JAck Russell Terrier

Crate training is the first step in house training a new puppy. Its importance in house breaking a new puppy cannot be underestimated, nor can it be dispensed with.

Crate training is an integral part of basic puppy training, and knowing exactly how to carte train is very important.

Crate training without knowing what to do is just as good as not crate training at all. In fact, if a puppy is crate trained the wrong way, there would be no advantages gained, the puppy would not have learned or been taught anything good and the puppy may have been given a bad habit or two on the other hand.

Crate training is an established program with certain do’s and don’ts. It has its set advantages if done the proper way. There is a specific purpose in crate training, and to gain those ends carte training has to be done properly.

The basic and most important part of crate training is the size of the crate. The size of the crate used has to be directly proportionate to the size of the dog.

The uppermost need for crate training is to prevent the dog from peeing in the house, or in places he is not supposed to pee in.

By nature and basic instinct a dog will not lie down or sleep in its own urine or faeces. It will never pee or make its business in a place it has to lie down in. A dog is confined in a crate to prevent it from doing these things inside the house. While confined in a crate of proper size a dog will restrain itself from urinating or moving its bowels.

The crate has to be big enough for the dog to spin around on its feet. It should be just a few inches longer than the body of the dog from the tip of the nose to the end of the rear rump, and a few inches taller than the standing height of the dog,

The size of the crate should not permit the dog to jump up on its hind legs or move from one end to the other. If for example, a large crate is used for a small dog, it would pee at one end and sleep at the other.

What to put in the crate and when not to confine the dog in the crate is another very important part of crate training.

The only thing that should be in the crate is the puppys chew toy or play toy and nothing else. No food or water should be placed in a crate.

A dog should never be confined in a crate for too long a time.

The dog should not be sent to the crate or confined in it because it has done something wrong. The crate should not be used to punish the dog. If we use the crate to punish the dog, it is going to distrust the crate and become anxious about it

The dog should regard the crate as a place of safety and security, for it to be happy in it while it is alone and its owners are away from the house.

Knowing when, where and how to release the dog from the crate is also an important part of crate training

A dog has to be released from the crate periodically in an area where it can relieve itself.

The dog will relieve itself immediately it is let out from the crate. Once the dog has relieved itself it should be praised or rewarded to reinforce that peeing iside the house is not allowed.

The type of crate is another important aspect of crate training.  Most crates are made of steel. There should be no rough or sharp edges anywhere in the crate.

After being confined for a few hours the first time a dog will get agitated and try and escape. In attempting to do so it should not scratch, cut or hurt itself on the crate.

Crate train your puppy properly and you will have it house broken in no time fulfilling your task of basic puppy training.

To learn more about crate training your puppy please visit www.basicpuppytraining.net

No training is more basic for pet owners than that first important lesson: Do it outside!

Teaching your puppy to eliminate outside the home, not in it, often starts between six and eight weeks of age. Dogs as young as four weeks have been started on housebreaking, but at that age few have the muscular control to succeed.

Like any dog training lessons, trainer patience is as important as the dog’s temperament. ‘Sit’, ‘stay’ and other behaviors can often be learned in a few days. House training usually takes weeks – sometimes as short as two, often a month or more.

As with other learned behaviors, it helps to observant for signs of the desired actions and enforce and direct them with a voice command followed by praise. In this case that technique works even more to the trainer’s advantage, since all dogs will naturally eliminate. The trick is to get them to do it when and where you want!

Watch for circling or squatting, then pick up the pup, say ‘outside’ and sprint outside. The puppy may circle some more, but will often squat soon after. When your puppy eliiminates, say ‘Go potty’ ( or some other unique phrase) in a clear, firm (but not angry) voice. Wait until he has finished and then praise him lavishly.

You won’t always be able to catch the puppy about to begin, but don’t become angry or impatient when the dog potties indoors. It takes quite a lot of time for your puppy to learn to tell you it’s time to ‘go outside’. The puppy needs time for the muscles that control the bladder and bowels to develop.

Most young dogs need to eliminate every 2-3 hours, on average. If you haven’t spotted pre-elimination behavior within that time, take the dog outside anyway. Issue the command ‘Go potty’ and wait. At first, usually, the dog will have no clue what you want.

Again, even when outside, it helps to wait and watch for the desired behavior then issue the proper command. That helps the dog associate the command with the behavior. If the dog hasn’t eliminated after a few minutes and a few ‘Go potty’ commands, take it back inside for an hour. Of course, if you see the pre-elimination behavior sooner, go outside again immediately.

Dogs have an astounding ability to quickly learn what their ‘alpha’ (the leader of the pack) wants. This is almost always accomplished by associating a verbal command with behavior, followed by praise. Punishment is usually counter-productive, and nowhere more so than in waste elimination training. Never rub a dog’s nose in the accident.

Paper and/or crate training is preferred by some. A pup can be trained to potty on a newspaper, or on one of the chemically treated housetraining pads designed for the purpose. Some small breeds that live all day in the home may not need to go outside at all.

The technique has a couple of downsides however. Unlike cats, dogs prefer not to go in a scented litter box. Newspapers (even with the top layer removed after the dog goes) will eventually leave an unpleasant odor in the house.

Also, long before the odor becomes perceptible to humans, dogs can smell their own distinctive odor. Dogs don’t find it unattractive – quite the opposite. And that is where the problem lays.

Dogs that are paper trained will often prefer to eliminate indoors. Occasionally they’ll miss the paper by only an inch, creating a smelly mess to clean up.

Once the scent is in the carpet, the dog will often seek that area out as its proper ‘place to go’. This makes training the dog to eliminate outside even more difficult. Best to suffer a few accidents than to create a hard-to-overcome habit.

Key factors to any dog training programs are patience, praise and consistency. House breaking is the first test for you and your dog.

Get more tips and advice on housetraining or dog training at Luvurdog.com/dogtraining