Benefits of Crate Training Your Puppy/Dog
If you are attempting potty training your dog or puppy make a crate one of your closest friends. Crate training and potty training tie in together very closely and should go together from day one. Usually a puppy or dog would not be likely to soil in their crate, but please regard at first you may because they are not use to the environment, but after a few tries they’ll understand the concept of the crate.
 You want to make crate training a very positive experience for you and your puppy. By introducing the crate with the use of special treats at first your puppy will enjoy going to the crate, but only give the puppy the treats once they’ve entered the crate and allowed you to put them in. Your puppy will then associate the treat with the crate and look forward to going into the crate and know that they’ll receive a reward for doing something they’ve been told to do.
If you’d like to avoid your puppy from having separation anxiety when you place them in the crate, try placing them in the crate even when you are home. This may sound silly, but this assures your puppy that you are not placing them in there just to leave them, you are putting them in there for a time out or for safety measures.
To avoid any accidents in the first few weeks of crate training please follow the next steps to make the process much easier on all involved in the training process:
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Wake up three hours after your regular bedtime (use an alarm) and take your puppy outside to go to the bathroom. It would be wise to carry your puppy at first so there are no indoor accidents because they couldn’t make it out. Use the same door for your potty training process to prevent confusion on the puppy, they will associate that same door with going outside and understand that is what you will be doing outdoors.
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Consider placing a bell onto the door and attempt to have your puppy ring it allowing them to understand to ring the bell when they want to go outside. If your puppy rings the bell give them a treat so the associate happy thoughts with the ringing of the bell. Then say “outside” so they can put a word to the action for future understanding.
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After you’ve gone through this process, go back to bed for another three hours and complete the process over.
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 After a few weeks you can then start extending the time frame between potty breaks and eventually make it through the night (if not crate messes occur).
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Set a strict morning schedule with your puppy and yourself. Ensure that the first thing out of your day is tending to your puppy’s bladder and taking them outside. Puppies have a difficulty holding their bladder for more then four hours at a time, so throughout the day you or someone available will need to let them out to the bathroom if you’d like to avoid messes throughout the day in the crate.
Puppies are small and crates can be large, especially if your puppy will grow into a large dog. If you have a large crate and a small puppy your puppy will most likely soil on one side of the crate and locate to the other. To prevent this from occurring place a non-toxic materialized box in the back to minimize the space preventing the puppy from soiling in the crate.
Potty training is a team effort so don’t place the puppy outside on their own. Take them out and stay with them, but give them all the time they need to do their business. After they’ve done their business give them some praise and a treat if that is how you are going to reward your puppy for a job well done.
If you notice that you are spending approximately 15 minutes outside waiting for your puppy to go, return inside and place your puppy back into the crate and attempt the whole process again in 15 minutes. Be repetitive with the training process so your puppy fully understands you. This can also be done with an older dog. It doesn’t matter the age of the dog, they will learn if you keep with it.
 Crate training and potty training can be a lengthy process, but by the time you complete everything it will be worth every moment you’ve spent. Ensure that you don’t confuse your puppy/dog by using multiple phrases for what you’d like them to do. Stick to one word for each training process and your dog will learn quickly and understand you even faster. Make crate training and potty training rewarding for everyone, your dog is not the only one learning, you are also learning your dogs reactions and how your dog speaks with their body so pay close attention to him, just like he is to you.
To understand further dog potty training details please go to the following pages to understand some better methods for potty training your puppy or dog.
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