very tired, and the house is silent, and everybody else in the house is also going to sleep, and the room is dark, and they see or at least smell you asleep just feet away – is not the same as being asked into a crate in broad daylight, when they are fully awake and lively, with ‘stuff’ going on and other people moving about the house.
So closing them in their crate the first night is almost always OK and will not damage your crate training. Many people do this.
Just make absolutely sure you make it as stress free as possible because any fear or hate they develop ‘can’ carry over to day training…though thankfully, usually not. Making sure he’s definitely tired, or even perhaps asleep, before placing him inside will help. And of course blankets, a teddy bear for company and so on.
All the best,
Mark.
Hi , I really enjoyed your article. I have a question about crate training. I will let him out of the crate every 30 to an hour to go potty outside which he will do, but then I will let him play and he will potty again in the house , sometimes several times. Am I suppose to immediately put him back in the crate once I let him outside? I hate to keep him in there all day for the sake of housebreaking him but when I do take him out he still does it in the house too. Just wondering if I am doing something wrong. Any suggestions? He is almost 11 weeks old.
Hi Christy,
No, free time to explore and live life is important, so the idea is really to keep crating to a minimum if you can. Only popping him in when you know he is due to potty so you can prevent accidents and then take him to the correct spot.
A couple of things: An 11 week old puppy will often urinate after any excitement, so playing with him as you describe can lead to him needing to go again.
Secondly, are you cleaning up thoroughly with enzymatic cleaners that truly eradicate any sense of the smell? Using normal household cleaners works for us, but long after we think the area is clean there can still be traces of urine that is enough to make a dog want to urinate in the spot again. So make sure to clean thoroughly.
Thirdly, are you restricting your puppy’s access to just one small area of your home initially? If they have too large an area to roam it makes it extremely hard to prevent accidents. It’s far easier to keep an eye on them in just one room, or a sectioned off part of one room. Perfect is a crate attached to a puppy play pen, or just baby gating off the rest of the house and keeping puppy in one room.
Fourthly (is that even a word? haha), and very importantly, little mistakes are inevitable but are in fact an incredibly important part of the the learning process for your puppy. As long as you are supervising him, catch him in the act, intervene and then take him to the right spot, then praise heavily when he goes there (outside I presume?) then that is a valuable piece of learning for him. You just have to make sure he is always supervised and every time he makes a mistake he is caught and redirected to the correct place. Any mistake not caught and he will think he has done the right thing pottying inside. He got rewarded by feeling relieved.
Finally, if he is going incredibly often, more so than you think is actually reasonable or normal, he could have a slight medical issue (urinary tract infection or other minor ailments) so it might be worth seeing your vet, explaining the situation and having him health checked.
Best of luck!
Mark.
Hi there!
I found your blog very informative. I’ve had my puppy (beagle-bulldog) a little over a week now, and she seems to be becoming increasingly stubborn! I’m doing my best with the crate training, i take her out every hour or so, and if she goes to the bathroom she gets playtime, if not, it’s back to the crate.
Three hings I am having trouble with in particular, perhaps you can provide me some suggestions.
1) When we go out for walks, i bring her to the same patch of grass to eliminate. However, she likes to plop down, and lay, and not go to the bathroom! It seems to be a routine more times than not, that we go outside and she refuses to walk. Should I take this as a sign she does not have to go to the bathroom, and bring her right back in?
2) I live in an apartment complex, and so there are lots of other people and dogs around all the time. She is very distracted and unless we are the only ones within her sight, she can not focus on doing her business. Any tips to reduce distractibility?
3) Lastly, she wakes up every hour throughout the night! I have a very hard time deciphering whether she cries to be let out, or she simply wants out of the crate. Last night I went to the living room and spoke to her in a calm voice and she fell back asleep each time. Yet, somewhere between 2 and 4 am she went to the bathroom in the crate. My puppy is about 14 weeks old. I live in an apartment so i am worried about her barking and waking my neighbors in the middle of the night!! What should i be doing??
Hi Jessica,
You haven’t said how old she is?
1) Are you keeping her on leash when going outside? Just take her to the spot and do nothing – Literally nothing, until she goes. If she really doesn’t seem to need relieving herself then yes, it’s likely she doesn’t need to go as badly as you think / hoped. Try extending the time between her bathroom breaks by 5 or 10 minutes. If it still occurs, extend by another 5 to 10 minutes until when you;re taking her outside she goes within a few minutes. But make sure she is on leash so cannot roam off, explore and get distracted.
2) I’ve no advice here I’m afraid. All you can do is take her on leash, not allow her to roam off at all, keeping her by your side until she goes. Keep the leash VERY short so she really cannot move. But there isn’t a lot you can do besides remove the distractions…but it sounds like that’s out of your control. With socialization and training, she will become less and less easily distracted, but that’s going to time.
3) at 14 weeks she should be bale to last the night without a potty break as long as you are following the advice in the section above on ‘crate training at night’. Are you removing water a couple of hours before bed, and making sure she has a toilet break and is empty before bed? If so, she should be able to last the night at 14 weeks. I would say her crying – particularly as often as you say at every hour or two – is just to get attention. However, if she is pottying in her crate, maybe she is a ‘late developer’ and cannot last a full night yet. Get up once during the night to take her outside for a wee. But once and once only. Ignore all other crying and she will eventually get the message that night time is for sleep. All this is covered in the crate training at night section above and should be applicable.
I hope this helps, best of luck!
Mark.
Hi there. My 4 and a half month old puppy sleeps in his crate just fine. However we recently moved him into his own room in his crate and now he won’t sleep in. He wakes up a half hour before my alarm and constantly whines. I ignore him until my alarm goes off every morning but he still does this every day. Is there a way I can correct this behaviour? I realize it’s probably my fault for letting him sleep in our room for so long. It’s not that he doesn’t sleep through the night he just won’t sleep in anymore. He definitely gets enough exercise and we take him out to pee pretty late and cut his water off early. Any ideas?
Hi Sarah,
It could be he’s been inadvertently trained that whining gets you to let him out. Yes, you aren’t reacting to his whining and are leaving him for half hour, but dogs don’t have much of a concept of time, whining for 5 minutes or half an hour and you come is pretty much the same to him. So he may think it’s working.
What I would do is to set my alarm earlier, go to him and let him out at a time BEFORE he gets to the whining stage. So he learns he get released without whining, hopefully breaking the connection. For example if he starts whining at 7am, get up and let him out at 6:30 for a week or two. Before he gets to whining.
After a couple of weeks, try extending your alarm time forward by 5 minutes every couple of days. 6:35, then 6:40…etc. and so on until back to the time when you want to get up.
If the above doesn’t work after 2 or 3 weeks, I would begin to train a ‘speak’ and ‘quiet’ command. It’s hard to train a dog ‘quiet’ without training a ‘speak’ first, so they know the difference. So look into doing both of these. And then you can ask for and only release him from the crate when he is quiet, something we should only ever do anyway but is hard to do if your dog doesn’t understand what quiet is.
All the best,
Mark.
So I have a 9 week puppy and I work full time. Therefore, I have setup a play pen for him, placed the crate inside with the door open, placed puppy pad all around and left toy inside her crate. My question is: Should I play with my puppy while he is in the play pen? At this point, I am not closing the door to his crate.
Hi Alejandro,
Yes, of course, do play with your puppy. Spend as much time as possible playing with and interacting with him. After all, I’m sure that’s why you brought a puppy into your family in the first place :-)
Hello,
When crate training a puppy is it ok to allow the puppy to take naps outside the cage? It seems that as a puppy he is falling asleep every couple hours (specially if we exercise). When I go to sleep or out I do put him in the crate (he cries for several minutes but then stops) but when I am home I find him him napping outside his crate.
Thanks,
Alex M.
Hi Alex,
Of course! Some very young puppy’s sleep up to 16 hours a day, it would be horrible to spend all that time in a crate.
As long as you are supervising, and ready to intervene and redirect him to potty in the right place if he wakes and wants to toilet (which puppy’s usually do upon waking), then allow him to spend as much time outside of the crate as you possibly can. :-)
It is a good idea to sometimes (just now and then) move him into the crate while he’s asleep or about to fall sleep though, as it will help tremendously with your crate training if he wakes up in the crate. It will help familiarize him with it, build his confidence in it and so on. But yes, sure, let him sleep out of it too as long as you are there.
All the best,
Mark.
I have a ton of questions so if it’s too much, maybe just pick a couple. It hasn’t been that long but it feels overwhelming trying to train and most training I’m finding online is contradictory in one way or another (for instance many of them said it’s better to let a puppy out of the crate if they cry so they know you will let them out and they’re not trapped for good – that didn’t seem quite right, but it’s hard to know what to trust when even reputable sources give different approaches).
How do you get a puppy to try stairs without forcing him? I have successfully lured him up the stairs once, and he’s figured out how to go down the stairs comfortably, but it makes it harder to start using his crate when he can’t get to the bedroom on his own. I’ve been carrying him up the stairs at meal times (all I’m doing so far is building positive association – or trying to, never locking him in) and setting him down as soon as we get upstairs so he can choose to go into the room and into the crate. That seems like the next best alternative, but he is capable of climbing the steps as he’s already done it. I know in general you don’t want to carry them places during training because they don’t usually learn unless they’re actually doing it on their own.
We’ve had a few challenges with beginning any kind of training. He is still very young, almost 9wks, so I’m not expecting him to fully understand any training yet – just trying to start laying the ground work where I can. He’s not super interested in his food or treats though with the exception of the raw chicken necks the breeder had been giving him. This has made it difficult to get him interested in his crate or the stairs or anything like that. He loves his toys, but not enough to really want to try either of those things for any toy so far. I’ve been trying to use toys/play as a reward for desired behaviors but I’m not sure how well they connect this or how long of a play time is needed to be an effective reward. Him not being interested in food has made it hard to have a set potty schedule that’s close to accurate. I’m going to try getting those soft chews you mentioned and possibly just use raw chicken slices if nothing else works, but I’m trying to find other treats he’ll value and get him to eat on schedule. I started taking him out every 45 minutes but he never needed to go and would just want to play, so we bumped it up to an hour. This seemed closer but still too long. It seems about an hour to an hour and a half is how long he needs between bathroom breaks but he also wants to take a lot of naps during the day (makes sense since he’s constantly playing when he’s awake). Sometimes he will still not need to go potty when we go out and just wants to play or explore. I gathered from reading one of your other replies that when we go out specifically for bathroom breaks, I should not let him walk around and we should just stand there until he potties pretty much. How long should you wait though if he’s deciding to just lay down and try to take a nap when you do this? I would usually assume that he doesn’t need to go if he’s outside and still just wants to nap, but he’s had a few accidents immediately after coming back inside after seeming to not need to go. Sometimes it’s seemed like playing has helped stimulate him needing to relieve himself, but it sounds like playing during potty time can cause it’s own problems by adding distractions.
I’m kind of overwhelmed trying to prioritize what we should and shouldn’t be working on yet or when to start certain training. He’s almost 9wks old and is a German Shepherd service dog prospect for me. I’m hoping that it starts to get easier as he gets closer to 12 wks. It would really help if he could learn a down/stay as well but I think I’ll need to get help doing that. Ideally he’s going to start puppy classes somewhere from 3-4 months, but in the mean time it would be good to figure out which things we can work on at home and which things are too complicated for his age or need other building blocks first. Do you train one command until a dog gets it, or do you intermittently change between what you’re working on? Right now my first goals are just his name, housetraining, and crate training. I’m not sure if I’m helping or hurting him by trying to mark and treat when he offers a good behavior naturally like deciding to lay down on his own though. Due to financial constraints I have to do a lot of the training myself but we’re going to do puppy classes and basic obedience once he’s gotten his vaccinations. Unfortunately our vet is booked out about a month. So he won’t be finished til about 4 months instead of 3.
Thanks for any help!
Justin
Hi Alex,
I just deleted your first message as it seemed a duplicate of this one / you reposted it. Let me know if you need any further advice :-)
Thanks,
Mark.
Hello,
We just brought home a 8-week old male yellow lab last weekend. I wish I was able to get through your helpful resources prior, but just now reading entirely after the 3rd night. Hoping to train for nights and work schedules. I’m gone 6-3:30 M-F and spouse works 3 12+ hr night shifts a week. Ideal as we are always crossing with only a few hours max of no one home. Spouse being gone 6p – 8a only a few days sometimes weekends (with me home) and needing to sleep til 2p or 4p depending on next shift.
We started off with crate in back room of house and doing things properly before bedtime, but woke up to his cries and let out for potty on first night. Tried to tolerate crying for a couple hours and then moved crate to back room of house until 4 hours later waking up for day.
Next night put in crate same place to allow to cry without hearing from bedroom accepting that he will cry at times. 7hr night. Wake up midway to take potty and do so as you advise. Wake up earlier in AM before work to potty, play, feed with 30-45 mins interaction before placing back in same crate location isolated until spouse arrives home from work. Not too much alone time as she stayed in same area until someone else came over at noon to spend time until wake up at 2. Rest of day good.
3rd night: followed same practice for bedtime, potty midway of 7hrs. AM wake up: puppy was crying this time. Similar procedure as previous morning with 2hrs until spouse wakes up for day, but home all day.
Not perfect in our procedure and planning to revise per readings and advice.
Ultimate end goal: Crate trained for nights, isolated to back room during few days each week spouse has to sleep to allow room to play but able to potty train and not having pup cry so she can sleep, especially on weekdays I work and she has consecutive shifts.
As adult we will most likely utilize crate but want to allow free roam asap. Intentions to allow dog to sleep in our bedroom, on floor/open crate when good.
Would appreciate any advice, tips, corrections, etc for consistency with our end goals in mind.
Hoping the few non recommended crate interactions/reactions the first few nights/days haven’t done damage.
Thank you so much!
Hi Danny,
Your end goals sound reasonable and easily achievable to me. Dogs are remarkably versatile creatures and will eventually slip into and live along with whatever schedules we create for them. As long as their needs are being met for mental stimulation, exercise, training, food, water and sleep, they will fall into line with the work, play, exercise and sleep patterns we decide for them. So you should be fine!
As you’ve already stated, consistency is key. Lay out a plan, your training strategy, as close to a consistent schedule as you can…and then stick to it! That’s the key to success. Other than that, and what you can already read from my articles, I’ve no tips or corrections to give. Just stay consistent and yes, your plan sounds ok.
Good luck…and if you do encounter any issues, feel free to check back and ask on anything specific. If I can’t help, I can share questions with the facebook group where thousands of others have experience and advice too :-)
All the best,
Mark.
Hello,
We just got a sliver lab puppy and he will be 8 weeks old on 10/5. I have been putting him in his crate everynight the crate is right next to my bed. He whines a lot and if I go and lay by the crate he will quiet down quicker and fall asleep for a few hours. I don’t touch him or make any noise I just lay in front of the crate. Should I not be doing this? Will he quiet down on his own?
Also he will wake me up in the middle of the night with his crying when I don’t think it is time to take him out yet. The first night I took him out every time he cried. That was about 4 times in one night. I feel like I should only need to take him out once during the night, sometimes I don’t put him in his crate until midnight and he is up with me for work at 6:30. So his is not in there even 8 hours.
I don’t want the crate to stay where it is next to my bed but I am afraid to start moving it. How soon should I start moving it? Any advice?
I just recently got a golden retriever lab mix. Our first night was kind of an up and down for everyone. My roommate who was helping me with starting off with the crate training was telling me to shush the pup when she started getting too loud, but I didn’t think that was the best course of action but went with the advice for the night while not knowing better. I tend to work early in the mornings, but one of the people I live with works in the evenings.
I’m really hoping that I can get her on a consistent schedule that goes along with my schedule. For now I definitely want her to learn that the crate is her safe place to rest (rather than under the bed) and get her started on potty training. It’s going to be a lot on my part on being consistent to make the transitions as smooth as possible.
Ultimately though, thank you a lot for this article. This will help out a lot for both me and the puppy. You’re a life saver.
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your kind words, I’m glad you find the article useful :-)
Being consistent certainly can be hard, particularly when patience is wearing thin after sleepless nights! But it’s the only way. Be consistent and I’m sure your lady will soon slip into the routine you’ve decided for her.
All the best!
Hi i have read almost all you review in this website its amazing. Am bringing hom 40days old lab puppy in couple of days. I have the crate ready for him as per your suggestion. As per your article he is too young gor crate training or to use collar and leash. So it would be helpful if you can suggest me how to handle him till he reaches the rite age for crate training andwhere to put him skeep in the night. Open place in my bed room or in a crate or in a box.??
Wow – so much GREAT info, Thanks for all the effort you have put in!! We have a Labrador puppy – nearly 10 weeks old – we have had her since she was 8 weeks & 2 days old.
Im confused what to do with her at night time going forward – below is what has happened to date
Nights 1-3 she slept in daughter’s bedroom (contained inside the bedroom with a door gate). Had bedding and toys and paper down on floor (at this stage I hadn’t found your wonderful website re crate and toilet training). Having her in my daughter’s bedroom we thought was the best thing without locking her away from the humans for the night) (I slept in my daughter’s bedroom 2 of the 3 nights as she was waking up my daughter with a little bit of whining)
Night 4-5 After reading your website info , we borrowed a crate and put the it next to my bed in my room and set alarm to take her out for toilet breaks – Success!. She didn’t whine/cry at all and toilet breaks went well, waking up around 6am
Night 6 – Moved the crate to the hallway outside our bedroom door where she can still see us and all was ok the first night in this new spot (a little crying but after shushing her (wrong now I know) she quietened down and went to sleep), did the toilet breaks, all good.
Night 7 – It was a warmer night, left the crate in the same spot in the hallyway, but she performed and carried on, whining, some barking but not much (we did try and get her to quienten down (wrong I know now but when other people are sleeping I guess its natural to do this) She was also panting and breathing quite fast (I understand the breathing fast and panting is something puppies do when sleeping??) ! I was worried about her breathing and panting so much (I gave her a small drink incase she was thirsty) so i sat with her (probably wrong thing to do) and she dozed off but she never settled into sleep- kept whinging and panting and chewing at the crate. So I moved the crate back next to my bed and got into bed myself. She could see me and knew I was there but she still whined and panting and breathing very fast… If I took her out of the crate, she would lay down and rest quietly but as i couldn’t let her run free for the night (and at my wits end at 2.30am (I hadnt been to sleep yet and my husband was very tired and getting grumpier by th eminute) I took her out of the crate (left the crate in my bedroom upstairs) and locked her away downstairs in the bathroom with some toys and paper to wee on and chews toys where we could not hear her.. (she has the run of the small bathroom (eg not crated) which I guess is not training her to hold on for the night as it does when she is in a crate).
I have been reading and reading your training notes and I want to get her back in the crate to sleep for the night so I can get her toilet trained ASAP! She goes in and out of the crate during the day so thats all good, its just the night time stressing me out.
The nights since she has been sleeping in the bathroom downstairs on her own (we sleep upstairs) and she has run of this small room (bedding on the floor (crate is not in there) with toys and paper for toileting on).
My goal is to get her back in the crate and take her to toilet breaks during the night again so I can get on with the toilet training, but not sure which way to do it.
If I take her back to the crate next to my bed, its sleepless nights for my husband who needs sleep for work (I can do sleepless nights for a week or so but he cant, so I guess this isn’t an option). So do I sleep in another room downstairs for a week or so so he does not hear her whinging and crying and panting etc (which I will ignore)and gradually move the crate so she then ends up sleeping in the crate without having to be near me (how long will this take? – do you have a schedule to get to this stage (eg, nights 1-4, crate next to bed, nights 5-7, crate at door, nights 8-10 crate in hallway so she can see, nights 11-15, crate in hallway where she can’t see but can hear you, and so on?)
Or do I put the crate downstairs in a room (or the bathroom) and go get her out during the night for toilet breaks (we then won’t hear her crying / whining ) but does she need to be near us or will she get use to been on her own downstairs?
I guess what I’m asking is it better if she is with someone during the night or will it still work if she is on her own? Or can I alternate between sleeping with her in a room downstairs and then the next night I sleep back in my own bed and leave her on her own for the night (but still do toilet breaks).
Hoping you can offer some guidance. Kylie :)
Hi,
I am finding your website to be very helpful. I currently have a 7 week old puppy that I am trying to begin crate training. I am unable to click on your weekend training link, it just goes to the general website. I tried searching it, but no luck.
Thanks,
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
Yes, the link was broken. I have replaced with another link to the same information. It was syndicated across both the sites but it seems the ASPCA have removed it. The link now works.
All the best!
Hi Mark,
Thanks for posting this simple step by step guide. I have a 16 week old Cockapoo and I felt I was loosing the good work already put in by the breeder. Reading your simple step by step guide, I was able to find the exact point I was at with the puppy and build upon it. He’s now right back on track and it only took me a weekend. Thank you.
Cheers
Kevin
Thank you Kevin, I’m glad you found it useful :-)
Thank you for the ever so useful information and your complete. I feel much more prepared for the puppy we are about to get next week! I am wondering if it is worth it to bring the puppy to work with me the first week(s). How detrimental is this to it feeling safe and comfortable and how detrimental is this to crate training?
Hi Diana,
That would be fine so long as all experiences are good, happy, positive experiences and she isn’t spooked or too overwhelmed. If anything, it will just be very good for socialization, for her exposure to things to build her confidence during a time when it’s very important. So I say go for it!
Just one caveat…to keep her away from places other dog’s may have been and been to toilet until she has been fully vaccinated. Though I’m sure that’s not a problem in your work place, haha.
All the best!
Our yellow lab is 18 weeks old and is crated. We moved the crate from our bedroom to the very nearby laundry room after we had him 2 weeks. He sleeps between 6-7 hrs a night. He cries and screams until we let him out when our alarm goes off at 5am! We used to get up several times in the night until our Vet told us he can hold his potty longer. We are trying to train him to sleep, or at least be contents, with staying in the crate for 7-8 hrs a night. Will this happen over time?
Hi Deb,
A dog can certainly hold their bladder for 7hrs overnight. Their bodies slow down like ours do and they need to potty far less often than they would during the day. Keep up with crate training, perhaps start training him to be happier accepting time alone and in time, yes, things should get better.
All the best!
Hi there,
I have a tricky question (probably happens to more than just me, but I’m feeling pretty defeated). I have an 8 month old female Boxer puppy who HATES her crate… whines, cries, digs, poops, pees, rolls in it, prances in it… you name it, she’s done it. I am a dog trainer of basic obedience for the AKC CGC program, a huge dog lover, and a firm believer in crate training, positive reinforcement, etc. I also have a 5 year old male Boxer who is fully crate trained, but allowed to be lose in the house while I am gone at work. Puppy was so impossible at night that I have allowed her to be lose in my bedroom and she lets me know when she needs to go outside to potty. During the day though, that is not an option because I am at work. I go home on my lunch hour and clean up poop and pee, play outside with both dogs, and do the whole routine again when I come home from the office adding on a full bath due to her being covered in poop. I am exhausted, my house is disgusting, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, and I know she’s not happy either. Any advice?? PLEASE!
Hi Kaylene,
Sorry to hear you’re having such a hard time :-(
Sometimes a dog or puppy truly hates the crate, it can even go beyond that and they be truly phobic of it. It can be a real deep seated psychological thing, not just behavioral and sometimes far from easily remedied.
Are you in a financial position to be able to hire a professional dog trainer? I honestly think that’s your best bet as nobody will be able to say enough in a short answer on a website / forum. The situation calls for an experienced hand to assess the situation properly – in person – and give advice that suits you and your specifically.
Hello. I rescued an approximately 8 week old lab that was dumped this morning. After getting vet checked we decided to keep her. Obviously haven’t had time to follow all of your steps here. She’s quiet in her crate with a sheet over it for now. But she can’t chew treats. She’s never had regular food is the vets best guess so we have started foods but what do I use to reward her until she can eat regular treats?
Hi Brandi,
I’m afraid I’ve never been in this position so don’t know, sorry. At 8 weeks though she is certainly ready to eat solid food and should be keen to. What did your vet say?
My puppy just turned 3 months old and goes to her crate at night to sleep with no problems. When I leave her in the crate during the day when I have to go to class she makes a huge fuss over it. She whines and barks very loudly. I only leave her for 2 hours at a time at most and I have also put her in the crate for short times when I am at home so she doesn’t always associate the crate with being alone. What else do I need to do to so she feels comfortable in her crate even when I’m not there?
Go back a few steps in the training to where she is comfortable and doesn’t whine and complain. Train her to spend time in the crate while moving away a short distance, then farther, eventually leaving the room. First for a second, then 5s, 30s, 3 mins, etc. Slowly, slowly, small steps at a time.
Help!! Long-story-short, we have 3-12 week Boston Terrier puppies, 2 male, 1 female (plus 6 yr old neutered male Boston). We are crating them and that is going fine. My questions are how do you house break 3 puppies at once? Do we need to use leash every time and take out separately? How long should they be in their crates since it is so much easier to keep track of them versus if they are left out of crates? We live on 30 acres and back yard is fenced. I’ve crate trained and housebroken dogs before but never 3 at once.
Hi Beth,
Housebreaking 3 pups at once is going to take some effort for sure! You need to take them out whenever they need to go, which will quite likely be different for each pup as they have different bodies and mature at slightly different rates. There’s no real secret to housebreaking more than one puppy, all the techniques are the same, just x3 and sometimes very manic!
For advice on how long to crate them, it’s all explained in my crate and house training series in the training section. Please read through them as all the answers are in there now.
I have truly enjoyed reading your blog and have found it very helpful. I have an 8 week old goldendoodle who has done fairly well being acclimated to the crate and will occasionally go in it throughout the day; however, I have a few questions for you:
1) is it expected they spend each of their naps inside the crate (or at least have that as a goal), even with the door open
2) at night when she must be crated and in my bedroom is that an appropriate time to place the puppy in the crate rather than have them voluntarily walk in?
3) we have 2 crates, a small one in the family room while she’s still little and another that’s large in my bedroom (currently divided in half) for when she sleeps at night and eventually for her alone time. Does it tend to make a difference if the two crates are different sizes, will I have to separately acclimate her to both?
Thanks!!
Hi Rachel,
1) It’s good for their acclimatisation to wake in a crate, and because they VERY often want to wee as soon as they wake, helps a lot with house training as they won’t wee in the crate. So yes, it’s good to move them to their crate as they fall asleep. However, there’s no way I – or likely most people – want to miss out on the pleasure of a sleeping puppy on their lap or by the side. So, not always :-)
2) Yes, most of the time it’s a necessity as sometimes they just won’t go in, or bed time becomes a long, drawn out waiting game that nobody wants when tired. It’s not a good thing to force a puppy into a crate, to be avoided as much as possible, but sometimes is unavoidable. Just minimize as much as possible is the goal.
3) No, size shouldn’t matter at all. But the different locations and environment likely will because puppies don’t ‘generalize’ well. A puppy could be perfectly happy going into a crate in one room, while being apprehensive about a different crate in another room, because to them they are totally different things. So yes, acclimatize to both.
Hope that helps!
Hello Mark
We have are going into our third night tonight with our 8 week old lab.
He is very receptive and enjoys being in his crate – this is his den, although I have been closing the door a few times throughout the day without much trouble at night he tells you exactly what he thinks.
Being mindful not to react to his cries, during the night should we be setting an alarm to create a toileting schedule to try and prevent any encouragement of his crying?
He is very good at asking out day and night (he is from my nephews litter and they have all been very good at toileting from around 6wks which is really helpful) but with him being so against the door being closed – which I am going to work on using your plan – I wondered if an alarm might assist in this.
The crate is in the kitchen as this is where my sister in law had them in her house (as well as outdoor kennel area during day).
He went last night from 1015pm – 455am this morning , night before 1015pm-1205am then 1am-6am however I wondered if a 2am alarm might aid things.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Hi Michelle,
I advise setting an alarm, yes. Please see the section above ‘How To Crate Train A Puppy At Night’ where your questions are answered. I hope that helps but if it’s not clear, please report back.
All the best!
Great articles! I am getting a puppy soon, and will take the time to crate train slowly. But what do I do the first few nights about sleeping? She won’t be ready for the crate yet. Thanks!
Hi Carol,
Please see the section above ‘Bonus Puppy Crate Training Tips And Things To Remember’ where your question is answered.
All the best!
Hi, thank you for the best article I have read so far, and I have read a few! We have a 13 week Golden Doodle and are having trouble with sleeping at night. We have had him for four weeks. The first night we brought him home we tried placing him in his crate at night in the bathroom upstairs. He cried solidly and we felt bad, even though the breeder said to leave him to cry. The second night we put his crate next to our bed and he slept perfectly. (We made sure he was properly toileted etc before bed). We then took him to the vet on the third day to check him out, which was all good, and she said to put him in his crate in the laundry downstairs at night and leave him. So, we did that and he cried again. We called her to discuss and she said it would take a few days and we should persevere. We have tried for four weeks now and he cries persistently, especially from 4am until we wake at 6. We did try giving him a toilet break at 4am and putting him back in his crate, but it made no difference – he still cried until 6am. We ultimately are happy for him to sleep upstairs with us or the kids, once he is toilet trained and out of his crate. Can we just move his crate upstairs now and let him sleep with us, as he sleeps through when we do. The rest of the time he behaves beautifully with a mix of time spent by himself in the garden, time spent in the house with us, playing, going on walks etc. A couple of times a week I take him to work with me and happily snoozes in the crate next to my desk. He doesn’t make a sound and happily waits to toilet outside when I take him out for a break and a leg stretch. He is also very good in the car, and enjoys coming with me to take the children to and from activities – he sits quietly on the back seat, occasionally looking out of the window. He is otherwise very easy going and placid – we are just having trouble with him being very alone at night. I would appreciate your suggestions about this. Thanks very much.
Hi!
We got a beagle puppy when she was 6 weeks old and she is now 11 weeks. I was trying to leave her in her crate for 1 hour or 2 and it was going well for a while but now she cries for 10-25 minutes until she falls alseep or sometimes she just keeps crying.. After reading your post I thought we may have gone to fast. I tested to see at what point she would start crying and that is when I close the crate and walk away. I was thinking of going back to steps 9,10, and 11 but how many times a day and for how long should I follow these steps?
Also, I am home all day because I just moved and have not secured a job. I am worried that she may become to dependent so I want to be able to leave her a lone in her crate for a while but I have never owned a puppy so I don’t know how to do this properly. Any suggestions?
Thank you for everything! :D
Mark, I have a 10 yr old playful yellow lab and a newly acquired 6 mo golden retriever. The lab has never been crated, but has been kenneled when we traveled. I am not sure about the new pup as she is a rescue. How would you suggest we do crate training? Do we do it for just the pup or start crating both of them. We have a doggie door which allows them to play and eliminate outside. House is very much puppy/lab proofed (as our lab stopped being a puppy only 4 years ago!). Thanks for your response.
Hi,
Thank you for this! I just adopted the cutest 11 week old boxer/hound mix…he LOVES sleeping in his crate at night, and even puts himself there for naps when he’s sleepy, but does not enjoy being crated during the day. I work full time, but can come home periodically during the day to let him out and exercise/play with him, which is great! His tiny bladder still can’t make it more than about an hour and a half, though, and that just is realistically impossible for me to leave work every hour(ish) to come home. So, I have resorted to your puppy-proofed space with pads for now. My question is: do you have any advice for how to transition from that puppy-proofed area to the crate once he gets better bladder control? I know the use of the puppy pads is counter-intuitive for the housebreaking process, as you said, but there’s just no other way around this one until he’s fully crate trained – I don’t want him to be terrified of his crate, and right now, he is not a fan! Any tips/other articles on how to reconcile outdoor potty-ing with puppy pads would be very helpful :)
Thanks again!
We have a 12 week old pup who sleeps through the night in a crate in our bedroom without any accidents (that part is awesome). He does not, however, make it through even short periods in his crate in the basement (he and our older dog have neighboring crates) throughout the day without peeing all over it. The space is just enough for him to lay down and turn around so he ends up laying in his pee til one of us comes home to give him a break (we split up the day and he is never in for more than a couple hours at a time).
Hello
Amazing article. I wish I had found it sooner!! We have a 6yr old mental black labby who’s all trained – just a bit mad. We have now got a new black Lanny who’s 11wks.
We’re older and retired so in all day. But decided to crate train as it gives some resbite in the day – but didn’t find your article early enough to go through steps.
However luckily, puppy is happily put in her crate after a totally mad hour playing with the other dog. We put her out for a wee and then into the crate for a nap (with a blanket over as the other dog wanders around tormenting!!). She’s in there in the day for an hour every now and then to give our old girl some resbite.
She is absolutely fine in there for an hour or so and when we hear the wake up sounds we let her out for a wee and all is well.
My problem: she’s 11wks and a chewer. So she’s locked in the crate at night (from 11-11.30pm) in the laundry with other dog (who’s free but old and quiet!). Obviously being labs they are food obsessed. When she moans that she’s awake in the morning (6-7am) we let her out and she basically can’t decide if she wants to eat or wee first. So she does both. She wees everywhere (her only ‘accident’) as soon as she’s on the laundry floor. Purely from the excitement of seeing me and knowing food is near!!
She doesn’t whine in the night for a wee and we know she can hold it – so reluctant to start going down for a mid-night wee break. Any tips on stopping her from essentially spraying me every morning?
She’s a rambunctious little scamp!!
Thanks, harriet
Hi I have an 11 week old female Lab pup who is doing very well sleeping at night(in our bedroom) still have to take here out for a potty break at this point but doing good. We are at the point of transitioning her to another room in the house I know the cries and whines will come and go but my questions is when it is time for the midnight 1am potty break if she is crying do I still go to her and take her out to do her thing? or do I not until she stops. I’m a bit confused on this part don’t want an accident in the crate and everything else says don’t go to them when they are crying. Contradicts a bit, but is this the exception in this process, I guess is my question. I read the above on crate training a puppy for bedtime and it says to be silent and make no fuss which is what we have been doing already. Just not sure how this will unfold with her being in a new room.
Thank you Brian
I have truly enjoyed reading your blog and have found it very helpful. I have an 8 week old goldendoodle who has done fairly well being acclimated to the crate and will occasionally go in it throughout the day; however, I have a few questions for you:
1) is it expected they spend each of their naps inside the crate (or at least have that as a goal), even with the door open
2) at night when she must be crated and in my bedroom is that an appropriate time to place the puppy in the crate rather than have them voluntarily walk in?
3) we have 2 crates, a small one in the family room while she’s still little and another that’s large in my bedroom (currently divided in half) for when she sleeps at night and eventually for her alone time. Does it tend to make a difference if the two crates are different sizes, will I have to separately acclimate her to both?
My boyfriend surprised me with an absolutely darling 8-weeks old chocolate silver lab pup 5 days ago. I just bought her a crate yesterday, and I was so glad to find your article. Day 1 down, and the little sweetie naps and rests in her crate of her own accord. For overnights I’ve kept her in a tupperware bin with the lid off next to my bed so I can dangle my hand in there to soothe her. She’s been waking up for piddle breaks every two hours. I can’t wait until she can control her bladder through the night. I’m one tired puppy mama. Anyway, thank you for the very thorough and informative article!
Hi, I love your crate training article. Very informative & the video is very helpful. I have crate trained before and i believe in the crate 100%. However, i have never had to crate train while working all day without being able to get to the dog mid day to have them out of the crate. So what I did this time is I bought a Pen and I put the crate in the pen. There is enough room for the crate and a wee wee pad.(she is a mini goldendoodle pup 10 weeks old). She uses the wee wee pad and sleeps and plays in the crate. I didn’t want to use a bed and get her used to not being in a crate (even thought the door is open) because she sleeps in a closed crate at night in my bedroom. She has no problem with the crate. Maybe when she first goes in she’ll whimper for a minute or 2 but she’s fine and when shes out and about in the house, she often goes in there to nap & play. So my question is, if she has access to relieve herself readily, how will she train her bladder to hold it? When I first got her almost 3 weeks ago, I had a liter mate of hers staying with me for the week and I took a weeks vacation. They slept together all through the night. Then the liter mate left. She was waking up in the middle of the night (i believe she was lonely and realized he was gone). oh i also have 3 other small dogs that are loving & playful with her. Now she wakes up 2 times a night to go the the bathroom. & she does each time. I try to ignore her cries but then i get worried that she really has to go & low & behold, she does. My sister has one of her bothers and my boss has another. They both sleep through the night and do not wake too early. She is so smart but I feel like if she has access to go to the bathroom all the time except when she’s in the night time crate (except for crying to go), she may never get housebroken. Any suggestions as to what I should do? When i’m around she does pretty good. I’m starting to train her with the potty bell. if i don’t see her, she will seek out the wee wee pad i have down in another room for emergencies. Any suggestions you can give, i’d appreciate the input.
With Kind Regards,
Laurie
Hi Laurie
Your pup is actually being housebroken as she seeks out the potty pad and does not go to the bathroom anywhere else. You may have to start taking her outdoors after her evening meal to curb her frequencies doing the night. She has to get used to going outdoors and away from the potty pad. It iws more effective is you develop a routine after her meals.
Cheers
Hi:
Thank you so much for this article. My wife and I are about to bring home a 2-month old chocolate lab puppy. We have never owned a dog and have no experience training one. We are planning to crate train though. If you wouldn’t mind, I do have some questions:
– At night, how do I tell if the dog is whining to be let out of the crate and whining because he needs to go to the bathroom? One one hand I’m supposed to ignore the whining, but if he needs to go to the bathroom I’ll need to act right away.
– You advise to not keep the puppy crated for long periods. What about at night when we’re sleeping? Do we need to get up at intervals to let him out of his crate?
– For potty training, do you suggest immediately taking the puppy outside every time, or starting with pads?
Thank you again for your helpful article.
Patrick
Hello Patrick
You can start with Potty pads if you plan on keeping the pup crated at night. You will have a crate large enough to have a separate area for the pads. You can also take him outside after meals so he can go to the bathroom, this will also help in potty training and house breaking.
To your Pup
Thank you very much for this amazing, helpful and easy to read set of articles. My boyfriend and I have recently welcomed two beautiful mini schnauzer puppies into our family, one female who is 5 months old and a male who is 3 months old. We have struggled with the house breaking part of their training as we both work hours at a time, the puppies behavior has escalated from potty accidents to now destroying pee pads and anything they find, I should explain, when we leave for 3 hours at a time, they are left in an enclosed area of the house about 6 ft by 6 ft with their toys, water and pee pads, we also live in a small apartment on the second floor. We recently decided to crate train them since our ultimate goal is for them to be free in the apartment, be potty trained and only use their crate as their safe and preferred spot. Though the articles were very detailed and extremely helpful I was left with a few questions in my specific situation.
How would I go about training the two puppies?
Would it be appropriate for them to be trained at the same time and place, one puppy by me and one puppy by my boyfriend?
During the night(sleeping time) should we have one puppy on each side of the bed, or should the crates be next to each other? This question I guess works for the day as well, should the crates be near each other during the day, or apart? (Given that my puppies really enjoy each other’s company and at times lay together).
My last question is about the pee pads being destroyed every time the puppies are left for 3-4 hours at a time, since my boyfriend and I are unable to stay away from pee pads and are necessary to us since we are gone for 3 to 4 hours intervals. During the first few days of crate training we plan on leaving the open crates in the space that is usually given to them, with pee pads accessible in the area, just as explained in the article for those who need to leave the home and pads are necessary, do you have any suggestions on what to do so they don’t destroy pee pads?
I understand that once my puppies are crate trained, it will also help us with their house breaking part of the training but the question is for the time it will take for them to love their crate.
We are very eager to teach our puppies to love their crates and eventually graduate from them and be free in the home, meanwhile we will take as much input and guidance as we can. I appreciate the time taken to write the articles and help with our questions.
Hello,
Thank you for yor wonderful article. Definitely a huge help. However, my husband and i have an issue of the puppy loving to pee and poop inside the house on our hardwood floor despite being taken outside at regular intervals. So let me begin by stating that our goldendoodle puppy is 9 weels old. He is doing well in the crate and does not pee or poop inside the crate. We take him outside every 4 hrs to relieve himself.
1) He does go pee in the grass but he does not poop in grass. He poops only on ashphalt or the roads/driveways which to me is strange. I have picked him up when he is ready to go poop and placed him gently on the grass. But he does not go and instead holds it till he gets on the road surface again.
2) despite he peeing successfully outside when he is at home and not in his crate he likes to go pee everywhere in very small quantities. This to me is appearing more like a territory marking. Also he chews on everything despite liking his nylabones. But i dont know how to break these habits. My husband and i have been following him around everywhere. I feel that this has led us to crate him more. So my question is how can we train the puppy that this is his house and when not crated he can play around without soiling it? Also should a puppy be left outside the crate at all in side the house? I feel the purpose of having a new dog is being defeated if he cannot be let free at home to some extent. Our previous dog did not have any such issues.
3) do we need to have water all the time in the puppy’s crate? I feel like he is taking a sip and may be eliminating inside the house wood and carpet flooring because of that.
My puppy is fed three times a day and both my husband and i work almost 9-10 hrs day. We do have a dog walker that attends to the dog after 4 hrs of our departure. Also the puppy sleeps theough the night and i wake up after 4 hrs to break him outside.
Your guidance is much appreciated for our concerns.
Thank you.
Hi, my puppy has explored his crate all by himself and then we worked through Steps 1 – 8. This morning he has chosen to get into his crate and he is now fast asleep! How does this affect the remaining training steps?
Hi,
I am very glad I found your website and it’s really great to see you answer with so much enthusiasm to people’ questions. I have a question for you regarding the first few nights at home. We will fallow your advice and put the cage in our bedroom for at least the 3 or 4 first nights with chew toys and a kong.
When it’s bed time, since the puppy is not crate train yet, do we put it ourselves (using our hands) in the crate and force him to be there even though he doesn’t want to? Do we at least try to lure him in the crate? Are there any risks that he will be traumatize by that and not want anything to do with the crate during the day anymore? Should we be using a box instead until he is crate trained so that he doesn’t associate the crate to being lock-up?
Thank you for your time and advice,
I am pretty sure it has help a lot of people.
Regards,
Maude
Great content. I think crate training is one of the biggest challenges when owning a puppy. Even bigger challenge is crate training an older or senior dog. But the biggest challenge of all is crate training while working full time However in my opinion it can be DONE.
All sounds reasonably self-explanatory. I’m sure it’ll go great – lol.
So, if it’s likely to take a few days to multiple weeks to crate train then where is the puppy to spend her first few nights at her new home? In the crate – in the bedroom- before she’s actually crate trained?
More information about labrador
https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-own-a-Labrador-Retriever
My 16 week old lab puppy hates going in her crate during the day and howls constantly if I have to go out which is rather disturbing for me emotionally and annoying for the neighbors but she is fine going in the crate at night. How do I improve this? I d have her play pen attached to the crate so she has access to her play pen. Should I take the play pen away? She always goes to the toilet in her play pen when I’m out and has always been before I get up in the morning and she wakes me up at 5am!
My 16 week old lab puppy hates going in her crate during the day and howls constantly if I have to go out which is rather disturbing for me emotionally and annoying for the neighbors but she is fine going in the crate at night. How do I improve this? I d have her play pen attached to the crate so she has access to her play pen. Should I take the play pen away? She always goes to the toilet in her play pen when I’m out and has always been before I get up in the morning and she wakes me up at 5am!
Thank you for the great info!!
Our 9 week old border collie is doing great at night in her crate, but some days she wakes up pretty early at 4:00 AM after sleeping through the night. Should we treat this as a potty break and put her right back until a more reasonable hour? Do we put her back with a toy? She is really only in the crate at night and at her own leisure during the day as your article recommends not really crating them until at least 9 weeks.
Congratulations on your new puppy! When my puppies are 9 weeks old I treat this as a potty break, let them outside, bring them back in, and let them go back to sleep. However, when my puppies are older and have better control of their bladder I will usually try to get them out of the habit of waking up earlier then my regular sleep schedule.
Hi there, am coming to you at the end of my tether! We have only had our lab puppy for 4 days but despite being happy in and out of his crate during the day, we have had zero success at night. Last night he howled, cried and barked for 6 hours straight with probably 4 or 5 quiet times of maximum 2 minutes each time. He’s 9 weeks old so I need to let him out during the night, but it was impossible to do that when he was quiet, because he just wasn’t! So now he probably thinks if he keeps going long enough someone will eventually come to him. I absolutely do not want to give up but my husband is ready to and that is really not what I want, as the puppy must be able to be left for short periods, not just overnight, so he’s going to have to get used to it. The crate is large but with a divider, so it’s not easy to bring upstairs so we’ve just left it in the lounge constantly. We’ve left a light and the radio on but nothing has helped. And now I’m wondering if he’s too young and whether I should get a smaller crate and have him in the bedroom for a few weeks? Any advice would be so appreciated as we are absolutely sleep deprived :-(
Does it help the potty training process if you move the create into other rooms where they want to pee so they understand the whole house is there sleeping area?
We have a 9 week old cockapoo and we’re had him for one week. We’ve managed to get him to sleep in the crate during the night but it’s meant someone is sleeping on the sofa alongside him. He will play inside the crate during the day and we’ve been closing the door when he goes in.
Can you please give advice if we are doing this right and we are wanting him to stay in his crate for short durations throughout the day within the next 3 weeks.
I’m at work during the day but my daughter works from home so we are hoping to get him to settle in his crate
Your help and advice will be greatly appreciated
Thank you
When training our service dog puppies we always setup the crate beside our bed. Every puppy is different. If this were my puppy I’d slowly start moving further away from the crate so your puppy is still comfortable as you move and sleep further away. This will require you to sleep on the floor, but it should only be a few days before your pup is sleeping alone in his crate.
Hi!
thanks for your amazing hard work, time and dedication to make this article! Its obvious its helped many and, having a processing disorder myself so needing things put very simply, step by step, this is the best explanation to crate training ive found, so again, thank you!
Question time! I understand this is primarily for Labradors but have seen others using it as well. We have an almost 9 week old am staff x ridgeback x mastiff. toilet training is slowly coming under control but we are struggling with the crate training. She is happy to go in/eat in there and have the door closed for a short period, shes also fallen asleep once for 45 minutes in the crate. However any longer than that is the constant whining. She is doing leaps and bounds for her age and im aware we still have a long way to go. My question is will we envitably get to the point where she is whining at night regardless and we just have to wait for it to stop, or, if we are following the steps correctly, she should be able to go in quietly herself and not make any noise?
I’m hesitant to make effort to one way or another and end up going back steps.
We are also sleeping on a mattress aside the crate currently with her sleeping on the ground beside us as our rooms are where our cats sleep and is there ‘space’
I dont know whether to go through a few nights of her whining like crazy for the greater good or try slow and steady (not my strong suit lol) as she is happy to go in and sit/ lay but wont sit or lay on command yet and also is happy to go in the crate but doesnt understand the order ‘crate’ yet which is interesting to me.
thank you for your time and advice!
Hi,
What happen if I’m mistakenly has already forced my puppy to go in the crate for the 1st night? And because he keeps whining, we take him out again on that same night. Do we able to reset his memory? Or is it will be difficult now to introduce the crate? The puppy is 12 weeks old
Hi, in the schedule it talks about potty training in some time intervals and potty breaks in others. Is there a difference between these?
Yes, they’d be the same thing. I updated the schedule to be more consistent using “Potty break” and not “Potty training” to hopefully eliminate confusion. Hopefully that helps. Thanks for your input.
Hello!
We recently adopted a 5 month old puppy.
We are working on crate training, but we are a bit hung up. We are following the techniques of having a toy he loves (aka a peanut butter filled frozen kong) and having treats mysteriously appear in the crate. He will go in it to look for things and he will occasionally nap in there.
Here is the ringer obviously we can’t stay home all hours of the day for weeks while he gets comfortable; especially since we need to take our other dog on a walk (we are leash training the new pup). When we leave him he whines, parks and will claw. He completely ignores his toy. I read some places this my make him afraid of it and make him go back in progress.
So, how do we crate train him while still being able to leave the house for an hour or two and not potentially cause this fear other people talk about? Can we leave the house haha?
We do take him out before and after and do the ignoring to not hint.
Thank you!
Our question is ho
Hi,
Thanks for the awesome info!
We have a now 11 week golden retriever. He will go in and out if his crate no problem. He sleeps there overnight with ease. If given the choice however he will not ever choose to lay in his crate and has decided he likes another area of the house to nap in. Is there a way to get him to want to be in his crate and lay there for a nap? I should say, he will often go in to crate and sit looking at us waiting to receive a snack. But if he doesn’t get food he’s out of there. When he is sleepy he goes to another corner of the house. Thanks for any tips!!!
Thank you for creating this enlightening post. My spouse and I recently acquired a 10-week-old canine of the Labrador breed, namely of the chocolate kind. I had intended to do cage training for her, however it is possible that the current practice of confining her to the cage just during nighttime for sleep may have hindered its effectiveness. The individual does not harbor a strong aversion towards the aforementioned location, yet it is evident that they vocalize their distress through prolonged periods of howling and crying before eventually ceasing. The query pertains to the appropriate sleeping location for the subject in issue, in the event that it is not within the confines of a container. The prevailing advice on several websites suggests placing the dog in a box and, despite the difficulty, refraining from responding to her vocalizations until they cease autonomously, provided that she does not require immediate attention.
I express my gratitude in advance.