Crate Training for New Dog Owners

 Labs are pack animals. In their natural habitat, they create lairs.

Why Crate Training

Dogs need familiarity so they’re most likely to recreate a den in your home. Now if you’re like me, and are clueless (at least I was when I got my first dog) and thought sticking your dog in a crate was cruel, your dog will probably make his hideaway in the back of your closet – some place dark and secluded. They love darkness and seclusion.

As a new puppy owner, I thought I was being mean when I put my dog in a crate.

So What’s Our Objective With the Crate?

{The objective of crate training is to get your dog to view his crate as a safe haven to be}. {A place to go when he’s tired or take a nap, or to just gather his thoughts and be left alone}. But you have to train him to see it that way.

When you get a dog from a shelter, they’re unlikely to see their crate as a safe haven. Your dog may feel threatened by his crate. At least, that’s how my dog Lily saw it (and so did I).

The Fastest and Easiest Way to Teach Your Dog to Get in His Crate

When would you want your dog to go in his crate on command? Well, one instance would be if you have unexpected guests and you don’t want your dog to get in the way or to jump on them (you may not have gotten around to training him yet not to jump on people). To Get Your Dog to Stop Jumping on People Go to:

http://www.caninehousetraining.com/dogproblems

 HERE’S WHAT TO DO TO TRAIN HIM TO GO IN HIS CRATE:

Put a cookie in your hand. Put the training collar and leash on your dog. Walk him up to the crate and make him sit. Now, say, “Get in the crate!” Quickly toss the cookie in the crate. As he moves into the crate, he’ll automatically release the tension on the leash. Close the door to the crate, and tell him, “Good dog!” as he munches on the cookie.

Pretty cool huh? So what’s next? Next, open the crate door and tell him, “Free!” When he comes out, praise him lavishly. Do this with your dog a good 4 or 5 times. After the fourth time, open the crate door, take the leash and training collar off, give him another cookie and close the crate door.

In 20 minutes, you can return and repeat this exercise. After you’ve done this a few times and see your dog start to ANTICIPATE the command, the next thing to do is only give him the cookie once every third time.

At this point, he’ll likely begin running into the crate before you even tell him to. Neat huh? Not Quite…. You’ll need to tell him, “No!” and pull him out of the crate. No praise. Remember–he can go in the crate on his own when you’re not standing next to him, but as this is a formal exercise, we want him to wait for the command.

This sounds confusing, and it is for the human mind. But it’s one of those things that your dog will understand naturally. Believe me. After you’ve brought him out of the crate, he’ll start looking at you for the “Get in the crate” command. Give him the command. Reward him this time with the cookie.

You’ll start to see that he’ll begin looking to you… waiting for that magic command that allows him to dive into the crate and get your praise. (Note: If your dog is more motivated by a toy or something else (No, not the cat!!!) you can use whatever you want.

The key is to use something that motivates the dog. The reason you want to pull forward on the leash instead of just throwing the food/ball/motivator into the crate is so that your dog learns that you are actually making him do it. This is the difference between using food as a motivator vs. using food as a bribe.

If the food isn’t there, you’re going to make him do it anyway. Well, that’s it for Part 2 of our dog training mini course. I hope you got a lot out of it! Remember, if you want a copy of the 316-page ebook, “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer” which teaches you every dog training technique for every dog problem there is, I strongly recommend you go to: http://www.caninehousetraining.com/dogproblems