Crate training and crating your dog.
Dog crates can be a very helpful tool and place. They can make the dog feel secure because the dog is surrounded by a small area. Some dogs will be very easy to crate train, while others might be a bit hard to crate train. If you can pick between a metal bar crate and a plastic crate. You should pick the plastic one, because I have heard that dogs like them better because they are more inclosed and I have also experienced this with my own dog.
Below will be some tips and tricks on crate training your dog.
First of all have the door open to the crate, let the dog go and sniff it out and see what that crate is about.
Then you can put some treats or toys in the crate and have the dog go and get them out.
Once your dog starts to feel more comfortable you can try to set a bowl of food in their, and this should hopefully cause the dog to want to go in and eat its food.
Then tell the dog to go in the crate say down and stay for 2-5 minutes. Then give the dog the release command. Keep doing this a few times throughout the day for about a week. While leaving the crate door open.
Then you should hopefully be able to have the dog stay in the crate for up to 5-10 minutes with the door open. Keep doing this throughout the week, and slowly start increasing the time.
Now shut the door to the crate while the dog is in it for around 5 minutes. Then slowly increase this time too.
Now you should be able to leave your dog in the crate with the door shut for up to an hour. You can give your dog chew toys, bones and Kongs to keep it busy.
How crates can be used used for training.
Crates can be great training tools. Such as if you want your dog to go to a quite spot for a little while to give them a break. But you want to start this process out slowly by leaving them in their at 10 minutes at a time and building up a few hours. It can also help your dog feel more secure and relaxed.
Also eventually you should be able to say crate or kennel to your dog and expect your dog to go right in. This will take time and practice.
You might ask how long can or should my dog stay in the crate? Well the answer is if your dog is 2 months old then you could leave it in their for 3 hours. If they are 5 months old then you could leave it in their for 6 hours. So its how many months old they are plus 1. Now if your dog is 2 years old then it can stay in a crate for up to 4 hours and so on. It is not recommended that you leave your dog in a crate for more then 10 hours in a 24 hour period.
How to properly get your dog out of the crate.
Try to not let your dog run or bulge out of the kennel. You can give the dog the down and stay command before you open the door. Or when you open the door give the down and stay command. Or you can open the door let your dog out and give it the command right away. If none of this is working then when you open the door to the kennel keep your pushing your dog back in until the dog will walk out calmly.