# Crate training for dummies



## Owen's Mommy (Apr 13, 2012)

Hey ya'll! I'm brand spanking new to this forum, reffered by my friend Sprocket, and I'm hoping to start out on the right foot by asking you to educate me on crate training.

A little background: I've only had farm dogs, my two current dogs e free range of the farm which is about 15-20 acres. 

I have zero experience with crate training but I'm moving to an apartment soon and my baby boy, Owen ot trouble with my parents and they told me he couldn't stay there. My original plan was to just leave him at the farm with our older dog for company and get a more apartment friendly dog to keep me company on the day to day. 

Bringing O into my apartment is a problem because he gets extremely anxious when alone. He will chew anything he can get his mouth around from bedposts to pillows to the walls. I found this out when he had to stay inside after his castration and I left him to go to work.... BIG mistake. If he's with another dog, he's substantially better. He tends to stay out of stuff he knows he's not supposed to be into and mainly just lays around and sleeps. Likewise if there's a person in the house. He'll have to stay alone for about 10 hours a day with a three hour break in between. I'm bringing my cat with me as well and the cat is very close to O, but I don't think he'll be able to entertain my pup enough to keep him out of trouble.

I don't even know how to go about STARTING to crate train him. I'm in no big hurry, as I won't be moving for at least another month and a half, but it'd be nice to know he was solid in his training before I moved.

Also, it wouldn't let me go back into one of the other paragraphs without deleting letters as I typed :rolleyez: but Owen is a 1 yo black lab.

Thanks!


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Hey! Glad you came! Hopefully we can help you! 

First off I would purchase a large crate 

Like this one 

General Cage 200 Series Black Dog Crate - Dog Crates at Dog Kennels

Im on my phone so I will add more later!


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## Owen's Mommy (Apr 13, 2012)

Check! My best friend just got rid of her dog and I've volunteered to take her crate off her hands.


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## IslandPaws4Raw (Sep 7, 2011)

Do you have a crate already? If you do you can start right away by just tossing a treat in there for him to get. Repeat a few times, just letting him go in and out for a treat. Have him go in, lay down and wait, then come out on command. When he is comfortable with that, have him go in for mealtimes. Close the door as he eats, then let him out when he's done. 

Put him in there for short rest periods when he's tired. I wouldn't recommend leaving him alone in there because of his separation issues. Have the crate set up where you can supervise. You can always work on the separation thing once he is used to the crate. Whatever you do don't let him out if he starts to whine, cry or bark. Always wait until he is calm.

Make sure you are going to be able to exercise him enough once you move if he is going to be crated for long periods.

There are lots of how to websites on crate training out there
Kikopup has some great training videos on youtube

Crate Training- Part 1- Clicker dog Training - YouTube


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