- Hi its Tenille here from Dog Matters.
And today we're gonna talk about crate training.
Now many people see crates and think
oh I don't want to put my dog in a cage
so it would be really mean.
But there's actually some really amazing benefits
to crate training
and that's what we're gonna talk about today.
So obviously if we were to shove our dog in a cage
and lock them up and never interact with them,
that would be mean.
We wouldn't do that.
But the way that crate is supposed to be used is not cruel.
The dog likes being in there.
They're trained to like being in there
before you lock them in there.
And its not something that they're forced to do
or stuck in there for hours on end
and then once they're happy being in the crate
there are many benefits to having your dog crate trained.
So one of the benefits is if you need to transport them.
They can stay in a safe place in your vehicle
and they're safely contained, not distracting the driver
and they're comfortable.
Another important benefit of crate training is
if your dog needs medical attention
an operation, they often need crate recovery time
and that's going to go a lot smoother for you
if anything happens, if your dog is already crate trained.
Another benefit to crate training is toilet training.
And crates are often just used for toilet training
new puppies or new adult dogs that haven't learnt
to be house trained by having them in,
its like their bedroom and its their safe space
their bedding is in there.
You feed them in there
and they instinctively don't want to toilet
where they eat and or sleep.
So it helps to train your dog to hold on
and gives you the ability to control the timing
so that you can take them out to where you want
them to go in toilet training.
Now I mentioned that you want to make sure that
your dog likes the crate.
So if we have a look at Lola here
she is actually gone and gotten into the crate
without me telling her when we were setting up for filming
and we moved her crate into the room to
just film the crate and show you what it is like
and she went and popped herself in there voluntarily
with the door open and made herself comfortable
which she is still working on that
but you can see she is quite relaxed
and happy to be in there by choice
and that's how you want your dog to see
crate training as well.
And then if I was to shut the door
which I'll show you now.
Its not gonna make any difference to how relaxed she is.
Good girl.
So this is a wire crate
and that's the type that I would recommend for most dogs
with your crate training.
Your dog shouldn't be scratching at the door to get out.
You should be doing your foundational training
to make them know that it is a safe space
and to actually like being in there
and then usually for most cases
we are only using it for a few hours at a time at most
or to use it overnight for sleeping in
which doesn't really matter.
That's a longer period of time
because they're sleeping anyway
and you want your dog to be comfortable
and happy to sleep in their crates.
This is also useful if you're having issues with trusting
your dog around chewing the furniture or things like that
when you're not around
and they need to sleep inside for warmth overnight
you can teach them to just sleep in their crate.
That's their bedroom.
You know that they're not going to get up to any mischief
through the night and that they're safe.
Then your dog can gradually earn more privileges
as they become more reliable and are in their habit
of not destroying things overnight.
They get in the habit of just sleeping through the night
holding on to their toilets
and as they get older and more experienced
they can gradually earn more freedoms if you want them
to sleep other places or sleep with the door open.
You can also make it cozier and warmer by putting
covers over the top or putting bedding inside.
As you can see Lola's quite chilled out in there
and not stressing or trying to get out whatsoever
and that's how it should look like.
And they should also be willing to go in
when you tell them
and this is all again where your training comes in.
So I'll show you how easy it is
once you've done some training
to get your dog to go in.
Obviously she want in voluntarily as well.
She is quite comfy.
She wants to be in there.
Lola, here, good girl.
Alright so just showing you her going back in on command.
Ready, in your crate.
Good.
She is like why did you tell me to get out
and just me back in but that's just to show you that
they should go in willingly on command
and that they're quite comfortable to be in there,
whether the door is open or not.
The basics of how to get them set up for enjoying
the crate like that and being willing to go in
is to feed them in there,
give them all their best things in there
and to do some actual training where you are
allowing them in and out and making it a fun game
and a positive experience for your dog.
If you want to start crate training
make sure that you don't just shove them in
and lock the door and expect them to get the hang of it.
That would be very rare for dog to do that
and that's how you would get a dog
that would get very stressed.
So make sure you put in that foundational training
and if you need some help with that
make sure you check out the website
for more training tips of crate training.
I hope you've enjoyed this tip today
and I'll see you in the next video.
Please don't forget to share this video
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and don't forget to train your dog
because your dog matters.
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