See below for tips on how to crate train a dog!
December 14, 2011 Day 3 of Lincoln the Pit Bulls Daily Diary;
What a glorious morning it was!! Lincoln the Pit Bull and I woke up so excited to see the sun shining.
Its not too cold and the puppy is really beginning to settle in with his crate training. He came out of his crate tail wagging and hopping around just happy to be here. We have been crate training at night and I can tell he is learning to hold it. Lincoln still woke me up last night around 4am to go outside but he did his business and we came right in.
After his morning potty break I left him to go eat breakfast with my father and came back to a silent puppy waiting somewhat anxiously to be let out. I know it is important in crate training to give the dog a second to calm down and quit whining before opening the door so I waited until he settled down before opening the crate door. When I did open the door I tried to act as if it was ‘no big deal’ and didn’t give him much attention right away. I always get the urge to be comforting but I know it won’t do Lincoln any good in the long run if I don’t use reason and stick to the plan. It isn’t easy to be what we perceive as ‘cold’ sometimes but it pays off for the dog.
I had to go to work so my Dad planned to watch Lincoln for me. I left for work and Dad swung by the house 40 minutes later and got em out of his crate for me. He took the pup for a little walk on the boardwalk then went over to Dad’s to hang out with Coco his 3 year old Pomeranian.
The dogs played all day long and Lincoln chased his little ‘pom-pom’ around the house. He barked at her and made funny sounds and was well behaved the whole time. I am sorry I missed it but Dad took pictures and kept me informed through text-messages.
By the time I got to Dad’s house to pick him up he was spent, literally drained. He had been sleeping for an hour when I got there and a few hours and a potty-break later and he is STILL sleeping as I write this.
When he gets up we will go back outside, walk for a minute or two planning to pass last nights ‘furthest spot reached’ and then we will come in and practice some new moves with the clicker training before hitting the pillow for sleep!
More Crate Training Tips
- For other dog or Pit Bull owners, when it comes to crate training your dog you have to stick to the plan and it will pay off!
- NEVER use the crate to punish your dog, it should be a positive place!
- Make sure you crate your dog until you know he/she can hold it at least through the night before you begin to let them sleep outside of it.
- Also you want to make sure the dog is never whining or crying when you open the door to let them out otherwise you are teaching the dog to whine if it wants out!
- When you put the dog in the crate, make sure to give it some treats so the crate is seen as more of a positive thing.
- And when you let your dog out make sure not to make a big fuss about it, it’s no big deal.
- If your puppies whining when inside the crate, ignore it and wait for the dog to become silent and let him out immediately. This teaches him silence gets him out of the crate.
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