Crate Training — A Proven Method for Housebreaking Your Puppy or Dog

What is crate training?

Crate training utilizes a confined small area or crate that your dog learns to associate as their resting/sleeping quarters. The concept behind this is dogs do not like to go where they sleep (or eat). Secondly, confinement allows you to control when and where your dog relieves themselves.

DOs:

• Do praise your puppy immediately after they finish their task. Lavish them with praise–verbal, physical, etc.
• Do immediately take your dog to their bathroom area to relieve themselves after they are released from the crate. In the past, we have utilized leash training with housebreaking, by taking them to their bathroom area on the leash. This helps new puppies get used to the leash, but it also gives you more control–you can direct their attention and bring them straight out to their spot, rather than risk them detouring through your house.
• Do create a schedule. Dogs will react well to schedules, so taking them out at regular intervals helps them learn bladder control and gives you peace of mind.
• Do have a regular feeding schedule. Feeding your dog at the same time each day will better establish the overall routine/schedule you’re trying to set, but it will also help you predict when your dog will need to go out (especially as it gets older).
• Do make sure to ration water at late hours. Puppies and dogs with weaker bladders should not have access to water past a certain time. We have used 7:30PM during the initial housebreaking stages up until we were certain the puppy could handle water later. Even so, we generally cut off water by 9PM.
• Do keep an eye on your puppy or dog at all times. Housebreaking goes very smoothly if you pay attention. Most accidents are really the pet owner’s fault!
• Do take your pup out after it plays. It doesn’t matter if they haven’t recently had any water or food–most young puppies need to relieve themselves after a play session, especially if they’ve been running around.

DON’Ts:

• Don’t confine your dog for extended periods of time. The crate is a great training tool, but it shouldn’t be a way for you to get a few extra hours of sleep when you know your puppy needs to relieve himself. Once a puppy starts to soil the area that he sleeps in, it can be a very difficult road to travel.
• Don’t let your dog out without taking him to his bathroom area. This is often how accidents can occur! Just because your pet doesn’t show you signs that they need to go doesn’t mean they don’t need to.
• Don’t give them a crate that is too big. It is important that the area is small. They should have enough room to rest and sleep comfortably, stand up, turn around, etc., but the point is not to give them a separate area that they can defecate in and not have to sleep in it. We completely empathsize with budget pet owners, and if you purchase a crate for your puppy that’s fit for his adult-size, be sure to block off the excess.
• Don’t punish your pup for making a mistake. Housebreaking is a process, and it is unfair to expect your pup to be perfect right away. It is only when a housebroken dog suddenly starts making mistakes in the house should you be concerned.

Have you used the crate training method to housebreak your dog? How did it go?