crating

[cpr]

Everyone I talk to keeps telling me to crate RED, she is 9 weeks old and I am not sure what age to start training her for a crate.
Also she wines when I leave to go anywhere now how will she do in a crate. I also am having a problem training her to go out side without me. She does do her duty [most of the time] out side but I have to stay with her or she scratches and cryes at the door till i go out or let her in. I have tryed a tie out but that isn't any better. I am unable to put up a fence [have a short one now,but not a good one for her in a month or so,want to put a runner for her to do her dutty]. Also when crated do I put water in for her as it gets very warm in the house during the day.
As you can tell I am new at this I have had dogs before but they were older dogs that someone would give me. Never had to crate any and not sure how to traine her for one. PLEASE HELP US LEARN. :)

[K-9Girl]

I believe that crate training is the way to go! All of my dogs are crate trained.

You need to start with the training as soon as possible. The younger they are when you start the better. Kodi, my male, began his crate training the first night I had him. At first your pup will not be too happy about the whole idea of being left alone in the crate....but she will learn to love it. All three of my dogs LOVE their crates!

Here are some suggestions from a person who has crate trained 5 dogs:

Have your pup sleep in her crate at night. Now, this won't be easy....and expect a few nights of being up every couple hours. Every night, about 1 hour to 30 minutes before bed, play with Red and get her tired so that once it is bed time she will want to go to sleep. Even if she tries to sleep before bed time, don't let her! Wake her up and make her play.....if she sleeps just before bed, she will want to play while you are trying to sleep! She may cry when you first put her in the crate. What I did with Kodi was I put his crate in my bedroom next to my bed. After I put him in the crate I would have to sit in front of the door and talk him to sleep. This usually took about 5 minutes for him to fall asleep (remember, he was real tired from all the playing we just did!) The good thing about having them next to your bed is that you can hear when they need to go outside during the night or if they start to cry, you can talk to them and they then know that you are close by.

Whenever Red goes into her crate always reward her with a little treat. She will soon learn that going into her crate means that she gets a treat. If you are going to leave any toys with her in the crate make sure that they are toys that can't be chewed up! Make sure that they are safe toys like a Nyla Bone. Leaving a rawhide bone in the crate with your pup unsupervised could result in the pup choking....not a good thing!! And NEVER use your crate for a time out or punishment. The crate is ALWAYS to be a good and happy experience for the pup.

While you are away from you house, Red should stay in her crate. The crate is an exellent tool for house training your pup. Most dogs do not like to go to the bathroom where they sleep, so Red will learn to hold her messes until you take her outside. Not to say that she won't have an accident or two, but useing the crate will speed up the house breaking.

Another thing that I love about the crate is that while you are away you KNOW that your pup is safe from any harm. A puppy just left in a room while the owner is away always seems to make a mess or get in trouble.

Red will soon learn that her crate is her "safe" place and you will be a much happier owner knowing that your dog is safe and out of harms way.

If you need any more help just let me know! Good luck! :)

Sara

[roccorottie]

We got our pup a few days shy of 8 weeks. His set up was in our large kitchen area. We had a nice crate for him nestled in an ex pen (the 3' high variety). This way we could close the ex pen and leave the crate door tied open so he could use the crate as he liked. To make him feel comfy with his crate I made sure to give him some treats in the crate and didn't force the crate on him. We also never use the crate as a time-out spot or for punishment. It's his lair, so to speak.

The ex pen is nice in that it gives him some extra room to move around (we have a big water bowl within the ex pen) and not feel overly cramped if we have to leave him there. He also has the option to hang out in his crate. After one week of this set up, he grew to like his crate and would sleep there almost every night. Sometimes he slept on the kitchen floor as it was a bit cooler perhaps(again, within the ex pen area). Now, at 16 weeks, he's damn near ready to jump over the ex pen, so we're about to abandon it entirely. He also does not have full run of our house (and won't for some time). He's never once cried about the crate and has always seen it as his "safe haven".

I suggest maybe you try an ex pen and place your crate in it. Be sure to keep the crate door opened via a tie of some sort, so it doesn't swing around and cause an accident. Also, I wouldn't leave a 9 wk old pup tied out anywhere, just my opinion.

I also agree with doing this as soon as you can. We did this on our pup's first day home. Also, get your pup in the car in its crate as well. Acculturate your pup to that crate in many scenarios. I wish we did that with our 4yo GSD, as she hates a crate and it's tough. Our little guy, however, is quite the crate car traveler already - it's never too soon to get them accusomted to these things. Make it fun too!

Good Luck with all of it.