New puppy - crate training and clicker training advice

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I posted back in November about the sudden death of our 7 year old springer spaniel. Well we are now thinking about getting a puppy springer, but would like some advice about both crate training and clicker training.

Our previous dogs slept in a crate at night and we used them in the car, but didn't specifically crate train them. We also attended puppy training classes, but are keen to try clicker training this time.

Any recommendations for good websites and books on the subjects to get us going?

We are off to meet a breeder soon and want to be prepared.

I'm very sorry about your springer spaniel. It's nice to be thinking of a new puppy now :)

My favourite new book is Life Skills for Puppies by Helen Zilch & Daniel Mills. It has a forward by Jean Donaldson and you can't get a better recommendation in my book.

I also like Train Your Dog Like a Pro by Jean Donaldson, because it is very thorough, although it might be a bit more detailed than some owners would like (depends if you are really into the training or not).

The free puppy training book on dogstardaily.com (Ian Dunbar's site) is pretty good too.

I am sorry for your loss so early. Excited for your new (possible) addition though. We have a 5 month old Springer, who is ace! There's a piccie of him as a tiny puppy on my profile but I must update with more! I am no means an expert, this is our first dog and others will be around to offer better advice than I can!

Our puppy loves his crate. Some things we did to encourage him to like it were as follows;

• didn't shut the door initially.
• covered the crate at night time only, he likes to see us during the day but seems to like a 'den' at night.
• fed his meals in there.
• threw treats in regularly.
• Clicked and treated when he was in the crate and with the door shut for a few moments. Extended the time and distance I stood away from the crate until I was out of the room with door shut. In out, in out, click and treat etc. Kikopup has a good video on YouTube re this. Hid treats in his bed.
• Sometimes stayed in the room, sometimes left, so he was aware we come back.

Not sure if we were lucky but he just seemed to accept the crate so I don't know if the above was useful to us or not! DH also slept downstairs next to the crate for the first week, moving further away each time.

Clicker training is great fun! Initially, just click and treat so he understands the click means food. I use high value liver. I then just click behaviours I like and specific training, then add in commands or hand signals.

Some books I have are -

Getting Started: Clicker training by Karen Pryor.
The Perfect Companion; Understanding, Training and Bonding with your Dog. Karen Davison
Gwen Bailey - Perfect Puppy.
Loads more tbh!!

Plus, on Youtube, Kikopup offers tons of excellent videos showing clicker training specific behaviours.

Good luck!

For crate training look at Susan Garrett Crate Games DVD. It is fantastic and you will have a motivated dog that loves it crate and has amazing impulse control.