Crate training

[Citygirlrurallife]

I’m getting a bit confused by all the advice so if anyone has thoughts very specifically on how to crate train our puppy I’d love to hear them.

prescient info:

• 11wk old golden retriever who we’ve had for 6 days
• current set up is one of us sleeps on a mattress in the open plan sitting/dining/kitchen (not a huge space, puppy proofed) and he has run of the room
• he has a crate with a bed on one side and we feed him his meals in the other as he originally pooped and weed in it so we moved it and set up bed and food to remove toilet associations while also upping outside toilet training
• he takes toys to the bed in his crate but never lies there for more than a minute
• for naps and sleep he prefers to sleep on the floor wedged between wall and furniture - though sometimes just conks out in the middle of the room or garden for naps

i think we should take it slowly, shut the door when he’s in there then open it, lengthen the time then lock the door then progress eventually to locking him in and that being bed time but I’m not sure HOW to do that - do I wait until he goes in of his own volition? Do I put him in there? Do I entice him in around bedtime with a high value treat and build it as a bedtime only soace?

we’d like for him to sleep in the crate overnight while young so we can go back to our own bed, and be able to start gradually leaving him during the day to build that up as otherwise I’m worried about late separation anxiety as we both work from home

an actual detailed plan - or just tell me to go to a trainer - would be grand!

we’d like for him to sleep in the crate overnight while young

themuttyprofessor.co.uk/2017/07/20/crate-debate-crate-not-crate/
”Dogs are polyphasic sleepers. This means they sleep in short periods, like to get up and move around as well as changing positions.
Changing surfaces that they sleep on also helps them regulate their temperature.
Therefor, crating dogs goes against their natural way of sleeping and removes all option of them fulfilling this instinctive behaviour.”

Mmm that’s makes a lot of sense actually @PPPPlease he does get up and move around d a lot

so what’s the other option, put him in a room where he has more freedom of movement? Like a utility room maybe becomes his bedroom?

We crate trained our dog from the beginning and she still sleeps in her crate overnight now at nearly 18mo. She’s also got two dog beds, one in the lounge and one by the patio doors that she sleeps on during the day, but is crated at night. Dh slept downstairs with her for the first week, we had a baby monitor for a while so we could hear when she woke up for a wee and take her out but she was solidly sleeping through from about 3/4 months I think? She wakes up early (5ish) and comes into our bed for a cuddle which is a bit of a rod for our own back, but DH works shifts and I get up at 5.45/6am during the week anyway so it’s not too disruptive. We bought a smaller crate so it was quite snug, covered it in a blanket and she has a cushion in there that she has slept on from the day she came home. We have a bedtime routine that she is taken out for a wee and then she goes straight in and lights off. It means she feels safe and she can’t do any damage which means I can relax. She doesn’t whine in her crate or cry, she just snuggles up and goes to sleep.

We crate trained from day one. When she was a small puppy, we did enforced naps in the crate because otherwise she wasn't napping long enough anywhere else. If I got up or moved to a different room, she'd wake and follow or if the cat came in. She napped better in a crate covered with a blanket. She slept through from two weeks in the crate. We don't have a utility room where she could go so the crate is also for her safety and comfort when she wants to escape the hustle and bustle of our household.

Our dog is 9 months. Naps wherever she wants now. Often chooses the crate (door stays open during the day) as it's cosy and under a console table. But also naps wherever she feels like. At night, she still sleeps in the crate though.

The Facebook Dog Training and Advice Group has excellent advice on how to crate train. It's run by dog trainers.

We sort of crate trained. He slept in his crate over night in our room next to our bed, helped with toilet training. And he didn't cry. During the day he had a little crate in our kitchen, but we never shut him in there, he had free roam of kitchen but the comfort and safety of a den. This helped him feeling safe and not crying when we left him for a few hours.

He also couldn't get up to mischief in there, wasn't much he could chew, but he had access to toys and to water. At 6 months old the crates went and he now had roam of the kitchen and living room.

He has a crate in the car so he does go in one frequently. Which is helpful for travelling.

Every dog is different and an individual, we let ours sleep on the sofa because we can now trust him and he prefers it. Some people will still use a crate daily. It really is what suits you and your dog. But as a puppy I would definitely do it.