Importance of Crate Training
Crate training has been around for quite some time, but there are people who still do not understand the importance of crate training in the successful house training of a dog.
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 not something we do on reflex, gut feelings or intuition. 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.
To achieve this, the crate has to be big enough for the dog to make a full circle while standing. 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. A very large crate for a small dog would allow the dog to walk around in it, pee at one end and lie down 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.
Apart from its chew toys nothing else should be in the crate with the dog. No food or water should be placed in a crate.
It is important not to confine a puppy in a crate for lengthy periods at a time.
The crate is not a punishment room, and the dog should not be confined in the crate just because it s being punished for doing something wrong. In doing so we would make the dog wary and anxious about the crate
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.
Crate training also involves us knowing how and when to release the dog from the crate
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 all crates are steel wire cages. The insides and outsides of the crate should be smooth and free of any sharp or rough edges.
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
Puppy Training Tips
May 7, 2009 by Daniel · Leave a Comment
The new owner of every little puppy should devote the first few weeks it is with them to certain basic puppy training tasks.
It is important to train the puppy early. Crate training and two basic commands are the aspects of training that I will deal with in this article.
It is also very important that all to be dog owners equip themselves with this knowledge on basic puppy training BEFORE they go out and buy or adopt their new puppy. They must know what to do in the first few weeks of the puppy’s life with them and be confident about doing it.
Puppies learn fast. Puppies are keen, attentive and very sensitive. Some breeds better than the other, but all puppies would pick up habits and form behaviour patterns as they grow older.
Apart from certain specific traits, peculiar to the breed of the puppy, all other habits and behaviour patterns they form are drawn from their surroundings, the way they are treated, how they are housed, the way they are fed and every little thing that happens around them.
It is because of this we must make sure they learn the right things from the start, if we don’t we may be in for rude shocks as the puppy grows older forming bad habits and developing problematic behaviour patterns in the process.
The most beneficial training a puppy can get in its formative years is crate training. The benfits of crate training cannot be underestimated. It is instrumental in helping your dog form good habits.
Please do not be like the humans who feel that placing a puppy in a wired cage like box is imprisoning it. By placing a puppy in a crate you are not imprisoning it or punishing it.
The very first benefit of crate training is that the puppy gets to feel secure and safe from outside harm.
It gets the feeling of ownership because it will automatically collect all its toys and stores it in its crate. It tells the puppy that he has its own place.
Crate training helps us potty train the puppy. By using a crate we can teach the puppy that it cannot do its business anywhere or everywhere inside the house. Crate training is beneficial for transporting the dog. It is used to the crate, hence will not object or feel agitated when moved while inside the crate.
Puppies love to jump up onto anything and everything. Puppies love jumping up onto people they see for the first time, or see after an absence of time. We must control this urge in the dog. The best way to do that is with the two verbal commands ‘SIT’ and ‘STAY’
Teaching the puppy to sit and remain where he is seated is a very import aspect of basic puppy training. We must get the puppy to understand those two commands and obey them, because if we don’t we will have a grown dog that jumps up at people, which can be rather problematic, especially if a person is scared of dogs.
Another important benefit of enforcing the SIT and STAY commands is they can be associated with training the dog not to bark unnecessarily, and further advanced training as it grows into a full grown dog.
For more tips on basic puppy training, please visit www.basicpuppytraining.net
Puppy Training Basics
One should never attempt to train a dog if they have no knowledge about basic puppy training.
Anyone could learn how to train a dog, there are so many sources of information, but the fear of information overload is very likely to deter one. However if you want to train a dog, learn how to do it first.
Dogs by nature, love to please and love to be rewarded. This basic nature of a puppy makes dog training quite an easy task. Communicating with the animal is the most difficult part of puppy training.
Three fourth of the dog training battle is won if you can get the dog to understand your intentions, actions and commands
The cardinal rule in dog training is ‘TRUST’ ‘RESPECT’ and ‘LOVE’ and definitely NOT FEAR. If a dog fears you, you will be useless as a trainer to that dog. Fear breeds mistrust. Dogs never trust a person it fears.
Avoid striking the dog al all costs, whether it is with your bare hand or with an object like a leash, cane or anything.
Avoid loud repetitive and harsh scolding al all costs.
To convey your disapproval a single stern verbal NO is more than enough, anything else would be over doing it.
Use the positive approach of praise and rewards instead. If the dog realizes that it will get no praise or reward if it does the wrong thing, it will soon try and remember the things HE SHOULD NOT DO
Rewards are a very important part of basic puppy training.
Remember that any praise or reward will reinforce correct behaviour. Hugging and petting or lovingly stroking the dog when it does the right thing is OK, BUT a reward with a small treat goes a longer way in reinforcing correct behaviour.
Food is the prime motivator with all animals, and the dog is no different.
The next best thing in dog training is your body language. Develop the art of communicating with your actions instead with your words. From the beginning develop body movements that express approval and disapproval. Movements of the head and the hands can be perfected to mean many things.
A dog is a very attentive and sensitive animal. Body language can go a long way and achieve just as good response as verbal commands.
Start by having a definte body action accompany each individual verbal command. Co-ordinate the movement with the verbal command.
After some time only resort to the movement and reward immediately when there is a positive response from the dog. Reward the dog on a positive response and establish in its mind what that body movement meant.
Perseverance and persistence is the key to successful dog training. Teaching or training can be very frustrating. Everyone will get frustrated with the lack of results. Keep at it.
Never expect results in unrealistic time frames. Do not set a time timtable for results. Work at achieving results instead. Train yourself to be patient.
Keep at it and you will be rewarded with a well behaved, well adjusted happy and healthy dog.
For more tips please visit on www.basicpuppytraining.net.
