Should you cover a puppy crate during a night-time session with your puppy? That’s a question many new puppy owners wonder when they first bring home their first puppy. The answer is that it depends.
Crib crate training tips tell us that puppies should be confined to their own space during the day. If puppies are left to roam free during the day, they will become restless and feel anxious. That can lead to chewing, barking and jumping. Add to attempt to get your puppy to sleep in their crates during the day, and the whole ordeal can feel very frustrating! Even if your puppy isn’t doing too well on their crates at night, sometimes just waking up in the middle of the night feeling exhausted and a little stressed because you weren’t able to give them their crates during the night can send them into a fit of tears!
You can help prevent this by setting rules for your dog and only allowing them out on a certain schedule (ie: at bedtime, after dinner and before bedtime) and by using a doggy daybed or “snuggle puppy toy” to keep them comfortable and calm while they sleep. Another great thing to use in conjunction with these simple crating techniques is a heated towel. A heated towel can provide a good idea of when it’s time to put the puppy back in his crate. Often puppies get agitated when they are left alone for extended periods of time, so the use of a heated towel is a good idea! Just make sure that the towel isn’t too hot, as otherwise it can cause discomfort.
While crating is a useful training tool, it is by no means the only one. Puppies love to chew, and if you have a choice between letting them chew on their bedding or on something else, always choose the chew toys. Although chewing toys are not strictly necessary to crate train your puppy, they can be a great way for a puppy to learn “what happens when”. Puppies who learn how to chew their bedding will learn what to do when you leave the room and they get restless if they are unable to chew on their bedding. Also, chew toys will provide your puppy with an experience that helps develop their hand-eye coordination, which is essential for controlling your dog.
Another method that some people recommend when crating dogs is putting them in one side of the crate and closing the other door and then shutting the door again when the puppy gets out of the crate. This may work well, but is rather unsanitary. In addition, it forces the dog to learn a “do when you want it to”, and often leads to the puppy quitting its job prematurely because it does not understand why it is being locked out. I think putting them in one side of the crate and leaving the door open, while still leaving the door open as they sleep, is the best way to crate train dogs.
One method that you can use, which helps owners control the amount of mess their dog makes when crating, is by covering the entire cage. By using two pieces of plastic folding over each other, you can make a large enough covering for your puppy to spread her legs. It is imperative that you only put one blanket on top of the puppy’s crate so that she will not see the bottom of her blanket and start munching on the floor. You can use several blankets if needed, just make sure they do not touch or get stuck together.
The second method that some people recommend for crating dogs is covering one side of the crate with an old towel, or even some old clothing that you would hang up or place under their favorite chair. Put this side of the crate off to the side so that the puppy can have access to the back side and not chew on the thing that is no longer safe to chew on. For example, if you have a cat, put the cat’s bed in the middle of the one side of the crate so that the cat will not have to step over the clothes or blankets on the floor. This will also help minimize the amount of hair, the dog has to chew on the furniture in the crate.
Crating puppies can be a huge chore but they are one of the most rewarding things you can ever do with your puppy. Puppies will be very happy to be crated because they will feel safe and comfortable enough to lie down and stretch, and you will have to take away the blankets and toys so they will not destroy your other stuff. When you are ready to let the puppy back into the main house, gradually move the puppy’s crate closer until you are comfortable enough to let them out on their own when the time is right.
Recent Comments